Fellow 1000 Islanders,
It’s interesting that the high views are so tricky to identify. Only two correct answers came back from last month’s image, one from Bud Andress and the other from Al Bickerton. The tie breaker goes to Bud partly because of his excellent caption, but also because Al was a little vague about a story from his youth. Something to do with night, a Mountie boat hitting a shoal here and US beer! Bud's caption:
“Ian Coristine captures a boat skimming through the reflection of a river sunset in the 1000 Islands. The boat rounds the Punts Islands at the very eastern end of the "Leek Island Channel", as it is so called, forming one stretch of the Canadian Middle Channel. Also pictured are Barge Island and Shoal #34g, Gig Island and Shoal #34a, and the eastern tip of Flat Huckleberry (or Blueberry) Island. It is interesting that the international boundary between Canada and the United States cuts almost in a north - south direction in the narrow gap between Gig and Flat Huckleberry Islands, similar to a stretch of the International Rift between Hill and Wellesley Islands.
Gig Island, named for small utility boats used by the British Navy during the 19th Century hydrographic survey1, was once owned by the Sampson's of Gananoque. Jack and Maddie Sampson spent many summers refreshing with family and friends at "the Shanty" on Gig Island, traveling the short distance from the "Crick" (or Gananoque River) to the island in Jack's hardtop inboard "The Swallow". Maddie could often be heard exclaiming when someone would take a cold drink from the ice box, "If you take a cold one off, put a hot one on!” This of course meant that efficient use of block river ice was paramount. The Gig Island ice was usually purchased from Pete Truesdell - from under the tarps and sawdust of his garage at the rear of his home in Gananoque. The grandchildren became experts at getting an ice cold Coke out of the ice box and a hot one back in before anyone noticed. Use of the ice pick was more closely monitored!
Similar to other islands in the 1000 Islands, Gig was essentially two glaciated domes lying close to each other and aligned in the direction of the glacial ice flow (northeast to southwest), and connected with a narrow piece of land between. The connecting piece was removed creating two islands, following sale of the island in the mid 1960's.”
Well done Bud! You’re very good at this. As you’ve already ‘scooped’ a set of posters, we’ll send you a set of the 6 Lighthouse prints of the 1000 Islands.
I went up to about 5,000 feet for this month’s image. Again, a set of 1000 Islands posters goes to the winner who sends in the most interesting caption that identifies this scene:
I find these high shots fascinating, something of a blend between photography and an extremely detailed map, rich in information if you take the time to study them, but the perspective makes them difficult to immediately identify. If this one isn’t of your backyard, you’ll find 11 other “neighborhood” scenes in a new section on my web site: http://www.1000islandsphotoart.com.
Wishing you and yours a very happy holiday season,
Ian
