With kayaks car-topped, we made the drive down Route 28, through multiple construction zones before turning towards Big Moose Lake in Eagle Bay. Tom followed us and gave us a friendly wave at each construction site. The pavement disappeared just after Big Moose and we followed the dirt road (which was beautifully maintained) until we found the boat launch at Stillwater Reservoir.
Linda (my mom) was waiting patiently as we arrived late, hungry and in need to pack our kayaks for camping. She had arrived from North Lake to join us for the first day of our journey. After scarfing down some sandwiches, we headed south into the large bay with a pirate flag proudly flying from the stern of Lisa's kayak.
The wind was steadily blowing from the northwest and at our first break, we noticed that the pirate flag had blown off! We scurried back towards the launch, retracing each paddle dip but the Jolly Roger had gone to Davy Jones' locker.
We meandered along the shoreline, exploring bays and admiring the large boulders that seemed to form much of the shoreline of this part of the lake. The return to the boat launch required some muscles since the wind had picked up considerably. STILL-water? Sheesh...
With hearts pumping, we arrived back at the launch and helped Linda car-top her kayak when I noticed an ice-cream sign on the marina wall. It was locked, but we wandered over to the only other commercial building in sight: The Stillwater Inn. It was obviously the only game in town since it took us forty-five minutes to get four ice cream cones. It was delicious though!
We bid farewell to Linda and launched our kayaks to push eastward on the lake. We had picked a campsite midway down the lake and wanted to watch the sunset. The wind was now at our backs and we made it with plenty of time to set up tents, start a campfire, and eat dinner before we ran out of light.
The next day we passed around pop-tarts for breakfast (Tom broke a decades long streak of not eating a pop-tart) and packed our camping gear into our holds. With the beautiful beach and pleasant weather, we were not in a hurry to leave. We shoved off around ten o'clock and started to paddle eastward with a great part of the lake yet to explore.
Following the shoreline, we found the inlet to a secluded bay known as Loon Lake. We floated in the quiet backwater, eying the lone campsite as a possibility for our next visit.
Continuing eastward, we navigated through islands and found the train tracks that cut across the eastern bay of Stillwater but we couldn't find a way through. We were not too disappointed since we found another beautiful beach with a lone pine for shade. I dragged a log for a seat so that we could have a quintessential Adirondack experience.
After lunch, we continued down the Beaver River towards Nehasane Lake. The wind was beginning to pick-up again and we had the full length of the lake to paddle so we turned around and muscled-up for the long paddle ahead.
Lucky for us, Stillwater Reservoir is chock-full of beautiful sand beaches and we took snack and water breaks on many of them on the way back. We spent time climbing on the imposing driftwood stumps and logs that littered the beaches throughout the lake.
After packing the cars, we headed for McKeever, where we set up on a free primitive campsite in the dark. Lisa and I slept in our tent while Tom opted for his van. Other than waking up to the sound of deer hooves in the leaves, we slept very well and managed to stay dry despite a chance of rain in the forecast.
The next morning, we brought our boats to Wolf Lake Landing on Woodhull Lake where we carried our boats to the launch under cloudy skies. We paddled to the lean-to (a double-wide!) where we cooked some oatmeal with apples. Any day that you eat breakfast in a lean-to is a good one, right?
We got back into our boats and shoved off. We explored the shoreline, most of which is owned by the Adirondack League Club, an organization that takes private land ownership quite seriously. We didn't dare to step out of the boats. The next bathroom break would have to wait until we landed...
As we were admiring the earthen dam responsible for the lake's existence it began to sprinkle. We donned our raincoats and put on our spray skirts in case of heavier rain. It began to pour and the deluge of rain wouldn't let up for hours... We continued to explore the shoreline to the very end of the lake. When we finally arrived back at the lean-to for a much needed bathroom break, we were soaked to the core. We didn't even bother taking off our shoes or rolling up our pants to step into the lake...it just didn't matter.
We didn't feel uncomfortable until we had to carry the kayaks back to the cars. We each had a set of dry clothes packed and got to change before heading to Old Forge. We grabbed some food at Walt's Diner before parting ways with Tom. He was heading to Vermont whereas we were heading to North Lake.
We spent the next few days relaxing and visiting with family while our clothes dried on the line. Saturday was the annual Atwell Fish and Game Club Picnic where we ate, played music, ate and ate.
Although we spent a few days exploring new areas, we will have to return to each. Stillwater Reservoir still has two large areas of the lake that we didn't have time to explore. And of course we would like to see Woodhull lake without a downpour.
No comments:
Post a Comment