My mother had chronic RA when my siblings and I were growing up in a N.J. suburb. My grandparents had lake property in the Adirondack Mountains of NY state. My mother felt compelled to send two of her children to summer camp. I began when I was 8 years of age. The camp my sister and I happened to be at for 8 glorious summers was on Third Lake. Our summer home was on Second Lake with a long winding inlet in between. Each year, several of us were selected to participate in a three day canoe excursion up the Upper Hudson River. It began by taking the lake inlet, which led us to Second Lake. From there, we would portage to the Upper Hudson River. I recall how small the river appeared compared to lower Hudson River which surrounded Manhattan Island. Each canoe had supplies; water, chapped stick, towels and Hershey Chocolate bars and NO sunscreen! After all, this was the 1950’s. We paddled furiously, depending on the current for several hours each day. At night, we had designated camp sites where we slept under the stars. Our food was delivered by truck. Although the camp had us engage vigorously in sports, the catering became the premier highlight of our trip. There were never any serious accidents, just beauty all around. The continuous melodic water, the paddles dipping into the next stroke, the laughter sprinkled with a few paddle water splashes at one another, the bow person keeping watch for rocks in shallow water, the beauty of the evergreen trees which graced the banks of the river, and of course, the serenity.
My love for the water, be it lakes, oceans and rivers began when I was very young and continues to enrapture me. My days on the rivers are far from over. I have explored the Colorado River, the Wailua River on the island of Kauai, many rivers meandering on the Olympic Peninsula, San Juan River, and most intrigued to paddle sections of the Rio Grande River. Loved flipping the canoe over and then back upright to paddle with our hands. My favorite hiding spot was when the canoe was beached and upside down! Bless our clean rivers!