Skip, Kathryn and I made a opening season paddle down Black Creek. We heard and saw a lot of birds; white throated sparrows, heron, ducks, buteos, Phoebees, and some geese that tried to hide along the banks. A beautiful 2 hour paddle.
Kathryn, Eric, Matt and I took advantage of the Massawepie Scout camp being open over Labor Day weekend. We camped Friday – Sunday and had perfect weather; caught several large bass, went swimming, explored adjoining ponds and the Massawepie Mire. We found a GeoCache which we opened to inspect the contents – mainly toys and knick knacks.
Because there was no portage and we had three canoes we were able to pack a lot of amenities; drinks, food and chairs for our comfort. We went fishing at dusk and Eric had great success catching large mouth bass in the weeds using a white tube bait.
Matt and I portaged into Boot Tree Pond and then hiked to see the Massawepie Mire – the largest in eastern US.
I am not sure how it could have been better. Re-entry into regular day life was rough for a day or so.
MISSING MASSAWEPIE
No caterwauling owls nor loons wailing through the night.
No chattering red squirrels dropping cones from pine tree heights.
No fog lifting slowly burning off in morning’s light.
No canoes along the shoreline glistening golden bright.
No canoeing adjoining ponds shaped like a Boot Tree
Returning to our camp in time for shared High Tea.
These things once were; and in our mind they will be
Until we return again to Massawepie.
You might remember a Tennessee Ernie Ford hit song called “Sixteen Tons” with the chorus “You load sixteen tons, what do you get? Another day older and deeper in debt. Saint Peter don’t you call me ’cause I can’t go, I owe my soul to the company store”.
Skip, Steve and I went canoe camping at Stillwater Reservoir and up the Red Horse Trail to Salmon, Witchhopple and Clear Ponds. Usually time spent paddling results in a “Skip Song” and this was no exception.
EIGHT STROKES A SIDE
(With apologies to Tennessee Ernie Ford and “16 Tons”…..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRh0QiXyZSk )
Well let me tell you the story of our camping trip; me and Steve but this tale’s about Skip.
We canoed across Stillwater Reservoir; it’s a place we all have paddled before.
Well, Skip he is a paddling man, he paddles just as fast and hard as he can.
He knows all kinds of paddling strokes, Skip is one paddling bloke.
Eight strokes a side and then you switch, Skip is a paddling son of bitch.
Eight strokes a side and then he calls hup, you better pull hard if you want to keep up…..
Skip can paddle the stern if you want him to steer, but if he paddles the bow you better stay clear.
His paddle starts flashing in the sun, ‘cause Skip is a paddling son of a gun.
Eight strokes a side and then you switch, Skip is a paddling son of bitch.
Eight strokes a side and then he calls hup, you better pull hard if you want to keep up…..
We got up early before the wind starts to blow, it makes the big waves that are dangerous you know.
Paddle an hour, then paddle some more, I hope we all make it safely to shore.
Eight strokes a side and then you switch, Skip is a paddling son of bitch.
Eight strokes a side and then he calls hup, you better pull hard if you want to keep up…..
Skip’s paddling fast and his boat leaves a wake, it goes a little faster with each stroke that he takes.
I’m paddling out and what do I see, Skip and his boat go flying by me.
Eight strokes a side and then you switch, Skip is a paddling son of bitch.
Eight strokes a side and then he calls hup, you better pull hard if you want to keep up…..
Steve, Skip and I planned a 5 day pond hopping trip up the Red Horse Trail north of Stillwater Reservoir. We arrived at Stillwater Reservoir at 10:30am as boats and families were coming off the reservoir. If you will bring your own boat, it’s recommended to have some Outboard Motor Covers for Boats to protect the boat engine.
With the end of the weekend and the pending rainy forecast there were lots of available campsites. We were hoping for site #4 so we could also check out Peak Mtn Pond, however, the sign-out board at the boat launch indicated that site #4 was taken and signed out through Sunday evening. As we were contemplating alternative plans a parting camper recommended site #11 which he had just vacated. We paddled to site #11, checked it out and set up our tents. No sooner than we set up our tents, blew up our sleeping pads and shook out our sleeping bags than Skip declared “I see a bear, and I am not kidding”. A medium sized black bear was headed to our camp. I walked towards the bear yelling and clapping my hands loudly. The bear walked away slowly, pausing when I stopped advancing, keeping a distance of roughly 50 feet. We convened to discuss our options and decided to move camp. As we were packing up our tents and gear the bear came back. Skip sounded his air horn which caused the bear to move away slightly, but not run or vacate the camp site. We packed up and paddled our canoes across the reservoir ending up at site #30 – Picnic Point.
