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.