Saranac

Our most recent venture into the Adirondacks took us to the Saranac Lake region. We snagged a campsite at Meadowbrook State Campground in Ray Brook which may be the world's most perfect place to spend the night. With an ice cream stand across the street and Tail o'the Pup barbecue right next door, who could ask for anything more?

We set up our tent quickly and headed to Ampersand Mountain for a morning hike. It was humid and we were huffing on the ascent, but we seemed to be in good company on the popular trail. There were some scrambles toward the top of the mountain but the panoramic view on the rocky summit made it all worth it. We enjoyed the view of the Saranac Lakes while we ate shrimp scampi and French dip leftover from the previous night's supper.

After descending from Ampersand, we drove to the boat access to Lower Saranac and launched kayaks. Seeing signs indicating that the lower locks were out of commission, we followed the river in that direction figuring that we would see few motorboats. We saw deer and heron and found a perfect lean-to site with a sand beach that appears to not be part of the state campground. Turning around at the lower locks in a refreshing light rain, we made our way back to the car and to our campsite for the night.

The next day, we awoke early and headed to Baker Mountain on the eastern side of Saranac Lake for a quick morning hike. It was a steep and steady climb but over in less than a mile. The views overlooked the village and Lower Saranac Lake. It was a fine climb that seemed to be a popular "pre-work" hike for the locals.

We then brought the boats back to the Lower Saranac launch and followed the river into Lower Saranac Lake. We skirted the islands until we found ourselves looking down Crescent Bay. We then tried to paddle up Fish Creek but were turned around by weeds. With predicted storms but curiously clear skies, we made our way back to the launch before any thunderstorms were supposed to hit.

They never did. We went to the village and played music in the park before going for a stroll and getting supper at Tail o'the Pup. A good day!

On our last morning in the region, we hiked Scarface Mountain; the trailhead essentially left from our campsite. It was a two-mile woods walk followed by a steep climb to limited views. I would guess that the false summit had views when the DEC cut the trail. It looked like fairly new growth up there!

We got some desperately needed showers at the campground before packing the car and getting out of town. It was just in time: with the Lake Placid Ironman scheduled for the following day the area would be congested and roads would be closed. It was a great trip to Saranac Lake and with plenty more left to hike and paddle, we will be back.

Forked Lake

With two days of good weather predicted, we loaded kayaks on our car and headed to Forked Lake - one of the larger lakes on the Adirondacks that we had never seen. We naturally stopped at Hoss's for lunch and followed the road past Buttermilk Falls to the state campground. The lake looked tiny from the launch but we were told that it opens up.

It felt silly loading the kayaks only to then unload them two hundred feet away. We set up camp around the corner and spent the rest of the evening floating around the northern bays and exploring the inlet of the Raquette River. After a scrumptious supper, we had to head back onto the lake to avoid the hordes of mosquitoes on shore.

The next day we explored the northern fork of the lake. We were pleased to find a wild area with only two visible camps. Much of the land surrounding the northern portion of the lake belongs to the Whitney family however and trespassing is patrolled by armed guards (and presumably sharks with laser beams strapped to their heads). We had a nice floating picnic before slowly making our way back to the site.

With rain forecasted overnight, we decided that we would rather pack up while things were dry. We madly stuffed our belongings into dry bags and got into the boats before the mosquitos could rip us to shreds! It was a great trip and we left a portion of the lake and inlet to explore on another trip.

Nundagao Ridge

With a couple hot days forecasted ahead, we headed to our Wadhams base camp so that we could spend the mornings hiking before predicted thunderstorms. On day one, we showed up unannounced and found our good friend Elizabeth and her son Samuel with the day off. We strapped Sam into a hiking chariot and walked the Ausable Club road to the dam on Lower Ausable Lake. We heard one rumble on thunder on the walk back and picked up the pace. Other than that, we had a great time with wonderful weather.

The next day, on a tip from Elizabeth we headed to the backside of Hurricane Mountain for a hike on the Nundagao Ridge. We followed the loop clockwise, meaning that we started with a half-mile climb and ended with a flat walk. The hike was well marked, and well trodden. We were stunned by the number of viewpoints along the way. Hurricane Mountain always dominated the view to the south and we were treated to views of the high peaks along the way. We found ourselves in the sun, and watched the higher mountains lift from the clouds throughout the hike.

