Category Archives: canoeing

Henderson Lake

Over Columbus Weekend Matt, Skip and I squeezed in one last late season canoe camping trip to Henderson Lake; making it the 3rd trip to Henderson this year for Skip and I, including our May scouting trip, our July tour with Steve, Kathryn and Eric. We had gorgeous weather on Sunday, a clear starry night and light fog on Monday as we departed. We took lots of pictures.

This is an awesome picture taken by Matt on Henderson Lake. He probably took about 20 different versions of this shot trying to capture the dead tree spire, the Big Dipper and the faint silhouette of the high peaks to the west. I believe this required a 60 second exposure and about 2 seconds of illumination of the tree with a head lamp.

Long Lake to The Crusher

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I took a 4 day canoe trip from Long Lake down the Racquette River over the 1 mile carry to the Crusher (Racquette River and Route 3). This route is part of the Northern Forest Canoe Trail and most of the route of the 2nd day of the 90 Mile Adirondack Canoe Classic.

I went with the two Paul’s from the local ADK chapter and Bill Ingersoll, author of the Discover the ADKs series. Wednesday was beautiful, sunny and no wind as we crossed Long Lake.

As we paddled north on Long Lake we passed several lean-tos. There are other campsites up both sides of Long Lake without lean-to’s and are shown on the canoe route map. Between the end of Long Lake and Raquette Falls there are few sites once you pass the Cold River confluence. The tent sites get much less traffic and most have an outhouse somewhere back from the site. All the lean-to sites do also, but due to the increased number of visitors and the general inexperience of the campers, some lean-to sites can be messy.

Bill, his dog Lexi and I paddled down the Raquette River and proceeded up the Cold River. The Cold River is navigable for a little ways upstream from it’s confluence with the Raquette River. There’s a trail/herd path to Shattuck Clearing from where you can’t paddle any further upstream. The trail along the Coldriver is called the Pine Point trail.

Paul and Paul missed the confluence with the Cold River and proceeded down stream on the Raquette River all the way to the Raquette Falls Carry, approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes further. Realizing their error they paddled back upstream and re-joined us at the Calkins Brook Lean-to on the Cold River. We cooked dinner and played a little three handed pitch before turning in for the night.

Paul stayed in his tent while Bill, Lexi, Paul and I slept in the lean-to. We heard owls during the night. It was windy and it rained overnight; continuing an on-again, off-again rain and wind until mid-afternoon when it broke long enough for Bill and his buddies to go searching for a trail head on the Cold River.

Friday we paddled down the Raquette River and did the carry which skirts waterfalls with some class 2-3 rapids with “must moves” above the falls. We leap-frogged the carry splitting duties carrying packs and canoes.

At the bottom of the carry we paused for a snack and to re-group prior to hiking to see the lower falls of Raquette River.

Below Paul checks out the two plank Lazy-boy chair.

The Lower Falls displays a significant amount of elevation drop.

We camped at a lean-to slightly below the falls. Our lean-to was crashed by a couple of other paddlers who claimed they couldn’t find the lean-tos on either side of ours. They just pulled in and started unloading their gear without seeking consent. There were two lean-tos within walking distance on either side of us. They ended up tenting on the site, but they wanted to hang their food bag in the lean-to! Without asking! I wasn’t happy about it – I mean there is only 6.1 million acres for them to camp in. Fortunately they stayed to themselves and turned in early. We cooked dinner and played 4 person cut throat pitch until 9pm and turned in. We heard coyotes and owls during the night.

Saturday morning it was 35 degrees when we got up. Our tenting partners woke up cold, packed quickly and headed out downstream. We ate breakfast, pack up and were paddling downstream by shortly after 9am. After paddling for 30 minutes we warmed up. I shed a layer and exchanged my fleece jacket for access to my rain coat as dark clouds were threatening. As we paddled downstream we were passed by DEC Ranger Gary Valentine who warned us of a thunderstorm coming in around noon, but stated “the way you are paddling you should be pulled out at the Crusher by then”. Ten minutes later it started raining; a cold, wind driven rain. We caught up and the canoe bearing the two men who tented on our lean-to site and passed one hunting tent with a man sitting dry under his canvas tarp while the rain soaked canoeists paddled by. We passed the outlet to Stony Creek Ponds and made it to the Crusher slightly before noon.

