Day 8 – Cumberland Bay State Park, NY (Zero Day #1!)

U-2016-8-28 – 

Start: Cumberland Bay State Park

End: Same, Cumberland Bay State Park
On the Way: Saranac River, Plattsburgh, Cumberland Bay

Miles: 0 (Milepost: 148.5)

Map: 4

Weather: Overcast, with maybe 30 minutes of downpour!  YES!  MORE!  PLEASE!

I’ve had to do it numerous times in my life, but I don’t think it will ever get any easier to kills time in a small town.  I mean, heck, I grew up in a town of 300, so I should have this ingrained, but when I don’t know whose land is whose and that I won’t be taken for a vagrant for stomping around the neighbor’s woods, it’s tough.  My combined wants of avoiding police suspicion, avoiding attention from creepy strangers, and avoiding spending lots of money always make it a super-awkward time.  Not to say I don’t have things to do: I could easily occupy myself with an entire day of reading or doodling or Internet or napping.  It’s just doing it for a whole day in a combination of parks, coffee shops, and library (when it’s open, booo Sunday hours…) that attracts unwanted attention.

Chocolate and books and lounging in the riverside park.  (Also, note how incredibly low the Saranac is: no way would I be getting a boat down there!)

The Co-op had Taza chocolate--made near where I live in Somerville, MA!

Anyway, it was a boring 0-mile day, waiting for the PO to open.  I don’t want to do another of these for a while: just makes me anxious, since Maine awaits and the deep of autumn is coming.  Tomorrow, I’ll paddle back across the Bay to Plattsburgh, lock up the boat at the dock near the NFCT kiosk, jet over to the PO to open it at 0830 sharp, dash back to the boat before all my gear is lifted (hooray, urban docks), then head out into the waves of Lake Champlain at the exact wrong time of day.  If it’s too dangerous, I can always park along the shore and wait for ~1700, when the Lake generally calms down across the board.

Chatted with Teton some more, since he also wanted to wait another day to do an early morning assault.  He’s got lots of good long-distance trip experience and tips to go with them.  He’s also writing a weekly column for the Portland, ME, newspaper while on the Trail.  Talk about multi-tasking and living the dream.  I oughta pick his brain about how I can land that kind of gig…

Its officially been one week since I embarked from Old Forge.  I want the next couple of weeks to go just as smoothly.  I can’t help but think of folks at home.  Brambleberry seems to be ticking along.  This weekend was orientation at MIT, and it feels weird not to be there in black, leading freshmen astray.  dRachel, my former roommate, is starting grad school in Hawaii and must be feeling even stranger.

Things Learned:

+ You can spend a lot of time quibbling and worrying about beta information and its accompanying data.  Sometimes the impetus of just hitting the Trail and gathering momentum will serve you much better.

+ Plattsburgh likes to think it’s real historically important.  Every other block had a placard about what British atrocity happened there during the War of 1812, or so-and-so war hero lived here.  At the same time, they have a bronze statue of Samuel Champlain literally towering over his native guides, discovering the Lake.  How one has the nerve to “discover” something a group of people lead you to is beyond me.

Oh, Sammy.  Your biggest assets were having a gun along and being European.

English gardens maintained outside of the British Officers' Quarters.

The house had a commanding view of the river and Lake, which is presumably why it was selected.

Trail Magic:

+ Met an Ecuadorian bricklayer named Luis.  He asked me why I didn’t shave my legs.  I asked if he was “a local” and he said, “No, I’m not crazy.”  As in, he’s not loco.  It was a funny moment.

+ The library left its wifi on, so I sat outside underneath the "closed" sign and tried to interpret water level charts via the screen of my Smartphone.  Not very successfully.

Day 7 – Pickett’s Corners, NY, to Cumberland Bay State Park, NY

S-2016-8-27

Start: Baker’s Acres Campground

End: Cumberland Bay State Park (above Plattsburgh)

On the Way: Saranac River

Miles: ~24.5 (Probably less than, Milepost: 148.5)

Map:  3, 4

Weather: Clear.  Maybe rain tomorrow…?

