Category Archives: Recreation

28 January 2016: Strange Clary Lake Ice Conditions

DSC_0795Ice conditions on Clary Lake this winter are pretty strange and I can’t say as I’ve ever seen anything quite like what is happening this year. Currently there is about 7″ of ice on the lake but due to a combination the falling lake level (it’s fallen about 15″ since freezing up), recent snow, and January thaw temperatures, much of the lake is covered by 2″ to 4″ of water on top of the ice. This results in a slushy mixture which adds considerable weight to the ice, pushing it down and forcing water up through holes and cracks in the ice. I probably wouldn’t have been out on the lake in the first place except I saw my neighbor and a friend out setting ice fishing traps using his snow mobile to haul their gear. I decided to walk out and say hello, which is when I encountered the bubbling “spring” in this video: 

What you’re looking at is lake water bubbling up through 4″ of slush from a 1″ diameter hole in the ice. Very disconcerting.

While the ice seems solid enough, it is disconcerting to say the least to be walking along on what appears to be a solid surface and then suddenly breaking through the crust to find yourself standing in 4″ of water. I would advise you use caution if you plan to venture out on the ice, and make sure to check the thickness frequently. Remember, because the dam’s gate is wide open, there’s a current flowing towards the channel which can result in thin ice in places. You were warned.

17 November 2015: New Clary WebCam added to the site

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Clary_Cam2

We now have a second web camera on Clary Lake! David Hodsdon decided he wanted to set up a web camera on his own shoreline so he bought one and today we got it hooked up and running. It’s identical to mine which made the back-end setup a breeze. The new camera is designated Clary Cam 2 (the original is Clary Cam 1) and it is attached to a tree on the shore about 150′ east of Hodsdon’s Point and it is looking directly towards the State boat launch which bears just about exactly East South East (114° True) from the camera. This means it will be capturing sunrises in the fall and spring as well as the occasional moon rise. Like the original camera, this one uploads a picture to the website every 2 minutes  from 4:00 AM until 9:58 PM every day and 7 days worth of images are stored in an archive that you can peruse with a browser.

I’ve made a new Clary Lake WebCams page that shows both current camera images side by side. You’ll find the page listed under the Pictures navigation menu heading. You can click on the pictures for full sized versions, or you can click on the Camera link at the top of each image and go to that camera’s own page.

Both cameras allow people to login to them to view remote, real-time video. See the individual Camera pages for Clary Cam 1 or Clary Cam 2 for instructions.

01 September 2015: August 2015 water level chart archived

8 waterlevelchart_August2015I’ve archived the August 2015 water level chart (at left), and what a chart it is. One glance and you can see that the water level hardly moved. For the entire month the lake level never rose above -63″ below the top of the dam and on August 7th it reached -65.16″ below the top of the dam, the lowest level I’ve ever recorded. The lake is so low in fact that water is no longer flowing out of the lake into the outlet channel and hasn’t been since early July; there’s a trickle of water flowing through the open gate in the dam but it is coming from ground water and springs in the meadow area. It’s actually been at or below -60″ below the top of the dam since July 10th. This makes it the longest stretch of the lowest water levels we’ve experienced in the last 4 years. It’s gotten almost this low before, but it has never stayed this low for this long.

The low water condition has been exacerbated by the near-drought conditions we’ve experienced so far this year. As of the end of August we had received only 18.88″ of precipitation for the year compared to 32.83″ on this date a year ago. As a result, because the ground is so dry, there has been no absolutely no runoff as the result of what little rain we have received. To make matters worse, because of the topography of the shoreline around lake, when it does rain the lake doesn’t so much get deeper as it does bigger. This then explains how last August 11th and 12th when we received 2.29″ of rain, the lake only came up 1.92″ total. This defies logic, but as those of you who have stuck sticks in the mud on your water front to mark where the water line is can attest, it ain’t moved.

This extended period of excessively low water levels has severely restricted everyone’s use and enjoyment of Clary Lake even more than usual, not to mention the ongoing impact on wildlife habitat, and water quality. There will be consequences.