The Crusher launch site is just northwest of Trombley Landing, near the intersection of NYS Route 3 and 30. The Crusher is the common end point for Day 2 of the 90 Miler Canoe Classic. There’s a large paved parking lot and a wide ramp for launching boats and an outhouse. We were very glad to reach the cars, load up the canoes and change into dry clothes.

Return to Rock Lake

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With temperatures predicted in the high 80s we headed back to Rock Lake to spend the weekend swimming and staying cool by the water. Scout joined in for some swimming but going out to the rock was too much for her.

We were plagued by deer flies and stable flies aka ankle biters aka Adirondack Meanies. The deer flies were annoying, but mainly buzzed about our heads and they were slow enough to enable swatting. The stable flies were another matter. They were numerous, fast and vicious – especially attacking Scout.

The stable fly or biting house fly is a blood-feeding pest known to attack almost any kind of warm-blooded animal. It looks like the common house fly except that its mouth parts are adapted for biting and sucking blood. The stable fly feeds by inserting its proboscis (beak) through the skin and then sucking blood from its host. The proboscis is long enough to penetrate some clothing.

Females can live up to a month and may require several blood meals during this period in order to continue laying eggs. It is a daytime feeder, with peak biting occurring during the early morning and late afternoon. Stable flies prefer to attack people around the ankles; hence being called ‘ankle biters’. Fortunately, it does not appear to be an important vector of any human diseases. The immature stable fly (maggot) can be found breeding in many kinds of moist, decaying organic matter. The variety of breeding sites, and the fact that the adults fly several miles to feed but spend little time on the host, make it difficult to manage stable flies. They didn’t seem to be daunted by repellents or the bug lantern employed by Kathryn.

Eric worked the fire to provide a full on smoke attack which worked, however.

Speaking of the fire pit we pulled broken glass, aluminum foil, cans, Coleman propane bottles, and a broken golf club out of the fire pit and campsite; yielding about 10-15 lbs of trash. Below is the before and after versions of the fire pit. We ended up leaving six metal grates as Kathryn expressed her limit of what she was willing to pack out.

If you’re looking to minimize smoke exposure while still enjoying a crackling campfire, then consider getting the best smokeless fire pit.

Dinner consisted of chicken and fresh baked biscuits – a definite keeper. In the evening we were treated to an evening sunset.

On our way out we experimented by putting the dog in one of the last sections in the canoe. We paddled over to the site where we stayed last week to see if the bugs were as bad there. They were less annoying, perhaps due to less vegetation or a more open site. We saw a rough legged hawk hunting over the swampy inlet, although Kathryn had to consult her bird book to be sure.

After lunch we paddled across the lake and loaded up for the portage out. Eric astounded us by volunteering to double carry the kitchen backpack and the cooler backpack the last 2/3rds of the way out so Kathryn could continue to pack the Bill’s Bag and trash.

Upper West Branch of the Sacandaga

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The West Branch of the Sacandaga River is a nice stretch of water that is extremely popular. This stretch of flat water is approximately 8 miles in length and generally parallels NY Route 10 to the Shaker Place in Hamilton County.

The launch site for this stream is where Route 10 crosses it just north of Arietta. Canoes can be launched on both sides of the stream, and limited parking is available. Going downstream, you’ll come to a point where the river bends to the left at a big pool. Look for a channel on the right side of the pool–just wide enough to get a canoe through–that leads to Chub Lake. Further downstream on the Upper West Branch, you’ll find Trout Lake, which can be reached via a channel entering the river. For an overnight trip, campsites are located along the three lakes.

The Launch: The popular area to start your trip is a small bridge and small parking area. There is a lot of parking space and on weekends in the summer months you will find many cars here.

Description: The West Branch of the Sacandaga offers beautiful flat water paddling. The river travels through a broad valley of marshes lined by mountains. Trip distances will vary according to the number and length of side trips into Chub and Trout Lakes.

