My wife spotted these guys on a hike in a local preserve and suggested I park myself in the woods to get a couple of shots of them. Unfortunately, I was at the limits of my camera lens, so the quality is not the best. Fun to watch though… Now, if I could just afford a $8k lens, I could do a lot better!
Where’s Mom?
Feeding the little ones…
Each year, it seems that I am somehow involved in the Schuylkill Sojourn, an event organized and managed by the Schuylkill River Heritage Area/Greenway Association. It is always well-organized and subsequently a lot of fun for the participants, whether they be day trippers or in for the full 112 mile 7-day event. It seems that I always excitedly anticipate the event and am pretty energized the first few days, but, depending on my role, look forward to the arrival in Philadelphia signaling the end of the event. Just a lot of activity and I am always trying my best to fulfill commitments.
Kelly’s Rapids – Reading, PA
This year, although my numbers may be a bit off, the entire trip was sold out with about 65 folks signing up for the entire trip and an average of about 110 folks on the water each day, more or less. Canoe Susquehanna, the on-water guides for the event do an exceptional job. No less admirable, the phenomenal job done by the Greenway staff to keep things organized, meals served, porta-potties in place and a myriad of other details. With the details managed, all the participants need to do is show up, follow a few simple directions and paddle the daily mileage as specified to succeed. Some paddling on flat water and some a bit more exciting, but always safe. I think that everyone, no matter the skill level, got their money’s worth on this trip!
Bots Gather for Aerial Shot
This year, I volunteered my limited skills as a photographer for the event and had a lot of fun documenting the activities. Had some great shots and a lot more missed opportunities for the same. For me, the job of photographing, processing and posting all of the photos was a bit overwhelming – a learning experience. I came away form it with a lot more respect for those folks who do this for a living – something I could only aspire to. Trying to capture interesting photographs while the subjects and background constantly shift, exposures change and water/sky combinations baffle the most complex digital imaging systems is a challenge. There are many variables to respond to, any one of which can cause a photograph to end up in the digital trash can. Great experience though.
Now, I am waiting for the deluge of requests for specific images (digital or paper) from the participants – not quite organized enough to respond to them.
In any case, a great event and always worth the time to participate no matter the role. If you get a chance, give it a try next year – but sign-up early as the spots fill up fast!
To see more pictures of the event, please visit the photo site by clicking HERE.
Had the chance to get the new canoe (Wenonah Wilderness) out for a bit of a paddle in preparation for the upcoming Schuylkill Sojourn. Well, after hundreds of hours in a kayak, actually maybe thousands of hours, I felt like a real amateur in a canoe. The Perkiomen is not the easiest place for a first time paddle either. Shallow, rocky and many, many portages. Seems like I spent more time walking the canoe than paddling.
After about 2 ½ hours on the water I had only traveled about 4 miles down this rocky creek. I was probably a bit more conservative than I needed to be, but didn’t want to leave kevlar on all of the rocks in the creek. Might have been better off in a Royalex material, would have cared 
much less about damage… My intent was to get some time coordinating paddling, navigating while simultaneously taking some photos, and this little jaunt was good experience and prep for my upcoming photo mission.
In any case, was a nice day and for the 1st time in a long while, I was focused on peddling and my surrounding rather than work and other things that tend to fill my mind. I did drift mentally a few times and one of them ended up with me in the water and the canoe floating away. Not a big deal in 12″ of water, but taught me a lesson.
Common Merganser
Saw lots of wildlife including deer, mergansers, egrets and even what I thought was an otter or large weasel. Are there otters on the Perkiomen? I wouldn’t have believed it! Unfortunately, didn’t get a lot of good photos as I kept the camera in the waterproof case and could not get it out in time for many of them.
Lots of activity on the Perkiomen Trail, being a nice Saturday morning and all. People sure stared at me, some fool dragging a canoe down about 3″ of water in the middle of the creek. Overall, a pleasant morning, good exercise and learned a bit of respect for the handling of a canoe in moving water, not as easy as I thought.
