8/22/10

Woke up to a frog staring at me from a puddle outside our lean-to. yup, it's raining. The trail followed the Cold River here and we got a bunch of nice views along the way. Stood at Rondeau's hermitage for a moment and thought how much Marty Pickands would enjoy this.

The terrian got more challenging as we got deeper into the western high peaks. Lots of rolling hills, swollen creeks and a few views of the Seward Range.

Got to Duck Hole and both lean-tos were occupied. Made the decision to backtrack to the last cold river lean-to instead of tenting out in order to dry out sufficiently for our hike out the next day. kind of bummer of a day, especially hiking back a mile...

So that is almost verbatim what my journal entry was comprised of from 8/22/10. Lets just say that 'bummer of a day' was a bit of an understatement. My legs were hurting me real bad that day and the further along we got, the further I fell behind, stewing about my hip (I know, what an old man) and stomping in puddles.

I can't remember jeanette's overall state for the day but we were both pretty done by the time we hit Duck Hole. After 14 or so miles, we arrive at the quite beautiful and quite packed pond-side base camp. There were not one but two adventure groups from Colgate (who werent aware of each other's presence in the high peaks that day until they met up. Can you believe it?), with numbers in the high teens. I saw them all milling about the lean-to and decided, f*&k it, I'll ask if they are leaving. No harm right? They most certainly were not leave but were, in fact, taking the lean-to and packing out the campsite as well.

My f*&k it attitude came from my chat with the group (all 2 of them) at the other lean-to. A dude and his son were in there for a few day and had settled in and completely filled this lean-to to the brim. While we were talking, the kid was playing his nintendo DS THE WHOLE TIME. This guys basically made it clear that this was their lean-to and he was not interested in sharing. If my mood had been any better I would have said too bad, showed him the lean-to rules in my guidebook and made him shove over. Jeanette was allready crying a bit so we just walked away sadly. I hate this jerk.

With all of our options looking pretty dismal we started backtracking a mile to the vacant Cold River Lean-to. I got right back to my angry puddle-stomping routine as jeanette ran wailing down the trail. Through the rose-colored filter of time I get to chuckle (as you should too) at this image. At the time, it was all pretty horrible. We got to the lean-to, where we stripped down and put dry stuff on for the night and made the usual backpacker's Pantry dinner. Jeanette was able to scream away her megrims and so began the admirable work of trying to cheer me up.

We enjoyed the usual assortment of lean-to graffiti and counted ourselves lucky for how dry we were. Not only did we keep our spare stuff dry but our bags were dry too. After reading a number of accounts of back country emergenies, we realized what bad news it is if you can't get/ keep your sleeping bag dry. We brought two books with us on our trip Changing Planes By Ursula LeGuin and Nemesis By Isaac Asimov. Just about halfway through, we finished and switched. Super fun to read psy-fi by the light of the campfire and dream of other worlds.

On this our last night in the woods, our books were done. To be fair about the events of the day, this was our one and only time we got shut out for a lean-to on the entire hike. It was the first time we even camped anywhere near another person on the trip so we consider ourselves pretty lucky.

day 9: 15 and change miles. 15 to go.

8/21/10

Woke up in the Corner Motel after some seriously refreshing sleep. Jeanette enjoyed one of her favorite luxuries in our journey: cold pizza in bed for breakfast. I, on the other hand, had something else in mind for my ideal breakfast. Long lake has a Stewarts, a fact I noted well in advance of the hike. I knew that, if I could, on the day I went through Long Lake I'd like to have an eggwich. It is a sacred and powerfull meal that magically cures hangovers and prepares anyone for a full day of snowboarding.

As it was 6Am on the outskirts of Long Lake, we were not passed by a single car on our way to the trailhead. No free rides today. We were both glad to have our feet back on the earth as we made our way through a rolling trail with some big trees. Not much remarkable about the hike along the lake other than the going was pretty easy so we made some good time.





We decided to push on to the Cold River Lean-to's as Long lake seemed loud and full of people (well, compared to some of our recent nights in the some of the most isolated parts of the state). The intersection that would take us away from the lakeshore jarred us into a new reality: Lake Placid was close enough to be worth putting on trail mileage signs (under 30 miles from the northern edge of the lake). We were entering the final stretch!! We were tired and sore but took a minute to relax and eat a cliff bar there and ponder our fate.



The highlight of this section of trail were the two very bad-ass suspension bridges. When we realized that we were camping at the base of the larger one which crosses Cold River, we knew we might have to revise our top 3 favorite lean-tos. The lean-to was also at the base of a very interesting and intricate falls. This whole place had a very other-worldly feel with unusual water-worn stone which created deep rounded 'potholes' with what eroded out.



