Grandkids on the Lake
There were a lot of rainy days last week, which reduced usage on our hiking trails a bit. On the bright side, the wet weather in June has been good for mushrooms and berries. Quite a few yellow chanterelle mushrooms, wild strawberries, and some red raspberries are beginning to appear. I have also been harvesting cattail spikes and had a nice dinner last night of sauteed chanterelles, onions, peppers and garlic with ground venison served on top of fresh pasta from the farmers market, accompanied by boiled cattail spikes.
During breaks in the weather, the boat ramps were busy as family groups sought shelter in the lakes, fishing, swimming, tubing, etc. As the water in the lakes has been warming, the trout are heading for deeper, colder water and the warmer shallow areas are being taken over by spawning sunfish and kids of all ages, including lots of grandkids.
Dick and Sue Greenan had their son, Jason, visiting with his family, including their grandsons, Sean (11) and Ben (17). The kids did a lot of water skiing and wakeboarding out in the deep water, well away from where the loons are beginning to raise their newly hatched chicks. Dick provided pictures of the loons and his grandkids.
Not long ago, I took my grandson, Bayard, out trolling for a bit, along with his parents. He hooked an energetic, long pond smallie that jumped and spat the hook just before I netted the fish. The photo below was taken by his mom, standing behind him. I’m just out of the picture to the left, holding the landing net. My grandson is coming up again next week and hopefully we’ll be back out to get the one that got away!
This area offers some great outdoor recreation, whether you like to hike, bike, birdwatch, fish, sail, or paddle a canoe or kayak. I encourage all parents and grandparents to take advantage of opportunities to get your kids and grandkids (or even parents and grandparents) out on the lake for fishing or swimming or up in the hills for some hiking. Pick up a map of the local trails at Day’s Store or from the 7LA at the Maine Lakes Resource Center (MLRC). You can also down maps for individual trails from the 7- Lakes website. Also, please check the 7LA site for details on upcoming interesting events scheduled this summer and watch the sign in front of the MLRC as events are added. And make sure to take a kid along on your next outdoor adventure!
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