For dinner Steve cooked hamburgers and we drank cold beer. It rained Sunday night. We turned in early and the next morning we proceeded to Trout Pond and campsite #15. We set up our rain tarp just in time to avoid a major thunderstorm. I cooked chicken soup for dinner; it came out too salty as I added too many favor packets. We turned in early as it rained all night long.
Tuesday morning we cached our heavy items and traveled with just our canoes, backpacks and fishing gear to the Red Horse trailhead. Skip had the heaviest backpack, but grabbed his Kevlar Sundowner and headed north up the 1 mile portage from Trout Pond to Salmon Lake. I made it about 1/3 the on the trail but couldn’t get my solo canoe to balance on the top of my backpack. Steve helped me carry it the rest of the way to the Salmon Lake put in.
We crossed Salmon Lake to the northern extremity looking for a take out. The take out was obscured by a 4′ high beaver dam. We managed a take out shore side and bushwhacked to the Red Horse Trail leading to Witchhopple Lake. We took drinks and a little trail mix and hiked the 1 mile trail to Witchhopple Lake. From Witchhopple Lake it was a 1.5 mile trail to Clear Lake. There were four new bridges on the trail from Witchhopple which averted some of the water crossing described in the trail guides. Clear Lake displayed a large burnt out hole where someone’s fire smouldered in the pine duff and tree roots.
We hiked back to Salmon Lake just prior to dinner time. Steve went out fishing before dinner and caught several trophy caliber small mouth bass. For dinner I made Rice-a-Roni with dehydrated peppers/onions/tomatoes and hamburger. The meal was good, but more time was needed for the hamburger to fully re-hydrate. After dinner Steve and I went fishing and each caught some more fish, but noting trophy sized.
Wednesday we packed out gear and portaged back to Stillwater Reservoir. This time I made some adjustments to my pack and balancing the canoe that enabled me to portage my solo the entire trail. Steve packed out Skip’s Sundowner. We recovered our cache and re-located to campsite #19 on Burnt Lake. The campsite was located on a high ridge where it received a nice breeze and respite from the heat.
Thursday morning we agreed to arise early and paddle across Stillwater before the winds and waves arose. I awoke early, started coffee and we packed up and were paddling by 7:30am. The managed to return to the boat launch by 9am just as the wind and waves began to pick up.
Skip, Jim and Matt put in where County 76 crosses the Hudson. We paddle downstream, battled a stiff breeze blowing north across Sanford Lake. We encountered very shallow conditions and would probably be unable to complete our trip if there was 1″ less of water flowing. Upon reaching the confluence of the Opalescent River we went upstream. The Opalescent was the clearest looking water I have encountered in the Adirondacks. The stream was shallow, twisty and lined by large sand and gravel bars that are even visible on Google maps. We only paddled (and poled) a short distance upstream before turning back due to the shallow conditions. Turning back down stream we quickly reached the road crossing identified by the Opalescent Game Club where we left our take out vehicle. We decided to continue downriver and were impressed by the prettiest stretch of the Hudson River. Finally, the Hudson came close enough to County 25 that we decided to exit up a steep bank and bushwhack the canoes back to the road. Matt and I extracted canoes and gear while Skip began the trek back to our take-out vehicle.
Cedar River Flow is a three-mile-long impoundment in the central Adirondacks. Matt and his friend Vinnie met me in Indian Lake Village at 9am. We drove west on NY 28. A few miles outside town, just after crossing the Cedar River, we turned left onto Cedar River Road. We drove 12.3 miles to a large field near Wakely Dam and the put-in. We were on the water at 10am.
