Triple Play in the ADKs

My recent Adirondack hike naturally divides itself into three sections, each with its own distinctive character. First, Marie (long-time hiking buddy) and I hiked from Upper Works trailhead, just west of the High Peaks, to the Northville-Placid Trail and down the NPT to Cedar Lake. At Cedar Lake we left the NPT and began to follow one of the proposed routes for the North Country National Scenic Trail. After reaching North Lake the third phase of the hike began with more "civilized" walking on a combination of roads and canal towpath trails till we reached Fort Stanwix at Rome, New York.

My quest is to hike the entire North Country National Scenic Trail which goes from Crown Point, New York, to Lake Sakakawea, North Dakota, a 4400-mile route.

On this hike I carried a new toy, although it's not mine. The North Country Trail Association owns two Garmin 76CSx GPS units, and they said that I could take one on this hike. I got it in my hands just 6 days before we started hiking, so I had a steep learning curve. But it's a really nice tool, containing maps as well as the standard abilities of handheld GPS units. The one drawback is the weight- 8.6 ounces and another 5 for the manual, which I decided I should carry, since I was so inexperienced with it. Let me say in advance that after playing around quite a bit, I now think that I'm in love. With the inclusion of the maps you would need to be really foolish to get lost if you have this wonderful toy! (Well, I am assuming that you have made yourself familiar with the maps of where you will be hiking, can actually read maps, understand the compass and all that sort of thing.)

Phase One- Northville-Placid Trail

We began the hike where a previous hike through the Adirondacks ended. When we hiked that section, in 1996, there wasn't even a glimmer of hope for an official route for the North Country Trail through the Dacks. We knew that New York had already said that the NCT route would not go through the High Peaks, but since there wasn't a route, we chose to hike the High Peaks. They were awesome, but that's a different story (in North Country Cache). Since then, just within the past few years, there has been a route proposed for the NCT through the Adirondack Park. It's not finalized at all, but will generally run south of the High Peaks, and be created of existing routes with some new trail building being allowed. On this hike we planned to check out some of that proposed route, but needed to connect it with the previous hike. The best way to do this was via the Northville-Placid Trail.

The NPT is an old trail. It was begun in 1922, and is currently the only long-distance trail in the Dacks. It is 122 miles long from Lake Placid at the north end to Northville at the south end. We hiked 70 miles of the NPT, connecting from Upper Works via Duck Hole. The NPT is a valley trail. It mostly follows abandoned tote roads. So when it was new it probably wasn't as pleasant of a walk... more like a road walk through recently logged woods. But now the vegetation has grown in and the experience is woodsy and pleasant. The trail connects a lot of small, lovely Adirondack lakes surrounded by green hills. We followed it from Duck Hole to Cedar Lake. We prefer dispersed camping to the lean-tos. If you sleep in a leanto you are open to assault by the mosquitoes and no-see-ums, and subject to the wildlife which have become used to getting free meals at these peopled spaces. But in reality our campsites were sometimes dispersed and sometimes near the lean-tos. The first and second nights we camped in the woods. Night two we were on a high, dry maple ridge, for which we were extremely grateful! After dark it began to rain, and it rained hard. People we met in subsequent days told us that it rained four inches that night! We heard of one hiking group whose leader left them after that wet night. But we were dry and snug. We slept in the next morning because we were several miles ahead of our projected schedule, so we just waited until the rain stopped to begin our hiking and ended the day right where we wished to be, at Catlin Bay on Long Lake.

Catlin Bay was one of our favorite campsites on this hike. The south lean-to is gone, and only the fireplace remains. In addition to this, the bridge over the creek there is lost in a beaver pond, so hikers must cross the bubbling creek on large stones near where it falls into Long Lake. Just past the crossing the temporary trail hugs the shore of the creek. So hikers rarely venture up the hill to the south. We did. We found it to be covered with a mature pine grove with no understory but a blanket of pine needles. There were huge boulders sprinkled around the hill. One with a flat west face, and a flat area in front of this just invited us to pitch our tent there. There was a strong breeze that evening, and we lay in the tent watching the sun lower in flaming glory into Long Lake with the sound of the wind covering the noise made by the campers in the lean-to on the opposite hill.

