We left Clayton mid morning after getting one more load of wash done and engines checked. We will go only a short distance to explore 4-5 of the a Thousand Islands just north of Clayton. Plan to anchor and launch the dinghy to do some up close exploring.
On our short trip today we pass Pine, Chapman, Bluff, Maple and Round Island. All of these island are less than a half mile in length except Round Island.
Round Island is just a quarter mile off the New York shore line and is has many more cottages on its shore. This island also had the first large hotel, the Frontenac, built in 1878 with major renovation made in 1888. In 1898, Charles Emery, tobacco magnate and owner of nearby Calumet Island purchased the hotel and would add on a larger kitchen, a ballroom and dining hall to make Frontenac into the grandest hotel found anywhere outside the largest cities. The hotel also boasted tennis courts, billiards and bowling rooms, and ornate lobby. Unfortunately, in 1911 the hotel burned to the ground and was never replaced.
We anchored in a cove off Picton Island and ate lunch. Picton is a private island so we cannot go ashore. Once the wind dies down a bit, we will go explore the smaller islands and the NY State Park on nearby Wellesley Island.
Launching the dinghy we went to the dock at Canoe Point State Park. We walked the paths up to the granite point and met people vacationing in a rental cabin from New Hampshire. We walked through the tent camping area and got back in the dinghy to explore Picnic Point which required us to scramble up onto a very high dock, but us old folks made it. We then climbed over the granite boulders and into the gazebo on the point, meeting two families from New York and Arizona who vacation here every year. We also met their very wet dogs!
Drone shots of Picton and surrounding islands.