31 July 2015: Another Lake shore owner complains to DEP

Jane Roy sent an impassioned email to Beth Callahan of the Maine Department of Environmental Protection the other day, and received a response from Ms. Callahan earlier today. Jane promptly posted both emails on the Clary Lake Association’s Facebook page but I thought they were worth re-posting here.

Jane Roy is a daughter of Stanley Whittier, a long time Clary Lake Association member who built his place on the lake way back in 1958. The Whittier property is located on the north shore of Clary Lake at the end of the Duncan Road in an area of the lake which as we know has been badly impacted by both low water and pond weed growth (see post “Duncan Road lake shore owners severely impacted by low water” and “Lake shore owners concerned about invasive aquatic plants“). I tied up at the Whittier’s dock the other day (in about 12” of water!) and spent a while talking with Stanley and his daughter Gail about the upcoming annual meeting, the low water conditions, the status of 80c proceeding in Lincoln County Superior Court, and various initiatives currently underway by the Clary Lake Association.

Before posting Jane’s email and Ms. Callahan’s response, I thought I’d comment briefly on this matter. First, I think Jane’s email was thoughtful and considerate and absolutely appropriate. Second, I felt Ms. Callahan’s response was honest and sincere, but understandably restrained: DEP staff has to be very careful what they say regarding an ongoing 80c proceeding. I’ll be somewhat less restrained and say that it is clear to me that both the Maine DEP and the Attorney General are actively engaged and aggressively pursuing a resolution of this matter in court and I am confident that we will ultimately prevail. So take heart people: it is only a question of when, not if, DEP will initiate aggressive enforcement action against the dam owner. Also, the Clary Lake Association is well aware of the fact that other parties besides DEP can take enforcement action. This and other initiatives will be discussed at tomorrow’s annual meeting.

Here are the emails:

From: Roy, Jane [mailto:Jane-Roy@idexx.com]
Sent: Wednesday, July 29, 2015 4:01 PM
To: Callahan, Beth
Subject: Clary Lake – Please Help Us?

Hi Beth,

I just left you a voice mail at your 446-1586 number.

Please call me and help me understand why nothing has been done to
enforce the Lake Level order. Our Lake is all but gone now.

I cry each time I go to the Lake and watch it disappearing. We all are.
I can’t sit back anymore and simply hope that George Ferguson and
the facts of this case will stand on their own merit. Another Summer
has come a gone with additional losses of acreage each year. In 2012
I sold my Sea Doo and bought a kayak because of this mess. I ran aground
in my kayak in the middle of the lake this year. Is this ok? I think not. Continue reading →

28 July 2015: Duncan road lake shore owners severely impacted by low water

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Duncan Road, north shore. The water level in this picture was 63″ below the top of the dam. Photograph by George Fergusson 28 July 2015

Everyone around the lake has been impacted by the Clary Lake water level crisis to some extent, some more than others depending on the nature of their shoreline. However, it is hard to believe the conditions the people over by Duncan Road on the north shore of the lake have been putting up with going on 4 years now. I had been over that way in my boat a few times earlier this year, but I never got too close to shore because of shallow water. I knew that the lake had receded quite a bit, but I really was not prepared for what I found today when I went over to look around. I drove over, parked, and walked around for almost an hour, taking pictures. It was a beautiful day, high summer in Maine, and not a soul to be seen. Nobody was there. No kids. No dogs. Nobody. And no wonder: it’s not a place anyone wants to hang out any more. Continue reading →

21 July 2015: Lake level reaches a new high in lows

IMG_20150718_184822-2 (Custom)I don’t need to tell anyone that the lake level is low, that much is obvious. However the lake is now lower than anyone has seen it in more than 54 years judging from a picture taken back in the summer of 1961, and that seems like something worth telling people about. On April 21, 2012 the lake fell to a then-record low of -62.53″ but as of the other day, the lake level had fallen even lower than that, to -62.64″ below the top of the dam, where it sits now. I went over to the State boat launch with my camera to take yet another picture of how useless it is and found the water level had fallen off the end of the ramp. Continue reading →