The one-way route begins at the bridge and ends at a steep bank where NY 10 comes close to the stream. About 0.2 mi farther is an old Civil Conservation Corp camp dating from the 1930s known as Shaker Place. At present there is a locked chain-link fence blocking Shaker Road, so canoeists and kayakers can no longer use this area to exit the river.

An interesting side trip is to paddle upstream to Good Luck Lake. The paddle is short. You will reach a fork in the river shortly after heading upstream. To reach Good Luck Lake, take the right fork.

Downstream from the launch the river here is noticeably wider and deeper. Within a few minutes you will come across Chub Lake on the right. According to books on the subject, there is supposed to be a large rock on the lake where you can stop and rest or picnic. As you proceed down the river you will come to the outlet of Trout Lake approximately 2 miles from the bridge. Depending on the time of year and resident beaver activity, sometimes you are able to leave Trout Lake and enter Little Trout Lake. This is dependant on the water level.

Takeout: Depending on the trip you choose, the takeout will be either back at the launch site or at a steep bank on river left where the stream comes close to NY 10 prior to the Shaker Place. There is a rough trail up the bank where others have lifted their canoes or kayaks to the road. A few cars can be parked beside the road in a narrow pullout area. The cars can be seen easily from the river. By car it is 6.0 mi on NY 10 from the second bridge to the takeout.

Saturday Eric and I attended his 8:45am soccer game and then drove over to the Sacandaga put-in to launch at 11:45. We were trying to join up with Skip, Bob, Matt, Len, Rob and some of Skip’s friends. However, they launched about 45 minutes ahead of us.

This was the maiden voyage using my fiberglass Jensen 18′ with a new drop in seat that I purchased from Spring Creek Outfitters.

It allows me to sit near the center thwart and paddle the Jensen as a solo. That way Eric could paddle at his leisure – which he did. I estimate that Eric paddled 25-33% of the trip – all on the left side. Other than rapping my knuckles repeatedly on the clamp unit I was very satified with new seat and the ability to paddle with Eric.

The temperatures were warm with sunny, clear skies. The fall colors were beginning to show with deeper reds and maroons.

We paddled for two hours to reach a nice rock where we pulled out, snacked, and played UNO.

We never caught up to the other group, but I had a great time paddling with Eric. Other than getting a little antsy before reaching the rock, he did great. We pulled out on IP Land, caught a ride back to our car and were packing up as Matt, Len and Rob were leaving. Eric and I had a hot dog and burger with Skip and Bob who were staying over at the camp. We left a little after 6pm and Eric crashed on the way home.

Canoe Camping St Regis & Round Lake

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Skip & I went to St Regis Canoe Wilderness area on Saturday AM. We launched from Hoel Pond, hopped over the RR into Turtle Pond and Slang Pond. We did the short portage into Long Pond and set up camp on the north shore across from the portage as it started to sprinkle rain. We no sooner than got our tent and a rain fly set up and it came down in bucket loads.

We sat under the rain fly, drank coffee, read maps and watched other canoers exit the pond.

Later the rain stopped and we decided to take the short paddle to check out the next day’s portage. We hiked to the Dave Cilly’s CanoeOutfitters outpost and met Dave ( he wrote the ADK Paddler’s map & recent guidebook ). We talked about a friend of mine, John (Jay) Baumann, that used to guide for Dave in the ’80s when he was starting his outfitting service. Unfortunately, Jay Baumann passed away due to colin cancer, but he was a nice person and good outdoors man.

On our walk back to our canoe the skies unloaded and we got drenched as we had left our rain coats back at the canoe! Returning to camp we changed into dry clothes, huddled under the rain fly and cooked our one pot meal of rice and BBQ pork and ate sliced peaches and chocolate chip bars. We heard loons through the night.

The next morning we were paddling at 8:30 and across the portage by 9am. We traversed Floodwood Pond to Square Pond; portaged to Follensby Clear Pond and again portaged to Polliwog and we were back to our car at Hoel Pond at noon. Since we were out so early we decided to grab burger for lunch and head to Round Lake to spend Sunday night.

We found 3 cars in the parking lot and set out around the lake in late afternoon. We checked out the new campsites along the western side of the lake ( which are poor) and finally settled on the bluff at site #3. We sat out on the large rock as the evening set in.