Trail Overview

Map 4: Plattsburgh, NY, to Enosburg Falls, VT

Checked in to Cumberland Bay!

So today I learned a big, big lesson: intuition says that you should send your post drop to a post office.  Intuition is wrong.  POs have awful hours, as I learned today when I pulled into Plattsburgh at 1320 and found that, on Saturdays, they closed at 1300.  And they weren’t open until 0830 on Monday.  Well, poo.  Looks like I now have an involuntary zero day as I wait for my goodies.  If I didn’t have some nice cold-weather gear and lots of tasty food in there, I’d say “eff it.”  But…a day off wouldn’t hurt, either.  My back’s been behaving better today, despite some hardships.

So I was hustling along, trying to make my mail drop, cruising down the Saranac’s wide, gorgeous part, got to the Kent Falls carry, made it to the subsequent put-in, and found Teton, the through-paddler I’ve been chasing through the registers thus far!  He’d camped by the put-in and said the water looked real bony down the river.  I believed him, and knew a long portage lay ahead and would be much more pleasant with company.  So we walked, boats in tow, the ~6 mi of road to Plattsburgh.  Definitely my longest portage yet, and technically longer than the longest official portage (emphasis on the official).

Anyway, we cruised along together until he stopped for a burger, I walked on ahead (calling Mom along the way), missed the PO hours, decided Plattsburgh was a great place to explore without a boat tagging along, and headed up to the nearest State Park for a campsite.  It’s a nice little CCC Park with a neat history from the Battle of Plattsburgh, although the fees seem kind of exorbitant after so many nights of ~free camping ($46 for two nights).  Worth it for a safe boat parking space, I guess.  

The strategic placement of the bay for the Lake Champlain naval battle.

Spooky to imagine the battle happening on this serene horizon, more than two centuries earlier.

Teton also made it up out of P-burgh, and after deciding that Champlain was too windy this afternoon, decided to join me for a night before tackling it again in the morning.  (Early morning and evening seem to be the least windy/wave-filled periods.)  He’s a really cool guy: I feel a little dwarfed by all the rad adventures he’s been on.

My campsite at Cumberland Bay State Park.  I made sure to choose one at the
edges so I could have lots of hammock hanging options!

And later, company!

[EDIT: Teton is actually one half of the blogging team The Wild Outsiders, and is much more attentive to his blog than I have been to this one.  He also covered his NFCT trip for a column in a Portland newspaper—talk about an awesome job!]

Things Learned:

+ POs are baaaaad drop points.  Bad bad bad.  Restaurants and hotels, as long as you call ahead, have much better hours.  Just have to be strategic about the location, and make sure a PO is nearby so as to send the box off again.

+ No kidding—Champlain’s green algae blooms are nasty.  The reports didn’t exaggerate: it’s everywhere, and it really itches when it gets under your clothes.  The public beach we pulled through to get to the State Park looked like pea soup, but that didn’t keep the plucky locals out.

Naaaasty.

+ I think my boat’s actually more like 18’…  Craigslist man I bought it from must have been mistaken when he billed it as 16’.

Trail Magic:

+ Finally catching the man in the mango kayak, after seeing his register entries a day ahead for a week!

+ The Park is adjacent to a rowdy public beach.  As I paddled in, I found a plastic water gun bobbing in the surf.  I scooped it up and handed it to the nearest kid, who seemed excited to squirt his mom.  There’s also a lakeside beach bar with ice cream and live music and a giant paella pit!

Routinely gorgeous sunsets over the Lake.

A peck of windsurfers also camping at the State Park!  I chatted with them at their site later: they were from Quebec, and very nonchalant about the amazing physics of their sport.  Or maybe that was the language barrier.