08 July 2015: Lake shore owners concerned about invasive aquatic plants [UPDATED]

Elodea_IMG_20150707_213029 (Custom)Last week I noticed some large and extensive mats of a green pond weed over by my shoreline in about 2′-3′ of water, thick enough to foul my trolling motor and bring my boat to a halt. I collected a sample and identified it as Elodea or American water weed (or Common Pond Weed). I was therefore not particularly surprised when Thomas Gillette showed up at my house yesterday with a shopping bag full of this plant, concerned that Clary Lake might have an invasive plant infestation underway. Thomas told me that Butch Duncan had brought it to him, saying that there were thick mats of it over in the cove on the north side of the lake by Duncan Road.

Hydrilla.inddI reassured Thomas that this was not an invasive species. We’ve had this plant growing in Clary Lake forever but it’s always remained under control. You’d see a few pieces of it wash ashore from time to time or you might see patches of it up in the channel. Recently however, conditions around the lake have become quite conducive to this plant’s rapid growth in areas where it was not found before. Elodea is not a recognized invasive plant species but under the right conditions it can and does become a nuisance, clogging shallow water areas with thick mats of vegetation.  Elodea likes nutrient-rich water down to several meters (5′-7′) in depth, plenty of sunlight, water temperatures between 10° C and 25° C and a soft, silty or muddy bottom where it’s thin wiry roots can get a good foot hold. You won’t find Elodea on a rocky or gravel bottom. With the water level down 5′ and 50% of the volume of the lake gone, conditions around Clary Lake are near perfect for this plant’s growth to explode: the reduced lake volume increases the concentration of nutrients in the water and the lowered lake level allows sunlight to reach down to silty/muddy areas that would normally be under 7′ to 10′ of water where Elodea wouldn’t normally be found, or be able to survive. Now our shallow water areas are a perfect habitat for Elodea.

Continue reading →

28 May 2015: A Black Crappie caught in Clary Lake

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Jack Holland sent me a picture the other day of a full-grown Black Crappie that was caught by 9 year old Eric Richmond in Clary Lake last week. According to his mother Rachael Richmond, they were fishing near the State boat launch and caught the 2 fish in the photo at the same time (the other one is a white perch held by Eric’s sister). They let both fish go.

Jack tells me that he believes his neighbor has caught 2 crappies in the past couple of years so it sounds like there’s a new species of fish in Clary Lake. The Black Crappie aka Calico Bass (Pomoxis nigromaculatus) is a non-native species in Clary Lake meaning it was introduced either intentionally by someone who wanted to supplement the lake fishery or accidentally by an ice fisherman by releasing bait. Both actions are in violation of State law. From the Maine IF&W website:

Adult Size: Sexual maturity is reached between 2 and 4 years of age, at which time crappies may be 6 to 10 inches long. Typical crappie fisheries produce fish between 6 and 11 inches long, although crappies exceeding 14 inches and 3 pounds have been caught in Maine. I think it’s safe to assume there is a breeding population in Clary Lake now.

Black Crappie. Click on the image to go to the IF&W site

Identification: Closely resembling bass and sunfish species, which have 10-12 dorsal fin spines, crappies possess 6-8 dorsal fin spines. Body form is very deep and narrow (laterally compressed). Coloration is silvery-olive to golden brown, with an irregular mosaic of dark black blotches.

Crappies are a popular fish with a lot of people and are supposedly quite good eating. If you catch a crappie in Clary Lake, please let us know. Biologists with the IF&W would like to know too.

 

02 January 2015: Extraordinary skating on Clary Lake, and a word of caution

IMG_4437 (Custom)The ice skating on Clary Lake has been extraordinary this year, and a good many people have taken advantage of the fabulous conditions. This afternoon I was out skating and encountered 4 people from Waldoboro (at left) who’d heard about the excellent skating conditions on Clary and came by to see for themselves. They were suitably impressed. Unfortunately the snow, sleet, and freezing rain storm coming in tonight will likely put an end to skating this winter. Here’s a video I shot this afternoon.

IMG_4421 (Custom)A word of caution: despite the low temperatures, there is still a considerable amount of open water out in the middle of the lake, (see video above) and a few open or mostly open leads around the shore where you wouldn’t expect to see them. This condition is due to a combination of the relatively high water level (2′ below the top of the dam) and a strong current resulting from the dam’s gate being wide open (the lake level is dropping about 1″ per day now). The current flows in a generally straight line from the inlet by the State boat launch passing close by the point at the end of the Duncan Road, to the outlet channel at the northwest end of the lake. The channel itself is ice free as well. The picture at left was taken New Years Day and the open area has gotten considerably larger since then.

This condition has occurred several times in the past few years. These open areas will probably fill with slush from the coming storm and skim over without getting really solid. Snowmobilers and skiers beware: if you don’t know where the safe ice is, you’d best stay close to shore or off the lake altogether.

xDSC_5451I’ve also posted a few pictures in the Winter 2015 photo album that Tony Marple sent me yesterday, including this one at left that almost could have been taken on a calm summer day. The clouds reflected on the ice show just how smooth it really is. Thank you Tony.

01 January 2015: Ice Skating

Clary Cam - 2015-01-01 08.39.15A couple of skaters cruised by the Clary webcam this morning. It’s a chilly 17° out there making for some “hard” ice but fortunately there’s no wind. I’m going to head out myself in a few minutes and give it a whirl. The ice looks pretty good for the most part, but there appears to still be some open water over on the north shore out in front of the Duncan and Enos properties so if you head out skating, beware.

Incidentally, I’ve added a Winter 2015 photo album.

04 October 2014: Who says the State boat launch is unusable?

IMG_4337 (Custom)Jack Holland called me earlier today and told me to get over to the boat launch and bring a camera. I didn’t stop to ask questions, I just dashed off. Well, the scene I encountered when I arrived there a few minutes later defied comprehension (see picture upper left). Nonplussed, I decided to just shoot first and ask questions later (you’ll find them in the new Fall 2014 gallery). I also decided to shoot a couple of videos. The first one shows them hauling the Cat loader out of the muck:

I was surprised and impressed those 2 trucks managed to drag that loader out, I’m pretty sure it weighed more than both trucks put together. Then with the loader out of the way, they were able to address the pickup truck problem:

I guess this situation would be funny if it weren’t so tragic. Backing your truck into the lake to get your boat because there isn’t enough water at the end of the ramp was not a great idea, getting stuck was virtually guaranteed. Getting the Cat loader stuck was inevitable once the (bad) decision was made to drive that into the lake to pull out the truck. Then they called dad.

These kids were fortunate really, nobody injured, nothing lost but face. Oh. And a broken drive shaft. And a tow rope. They stirred up a plume of clay sediment (visible in the above video) that will take a while to settle out and they’ve left some ruts in the lake bottom that will be there for years to come, but to put things in perspective, really, the environmental impact of their silly escapade is inconsequential in comparison to that being visited on Clary Lake by the dam owner himself, and through their inaction, the Department of Environmental Protection. Kids will be kids. While it is easy to be critical of their behavior, I can remember doing some pretty stupid things myself when I was young. Nothing like this of course.

02 October 2014: Another lake shore owner writes State

Another impassioned email this one from Clary Lake shore owner Rick Gallion, confounded by the low water conditions and the apparent lack of any enforcement action being taken against the dam owner by the Department of Environmental Protection. We know from Beth Callahan’s response to Jean McWilliam’s letter from the other day that the State has decided to hold off on enforcement action against dam owner Pleasant Pond Mill LLC pending the outcome of currently ongoing mediation. While this approach is somewhat understandable, it doesn’t make the situation out here on the water any easier to take.