Not a very exciting blog entry, but felt like rambling a bit about a little trip to Maine on the bike. I forgot how much I enjoy blogging, so until something more exciting comes along….
I have been itching to get on the road again with the bike (Sally) and found my excuse this weekend. Had some maintenance to do on the house in Maine and scheduled contractors to be there Friday (June 7). Just so happened that my route took me a few miles from Max’s BMW in CT where a few BMW Sertaos were sitting, just dying to be ridden… Hmmm… hard to resist. Following the Liberty visit, I am scheduled to head up to a photo session with Mark Picard in Baxter State Park. Hope to get some pointers on capturing a moose or two on film… errr… digital image… Stay tuned for some images from the trek.
Sooo… Headed out early Thursday morning, staying as far ahead of Hurricane Andrea as I could. Seems like every time I head north on the bike I am either heading away from a hurricane or into a nor’easter. Made it to Max’s in CT by about 11am and took the Sertao for a ride. Wow! What fun! About 150# lighter than the GSA and much more responsive. The single cylinder, “thumper” engine was much smoother than I expected. Had a hard time keeping the front end on the ground up some of the steep climbs – really enjoyed it. Much lighter (obviously) and did well on the twisties.
Guess the question now is why do I need another motorcycle? Beside the desire to do the Pine Barrens 300 mile tour this Fall, I guess I really don’t. Not sure what I’ll decide, but I can always rationalize the 75 mpg, lighter weight and FUN!!
From Max’s, headed up to our house in Liberty Maine and got there just about dark. Always feels good to get there, but as usual, I was a bit overwhelmed with all of the maintenance that needed to be done on the place. Hopefully someday I will get to sit back an enjoy it rather than seeing it as another bunch of items on the ever-too-long todo list…
Cargil Pond From Our Dock
After the contractors left, I still had a good bit of the afternoon and decided to take a paddle on Cargil Pond to visit my furry friends at the other end of the lake. Last year, I surprised this father beaver as he was busy building the house for the winter – wanted to stop by and see how the family was doing.
Beaver Tail Slap
Not very good pictures, but I was kind of surprised myself. For those unfamiliar, beavers will slap the water with their tail to warn others of danger. This is a shot from last Fall when I surprised this guy. Don’t think he was very happy. The family has been busy and I am assuming there must be a few little ones in the house by now…
Spent a nice relaxing morning Saturday waiting for the rain to stop. Funny how hard it is to relax when the pace slows. I think it takes me a week or so to bring the pace down to normal – am working hard at it. Well, intended to run into town and fill up with gas and pick-up a few things, but the soaked and soft ground had other plans for me. Spend a couple of hours getting stuck and unstuck trying to get Sally out of the lower level garage and up to the road. My worn TKC 80 tires just didn’t do the trick. FIrst time I ever got stuck- and alone… Had visions of spending the rest of the month stuck in Maine – wold be tough to explain this to clients….
Dirty Sally
Unloaded the bike, found a new path on more solid ground on on the 3rd attempt, managed to get up to the driveway and ready to go. Whew!!! Now I really know why I need the Sertao! Could have just pushed it up the hill! (at least that is what I am telling myself). Well, at least Sally looks like a true Adventure Bike…
Ran into Belfast for lunch and to check out the marina. Lots of artsy fartsy stuff going on – but very nice. The bike, muddy as it was, really attracted attention. Must have had 3-4 folks come up to me asking where I was from, going and just checking out the bike. One old fellow chatted with me for about 10 minutes until his wife started yelling at him to get moving. I could tell he would have loved to jump on and go for a ride….
Now prepping for the the trek to Millinocket tomorrow morning. Should be a nice 3 hour ride up to moose country. Should be there soon enough to get out and take some photos. Meeting Mark and Anita at 5am on Monday for a full day of photography. Then heading home – 12 hrs of riding. Probably stay in Portland, ME and head home Tuesday. Return to reality….