We saw a bald eagle, Bitterns and a painted turtle. We heard an unusual bird (for us) which another canoeist identified as a Pie Billed Grebe. Grebes are small brown birds have unusually thick bills that turn silver and black in summer. They inhabit sluggish rivers, freshwater marshes, lakes, and estuaries. They use their chunky bills to kill and eat large crustaceans along with a great variety of fish, amphibians, insects, and other invertebrates. Rarely seen in flight and often hidden amid vegetation, Pied-billed Grebes announce their presence with loud, far-reaching calls. We never saw one, but heard it’s calls repeatedly – a bizarre whinnying, gobbling, cooing noise.
There are several mountains just east of the flow – Blue Ridge, Cellar, Lewey, Snowy, Buell and Panther and to the northwest lies 3,760-foot Wakely Mountain.
The weather was perfect with few clouds and temperatures in the low 80s with minimal wind. We paddled up the flow to the Cedar River and up the Cedar River to the lean-to on the Northville-Lake Placid trail. We found the lean-to occupied and a father and son fishing so we turned around at that point.
We took two breaks to stretch our legs and eat lunch. We returned to our cars without incident by 2:30pm.
Skip & I rendezvoused at the Stewart’s shop on Route 12 in Mapledale at 7am with the intentions of paddling down the Jessup to Indian Lake to the NYS boat launch. This involves a roughly ten-mile paddle; down 2.5 miles of Jessup River, five miles down the fjord-like arm of Indian Lake, then back south on the lake to the NYS boat launch. We met at 7:15am, drove to the Route 30 bridge over the Jessup, left our canoe at the put-in, left a car at the launch/take-out and were on the water paddling by 9:15.
We paddled downstream on flatwater for 1.25 miles crossing over a couple of small beaver dams and trees in the stream. Based on previous trip reports we were looking for a set of rapids. In our case the water level was just sufficient for us to pick our way through the rocks and avoid portaging the ¼ – ½ mile rapids along the right bank. Two miles from the start was the scenic Dug Mountain Falls (site of a notorious winter camping prank).
Reaching Indian Lake we paddled north on a narrow arm of Indian Lake. We stopped for lunch at one of the designated NYS campsites at the the northern most extent of our fjord.
After lunch we reversed our direction around Long Island and headed back south to the NYS boat launch to our car. Our total trip time was 3.5 hours including our ~20 lunch break.
Canoe trip down Black Creek with Matt Hay, Skip Shoemaker, Jack Bell, Kathryn Skelly Muller, Eric Muller, Dave & Jack Crane, Matt got to initiate his new solo canoe. Skip got to take his new knee canoeing. Jack & Dave got to resurrect an heirloom canoe. We saw a large porcupine and heard a lot of birds. A pair of Canada geese proceeded us for quite a ways. A nice 1st outing for 2016.
We planned an overnight canoe camping trip for 4; with Eric inviting his buddy Trevor. The last minute Trevor bailed on the trip, so we unloaded one of the canoes, cut down on our food and decided to continue. The weather was perfect.
Kathryn and Eric had guided fly fishing trips while we were canoe camping. Eric won Day 1 by virtue of the shear number of Sunfish he caught. Kathryn clearly won Day 2 by catching 3 bass; a nice small mouth bass and two large mouth bass; one of which was a hefty 18″. Kathryn mistook it for being caught in the weeds at first.
We fished at night with a bright half moon, beaver swimming and splashing around us. Eric had a strike on the lure he found at one of the campsites, but wasn’t able to catch anything.
Early canoe trip on Black Creek. Usually lots of birds and skunk cabbage; I think we went a little earlier than usual, but it was still a beautiful stream.
The buttress for the old Shawangunk Road/Railroad is separating from the bank more and more every year. We used to rely on this as our spot to pull out for a snack and stretch our legs. Now it looks ready to topple into the stream. The usually copious amounts of skunk cabbage were just emerging from the ground.
On the stream we were out of the cool breeze, but wore gloves because the water was still cold. We saw small snow banks alongside the stream. Kathryn found a nice place for us to land, sit in the sun, out of the wind and enjoy our lunch.
It took us 1 hour from departure to being on the water. We paddled for 2 hours with a small break and exited at bridge Black Creek road. There were branches underwater at the take-out and it was a little slippery, but it cut off the last 45-60 minutes of paddling into Grant.