Canoe Mile 85.5

Greetings. I hope that you are all well.Total Mileage: 85.5.

My last post was from the great hamlet of Long Lake. This was a great place to take care of all the errands one must accomplish while in town. For instance, if you are not mail dropping food (which I am not) then you need to resupply. Then, if not first, you have got to hit a diner, resteraunt or bar for a cooked meal. Oh yea, if you are sending or receiving mail, then a post office is a must. And finally, the outfitters. An outfitter is my favorite of all the town tasks. Well, maybe tied with hot meals.

In Long Lake, NY I was able to do all of these chores. The town was very paddler friendly with all the necessities. Oh yea, the folks there were very nice.

Currently, I am in Saranac Lake, the town, just 85 miles up the trail. I arrived last evening
(7/22) around 5pm. This community is larger than Inlet or Long Lake. When you paddle into town you arrive at a docking area just shy of Main Street where a beautiful riverwalk begins. The size of this town, while larger than the others, makes running the errands very paddler friendly. There are several bars here, numerous resteraunts, a couple of outfitters, library, post office and general stores along with a ton of shops.

In New York you are charged for refills on Coke. What a racket this is. I mean, come on, don't they already make enough profit on the markup of the soda? I just had lunch at an Italian resteraunt here. Very nice atmosphere. But a 10 ounce Coke filled to the rim with ice (another great trick) for $1.50. Add another $1.50 for a refill that they do not tell you about. Lunch was mediocre at best. And I was the only person in the place at noontime. I wonder why? Enough.
With the Ironman Marathon being this past weekend lodging was impossible and frankly there were not many good stealth camping spots. So I left my canoe and pack at the Police Station (THANKS GUYS!!) figuring this would be the safest place and walked around considering my options. I stumbled across an outfitter-St. Regis Canoe Outfitters and the staff were barbequing in the back for a staff meeting. I met Brian, Martina and Dave Cilley (the Owner) and talked to them. They were generous enough to allow me to sleep on their back porch and I even got to shower there this morning. My first shower since last weekend. My clothes still smell like lake water though.

You have to stop by St Regis Canoe Outfitters. They are great people. They are extremely knowledgeable about the water here in NY and abroad. Plus, they have one of the most extensive selection of gear necessary for paddling and or hiking. They even carry Granite Gear packs. Yee Haw! They will rent you a canoe for the day, for the week. They shuttle folks to water destinations. Dave is abit of a map junkie and he spent an hour this morning going over maps of the upcoming terrain with me. Their business front is conveniently located on the river, which goes through town. You can reach them at 518-891-1838 and anyone of the staff will fix you right up!

On 7/19/07, I pushed off from the town of Long Lake, which also was the day I arrived. I only paddled for another couple of miles and camped on a point just North of Hidden Cove Lean-To. From my camp I could see Round Island. It rained pretty much the whole time I was in town and it did not cease once I got on the water. The wind seemed to be blowing against me and the rain seemed to come at an angle. This day ended around 4pm. This was nice as it gave my sore, aching muscles a chance to recover. For dinner, I enjoyed Lipton noodles, barbeque chip crumbs and a lemonade mix that my sister, Amy sent along with a ton of awesome energy bars. Awesome is not the name brand, awesome is how they tasted. Thanks Sis! A good night sleep was ahead and you know the rain is never awful when you are dry and in for the day.
On the morning of the 20th, I awoke to sun, clear skies and warmth. The wind was blowing enough that I was able to dry out tent, tent fly, backpack and rainjacket. This took some time and it was 9:30am before I hit the water. Once back in the water paddling North up Long Lake the water was choppy and the wind against me. About 30 minutes or so into the day, the clouds won over the sky and let go some more much needed rain. For lunch, I stopped at Island House Lean-To and waited out several 30 minute rain sessions. At intermission, a 2 man canoe team paddled by and asked how I was enjoying the weather. I replied, "Loving It!". Once the canoe had gotten away, the rain began again. Eventually, I thought that the rain would not stop today and that Fort Kent, ME was not getting any closer as I waited.

From the Northern most part of Long Lake I entered the Raquette River. The first part of this paddle was along and through a winding channel where several brooks and rivers entered from the East. Along this paddle I noticed ducks with their young, geese with their young, pairs of blue herons and even an otter. I portaged around Raquette Falls which happened to be 1.3 miles in length. This was the first portage that reminded me of the ones I traversed in Minnesota's Boundary Waters and Southern Ontario's Quetico Provential park. Up and down, very rocky, slick and in the woods. Did I mention that it was raining? It was slower going once I got south of the falls and I was getting colder so the hunt for a campsite ensued. However, today I really, really wanted to stay in a lean-to instead of in a tent. I found it just South of Stony Creek. Palmer Brook lean-to hovered above the water with a nice view of the river from above. There was plenty of tenting areas here but nobody was in the shelter so I sat up the body of my tent so that I could sleep without the bugs. About ten guys from Tupper Lake area showed up for their annual get together/ party. And it was a party. They may have had around 300 cans of beer and great food. We all hung out and had a great time laughing, telling jokes, eating, etc. The rain stopped around 8pm.

