MCT photo Fishing along the Kobuk River in Alaska.

Five, count' em, five. Five months of summer. The last part of May, June, July, August and the beginning of September. So we're a little more than halfway through. So get out that big magic marker and mark your calendar to remember to mentally downshift from now to Sept. 2.

The average Northeasterner no doubt has heard of Cooperstown, N.Y. Maybe even Oneonta. But Unadilla? Cherry Valley? Fly Creek? Butternuts? Welcome to Otsego County, population around 62,000. This pastoral area of upstate New York gained fame as the scene of writer James Fenimore Cooper's revered “Leatherstocking Tales” and retains much of its original beauty.