September 30, 2014

Beth,

     I wanted to alert you as to the seriousness of the low lake level of Clary Lake.  Last weekend I  only managed to get my small sailboat out of the lake with great Gallion01difficulty, and possibly some damage because, as you can see, the level of the lake at the public boat launch is extremely low.  A fisherman behind me had difficulty even getting his shallow draft, metal hulled fishing boat out.  In the photo of the grassland with the lake in the distance, the water is usually nearly up to the photographer, and the wetland is teeming with wildlife.

     There was a family at the boat launch and the children were trying to swim.  One of them asked his mom “Where’s the water”.  On a day as nice as it was that Sunday, there would usually be several family groups there enjoying the lake.

      My wife and I own the Clary Lake Bed and Breakfast in Jefferson, very near the lake. Our business has suffered the last several years because people have stopped Gallion03coming to visit families and friends who have camps on the lake.  I have been unable to use my sailboat because the level is so low throughout the lake.  I only put it in this year so that I could give my nephew from Kansas a sailing lesson, but I was very limited on where I could sail, and I won’t be able to use it until the lake level is restored.

     I know that you and your department have been working very diligently on a lake level order for Clary Lake, and I do appreciate your efforts.   I also know that Gallion02the owner of the property that the dam is on continues to find new and different ways to delay and impede the process.  My hope is only to remind you and your department of the negative effects that the mismanagement of the Clary Lake dam has had and continues to have on real people, in hopes that it may encourage you to make every effort to expedite the process, so that Clary Lake will once again be a fine recreation destination for the area, and the state.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Rick Gallion
Clary Lake B&B
777 Gardiner Road
Jefferson, ME 04348
207 549-5961

 

24 September 2014: Pemaquid Paddlers descend on Clary Lake

img_3875-customThe Pemaquid Paddlers did indeed show up at Clary Lake this morning; I stopped by the boat launch a little before 9 am to watch them gear up and take off. There were 14 kayaks in all, all different, several of which were tandem boats with 2 people in them. The weather was COLD and blustery with a strong north wind blowing down the length of the lake. A number of the paddlers were wearing shorts; it was NOT a time or place for shorts as far as I was concerned!

img_3865-customI talked to a number of the paddlers; some of them had been to Clary Lake before and many were aware of the water level crisis taking place. One had been partway down the channel earlier this summer and they were concerned that they wouldn’t be able to navigate the channel all the way to the dam because of low water and thick weeds. They were right: the paddlers turned back after reaching the end of the lake and didn’t even venture into the channel at all.

I’ve added a half dozen or so pictures of the Pemaquid Paddlers to the new Fall 2013 Photo Album.

21 September 2013: Pemaquid Paddlers follow the call of the loons on Clary Lake

canoeHere’s an interesting news item. I got home this morning to find a page from the September 19th issue of the Lincoln County News sitting on my dining room table with a short news item on page 11A highlighted for my attention. Apparently the Pemaquid Paddlers (never heard of them before) are planning to descend on Clary Lake next week. I have no idea how or why they selected Clary Lake for their loon-commune experience or how many paddlers they’re expecting, or for that matter whether they’re aware of the low water conditions they’ll encounter in the channel- or the drained wetlands:

Pemaquid Paddlers follow the call of the loons on Clary Lake

On Tuesday morning, Sept. 24, the Pemaquid Paddlers will mingle with the loons and other wildlife on Clary Lake, a great pond of almost 680 acres straddling Whitefield and Jefferson. Continue reading →

06 July 2013: Weekend Update, Findings, KML fun, etc.

eyesI hope everyone has been enjoying the hot weather we’ve been getting. I for one am grateful for living close enough to the lake that I can just throw myself in the water to cool off whenever I feel like it, and I’ve been feeling like it quite a bit. It’s hard for me to imagine how people can survive in the city in this kind of heat. We’re fortunate to have received so much rain lately, some of those afternoon thunderstorms have been some real splashers. While they haven’t done much to cool the air off, it’s been enough to largely offset the falling lake level. In the first 6 days of this month we’ve received almost 1″ of rain.

Tomorrow afternoon I’m heading up to the Branch Pond Association annual meeting to talk to them about the water level petition process. Their public hearing is scheduled for August 23rd. On the off-chance anyone wants to go with me, I’ll be leaving about 1 PM. Give me a call.

