Ride in the Country

It cleared off beautifully!
It's not terribly hot out, but it is the sort of afternoon when paddlers and fishermen like to find a nice pond or lake to enjoy. We started at Chittening Pond, east of Sangerfield on Route 20, and found the parkinglots and roadsides full - and with good reason!










It was the Waterville Forest Fish and Game Club's Annual Kid's Fishing Derby, and there were lots and lots of kids there.



(Click Photographs to Enlarge.)

And then 'round and about to get a view of Bailey Lake. The Baileys - matriarch Azubah and her son Vine - walked here from Connecticut around 1795. Their home was probably about where the Wicks residence is now located. Azubah's death in Sangerfield in 1823 at the age of 93 was noted in the Utica newspaper.






Paddlers like Bailey Lake because of its floating bogs and numerous little coves where several varieties of unusual plants thrive.






Gorton Lake is somewhat smaller than Bailey, but has floating bogs, too. Private camps and year-round homes take up most of the shoreline but paddlers will find public access on the southern shore.




Parking and access to the Sangerfield River in the legendary "Nine Mile Swamp" is on Wickwire Road at "the Orange Bridge" in Hubbardsville. This is always a favorite spot for paddlers and fishermen but recent rains have sent submerged logs downstream so special caution is advised!


Just above the "orange bridge," we met Charlotte Blanchard and Jody Palmer out for an afternoon ride.

We've known Charlotte for years, but had never met Jody although we HAD read about her and her husband, Keith, in this morning's Post-Standard. (See page A-18 and the article headlined "NYRI promises development money..") The proposed power line would cut across the Palmer's farm - it's not what they had in mind!




There's plenty of water for paddlers and fishermen on both sides of the Lake Road causeway at Lake Moraine. The shoreline along the southernmost part of the lake is quite thickly settled with cottages and homes, but the northern section is inhabited, mostly, by Canada Geese.



Black-eyed Susans - the "early" variety, we hope! - make bright splashes in fields and along roadsides and, out near the corner of Madison and Route 20, there is another "Sunflower Field." It's not as wonderful as the fields near Vernon Center, but it IS a happy sight and so we say "Thanks!" to whomever made it happen!


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