Does this fish make my boat look big and other adventures

The title for this blog was a stroke of genius on Heather's part.This is the only fish either of us have caught. Still, what a great excuse to sit in a kayak for hours on a beautiful river. We ended up on the Winooski River and what a stunning day.
A three winged dragonfly was rescued by Heather. It sat there and tried to dry its wings to fly again.
There were cows on the banks. Really. Right next to some Canadian geese.
And the sunset. We got back to the car as the sun was going down. Just a beautiful day.

The next day we took a hike up Pharaoh Mountain in the Adirondacks. The stats: 12.8 miles round trip over 6 hours, 1,450 foot ascent over the last mile. The forest was old growth, those trees around me really are that big. Some must have been over a hundred years old.
These signs are from the mid-point of the hike. It is a beautiful wilderness and lots of trails to play with. Add to that wonderful weather and it makes a stunning hike.
There was this cool frog on the path...
Not very big I know but cool. The view from the top was incredible, pictures don't do it justice. There are various sides with exposed rock. We took a couple of minutes just to sit and enjoy it. Sal certainly did.
And where we at lunch/dinner on the return.

Climbing higher than I have before

On May 16 I climbed the highest peak and the longest ascent I have done. All in 5 hours. The specs: Rocky Peak Ridge, 4,390 foot peak, 3,100 ascent and 10.8 mile round trip. The peak is bald so the promise of an excellent view was heavy on our minds as you can see:

Rocky Peak Ridge is part of a range which tops with the appropriately named Giant Mountain. This picture is sighted out over the ridge with Giant Mountain looming in the background. If you look closely you can see the boulder. We never got to it but it looked about 15 feet tall if not more. Huge.

Clear skies gave us an incredible view, I am not even sure how far we could even see.
It was an amazing hike. We made amazing time and had a great time. Sal is sleeping upstairs as I type this still recovering from it.

And this was on the side of the road on our way home. The scale: 290 feet. The Adirondacks are amazing.

First kayak fishing, note I didn't say catching...

We may have had to improvise for how to get the kayaks on the car at the same time.

Out on the water on Dead Creek. We were fishing for Bass which obliged by jumping all around us but never biting.
The water was high so I went exploring through the trees. A very enjoyable kayaking and fishing experience. And no, neither of us caught anything.

Hiking a Hurricane

Given it was a weekend we went for a hike up Hurricane Mountain. Located in the Adirondacks, specifically Keene Valley, it rises to 3,694 feet and has a bald peak with a now defunct fire tower. I had put a couple of other pictures up of this hike but this are from Heather's camera. The ascent was very wet and the trail was mainly a waterfall of spring run-off. Sal had to learn how to cross fast water like this:

The view from the top was stunning. It was a cloudy gray day but still...
The marker. I love that it is called Hurricane Mountain. Just an intimidating name.
Sal enjoying the view.
Beavers were at work at the bottom of the trail.

Button Bay Exploration

I did post a couple pictures from this excursion but here are a couple from Heather's camera. There were loons and geese swimming around the point and even got quite close. Sal was interested.

It was hard work to get him to pose on the rock. I like the picture of my attempts far more then the resulting shot.
Sometimes you have to take a load off...
There are shelter there and of course Sal was interested in the one called Dogwood. He was moving fast, I didn't think I actually got a good shot of him.
There are tons of small parks north of Burlington. Lots to explore.

Smuggler's Notch Lite

So if you do read this often enough you might recognize the landscape. This is Smuggler's Notch, right by Stowe. Snow was partially melted and there were waterfalls everywhere.

A cool tree with some posturing.
Heather with backpack and Sal walking past ice waterfalls
It was a beautiful walk.

Maine Trippin'

These are all images we took from a quick visit to Maine to visit Heather's Mom. The first couple are from Moxie Falls. The water was running very high after lots of rain and the spring melt. I don't even know class these rapids would fall under.

This is the falls, and yes there is ice on both sides of the water.

Sal was tired after all of that. It was a good thing give the 5 hour drive.

And for the first time despite driving past it multiple times, here is Mount Washington. It has always been obscured by clouds but that day it was glorious

Just stunning. We will hike that at some point...