When I haven’t been floating in my tube this past week I’ve been sitting at my computer working on my Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, the deadline for submission of which is 5 PM this coming Monday afternoon. I’m in good shape and expect to get them submitted sometime around mid-day so I can take the rest of the afternoon off and float in my tube. I’ll post them here and send around a Petition Update after I’ve submitted them.

Continue reading →

15 June 2013: Landmark day, I finally built a dock

new_dockI finally got around to building a dock today, down on my shoreline. In years past I’ve had floats off shore but I’ve never had a dock on legs. It’s designed so that as the water level varies I can just pick it up and move it in or out. It’s not for tying my boat up to, I’ve already got one of those over at the farm house. This is for sitting on, drinking coffee on, reading on, napping on, fishing from, and swimming off of, and anything else that involves not really doing anything. It’s (currently) deep enough to dive off the end of it if you dive shallow. If you see someone sitting on it, swing by and say hello.

18 May 2013: Fun and games launching boats

launching_boatI stopped by the State boat launch this morning to see what was going on. As I was arriving some folks were getting ready to leave, having given up on trying to get their boat in the lake. Understandable given that there are rocks sticking out of the water 20′ off the end of the ramp. They had a standard fiberglass bass boat- not a chance they could have gotten it off the trailer no matter how far they backed it in. Then a pickup pulled in hauling a 14″ aluminum boat about the size of mine; even with the trailer backed in off the end of the ramp the boat wasn’t touching the water. Only brute strength and sheer determination succeeded in them getting their boat in the water.

Later in the afternoon I decided to take my boat out for a spin, it has been a while and the water had receded quite a bit from my little dry-dock slip and I had trouble getting it into the water. Finally got her launched and was tootling across the lake when I noticed some people over at Art Enos’s place trying to get their boat in the water. They had a typical bass boat, fiberglass with a big motor and they were having trouble. They finally succeeded by backing into the water fast and then hitting the brakes; each time they did this, the boat slid a little further off the trailer. After 3 such attempts the boat finally floated free. Not what you call a convenient way to launch a boat… and they’re lucky they didn’t get their SUV stuck in the mud. Wish I’d had my camera….

19 April 2013: Launched my boat today, which I am naming the “Peggy Ann”

This was going to be a post about my thoughts regarding Paul Kelley’s comments to Heather Parent which he submitted earlier this week, but I couldn’t think of anything I wanted to say. Maybe I will later, maybe I won’t. So right now I’ll talk about launching my boat.

Peggy Ann is the name my wife’s mother and most of her friends and relatives call her. I call her Margaret. Margaret is a wonderful name for a wife I think, but a lousy name for a boat don’t you agree?

boat_launching01Today seemed like the day to do it, it was warm enough and the wind and weather was right and sounded like it wouldn’t be very good again for a while. I’ve been ready to go for the past week (last year I put in on the 21st of  March). It took two of us pushing/lifting on the boat and one person standing in the back of it to get it off the trailer and into the water as there wasn’t even close to enough water to float it off. Thank goodness it’s a relatively light aluminum boat with a small motor. If it was a heavier fiberglass boat with a big motor, it would have been a lot more difficult. The State designed the ramp to require a minimum of 2.3′ of water over the foot of it but today there was only about 1.7″ of water over the end of it. I didn’t take any pictures but it must have looked a lot like this one at left though today the water was about a foot higher than in the picture. Now that it’s boating season again I will start including the “water over the foot of the ramp” data to the water level chart.

Also planning on putting thegeorge_and_leo_sailing Hobie Cat in the lake this year even though low water will make it risky to sail (it’s hairy enough as it is to sail it without having to worry about hitting rocks at 20 knots). But I figure I know where the ledges, shoals, and rocks are and I’m not going to let Paul Kelley and his low water regime rob me of another summer of sailing. We’ll be putting it in sometime in mid to late May, as soon as the water warms up a bit more and I can get a mooring set.