After hiking down by Lost Pond and the two lean-tos we finally saw some other people on the trail. The Hurricane Mountain side of this wilderness is certainly more popular but the Nundagao Ridge is arguably more scenic.

Rich, Harris & Cheney

Our latest trek into the wilderness sounds like a law firm: Rich, Harris & Cheney.

This adventure was our first venture with the Hornbeck Boats of 2015. With off and on nice weather, we went to Newcomb to check out two lakes that we had not yet paddled. We launched boats at the Harris Lake State Campground and headed west. After passing the Newcomb Beach, the lake narrowed to an inlet and we found ourselves at the Santanoni gate house for the first carry. With pack baskets, we were able to pull out of the water and load back up in record time!

The river had two more sets of rapids with carries and one other section of rushing water that we were able to muscle through. When we came to Rich Lake, we were treated to a seemingly wild area. When we paddled a bit further, we found a sandy beach that must be accessible from route 28N with many sunbathers. We followed the shoreline to the inlet and with the sun starting to set, made our way back to the Harris Lake Campground for the evening.

There was rain forecast the next day, but not until mid-morning. After breakfast we followed the Lake Harris outlet into the Hudson River. We found a sign directing us north towards Mount Marcy or south towards New York City. We started heading north on the river until we found rapids and then followed the current south until we found rapids. The clouds were beginning to muster and we tied on the boats just as raindrops began to fall in some uncharacteristic good timing.

We spent the rest of the day at the orchard where the weather was better than in the mountains. However, we didn't unpack the camping gear because the next day we headed to Cheney Pond. With much improved weather, we made our way down the barely passable road to the launch. No other cars had ventured there and we had the pond to ourselves.

The lean-to on the beach made a great staging area and we set up our tents around it. With food stashed away, we paddled through the pond's meager outlet to the Boreas river. We paddled upstream until we found rapids and then floated downstream to a campsite with some views of the high peaks. Hungry, we headed back to the car for sandwiches before relaxing at the lean-to for the rest of the evening.

After packing out the next morning we went to the Schroon Lake beach for an early lunch and put the Hornbeck boats into the Schroon River at the same access point we had used a week earlier. We paddled upstream, fighting the current for about an hour until we found the rapids over route 9. We then floated back to the takeout in about fifteen minutes. It is much easier to go with the flow!

Schroon River

On a beautiful summer day following an extremely damp Independence Day, we car-topped the Hornbeck boats and headed for the Schroon River. With water at a high level for July we wanted to take advantage of the current (pun intended) navigability of this river. We had paddled upriver in our kayaks a few years prior and had bottomed out while rounding the third bend. Today, we would go with the flow.

After launching, we realized that this would be more of a "steer" than a "paddle." We passed some folks floating on tubes exclaiming: "I wonder what all the poor people are doing today..."

We admired the surrounding forest as we floated by and saw many nice campsites along the way. When we came to the lake, we finally had to use our paddles to propel ourselves rather than simply using them as rudders. We paddled to the Schroon Lake town beach and tied the boats on. I'm quite sure that we would have headed for a second run if sunset (and mosquito time) wasn't imminent.

Sacandaga

After filling a trailer with kayaks, we headed north to explore Sacandaga Lake (not to be confused with GREAT Sacandaga Lake which is further east) near Speculator. We launched at Moffitt Beach campground which was quite tranquil despite the upcoming holiday weekend. It seemed to be the calm before the storm.

Once out on the lake, we were treated to a perfect Adirondack day, a welcome change after the deluge of rain that had lasted most of June. There were few bugs, the sun was shining and we explored the shoreline. We eyed the best campsites and found a nice beach on which to have a picnic.

With the water at a high level, we explored Hatchery Brook before turning around and following the rest of the shoreline. Sacandaga Lake has a mixture of camps, campground and state land. Enough that there should be plenty of water for kayakers and water-skiers alike.