Giant paella pan for the fire pit!  Who'd have thunk: Northeasterners know how to do beachside bars.

+ Checking into this campground means hot showers two nights in a row—great for the back muscles, and for my sitemates’ olfactory glands.

+ Saw my first bald eagle this morning!

+ Rain tomorrow, as well as a Zero day in Plattsburgh!

DAY 6 - Union Falls, NY, to Pickett's Corners, NY

F-2016-8-26 

Union Falls Dam--right next to my campsite

Start: Union Falls Dam

End: Baker’s Acres Campground near Pickett’s Corners

On the Way: Union Falls Pond, Saranac River

Miles: 21 (Milepost: 126)

Map: 3

Weather: Clear and bright.  Hurry up and rain already, dammit!

On the third and final stretch into Plattsburgh, and soon to be done with Map #3!  Since it’s private land along the river from here on in (which the NFCT maps helpfully show), I sprang for a site at a commercial campground, Baker’s Acres.  I feel a little ripped off.  I could have camped at the little Pickett’s Corners park and no one would have cared and I would have saved $20.  Plus I’d have been spared the surreal experience of sleeping under a tarp and mixing up Solylent powder and oatmeal whilst being surrounded by RVs with their loud occupants and rude dogs.

Saranac River NFCT Kisok

They apparently do flatwater canoe sprint races on this stretch of the Saranac.
It was kind of a sad river: lots of tires and debris from the long-closed mills along the bottom,
and lots of farmland erosion on either side.

Today’s mileage seems really short, but damn was it exhausting.  As per the advice received at St. Regis, I portaged around most of today’s Class II-III rapids, as much as it pained my soul to miss all that whitewater.  I vow to return someday with boats that can navigate them—and ones I don’t have to rely upon to get to Maine.  I love a nice bit of quickwater, and these rapids were continuous for about four miles.  So for me, that meant lots of walking and second-guessing the lame takeout descriptions.  There were supposedly some impressive 50-foot falls along the way—I missed them since I wasn’t on the river, and hauling a boat and gear over land does NOT leave one in the mood for scenic detours…

A comforting sight on the portage.

I must remember to be nicer to my back: it was really complaining at me by the end of the day.  More stretching, less pack-hauling.  If it gets so bad that I can’t paddle, this trip effectively ends…

The maps and guidebooks like to use this cute little word: “riffles.”  “Riffles” are a tasty kind of potato chips.  “Riffles” are what you add to dress hems to make yourself look like Kaylee’s idea of a good time: poofy and full of frills.  I think they here mean “riffles” as the kind of flatwater that’s just barely disturbed by submerged rocks.  They make it seem harmless, but nuts if that was “harmless” water that left my boat with ~+500% more gouges on the bottom than at the start of the day.  Not fun, and it makes me cringe every time I hear the foreboding, characteristic grinding sound from my hull.  I can only hope the low-lying Saranac behaves itself tomorrow.  [EDIT: Spoiler: it didn’t.]

Things Learned: 

+ Getting better at reading whitewater and –gag—riffles.

+ Lining in rapids is, no joke, tough.

+ Holiday Parks in the US are not as fun as the ones I experienced in New Zealand.

+ Carries become less (supposedly) frequent after NY—huzzah!

+ Cold instant coffee is actually OK, for the days where I don’t feel like firing up the stove before heading out.

Trail Magic:

+ On my portage around Trail Rapids—which were really fun-looking Class II-III ones—I found some nearly-ripe wild apple trees!  Good source of moisture and vitamins, and a fun distraction to munch as I slog the kayak along.

+ Today’s campsite will help test my theory of whether camping in the sun will help me wake up with the sun.  [EDIT: Fun fact: it does!]      

With literally one sturdy tree on my RV site, hammocking was right out,
and I had to get creative with tarp-pitching.  Hence, this is rigged off of the tree and the wheel well that served as fire ring.  Grass was nice, though.

