By
Spider
Rybaak
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| Kayaking the Salmon River in Redfield. |
The
nicest thing about severe winters like the one we just had is the pay back feels
so good. Last weekend, Oswego County finally saw some global warming, with
temperatures soaring into the high 70s, and folks stepped outdoors in droves to
break their cabin fever. The Salmon River Reservoir saw loads of the weary gather
on its banks to usher in spring by watching winter cry itself away.
While
the Mad River, and both branches of the Salmon were too high and cold for average
anglers to even think of fishing, their tributaries and the smaller creeks
pouring into the reservoir were much more manageable. The water was so frigid,
however, the fish weren’t into chasing after the bait, so you had to bump their
noses with a garden worm to get them to hit. With all the run-off, that was
kind’a hard and everyone interviewed for this story admitted to getting
skunked.
Still,
the mood was upbeat. “That leaves more for next month, when the brooks and
rivers will not only be easier to get to, they’ll be easier to fish,” predicted
Joe, a Pulaski native who wouldn’t divulge his last name.
A lot of
bottom anglers tried their luck at the mouth of the Salmon River in Redfield.
Fishing off the south bank, just below the County Route 17 bridge, they didn’t
catch dinner, but were treated to spectacular natural scenes like glacier-sized
floes sweeping downstream, the dalliance of bald eagles, and kayakers.
The channel
below the public fishing access site’s platform at the northern County Rte. 17
bridge was mostly iced over and unfishable. However, several groups came to do
everything from catch rays and play frisbie to relax in the fishing platform’s
comfortable seats and take in the sounds and sights of the ice’s death throes.
A couple
deer came around, too. They were just as surprised to see all the people as we
were to see them, and bolted, jumping onto the spongy ice in their bid to reach
the woods on the north shore. It held. But a couple spots of open water stood
between them and the bank.
The lead
deer jumped into the first opening, and the smaller one followed. Swimming over
to the edge of the ice on the other side, the bigger doe struggled to get a
toe-hold. Everyone feared the worst. A loud, collective sigh of despair swept
over the reservoir.
Somehow,
the struggling pair managed to climb onto the floe, slipped and slid their way
across the porous ice, jumped into the second opening, and climbed out
again. Reaching the other side, they
disappeared into the trees.
We hit County
Rte 2. The woods along the road were blanketed
in snow.
Turning
onto Dam Road, we headed for Salmon River Falls. Ice sculptures chiseled out of
the snowbanks by the warm breeze lined the way. Susan decided to strike off for
what would probably be her last jaunt through snowy woods this season. She
thrilled in snowshoeing with just the shirt on her back.
The Salmon
River Falls drew even larger crowds. The parking lot was full. But that didn’t
matter because the trees were bare, and the awesome power of this magnificent
cataract was easily visible from the road.
And there’s
more. Although Monday’s warm weather whittled away at the ice and snow, the
evening’s freezing temperatures, followed by Tuesday’s snow, sculpted the
northeastern edge of Oswego County into a fresh winter wonderland.
It won’t
last, however, probably not much past Easter, so get out there and enjoy while
you can.
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| Susan Rybaak last-chance snowshoeing at the Dam Road. |
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| Deer heading for the Upper Reservoir's north shore. |
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| Making it to the other side. |