Lots of available firewood also made this a great place to stay for the night. It seemed like there must have been a recent storm as there blowdown everywhere. I had anticipated having alot more fires (we only had three: Spruce Lake, Tirell Pond, Cold River) but the weather was pretty damn perfect and there seemed to be no good reason to waste wood for people who might really need it (not to mention we were dead tired most night and wanted only to lounge, eat and read in our cozy three-walled home). Other than that campfires are wicked pretty. Thats why we had one that night. The fireplace was also large enough to roast a horse in so it was hard to resist seeing if we could light it up nice. I spent most of the afternoon/ early evening exploring the rocky falls and seeing our camp and the bridge from a bunch of different perspectives.



From my journal: "Yet another phenomenal and unique place to spend the night. "

Day 8: 16 miles (our high for the trip). 24 miles to go

8/20/10

Woke up at 5:30 to gray skies which quickly blew over. Tirell Pond was an ideal Adirondack setting and walking around it was a great way to start our day. The other lean-to (north) had a two boats and a bigger beach but ours was way prettier! They had their food in a huge canvas duffel bag in a tree. They had also draped a tarp completely over the roof and front of their lean-to. yipes.... Shortly after we passed their site, we saw a deer about 20 ft off the trail eating breakfast totally unconcerned with our presence. This would be the largest animal we saw on the Northville-Placid trail. let this be a warning to would-be thru-hikers: this is the sort of terrifying animal encounters one can expect in this ever-threatening wilderness!!!! Seriously though, bear and moose trouble is real, always protect your food (hopefully better than the other Tirell pond campers) and stay a respectfull distance from the big guys with hoof's and sharp teeth.

The ascent over Blue Mountain ridge was far less difficult than the guidebook had made it out to be. Midway through the climb there was a beautiful beaver meadow with a not-so-beautiful dilapitated bridge crossing the creek. The meadow had a pretty cool vibe (found out later from nptrail.org this was the site of a former lumber camp) and a bit of foreboding as well. We stopped to take a break and chow on a cliff bar (blueberry crisp wut wut) and noticed a very large and very fresh bear turd. The place had the feeling of being something's home territory (indian spirit, wood nymph, bear?) and now we knew what.

We went up and over making super good time. The last section of the ascent did have some steep pitches but after doing the MacIntyre Range with full packs last summer we were more than ready for this scramble. We rolled down the hill super charged up and exited, hitting the trailhead around 12. Funny thing about the last section of the trail before the road... it seems that someone got a little crazy building two-plank walkways. This went on for what seemed like nearly a mile over both wet and dry terrian. We were nearly doubled over with laughter each time we rounded a bend and saw more plankways stretched off into infinity.

Within 10 minutes of road walking (thumbs out) we managed to get a ride from 2 girls who were going to the post office (also our destination). It appeared that the gods were smiling upon us this day. We got a hotel room just across the street from the office for almost nothing and prepared to settle in for our most luxurious night on NPT. We got a some sandwiches, Jeanette checked in with her dad, gorged on blueberries from the farmers market and mailed out Gush's herk. We had a bed and a shower! We had actually overpacked our food drop (the right kind of problem to have) and ended up mailing some of the food back.

We walked around town that afternoon and did the tourist thing (Hoss's) and had a great dinner (though fly-swarmed) at the Adirondack Hotel. Did I mention that I love beer? MMmmmm beer. At Tirell Pond I accidentially left our Dr Bronner's in the lean-to so we were able to pick some up at the little hike/ kayak store across from the beach. This is your best bet in town for stuff like that and fuel. The other places cater more towards the camp-by-your-car crowd.

We settled in to our cozy little motel bed and were snoring quite quickly. Back into the woods tomorrow!!

Day 7: 12.7 miles. Total: 79.2ish

8/19/10

Almost immediately, the day was looking better. After our visit to the historically awesome aforementioned outhouse, we made our way through the trail reroute. The woods we entered were tall and thick and bore little evidence of human interaction. It was pretty cool to be on a trail that was noticeably fresh. Often times (especially on well-trod high peaks trails), you can tell that millions of human feet have gone before you. Here, it seemed like we were following blazes laid out by a swarm of fairies.



Saw many of the usual toads and efts, and while taking a break to pump water and chill on a mid-mountain brook, were visited by a hummingbird. Collected a few nice pieces of quartz along the trail, one of which I gave my dad.

Have I told you guys about the herk I brought? I have been known to carry a bit of rock with me on many outdoor missions. Famously, I was toting around a nice herk for most of a summer which I would take out at the top of a mountain or during a live music performance to "charge". My dear friend and associate Gush required a herk of his own. Well, I couldn't give it to him without it being sufficiently charged...akin to giving someone a present without the accompanying batteries.