+ We’re in the part of the world where poutine is served.  After pitching camp I hoofed it down the road in search of a laundromat and came across a gas station/country store with a made-to-order deli.  Chocolate milk, juice, carrot cake, and poutine for dinner.  Yisss.

+ No laundry at the campgrounds, as was advertised in the guidebook, and didn’t get as far as the laundromat to clean up my stanky river clothes.  But my first hot shower felt great.

+ Tomorrow, Plattsburg, Map 4, and my first mail drop!

Day 5 - Second Pond, NY, to Union Falls, NY

R-2016-8-25 – Day 5

Start: Second Pond Lean-to

End: Union Falls Dam

On the Way: Oseetah Lake, Saranac Lake Village, Franklin Falls Pond

Map: 2, 3

Miles: 28 (Milepost: 107—Broke a hundred!)

Weather: Overcast, threatening to rain.  Which I loved!  Please let it rain!

If I had to smell only one smell for the rest of my life, it would be pine forest.  I’m lucky in that, in this non-ideal world, it only comes in drifting glances on the breeze—otherwise I’m sure I’d tire of it quickly,  I’m not talking about the manufactured Pine-Sol smell.  I’m talking about the dry, rich smell of decay and orderliness that comes out of the woods that have a deep mulch of pine needles, where conifers have driven everything else out and taken dominion of the canopy.  I’m smelling it now as I burn a giant knot of dry pine at my first campfire at perhaps my most idyllic campsite yet.

My buddies from yesterday’s site were travelling the same way, so we went through the lower Saranac locks together.  We couldn’t get the manual locks to work, so we ended up hauling over the lockmaster’s dock, since it would be two hours before he or she came on duty.  What would have been a 20 minute haul without them instead took 7 minutes.  Soloing, it turns out, is a slow endeavor.

NFCT Kiosk, Saranac Lake, NY

After getting turned around in a fingery lake (I blame the fog obscuring the sun for my lack of sense of direction), I made it to Saranac Lake Village.  Cute little town with a historic mainstreet, as per its reputation.  Took my first official “town break,” meaning I:

• locked up the boat, brought my expensive paddle along [EDIT: I ended up just wrapping my cable around the paddle shaft a couple times for future breaks],
• changed into camp shoes, which I figured the local merchants would appreciate,
• got a coffee and pastry,
• checked my email at the library,
• picked up some shorts and sunscreen so I can do non-naked laundry one of these days and not fry, respectively
• and dumped the trashbag I’d been gradually filling.

The famous St. Regis Outfitters!  Tyler, the local NFCT coordinator,
gave me some great Trail beta, even though much of it was a conciliatory, "It's too bony: don't paddle."

Bears getting into trouble in the Saranac Lakefront park.

I also stopped by St. Regis Outfitters for Saranac River advice and saw a strange bell in the town square.  The bell’s reserved for “the 6’ers,” or people who summit each of the 6 nearby big peaks so get the privilege to ring the bell 6 times.  To do so without doing the requisite feat is, according to the sign, BAD LUCK ™.

Things Learned: 

+ A good hammock hang is as much a campsite boon as a firepit or lack of bugs.  A good hang means a sense of accomplishment and a sense of comfy sleep.  Boom.

+ Stretching makes a difference.

+ There’s actually a little hook to tie up my hammock’s seat back strap!  No more seat back slipping down, which means no more sore love handles.

Trail Magic: 

+ Wind at my back and waves practically propelling me for the last two ponds!

The dam below Saranac Lake

Moose Stream awaits!

+ Thoroughly inebriated but incredibly friendly folks at a campsite near the Franklin Falls put-in gave me some fresh water.  To accept it was all I could do to escape: they wanted to feed me their hot dogs and Pringles and have a couple Natty Ices.  It was 2pm.

+ Little piney fire keeping the bugs away while I write.

+ Great breeze off the lake will air out my skanky clothes and keep the bugs away.  It’ll also keep me cool, since I set up my tarp like a wind-trapping awning.  

