A First Solo Adventure

This past February I had a ski day with my daughter that inspired me. It still inspires me. She challenged Gore’s steepest terrain and emerged confident and victorious. It felt like a big step.

solo adventure
Set sail

Dad story alert, opt out if you must.

Last week, on our annual end of summer trip to the mountains, it seemed she made another move forward. And she did it on her own. She had this idea that she wanted to do something, in the woods, by herself, but she wasn’t quite sure what. Mom and I struggled a bit with what that might be, but ultimately did propose an idea.

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Canoe Camping on Thirteenth Lake

Looking for cool water to jump into, ways to force kids outdoors when camps are closed and some fun for ourselves, witenoize and I packed up a few days worth of food, gear and our canoes and headed to 13th lake, tucked behind Gore Mountain in the southern Adirondacks. It’s a classic Adirondack setting, a little to the south, easy logistics and there are trout and land-locked salmon if you know how to get at them.

Thirteenth Lake camp site

The forecast was looking volatile with a thunderstorms called for our third day, and though I have some unresolved childhood trauma from camping trips in downpours with canvas tents, we had to project positivity to our kids and go for it.

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Paddling Thirteenth Lake

I put in another work weekend at our camp in North River.  It’s not really work to me — stacking firewood and improving our trails — it’s exactly what I want to do with my free time in summer.

paddling Thirteenth Lake

I actually daydream about cabin projects from my desk at work. Six million acres of opportunity for adventure all around, and I’m completely content on just a handful of hectares.

But Thirteenth Lake is practically in our backyard. Big and beautiful and right there, the lake is hard for us to ignore. After working on the Red Trail for the better part of the day we drove to the boat launch and put in. Even on a gray day the lake is a special place.

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