The temperatures dropped after sunset and a decent breeze came in so we turned in at 8:30 for a nice 10 hour snooze. We awoke at 6:30, packed up, paddled out, and had breakfast at the Long Lake Diner by 8:30.It was nice heading out in September – after the crowds had left.

Fishing, Cookout, Canoe Race, Wedding and Horse Show

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On Friday night we took Erin & Andy fishing at the pond. Eric caught 3 large mouth bass, Erin caught 3 large mouth bass and a 20 inch catfish and Andy got skunked. Andy had a large fish on, but his line broke and he lost his whopper.

After fishing we were joined by Skip, Bonnie & Cindy for a cookout in the woods. Below Bonnie loads up the wagon with soaking sweet corn. Erin, Eric and Andy wonder how much water will slop out and Cindy brings more stuff.

We grilled hamburgers, salmonburgers, hot dogs and corn. Skip, Andy and Eric await the final grilling.

We sat around the fire and had a nice chat. Ron & Jody joined us around 9:30pm. Afterwards, Skip shot off bottle rockets for our grand finale.

Saturday morning Skip & I went in the Woodsman’s Field Days Canoe Race 3.2 miles upstream on the Black River Feeder Canal.

We were beaten in the C2 class by Paul Olney and his daughter Joanne and
Joe Siegel / Mark Olney. Paul Olney set the ADK 90 Miler record in 2004 when Skip & I paddled the race.

Saturday night Kathryn and I went to Matthew Tryon’s wedding. It was a nice ceremony. Matt was joined by several members of his Civil War renactment troop, that added to the atmosphere.

Sunday Eric & I went in the BHA Hunter Show leadline classes. Eric got a 2nd in the Equitation Class, out of 6 participants! I credit Eric’s good posture, my draped lead line which enabled Eric to ‘steer’ and the mare Onyx with all contributing to Eric’s win. In the Leadline Suitability class, I believe the horse is judged as being ‘suitable’. Eric got 4th as the class order was nearly reversed as I believe the judge was just trying to even things out. All the horses in the suitability class were quiet and well behaved. Eric got a red ribbon and sticker book in the 1st class and a carrot and chocolate bar in the 2nd class. Below Onyx enjoys her carrot, models the ribbons, and Eric is a happy boy.

Canoe Camping at Round Lake

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I’ve gone winter camping with Jason several times, including our memorable dog sledding trip. Jay was interested in canoe camping and last year when I met his fiancee, Beth, we talked about scheduling a canoe camping trip. We scheduled 9-10 August for our trip and then anxiously watched the weather forecast fluctuate all over the place. I was near to canceling the trip on Wednesday as the prediction for rain exceeded 70%. I wasn’t looking forward to sitting under a rain tarp with a 5 year old for the weekend.

We called to confirm on Thursday night and the forecast had dropped to probable rain Friday night, but clearing to 20% rain during Saturday with rain likely coming in on Sunday afternoon. We agreed to go ahead, meet early at Hoss’s General Store in Long Lake and try to get on the water at Little Tupper Lake early before winds became a problem on the shallow lake.

We had planned for company for dinner on Friday night and so began our packing early in the week. Friday afternoon we loaded canoes and packed the car so Saturday morning we only had to add our sandwiches and food packs. Kathryn & I arose at 5am and got Eric up a little before 6am and were on the road soon after. We met Jason and Beth at 8:30 as planned.

We counted 28 cars in the parking lot at Little Tupper Lake and decided to return to the nearby empty Round Lake parking lot.

We dropped our canoes in the Little Tupper outlet which drains into Round Lake. It was a pretty little stream lined with white lily pads.

Below Kathryn, Eric and Jim cruise down the outlet stream.

We found Round Lake devoid of other paddlers as we explored the eastern shore examining the potential campsites. Several of the campsites are located at old hunting camps built by the Whitney’s. Most sites are located back from the shore line and have P3 toilets. We ended up staying at site #4 which was on a prominent point with several large white pine trees and copious blue berry bushes. The only drawback to the site was lack of level tent sites. We managed with our two tents, but more or larger tents would be a problem.

Eric, Kathryn and I went swimming while Jason and Beth basked in the sun. Below the swimmers threaten a passing canoe.

