WARNING: locker room humor follows…

• Rock Hudson – a putt that looked straight, but wasn’t.
• Saddam Hussein – from one bunker into another.
• Yasser Arafat – butt-ugly and in the sand.
• John Kennedy Jr. – didn’t quite make it over the water.
• Rodney King – over-clubbed.
• O.J. – got away with one.
• Princess Grace – should have used a driver.
• Princess Di – shouldn’t have used a driver.
• Condom – safe, but didn’t feel very good.
• Brazilian – shaved the hole.
• Rush Limbaugh – way to the right and out of bounds.
• Keith Olbermann – see above, but for lefties.
• James Joyce – a putt that’s impossible to read.
• Ted Kennedy – goes in the water and jumps out.
• Pee Wee Herman – too much wrist.
• Sonny Bono – straight into the trees.
• Paris Hilton – a very expensive hole.
• Tiger Woods – wrong hole.
• Dubya – wrong course.

Meals were served at the main lodge; they provided a rather nice breakfast and a four-course dinner each day, as well as a sack lunch for you to take on your day’s adventure.

(You can click any image for a larger version.)

The Main Lodge

The lodge also has several (kind of small) rooms where you can stay if you don’t want to spring for a cabin.

We rented one of the several cabins available. Since there were only three of us we went for one of the smaller ones, that they call “Big Tom.” Here’s how it looks standing with your back to the lake:

Big Tom Cabin

The view from the front porch is simply spectacular:

Lake View from the Cabin

Being among the High Peaks meant the sun peeked late over the mountain tops, and if you were up to see it the first light would illuminate a morning mist that soon burned off:

Morning Mist

Sunset also came early, as the sun dipped back behind the western peaks:

Sunset on the Lake

The lake and its surroundings are, of course, home to an abundance of wildlife, including several loons (our favorite):

Loon on the Lake

They were often difficult to approach but, if you were especially quiet, you could sometimes drift fairly close before they would dive under and vanish.

From a vantage point in one of the many Adirondack chairs near the dock area, again if you were quiet, one of the numerous local chipmunks or red squirrels might come up close to see what’s what.

The Ubiquitous Adirondack Chair

Curious Squirrel

A short walk along the lake shore is certain to turn up other local denizens, like this rather large bullfrog who could always be found somewhere in the reeds not far from the dock area:

Fly's Bane

The private preserve around Elk Lake plays host to many miles of trails, from the easy to the somewhat challenging (I’ll post up a scan of the trail map when I’ve had time to get it ready). On our first half-day there we took a 2.5 mile warm-up down to an area called (for reasons that I’m sure are obvious) Duck Hole, and then back. For our first full day we took on an eight mile jaunt down to a smaller body of water named Clear Pond, then climbed to the summit of Clear Pond Mountain (not terribly steep), and then around the pond before returning.

My brother-in-law & I at the summit of Clear Pond Mountain. I'm wearing green.

Clear Pond, as seen from the summit. That's Elk lake in the background.

On our last full day we decided to try the hike completely around Elk Lake. By adding in side trips to each of the four landings marked around the lake’s perimeter we tallied up ten miles–not bad considering until this trip we’d not hiked all year! With a stop for lunch and several rest breaks (including at the landings) the hike lasted just over seven hours, and was a blast!

Elk Lake is private, completely surrounded by land owned by the interests that also run the lodge. One of the greatest effects of that privacy is a ban on motorized boats; we place a huge premium on peace & quiet, which that ban provides in abundance. Guests are invited to use any of the several canoes and rowboats provided, and we made a point to avail ourselves of a canoe as the mood took us.

Returning to the Landing

All in all it was a wonderful vacation! Again, thanks go out to my brother-in-law for doing such a great job capturing things on “film.”

So, to give credit where it’s due I followed the link at the bottom of the image, did a little searching, and found the original posting here.

While you’re at it, check out more of the Shoebox Blog, it’s pretty damned funny!

I’m given to understand his name is Pink.

Afterward his wife hosted us all at a local establishment with a very nice buffet and an open bar. As one might expect from a lifetime where golf played a major role, a large percentage of us represented his golfing mates, especially the “underground league” he and his friend Chris set up and ran every year. It was called “Fleppert,” a contraction of Chris’ and Jerry’s last names.

What prompted me to post this was a photo of our table that Chris sent to me tonight. We represented the hard core of the Fleppert gang, and stayed the longest and probably partied the hardest–Jerry wouldn’t have had it any other way. Here we are, as captured on camera by Jerry’s sister, offering one of many toasts to his memory:

The core of the Fleppert League. The brew is Sam Adams.

I should add a little thumbnail of those present. Paul and Chris were among Jerry’s closest friends, and co-conspirators in creating Fleppert. BJ literally grew up around Jerry, as some of his earliest memories are of Jerry coming over for visits when he was a small child. Mike the Neighbor lived next door to Jerry for the last few years of his life, and was both an ad hoc drinking buddy and the one who stepped up to handle a lot of the physical tasks around the house when Jerry became too weak. When we gathered to decorate the large evergreen tree outside Jerry’s house for Xmas 2009 it was Mike who got us the mobile cherry-picker so we could reach the high spots. Spinny & Anne are, of course, yours truly and my lovely wife (who had no trouble holding her own among this motley group of guys). Joe is my partner in “that other golf league” that Jerry & Chris split from when they formed Fleppert, and a frequent Fleppert attendee. Last, but not least, Jim is Anne’s brother, a solid Fleppert regular and one of Jerry’s long-time friends.

Although we shall always miss Jerry, our gathering that day went a long way toward giving me closure and in helping me let go and move on. He’ll still always be there with us, though, every time we tee one up or hoist one high.

Fare well, Jerry.

Spinny'd up in Blue

I just know that on Pandora they’d have good taste in beer–don’t you?