We drove by Enchanted Forest on our way to the Carter Street Bridge - a "put-in" on the North Branch of the Moose River. After spotting a car in Thendara, most of the family embarked in their kayaks. Lisa and I, despite having our kayaks with us, opted to share an inter-tube with two canoe paddles! We dragged another tube behind us with our spare air. We hitched to the back of a kayak and flailed our way down the serpentine river. Once we got sick of the whiplash, we cut the cord and embarked on our slow but steady paddle down the river.
After lunch, we started to get a feel for steering the tube without always ending up in trees. We made it to Thendara a little later than the rest of the crew though! After a slight debacle with car keys, we ended up packing the cars at sunset and grabbing dinner at the steakhouse while we listened to the booms of fourth of July fireworks through the window panes.
The next day, Lisa and I car-topped the kayaks and headed to Piseco Lake - a place that we had driven by for years, but never stopped. It was the Saturday of a holiday weekend and the campgrounds were bursting at the seams; our hopes of camping there were quickly dashed. Instead we paid the day-use fee and got on the lake from Poplar Point heading south to Irondequoit Bay. The wind was powerful and in our faces as we paddled.
After following the shoreline, we found the gem of Piseco Lake by following the outlet. We slid through some light rapids and came out in "Big Bay." This spot, only accessible to adventuresome paddles (you have to be willing to go over the rapids) was a picturesque expanse of water surrounded by mountains. Since it was sandwiched between Route 8 and Route 10, it showed yet again that you don't have to go far to find solitude in the Adirondacks.
We paddled back uphill, Lisa much more gracefully than I and headed out, intending to find a place to camp for the night. Following route 8, we stopped in Speculator to the final strain of "Stars and Stripes Forever." Apparently, they have their parade on the fifth of July with no warning signs whatsoever... We watched for a while before sneaking through a parking lot and changing course. Suddenly we were heading north on route 30.
Lucky for us, we found a campsite at Lewey Lake. Some campers had left early, so we had a place to stay!
In the morning, we scarfed our breakfast and got on Lewey Lake, heading southwest until a huge gust of wind forced us to turn around. We followed the outlet until we hit a cement dam and decided to head back to the launch, saving Indian Lake for another day.
We were itching for a hike in the afternoon and remembered our friend Bill, who always spoke about Chimney Mountain on the eastern side of Indian Lake. We followed the back roads and made the short but steep hike to the rock formations on the mountain's peak. Some over-confident climbers with improper equipment made us nervous at the summit, but we enjoyed the view to the west - especially Snowy and Blue Mountains.
After a picnic on the shores of Adirondack Lake, we headed to Wadhams for a relaxing night with Kevin, Elizabeth and baby Sam. There are storms in the forecast for the next few days so we will be heading back into the 'dacks on Wednesday.
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