Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Too much rain

What happens when it just keeps raining?  If you guessed that the water level in Lake Harriman just keeps rising, you're right!  In fact, due to the really significant amounts of rain in the entire Northeast, there are nice tinkly little waterfalls in places there never were waterfalls before.  And they are all feeding into the lake.

Last weekend, although the weather was good, the lake was cold - really cold, 61 degrees Fahrenheit, in fact.  That's fully 10 degrees cooler than it was even two weeks ago.  Refreshing is the right word, when I'm trying to be polite.  (Sometimes I'm not so polite.  This is, after all, June.)

But worse, the water level is at historical highs.  It was quite disappointing to see a number of people come by, only to find no place to set up at all, and give up.  I don't think I've ever seen that happen before.  Some people are happy to squeeze in to what space there is, but others prefer a bit more privacy, and they just aren't going to get it for a while.

It looks, though, like the pattern of the last month is finally breaking.  We'll know, I guess, when we go even a couple of days without significant rainfall.  Weather looks reasonable for the upcoming weekend - summery humidity levels, with some chance of thundershowers but nothing unusual.  We'll just have to see.

At least TransCanada seems to realize this year that they have more water than they can possibly use for power generation, and they've started to draw down the water level at a modest rate already, even though there's not any demand to speak of for peak electricity yet.  Perhaps by July 4 the main ledge will be open again.

Monday, June 3, 2013

Hot weekend, great start to the season

After a really lousy Memorial Day (some places got snow, no kidding), the weekend of June 1st was hot, humid, and very sunny.  Water level was up significantly due to the previous week's downpours, but not as high as I feared.  Further good news - it was definitely warm enough to swim.

It was entertaining to be asked if it was safe to jump from the rope swing.   I always patiently explain to people that early in the season jumping and diving is fine - it's just later, when the water has gone down fifteen feet, that there may not be as much clearance as one would like.  If in doubt, ask a local.  Right now, though, you can jump/dive safely from either the ledge with the rope swing, or the high rock with the lone spruce tree (provided, of course, that you aim for deep water and away from the ledge).

People turned out in surprising numbers, and there were a few newcomers mingled with the familiar faces.  Lots of news traded hands too - personal, some of it, but some of interest to the broader naturist community - specifically that Lighthouse Beach on Long Island has been closed to nudists.  This is blamed on Hurricane Sandy, but most people who used to go there think it has a lot more to do with a certain head ranger who is new and doesn't approve of nudity in general.  Not sure what exactly will happen - but people from that part of the world are understandably upset by the turn of events.

I'll definitely be by again this coming weekend.  While it may be rainy Saturday morning, there's a good chance at the time of this writing that Saturday afternoon will be decent.  And Sunday looks great.  In the immortal words of Jack Lord: Be there.  Aloha!