The next day included the one real climb of the entire hike. Compared to most Adirondack climbs, and even many others on the NCT, this was nothing much! But it was the one vertical challenge of this hike. We climbed from 1800 feet to 3000 feet over a ridge that doesn't even have a name. For this to be the biggest climb on the NPT and to not even be named seems just too demeaning! The final half mile was fairly steep with the usual Adirondack rocks to clamber over, and rutted trail that doubles as a small creek. The south side of the slope was not as steep, so the descent was easier.

Another afternoon challenge was a wide beaver meadow with soggy trail leading to a wide channel in the middle. There was a bridge. However, except for one stringer log, it was three feet under water! I took off my boots and pants and waded in beside the bridge. The water level was up to my chest. It was surprisingly refreshing, and the bottom was sandy, so the wading was easy. However, that's a bit too deep to take the packs across and keep them dry unless we held them aloft, and that's not as easy as it sounds. So, by clearing away some debris and some of the decking the sunken stringer was uncovered. To take the packs across all we had to do was walk the sunken stringer using the higher one as a handrail. We hiked to the far side of the meadow in our sandals and underwear till reaching dry ground in the forest once more. There we put on dry undies and our pants and boots. And if we had encountered another hiker? Oh well, one does what is necessary to stay as dry as possible in these situations!

That night we stayed at a lovely designated campsite on the Salmon River beside a road bridge. But the road is private, and the only people we encountered were a man and his son on bicycles who rode down from the private lodge. The sky was a deep, intense blue, the water almost black, the rocks humped along the waterway like gray beasts, and an occasional maple blazed red with warnings of an early fall.

The next day we picked up our first supply box at Lake Durant. There we received lots of advice from rangers who looked at two "old" women who claimed they were going to hike for an additional 100 miles and include more than one bushwhack in that route. "Lots of people go bushwhacking in the Adirondacks and are never even found," we were warned. I grinned, and told them we'd be back to pick up the things we left in the box on September 3rd.

South of Lake Durant we only had a three-mile walk to reach the Stephens Pond lean-to where we took a day off from hiking to rest and enjoy ourselves. Since the NPT is such a popular trail we didn't have any illusions of having the site to ourselves, but we actually did for part of the time. The first evening a middle-school music teacher named Michelle visited with us. She told of how the bears in the High Peaks have become so accustomed to campers that they walk through the campsites at dinner time simply taking what they want from each picnic table. And they have also learned to open the "bear-proof" canisters which are now required in the High Peaks. Seems there are two kinds. Those with a regular screw top the bears can open easily. The kind which have a slit which requires a coin or other tool to turn the recessed lid have still kept the bruins at bay. We also understand that companies are now required to market them as only "bear-resistant." Michelle was on an ambitious schedule to complete the NPT before she had to report to school. She was up and gone before we came out of our tent then next morning.

Later that day two men hiked in. One of them was also a teacher, and the other works for the state. They had been buddies for years, and enjoyed a hike together each year, much the same as Marie and I do. Their take on the bears is that since the bears have learned to look up in the trees for hanging food bags (and to slash the ropes holding the bags on high), that the best solution is to just throw your food bag away from the campsite on the forest floor. I'm not sure I buy that theory, but we think they tried it since we left the next morning while they were still sleeping, and we didn't see their bag hanging anywhere.

Now we have arrived at our 8th day in the woods. After a few trail miles we joined a 6-mile road walk to reach Wakely Dam. Eastern hikers are often purists and don't count road miles as part of a trail. Most NPT thru-hikers attempt to hitch a ride with tourists to avoid this road section with no guilt over skipping those miles. This is an attitude I sure don't understand. Most long trails have road sections, and if you want to say you have hiked the trail, you just do them. Anyway, we hiked them. Wakely Dam is a popular jumping-off spot for canoe treks down the Cedar River Flow. There were a lot of cars in the parking area, but the campsites were mostly open. Despite the presence of cars and people the site doesn't feel too civilized. You must bring your own water, and there are only latrines for facilities. This lack of fancy amenities means that campers who come are prepared to rough it a bit more than most. We enjoyed a nice swim in the lake, watched a raft of canvasback ducks on the river, and hung our food bag off the railing of the dam to keep it safe that night.

