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.

Huletts Landing

Despite some of the best water and most stunning scenery in the Adirondacks, Lake George can be a difficult paddle. With the deluge of motorboat traffic that chops up the lake after New York schools close for the summer it can be dangerous. We took advantage of a beautiful weekday in early June to explore around Huletts Landing.

With no destination in mind and a kayak full of treats, we headed south from our launching point into the northern portion of Lake George's narrows. We scouted campsites and found an island church. Lunch was served while floating in a sunny bay with turtles sunbathing on logs around us.

We continued to follow islands to the south and the pace was more determined by wind speed rather than our desire to get anywhere in particular. All went to plan until I tried to disembark at a high dock. One perfectly placed wave sent me in the water for my first Adirondack swim of the season. I spent the next twenty minutes bailing my boat before we could start heading north again.

The marina at Huletts Landing provided some much needed ice cream to fill in the gaps left by the cookies and chocolate covered pretzels that we had snacked on for the day. Our sugar crash seemed to coincide with sunset and we headed home, leaving Lake George for the hordes for the rest of the summer.

Big Hollow

For a quick jaunt in Crown Point we headed to the Coot Hill trail which has been newly listed on the CATS website. This would have normally been a twenty minute hike, but we were accompanied by Ben - our nephew who had recently turned three. Therefore, it was a two hour adventure with fresh baked cookies as the reward for summiting.

We followed the road through Stantonville and past the graveyard which contained a stone for "Leafy Winters," one of the best names we had ever seen! The trail started from there, but was probably about a half mile to the summit of Coot Hill.

I brought my trumpet and got a triple echo out of the big hollow between Coot Hill and Bulwagga Mountain! The wind started to come up, but we enjoyed the view of the Crown Point peninsula and Vermont.

After making our way back down to the car, we naturally headed to Gene's in Port Henry for the first michigans of the season!

Black River Country

On a cold February day, we packed the car and headed to North Lake at the headwaters of the Black River for a few days of skiing. It turned out to be some of the best backcountry skiing conditions that we have ever experienced!

On our arrival, we tried in vain to warm the camp but the negative outdoor temperatures were working against us. While the wood stove cranked out heat, we headed to South Lake to ski on the snowmobile trail on the southern shore of the lake. With the powdery snow and wide snowmobile tracks it turned out to be much like a groomed trail. We turned around after a couple hours to return to camp and stoke the stove.

After the arrival of my parents we departed to a longer ski the next day from North Lake to Sand Lake Falls which lies roughly 5.5 miles northwest of the lake. After the previous day's experience on the snowmobile trail, we were looking forward to another day of groomed trails. We were not disappointed, although we did see our share of snowmobiles that day. All riders were courteous and friendly as we made our way over the rolling hills, through the woods and into the open floodplain of Woodhull Creek. We ate a lunch in the sunshine at the lean-to, admired the falls and skied back to North Lake for a perfect winter day!

The next day we left North Lake with maps in hand looking for another backcountry ski in the powdery conditions. We found a trail circling Cascade Lake, just north of Eagle Bay. Being Wilderness, we didn't have the groomed trails from the previous two days but enough people had skied ahead that we had a packed path to follow. We eyed the area as a potential camping spot for Hornbeck boats in the summer!

We were glad to take advantage of the perfect winter conditions but being the end of February, we are certainly looking forward to warmer weather!