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!