Just before we left for our hike we stopped at the since closed Long lake Rock Shop. It's a big loss, it was  beyond awesome) and picked a huge mamma hunk of Herkimer Diamond. I decided to carry it to Piseco and mail at out after sufficient charging. Well, we hurried through that post office visit so that two and a half pound mega herk traveled with us all the way to Long lake, gaining significant charge and almost 90 miles on foot. Much love Michael.




We made it to Lake Durant in record time, the excitement growing with each step as we passed Stephen's Pond and made our way to the entrance of the camp grounds. From a distance we saw the payphone and were overjoyed. We needed to use it to call my folks so they could come drop off our food.......Tt was gone however hahaha. Just an empty box. I guess the time of pay phones is over. We went to the admission booth and the ranger let me call my folks and also gave us some cliff bars...score!!!!

We sat down on a picnic table and awaited my parents. next to us was a water spigot. What luxury! I would drink 2 sips and then refill. No pumping!!!!! My folks got there with some bangin' Screamen Eagle subs, fruit and candy. We gorged, re-upped on backpacker meals and had some much-needed human interaction.



We are now more than halfway through our journey and the days ahead are looking bright. Though it hurts every day, I think we are through the worst of it. We got back on the trail after a warm send off from my folks and headed towards Tirrell Pond. We were concerned about finding a vacant lean-to after reading in the guide that this was a popular spot for sea-plane fly in camping. Our worst fears seemed to be confirmed as a large family was milling about at the intersection to the camp site. Miracle of miracle's they were just passing through.



Another superlative lean-to with a nice sandy beach. Soaked up the solitude and enjoyed our lunch leftovers. Felt rich and happy as we got towards bed time. Full bellies and good times. lots of entertaining graffiti and chipmunks at the lean-to.



Day 6: 15 miles. total: 67 miles

8/18/10

Lovely wake up at another scenic lake-side lean-to. Cedar River was quite nice. The end of the hike got a bit monotonous, ending with over a mile of road walking. Jeanette reached the end of her rope a bit on  this day as I had the day before. I ended up volunteering to carry the tent for that last stretch of road if to only give her the illusion of it being slightly easier. We saw a co-worker from the museum drive by us on the stretch looking for a place to put in his kayak. Kind of random.

I can't say that I was a big fan of Wakely Dam. It was dirty and run down with garbage everywhere. There were a number of Winnebagos and pick-ups running generators throughout the day. I know people enjoy the Adirondacks and camping in a variety of ways but this was not for me. I guess I would feel differently if we had done as the guide book suggested and had friends meet us here with meat on the grill on beer in the cooler.

We set up our tent for the first time on the hike as far away from "civilization" as we could. We did very little aside from making dinner and reading quite a bit. We decided to wake up early to get to Durant (and our food pick-up) at a decent hour.

As a recommendation to future hikers, bypass the campsites around the water and keep heading up the road for less than a mile. On your left, completely isolated from the rest of the car-camp enthusiasts is a handcap equiped campsite with a STUNNING outhouse that must have been recently built. After a visit there, Jeanette and I got the spring back in our step.

As a 2018 postscript, I just wanted to sat I have a completely different perspective on Wakely Dam thanks to dear friends Sathi and Emily. They put in kayaks there all summer, paddle to a campsite and take in the splendor of Cedar River Flow one weekend at a time. Both J and I have separately gone out and had some incredible times.  

Day 5: 10 and change. Total: 52 miles

8/17/10

Amazing sunrise, so good to be dry and happy. Spruce Lake will always be remembered as an incredibly beautiful and therapeutic location. The lean to was really cool. It was weathered and warped with the lots of graffiti about epic trout with dates going back to the 60's. The view that it framed would be at home on an Adirondack post card or advertisement.

Early on it was apparent that I was hurting and tired. The miles seemed to go a bit slower. Sat down for a while on my pack and had the 'why am I doing this?' feeling for the first time on the hike.

There were a good amount of red efts on the trail. West Canada Lake's Wilderness is not overrated by the guide book. It's beautiful and still and the weather gave us it's best (thankfully on such a mentally difficult day). Lots of green and blue to keep one foot going in front of the other.

Saw a number of backpacking pairs on this section, no singles, groups or day hikers. Met a dog or two which is always a good time. At the end of my energy and joy reserves we reached the Beaver Pond lean-to. Saved again!!!!!

From my journal: "Lean-to at Beaver Pond intersection is perfect. Too tired to write more now, maybe later?"

This place is incredible. The view was nearly as good as from Spruce Lake but the lean-to is the real hero here. Big and new and perfectly kept up. Maintained with a great deal of love and respect. It could probably sleep an entire troop of boy scouts. The fire pit was substantial and a number of large quartz boulders were used. This place looked like a great weekend excursion with lots of little trails around the lake and pond.

