On a recent trip to Massena, we noticed a large, uninhabited island a short paddle across the St. Lawrence River. We returned to check it out. We landed on a sandy beach stretching across a wide, shallow cove:

An eroded cliff surrounded the beach, blocking our view (and exploration) of the rest of the island. A lone apple tree taunted us beach-locked paddlers:

Eventually we did find a way up the cliff and came across a long-abandoned orchard. Long Sault Island is just up river from the big power dam and was once just a hill among the so-called Lost Villages. We wondered what the island used to look like when the orchard was still in use.

Otis and I packed our pockets with apples and headed down. Back on the beach, we unpacked our picnic and the kids posed on rocks:

The apples were tasty, if a little sour: