Day 2 - Seventh Lake, NY, to Raquette River, NY

M-2016-8-22 – Day 2

Lovely dock at the end of John Brown's Tract,
about to head to Raquette Lake

Start: Seventh Lake, Lean-to near Goff Island

End: Pine Creek Lean-to, Start of Raquette River
On the Way: Fulton Chain of Lakes, Brown’s Tract Inlet, Raquette Lake, Forked Lake

Map:  1

Miles: 20 (Milepost 33)

Weather: Overcast in AM, then glorious and clear with precious little wind.

            Great day, despite big scary lake to cross (Raquette, the fourth largest in NY and a bear when it’s windy, but turned out to be quite pleasant today) and the John Brown Tract portage that was described as piddling in the books, but turned out to be quite draining.  Had to make a fool out of myself while carrying kayak up the initial hill, than having the cart collapse on some big roots a couple times.  Moral of story: be nice to your cart; it will ultimately save your spine.

            Had camp sandals break on me when the sole came unglued on this discouraging portage.  My usual M.O. would be to wrap them up in my gorilla tape, but since these have the potential to be constantly wet, I don’t think that will work.  IDK, guess I’ll go a few days and see if I need them.  Camp shoes are nice.

            Speaking of, as soon as I made to come down to the lean-to at the end of the portage today (great strategy, by the way, to end up at the next put-in, with the boat already mostly unpacked), a van of old men pulled up the trailhead.  Thought I’d be able to sprawl in the lean-to, but nope: they had a camp worthy of a small army set up down here already.  They were nice to chat with, though, and mark night two out of two of non-creepy interactions with groups of men on the Trail.  I hope this keeps up.

            Hammock is hung five feet from the Raquette River.  The sound is soothing, but I made sure to pee before bundling up.  Also having bug net on standby tonight, along with warmer duds in the bag with me.

Last steamboat on Raquette Lake

NFCT Raquette Lake Kiosk

The first of many General Stores along the Trail.
They came to be a very appreciated sight.

Things Learned: 

+  My experiment with soaking my morning oatmeal in my Nalgene overnight was a win!  Also a really portable breakfast that can just go on the Trail with me.

+  Jetboiling can also mean Jetburning.  Ugg.  Hopefully that scorched crust of mac-n-cheese sauce will wear off with more use.

+  Boatsnacks are a great idea.

+  Lashing drybags together into a makeshift pack makes for much easier portaging.

+  Beaver dams are usually passable with a few good strokes to achieve ramming speed.

+  Pastors (a profession to which one of my sitemates belonged) talk about feelings a lot.

Trail Magic:

+  Hellish John Brown Tract Portage ended with a two-mile paddle through pristine white water lilies.

Two miles of white water lily blossoms

+  Saw Mack Truax’s name in the register book!  And other more recent through-paddlers! 

+  Yesterday on the tiny Fifth Lake, I was startled by two guys sitting on the riverside porch of a cabin at dusk.  Looking closer, they were life-size statues of Jake and Elwood Blues.

+  No wind on Raquette!

+  Random MD flag on a boathouse on the Lake.

+  Nice chat with my campground bro about the kayak cart.