We found a large rock that let us play King on the Mountain before we cooled enough to call an end to the swimming.

After our swim we took short nap and then a walk to scout the nearby campsites. Beth demonstrates our voting technique: Everyone that wants to take a hike put their hands on their hips!

As we prepared for the hike Jason noticed an interesting bug on his leg.

After our hike gathered firewood and baked biscuits using our Outback Oven. We had afternoon tea and biscuits so we could delay dinner until later in the evening.

After our snack we swapped canoes and explored more of the lake so that Jason and Beth could test out the Wenonah Minnesota II. It was a beautiful evening for a paddle.

For dinner we had a vegetable tortellini salad and turkey chops grilled over the fire with marshmallows and s’mores for dessert.

We tried to stay up and look for meteorites, but Kathryn, Eric and I crashed about 10pm. Beth and Jay stayed up until midnight buring wood, watching the fire and looking for meteorites. They saw a total of 14 during their watch.

We slept great and heard loons through out the night. In the morning we added fresh picked blueberries to our three berry muffin mix and then began our leisurely packing up to head out Sunday morning.

It was sprinkling lightly as we paddled out. As we were loading up Ranger Coons stopped by to talk. We told him where we stayed and talked a little bit about Round Lake. He characterized Round Lake as without the winds of Little Tupper Lake and without the portage of Lake Lila. I asked him about the illegal introduction of largemouth bass into Little Tupper Lake. He said they have spread through out the watershed and it doesn’t bode well for native trout. I asked him about the navigability of Shingle Shanty Brook. Ranger Coons referenced recent advice by Kenneth Hamm NYSDEC, Office of General Counsel in the June issue of the NYS DEC Conservationist Magazine. He jokingly asked if we wanted to provide a test case. We also talked about the portage trail connecting Round Lake to Low Lake/Hitchins Pond. Another trip…… 🙂

We stopped at Hoss’s for a milk shake on our way home and thought we had parted ways, however, we later saw Jason checking out canoes in Blue Mtn Lake.

Camping with the next generation

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When Adam and Matt were small (pre-teen) I took them on a couple of camping trips:

Once on Barton Hill in back of my parent’s house where they brought everything- pillows, dinosaur books, flashlights with dead batteries and two cook kits, “because I didn’t have to wash one”. Needless to say Kathryn and I remember carrying our stuff and a fair amount of their’s as well.
Once in back of their parent’s house where I famously forgot the matches for the fire to toast the marshmallows.

After a successful trip to 13th Lake it was decided to take Eric and Nathan – the next generation – camping again. We chose Spy Lake as our destination, canoing in on Sunday afternoon and coming out on Monday. Mark, Nathan and Matt occupied one canoe and Eric paddled bow in our canoe. For his 1st ‘extended’ paddle Eric did quite well. Upon arrival we set up tents and the boys enjoyed a snack ‘sitting’ in their chairs.

During the afternoon Matt, Nathan, Eric and I took a short hike exploring a near by stream. Nathan packed his snack bag.

Uncle Mark took a nap.

On our return to camp the boys decided to put the snack bag to good use.

In the evening we had Mac & Cheese and hot dogs or Brats. Below Mark & Matt check on the food preparation.

While the cooking was going on Nathan & Eric worked on sawing serious wood for the fire.

Nathan and Eric eat their Mac & Cheese while the Brats are being roasted by Matt & Mark.

After dinner we enjoyed a game of war. Below Eric stacks his deck while keeping one eye on his chocolate cookie lest Dad grab it!

Afterwards we enjoyed a spendid sunset.

Matt proved he could not only throw a bear rope over a tree, he also has an artisy side.

About 9pm the mosquitos came out in full force and we retired to our tents. After a brief story everyone was snoozing. During the night we got a brief shower which had Mark, Matt and I scrambling to zipper up rain flies – there was a two minute stretch where the sound of nylon zippers dominated. sleeping bag, tent, rain fly, tent, and back to sleeping bag).

Everyone slept late the next morning. Mark made breakfast burritos and the boys had hot chocolate and oatmeal. It was a nice trip and Eric & Nathan make great camping companions.