Right over a little ridge for maximum updraft!

Fabulous campsite, only partially trashed by the townies.

+ The family also staying at these public campsites had lived in Boston for a spell.  When we were taking about Boston landmarks, one of them mentioned the Garment District (a store where I used to work!), which she insisted was in "Harvard, Mass" (it's not!).  But it was a nice connection.

+ A short dam carry (I hope) first thing in the AM!

Day 4 - Raquette Falls, NY, to Second Pond, NY

W-2016-8-24 – Day 4

Start: Raquette Falls Lean-to, near Mother Jones homesite

End: Second Pond Lean-to, right before Oseetah Lake
On the Way: Upper, Middle, and Lower Saranac Lakes, Raquette River

Map:  2

Miles: 21 (Milepost: ~80) 

Weather: All clear!  Warm!

Forget bears: fear the rodents.

Last night I learned the hard way that rodents should be more feared than bears when it comes to food drybags.  Even though I hung the bag from a tree at a bear-blockable height, I guess it wasn’t far enough away from the trunk to foil a chipmunk.  Little bastard chewed through my biggest, most deluxe bag, then didn’t even have the decency to eat something while he was there.  I have all my food in ziplocs, so no worries about waterproofing, but I hope the structure of the bag holds up: it’s the only one with comfy back-straps for portaging.

Lots of little rivers today, which were cute until they got really windy.  Dieter das Boot doesn’t have what we’d call a small turn radius.  Only two carries, though, which were both tricky but do-able with the wheels.  Then onto the Saranac Lakes, with the wind at my back and pretty courteous motorboats, as far as motorboats go.  I’m camping along the Saranac River now—a turgid, blighted little section, which I hope changes soon.  My first big town tomorrow, hopefully with a library stop for some Internet!

Manually-operated Upper Locks on Upper Saranac Lake.
The Lockmaster let me through--didn't even have to tie up the boat,
but I did have to back-paddle against the flush effect a bit.

Closed lock.

Lock directions, which I would had to do by myself if
the Lockmaster hadn't been nearby.

My wish of having a palatial lean-to to myself finally came true!  Gear spread out to dry, bed sprawled, and dinner made in comfort with a roof overhead and a solid pine plank floor under-bum.  And food is safely in the boat, which is serving as a very expensive bear canister.  Two gents out on a day trip away from the respective missus-es are also here tenting: they were fun to talk to as they drank whiskey, smoked cigars, friend sirloin over a Sterno can, and generally had themselves a stag weekend.  One was an ex-machinist, so we extolled the mechanics of kayak and canoe carts for a bit.

My first Lean-to stay!

Things Learned:

+ My ~45 minute, ~noon lunch break is a great time to stop somewhere sunny, kick off the river shoes, and spread out gear to dry a bit.  Today’s break was at Upper Saranac Lake, and was exquisitely refreshing.

Lunch at the First Saranac Lake

+ I like to pretend to be unflappable and take very little offense at the opinions of others, but little comments can certainly irk, even if they don’t penetrate my calm.  Some jackass walking with his wife and dog asked me if the haul would be “worth it” at the start of the Indian Carry, which turned out to be pretty bumpy and rough.  C’mon, dude.  What the hell kind of cute question is that?  What am I going to do if it’s not “worth it”?  Sit on the trail and pout for the next couple weeks?  Hot damn.

+ Thin blue lines on the map that look like connections between bodies of water are not to be trusted.  Thick blue lines, sure.  But in this drought, thin blue lines, not so much.

Trail Magic: 

+ Made no wrong turns along Stoney Creek, which was my first labyrinthine marsh portion of the Trail!

Chapel Island on the first Saranac Lake.

The Chapel had a boat service running through the summer.  In the olden days,
they'd fire a cannon over the water to tell the lake residents it was time for Mass.