The next day was our last on the NPT. One more road mile, and the trail angled back into the woods, roughly following the river until reaching another dam which creates Cedar Lakes. We camped near the lean-to that night. We built a fire in a fire ring near the shore and watched a loon explaining to a flock of Canada geese that it owned that lake. The dragonflies whirly-gigged overhead and the loon sang us to sleep. There was some rain in the night, but not much. Once again, we were saved from walking in the rain.

I used that GPS unit to record our campsites each night and practiced following a route with it a tiny bit. We even used it once to double check a trail turn that was taking us longer to reach than we thought it should.

Phase Two- North Country Trail Proposed Route

The next morning we left the NPT and headed over a ridge toward a small lake called Lost Pond. Two separate rangers had told us that the trail near the pond was impassible because the beavers had turned it into Lost LAKE. One of them showed us an old logging road on a map that avoided the pond altogether. He said, "After you crest the hill you will be on an old road and when the trail plunges steeply off the ridge, you should stay in the old road and it will take you out to Otter Brook Truck Trail (a closed road that is growing over on its way to becoming a trail). He had a map which showed the road and it was clearly located on the 2400 foot contour. You will recall that I have that wonderful GPS toy.

The Lost Pond Trail was much less used, but it was well-marked with yellow trail marker disks, and there was always a treadway. At least it's not a completely lost trail. I used the GPS to mark our progress as the trail twisted and turned and climbed the steep ridge. Once on the other side we reached an old road at the 2600-foot contour. The trail practically leaped off the ridge. It wasn't exactly a cliff, but it was a precipitous drop to be sure. We went part way down, and realized that this was sounding just like what our ranger had described, only too early. So I left my pack with Marie and went on down to the 2400-foot contour. There was an old road there too, so I climbed back up, retrieved Marie and the pack and we went down to 2400 feet. We began to follow the old road. Now, you have to understand that when I say "old road" I mean OLD. All either one had left was a grassy bench snaking along the cliff which could be identified because the trees in it were less old than the surrounding forest and they were leveled as compared with the pitch of the sidehill. It was only about two miles out to Otter Brook Truck Trail, either way. Within a half mile we began to lose our road for short stretches but we found it again several times by spotting old oil drums lying in the woods. Interesting trail markers! The Hobble-bush was getting thick. By "thick" I mean waist high and solid. Hobble-bush is a viburnum whose branches take root wherever they bend down and touch the ground, thus making loops of shrubbery to trip in. Finally we lost the trail altogether, and our progress on the steep slope in the viburnum was slowed to a half-mile an hour.

I was working hard with the GPS to keep us close to the contour line so we wouldn't do too much extra wandering. During that time we entered one clearing. I was still staring at the GPS, and Marie started to sputter, "Uh... big... uh... brown... uh... up... MOOSE!" I looked up to the top of the clearing, and not 30 feet away was a large bull moose looking at us quite calmly. He then turned his head and ambled off. Of course neither one of us could get a camera out quickly enough. But he was awesome!

Yes, it took us three hours to get to Otter Brook Truck Trail after we lost the road. The walking there was easy and level, and in another hour we were met by Mary Coffin (Adirondack Mountain Club, and NCTA volunteer). She and her husband, Bill, were to be our trail angels for the next two days. We hiked together to a campsite that Bill had all set up along Indian River Road, since we had a small piece of roadwalk to do there.

The next morning Bill waved goodbye to us three girls as we headed for Indian River. Due to recent foot surgery he was relegated to being the car shuttler, a role he accepted graciously, but nevertheless with some disappointment that he couldn't go along. This day we were to reach the one point in the hike over which I had agonized long and hard. There is a faint trail leading to the Indian River ford, but the condition of that ford is hard to predict. When Bill Menke and Dave Cornell hiked it a few years ago they found it to be chest deep. They crossed by means of a rowboat fastened to a cable that they found upstream. But we didn't know if that would still be there. Another hiker I spoke with said that he had walked right across the ford in the spring of 2008. But Mary had scouted it out just a couple of weeks prior to our trip and she said it was waist deep and looked dangerous. Our plan was that if we did not returned to Bill by 6 pm he was to assume that we had crossed and to then drive around to meet us at North Lake the following evening. If we were unable to cross, and came back, we would have to drive around with him, and then hike in and out from the other direction. Not a great option, but workable.

