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.
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| 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.
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| 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." |
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| 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.
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| Right over a little ridge for maximum updraft! |
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| 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!
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