Dillon Park

I have probably said this before, and I'll probably say it many more times in my life. There is no better place to be on the planet then the Adirondacks in the Fall. OK, so that is a pretty bold statement. Maybe I should say there is no better place that I would rather be then the ADK's in the Fall. This September certainly proved this to me.

I got a chance to camp this year with Dom and Ken in a great place, John Dillon Park. Dillon Park is owned by International Paper and managed by Paul Smiths College. It is unique. And I mean unique. It is one of a kind. It is the only place in the country that we know of, and that the staff at the park know of, that is a park for folks with disabilities. ALL the paths are 10% or less grade. That means you can use a wheelchair or scooter. They have lean-tos with ramps. All the outhouses are handicap accessible (and have composting toilets). They have large battery trailers they can bring to your campsite to recharge your wheelchair that is charged by two large solar panels in the parking lot. And the lean-tos, they aren't just ones you drive up to. Ours was about an 8 minute walk. The park is on Grampus Lake, which they have an accessible fishing dock and boat launch (though these were taken in for the year because we were there the last weekend of the year.)

So, with such a special place, we were all able to enjoy it. The weather was perfect. The place was perfect. The fishing could have been better, but it was fun. The food lockers were great, didn't have to hang a bear bag. Composting toilets...come on, that's awesome. No bugs in September...can't beat that. It was an amazing trip, and I hope we can go back again when they finish the trail that goes even further into the wilderness to two more lean-tos on Hansome Lake. Incredible.

Montezuma Wrap-Up

Well, this of course is a late report, sorry about that Marylee. But I wanted to thank everyone who made a pledge to our team. I still don't have a final total, but I think we will come in around the $500 mark again this year. Special thanks to our sponsor this year Micron Industries.

We succeeded in our goal, which was to come in ahead of the youth teams this year, especially the youth girls, which we dubbed the "Girl Scouts." They are probably not scouts, but last year we didn't beat them, so this year our goal was not be be beaten by a bunch of teenage girls. We didn't beat them by much, but we came in at 82 bird species, and that was up about ten bird species from last year. The top team saw 140 birds.

What is really more important to us is that we had fun. And we really did. Special kudos to Amy who competed despite having a broken foot. She is a real trooper, and probably still spotted more birds from the front of the car then the rest of us combined.

Some real memorable birds were an early morning pheasant that Dick spotted first, flocks of Bald Eagles, Bard Owls calling into the morning, and my first look at a Bobolink.

Thanks again for supporting the Mottled Mucks in our yearly adventure. You can read the full report of the Muckrace here.