The first carry, despite being fairly short was brutal. We had not yet figured out proper weight distribution and we made it to the river landing huffing and rubbing our shoulders and wrists. Launching boats went smoothly except for one member of our party who took the first swim of the trip unexpectedly...
We found a campsite on the southeastern corner of the lake with a great view of St. Regis Mountain and we set up camp quickly before spending the rest of the afternoon exploring the shoreline of St. Regis Pond. We particuarly enjoyed the views from a small hidden bay on the eastern edge of the pond.
The next day we ate big breakfasts and got ready to explore some of the furthest reaches of the canoe area. We carried from St. Regis Pond to Ochre Pond then to Fish Pond, Little Long Pond and Lydia Pond. On the return trip we paddled Little Long Pond, Little Fish Pond, Fish Pond, Mud Pond, Ochre Pond and followed the west branch of the St. Regis River rather than carrying back to St. Regis Pond. We were tired! But enjoyed the increasing solitude that came with each portage.
On the final day, we made a much more successful carry with our gear back to Little Clear Pond and capped off the adventure with a trip to Donnelly's Ice Cream stand where we went through the line