Well, Indian River turned out to be a lot of pre-agonzing all for naught. When we got there the river was just above knee-high, and after scouting out the safest route we easily waded right across!

The next stretch of the bushwhack followed another old road / trail. But it had since grown in with spruce trees most of which had died and many had fallen down. Those next half mile was pretty tough going, but we kept chuckling to find pieces of silver tape that some previous hiker had used to blaze a way through the mess. We envisioned finding the Silver Tape Man's skeleton in some distant clearing with three cardboard tape cores still decorating his bony wrist.

Our next trail junction was located quite easily by GPS and we headed southwest toward Horn Lake. This was yet another old road / trail, and we even found an occasional official trail marker. Late that afternoon while walking through much more open vegetation I heard a crashing and bashing ahead of us. "Bear at 12 o'clock, " I called as the crasher came into view. But black bears are usually shy and this one had no desire to encounter us, so my warning was quickly followed by "Bear at 1 o'clock, leaving fast!" We sang loudly for the next few minutes, and then after another bit of walking set up camp for the night. We made sure we hung the food bag really high!

The last morning of this section we continued on and easily reached the turnoff to Horn Lake. Mary, with the help of someone who had followed this route a number of years ago, had previously hiked in to here from the other direction and marked the route with flagging tape. We took a short detour to see Horn Lake, which is supposed to be a great little lake for trout. It was a nice lunch spot, but we weren't prepared to try the fishing. We followed the unofficial angler's trail out to the head of North Lake, and Mary's flagging meant that we didn't make any wrong turns on any of the many old road branches. We arrived at North Lake at the exact same time as Bill! He had brought cold drinks, which were great, and then Mary and Bill had to head home due to commitments in the morning. North Lake was lovely, but swarms of flies drove us in the tent early. No problem, we read our books, and visited!

Phase Three- Roads and Canals

We continued for the next two days on roads to reach Forestport. There we moved to a commercial campground since there weren't going to be any more places where we could camp along the final three days of the hike. This also meant that we had to drive back to Upper Works to get the other car so that we could spot ourselves each day. We took a day off to accomplish that, and maybe to begin getting our heads around the next phase of the hike. I, at least, have trouble making the transition from backwoods hiking to civilization.

This does not mean that the rest of the hike was uninteresting. Far from it! First we followed the Black River Feeder Canal from Forestport to Boonville. This section is the prettiest length of canal trail that I've ever hiked. The canal here has been restored, so it can be canoed or kayaked, and hikers or bikers may use the towpath. This canal was not designed for navigation, but to feed water to the next canal, so it twists and turns with pleasant abandon through the landscape.

At Boonville we joined the Black River Canal, and learned all kinds of things about its interesting history. This canal was also built primarily to feed water to the Erie Canal, but it was used to move huge amounts of freight (and passengers) as well. It falls 710 feet from Boonville to Rome, and has more locks along its course than the entire Erie Canal because of the elevation changes. Not all of its towpath has become trail, but some of it has. Between Boonville and the south end of Pixley Falls State Park we counted 31 locks. The most famous of these is a series of five locks, joined together, called the Five Combines. This one set raised or lowered boats 63 feet! Because the canal goes through the Pixley Gorge, and has some much elevation change, no railroad was ever able to supplant the canal in importance.

Even after the towpath trail disappeared, we had read enough local history in our evenings, to really enjoy walking the road through North Western, Westernville, Delta Lake State Park, and the Fish Hatchery. Part of the canal is gone there, where the dam was constructed to form the lake. But the fish hatchery ponds are actually sunk in the old canal bed. South of there we found another mile or so of towpath which is now a snowmobile trail. When that ended in braided ATV tracks we bushwhacked up to a Rome street, and found our way south to Fort Stanwix, the end point of this journey.

Ice Cream was the order of the day! We also visited the Black River Canal Museum, the Town of Webb Museum, the Steuben Memorial, The Old Forge Hardware (a genuine shopping experience not to be missed), and the Adirondack Art Center before leaving the area.

Total miles for this trip were 150. So my mileage total on the North Country Trail is 3514, and Marie is at 2102. She doesn't care what her total is. I'm the one with the sweet obsession!