No rain on the morning of the 21st! Blue skies, no humidity and few clouds. A great day for a paddle! Around 9am I hit the water and made excellent forward progress...until I turned off, upstream from the Raquette River into Stony Creek. Have you ever seen the movie DELIVERANCE? You know, the one with Burt Reynolds and Ned Beatty, oh yea and Jon Voit? We watched this movie while I was training to be a canoe guide so that we would see what happens in the wild when you lose your head. Well, the map says that this section, Stony Creek, was tricky and when in doubt one should always go Left. Well, I did so but for one time and wound up paddling upstream into Ampersand Brook. While paddling up stream, and thank God I had a paddle, the current made it so that I could no longer make any forward progress. So I thought that this is just the part of the trip where I get out and portage or line. So I carried my canoe upstream until I could walk no longer. Then I tried to scout a route to portage and did so for a half mile before I could no longer bushwack. My legs got pretty scraped up during this ordeal. So after about 3.5 hours and not arriving at the Stony Creek Ponds which were 3.5 North of the turnoff, and studying the map I determined that the best course of action was to proceed back the way I came to the point where I went Right instead of Left. I eventually got there and got into Stony Creek Pond exhausted and thinking of another short day. By the time I arrived at the INDIAN CARRY, portage trail on the North part of Stony Creek Pond, I decided to call it a day and do the portage the following day. I found a beautiful campsite on a point just South of the portage. Great views from all directions and again the loons sang me to sleep. No roosters here, just loons. Loons do calls in the morning as well.

Oh yea, back to the Stony Creek snafu. Once paddling upstream on Ampersand Brook, there were at least five instances where trees had fallen across the brook. This meant that I had to portage or carry around. This was exhausting work.

July 22 and approximately 17 miles to Long Lake, NY. No rain and nice weather all day. It did get hot and the sun was intense but hey, I'll take it. Started the morning later, again around 9:30am as it was very cool, and did the 1.1 mile portage. The yolk pads were killing me and it was because the nuts were not tightened so getting to town also meant that I might borrow a crescent wrench for the tightening. Believe me, I am not complaining as there are not a whole lot of things I would rather be doing. Paddling with Paris Hilton is just one of the few things. It would be so cool to get the straight dope on Hillary, Nicole, Lindsey, Britney and gang from the horses mouth. Not that Paris has a horses mouth! Oh me, where is a US Weekly mag when you need one the most?

Upon completing the portage I arrived upon Upper Saranac Lake. The water was abit choppy and this was worsened by the mass of motorboaters. I can never say motorboater without thinking of Vince Vaughn in The Wedding Crashers. The views surrounding the Saranac Lakes were spectacular and really made me feel how small I was in comparison. I LOVE THE ADIRONDACKS!!! I saw tons of birds and even a beaver swimming by. I tried to get the beavers attention by slapping the flat of my paddle blade on the water. He, or she, paid no attention to me and went on about their business. Another .5 mile portage and I was in Middle Saranac Lake where the wind picked up a notch. Nice islands dot this lake and they all seemed like they would be ideal campsites. Much of the shoreline in these lakes are privately owned. And obviously you can not camp there, unless invited. I have not been invited yet. Through the Saranac River from Middle Saranac to Lower Saranac. Another nice relaxing downstream paddle through the meandering river. I ran a very short rapid avoiding going through the Upper Locks. It was cool to see how the locks worked. The Park installed these locks years ago to allow boat passage from lake to lake.

Around the islands back South past the Saranac Lakes Islands Campground Headquarters and into Oseetah Lake. This was one of my favorite so far as it was completely surrounded by mountains. No bald eagle sitings yet, but this lake is known to be home to several. Once I reached the Lower Locks and Dam at the Southern mouth of Oseetah lake I actually went through the locks. It was kind of weird to be in the canoe as the water level dropped six feet. The guy there was cool and we visited abit.

From Oseetah Lake I paddled North through winding channels until I reached the great town of Saranac Lake. This day, a wood duck flew over head, not fifteen feet overhead and it was so beautiful to see the entire body in flight. They get their bodies straight as an arrow and don't look back.

All in all, I have thoroughly enjoyed this phase of my 2007 trip. It feels great to be back on the water. The canoe I am using, a Bell Yelowstone Solo, has been wonderful and each day I gain more confidence in both our abilities. The gear that I have chosen is working out and hopefully, I will not have to purchase any more gear. Yea right.

Again, thanks so much to Rob, up in Minnesota. Thanks Steve and gang at Piragis Outfitters up in Ely, MN. You guys at Mountain Man Outfitters in Old Forge, NY were awesome. Congrats Sara on your new job with Keen. You know, how I feel about KEEN-they rock! Dave Cilley and the gang at St Regis Canoe Outfitters in Saranac Lake, NY are incredible and what an extensive line of gear! Thanks Dave for your help and your time! Thanks to everyone else who have helped along the way. This would not be possible without a great support network.
Granite Gear, Bell, Outdoor Research, Sawyer, Leki, Etowah Outfitters, NorthFace, Keen...THANKS for making GREAT products. And if you are reading this and ever have a question to ask about one of the abovementioned companies, please feel free to ask in an email. I'll talk gear until the cows come home.

Up next, the Saranac River to Plattsburg, NY where I will begin a 33 mile paddle across Lake Champlain, which incidentally is our countrys 6th largest lake.
Thanks for the emails and happy trails and be well.

Jason aka Totally Different Subject.
Totally Different Subject