+ Met NFCT officials building a bridge on Indian Carry!  They took a picture, as I was the first Through-paddler to cross it.  One was one of the 3 bigwig, full-time employees, and he asked if I had any Trail questions.  If I had been told the night before that I’d be brushing with such celebrity, I’d have brainstormed some—instead I just thanked them for their work.  Must remember to look these folks, and the photo, up. 

Internet Famous without even being connected to the Internet.

+ One of the NFCT volunteers quipped that one of her family had asked to canoe Long Lake this summer, to which her response was "Long Lake, Short Summer."  The remark made me feel validated in my Long-Lake-directed ire.

+ Tomorrow, onto the SARANAC!

Day 3 - Raquette River, NY, to Raquette Falls, NY

T-2016-8-23 – Day 3

Start: Pine Creek Lean-to, Start of Raquette River

End: Raquette Falls Lean-to, near Mother Jones homesite

On the Way: Raquette River, Long Lake, Axton Landing

Map:  1, 2

Miles: Nearly 28 (Milepost: IDK, I’d need to look it up and nuts if I’m leaving my sleeping bag now.)

Weather: All clear.

Map 2: Long Lake to Saranac Lake

Trail Overview

NEW MAP!!!

Buttermilk Falls

Started the day running some rapids!  Then a short but tough hand-carry around Buttermilk Falls, followed by what’s billed as another carry…but what I decided to turn into another rapids run.  It was great, and Dieter das Boot (my kayak.  He’s German) emerged with only minor crunching.

Dieter Das Boot waiting patiently 
as I go check out the Village.

Seaplanes at Long Lake Village!

Classic Adirondack grand hotel in Long Lake. 

Long Lake NFCT Kiosk.

            Unfortunately, that only served to get my adrenaline up before a loooong stint on  Looooong Lake.  Most accurate name ever, unless they would have been so bold as to have called it “Omigod Kill Me Now” Lake.  It wasn’t that it was difficult: just that it was long and straight and boring with no cover from the sun.  Took a break about halfway along to visit the charming library in Long Lake Village, plus pick up some super glue for the camp shoes and a new dry bag for the deck.

Screw you, Long Lake!

            Long Lake, at long last, was followed by a lovely stint down Raquette River, with more on the way tomorrow, then a hellish carry around Raquette Falls.  For these hand-carries (when the trail’s too rough/steep/muddy/narrow to wheel), I completely empty the boat, hatches and all, scout ahead with as much gear as I can carry, come back and heave the boat on my head with my life vest as a cushion, carry boat until I reach the water or my spine threatens to buckle, whatever comes first, then jaunt back for the gear bits left behind.  When they’re 0.5 mi or less I feel like an invincible Amazon.  When they’re 1.4 mi like the last maneuver of today, I think hard about my life choices. 

An old guidehouse used to be here, about 100 feet away.  “Mother Johnson’s” apparently had the best pancakes.  Must remember to tell the pancake enthusiasts of Brambleberry, my co-op home-sweet-home in Cambridge.

The lush grass meadow to the side of the lean-to beckoned, so I set up the tarp lean-to style, rather than hanging the hammock.  The wooden lean-to was once again claimed when I showed up.  Guess I keep late hours...

Things Learned:

+ Hot cuppa before bed is great for warmth.  But caffeinated tea is not so great for sleep.

+ River bath + undies change and wash every 3 days or so seems to be a good system.

+ Upon closer inspection, grass at this campsite not that lush…

Tarp in lean-to set-up in the grass.

+ The jackrabbit solo portaging method described above came in handy on the Raquette Falls carry.

Start of the steep and rocky Raquette Falls Carry.

Raquette Falls eats canoes.

Trail Magic:

+ Nearly lost my “important things” deckbag from underneath my bungees in the rapids below Buttermilk Falls!  I fortunately saw it bobbing down after me and was able to scoop it up, though.  Lucky me.  Deckbag’s going below for all future rapids.