After laying down for a bit and eating not one but two backpacker meals for dinner I had a new lease on life. I took an evening walk around the lake shore and took some pictures of this beautiful setting. Tried to get some shots of the loon that was living in the bay but it was a bit far off and came out blurry.

I highly recommend the Mountain House Beef Stroganoff. We had it for the first time that night and it rocked my world. After eating Backpacker's Pantry meals for 3 nights straight, the rich creamyness of the gravy and the big chunks of beef almost made me weep with joy. I do still recommend the Backpacker's Pantry meals (especially Katmandu Curry) as they are chock full of nutrition and fiber, but you can get pretty sick of endless variations of brown rice and beans after a while and just want some (freeze dried) home cookin'.

At the time, the section from Spruce Lake to Beaver Pond is in pretty bad shape with large section inundated with mud and water from beaver activity. Despite the muddy boots, the trail was still fairly easy to follow.

Day 4: 10 and change. Total: 42

8/16/10

We woke up to a still dripping woods from yesterday's rain. Had some oatmeal and hit the trail. Bud was starting out just behind us (having camped about .2 miles back at the second suspension bridge). It went from dripping to thunder as we made our way towards Piseco, our food drop and the outside world.

Red efts dominated the trail this morning, it being too wet for even the toads or the frogs... well, there was still a few. It rained hard until we hit town with thundering roaring every few minutes. We seemed to be staying pretty dry and in good spirits likely motivated by the thought of town in the near future. As we left the woods and hit the pavement, patches of blue sky began to push through the gray mass.

It was such a novelty to be in a store. Though we had only been in the woods for 2 nights at this point we both felt alien wandering the aisles. We shared some mac n cheese and some chili (at 8am hahaha). We also bought sandwiches and some pastry for our lunch. We felt unbelievably rich!! Headed down the road and towards the post office just as it was opening up. A package for us! We mailed ourselves food here and at Long Lake, also doing a pick-up in Blue Mountain Lake with a little help from the parents. Could we possibly get any richer? We had bought some ocean spray little cylinders of juice powder in single servings and these turned out to be one of the best treats on the trail.

Once back in the woods, the trail was flat and devoid of rocks for the first couple of miles. With full bellies, full packs, bright sun and easy going Jeanette and I were grinning from ear to ear. A blessing, and we made killer time. Got hilly and stayed that way on our approach to the Jessup River. Quite beautiful with a highlight being the actual river crossing. Lots of great places to camp or chill but we had or sights set on Spruce Lake lean-to #2 for the night and were not gonna stop till we had our satisfaction! I would definitely return to this area for day hiking or overnights in the future.

The last portion of our hike, the approach to Spruce Lake was beautiful and challenging. We were both past the point of exhaustion and got into one of those silly ranting kind of moods that happens with long distance hiking. Spruce forest and a hill down marked our approach to the lake. The first lean-to was not directly on the lake and had some serious mud out front. Passing it up was one of the harder things I did on this hike. I was so tired and wanted to just keel over but knew it was the right thing to do to just get to the next one.

Our excitement grew and the distance to the next lean-to (about 0.5 miles) seemed to grow as well. The welcoming yellow on brown lean-to sign sparked a wave of elation as we pawed through the semi-overgrown trail down to the lake edge and our home for the night.

Impossibly beautiful!!!!! It was sunny with a decent wind coming of the lake. Usually not something to make you smile but I was super glad for the wind. At least half of my clothes were wet from the previous rain, I made a fairly foolish decision to wash clothes and hope they would dry on a rainy day.

Within 2 hours our clothes were well on the way to drying, a swim/ bath in a pristine lake was had, wood was gathered for our first fire of the trip and I had figured out why my water filter was pumping so slow. I hadn't cleaned it once on the trip and we had been pumping water in some low, sketchy areas (the first leg of NPT being in the southern, low Adirondacks). With the sediment cleaned off the charcoal filter,  the first bottle pumped blessedly quick. I don't think I have ever been more happy or content in my life as we settled in for the night. From my journal: 'Inventoried gear, cleaned my filter, ready to rage the trail another day!'

This is the day when we began to establish our routine for the trip. Wake between 5 and 6 AM, hike till 2 or 3 PM and chill hard till we pass out (usually about 8 pm hahaha).

Day 3: 14 miles. Total: 32 miles.

P.S. That night, with a crackling fire, and a pink sunset framed by the uneven and ancient trout assassin lean-to, the loons began to sing.

Loon calls on Spruce Lake

They sang a song sorrowful, beautiful and intense.

The fish jumped, the bats swooped in and the half-moon shone.