{"id":3387,"date":"2010-07-29T21:27:51","date_gmt":"2010-07-30T02:27:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/moshannonfalls.com\/?p=3387"},"modified":"2010-09-04T20:34:17","modified_gmt":"2010-09-05T01:34:17","slug":"canoe-camping-adirondacks-trip-report-september-2009-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/moshannonfalls.com\/canoe-camping-adirondacks-trip-report-september-2009-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Canoe Camping Adirondacks Trip Report September 2009 – Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"St<\/strong><\/p>\n

View\u00a0larger map<\/strong>\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

This canoe trip report is continued from part 1<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0The Third Day<\/strong><\/p>\n

Just as most of\u00a0our first day was about getting to Fish Pond most of\u00a0our third day was about making our way back to Saint Regis Pond where we intended to camp overnight at one of the lean-to structures. There’s a lot of competition for\u00a0the lean-to structures\u00a0so we woke early and ate a quick breakfast; I managed to get a few more sunrise photos of Fish Pond then wasted no time packing\u00a0my gear, but I was careful\u00a0in packing because I knew I had to pack my gear just right for this upcoming portage or things could get miserable in a hurry. Although this wasn’t the same grueling mountain trail portage we endured on the way into Fish Pond it was the fire road portage\u00a0(solid blue line on map) and it was going to be\u00a0a greater distance than the mountain trail.\u00a0<\/div>\n
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\"Sunrise<\/a>

Sunrise on Fish Pond<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/div>\n
We paddled across Fish Pond mostly in silence and when we arrived at the fire road we had a brief discussion about whether a pile of scat was\u00a0from a horse or a bear.\u00a0There wasn’t much discussion after that because we knew it was time to\u00a0get down to business.<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/strong><\/div>\n
<\/a><\/div>\n
\"Images<\/a>

Fire Road Portage<\/p><\/div>\n

Some\u00a0of us opted to carry our camping gear on the first\u00a0round and others opted to\u00a0carry their canoes first. Being about as mentally prepared as I was going to get I sat on the ground and struggled to\u00a0squeeze my body inside the shoulder straps of my dry bag; I took a deep breath and tried to crawl to my feet, but I couldn’t because there was too much weight on my back.\u00a0After a few seconds of squirming on the ground like a helpless child I\u00a0managed to make it to my feet in an awkward bent over at the waist position to counter the weight on my back. And so began my slow journey up the grassy fire road while walking in this silly looking bent over position.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Our group of four paddlers started out at the same time but the distances between\u00a0us\u00a0increased quickly as everyone\u00a0hit their own pace. I occasionally rested\u00a0on my feet for a few moments here and there,\u00a0but I never sat down because getting up again was too difficult.\u00a0After a very long\u00a0walk\u00a0I finally reached the rendezvous point\u00a0at\u00a0the side trail to Saint Regis Pond. After a few minutes of rest we finished the carry to Saint Regis Pond then returned\u00a0back to the beginning for\u00a0our second carry.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

I knew carrying my canoe on this\u00a0fire road would be misery and I was right. The\u00a0pain in\u00a0my shoulders and neck after about the first half mile became unbearable and I must have dropped my canoe five or six times on this portage; unfortunately they get heavier each time you lift them. My\u00a0Mad River canoe is great in certain situations but at 67 lbs and no yoke pads\u00a0it’s\u00a0just not meant for longer portages like this. If you intend to do this type of canoeing\u00a0use a lightweight boat and fit it with yoke pads.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The fire road portage required two trips and took most of the morning, and\u00a0it’s not something I would call easy. You just walk and walk while trying to forget about\u00a0that canoe on your shoulders, and when you arrive at the steeper grades you can only tackle them with\u00a0smaller more precise\u00a0steps. You\u00a0round every\u00a0turn and top each grade looking for the end but it all looks the same and you just keep pacing along.\u00a0It’s not as bad as the mountain trail but you just want it to end. Knowing what I know now the next time I portage into Fish Pond I’ll take the fire road both ways and use a canoe cart.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The total\u00a0distance covered on this portage was approximately\u00a05 miles. We arrived at the Saint Regis Pond during the afternoon and paddled our way to the lean-to shelter to camp. \u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Saint<\/strong><\/a>

Saint Regis Pond Campsite<\/p><\/div>\n

When we arrived at Saint Regis Pond we immediately set up camp.\u00a0Somehow my\u00a0synthetic sleeping bag<\/a> got a little \"Filtering<\/a>damp\u00a0so I decided to\u00a0run\u00a0a rope and hang\u00a0the sleeping bag\u00a0to dry. A few of us were running\u00a0out of drinking water and used Steve’s water purification filter\u00a0<\/a>to replenish straight\u00a0from the pond. The water was\u00a0the color of tea but tasted fine – nobody got sick so I guess it worked. I had\u00a0my remaining frozen precooked lasagna for dinner and the others had their freeze dried meals. I’d like to mention that\u00a0the Jetboil Stove<\/a> is performs well on this type of canoe camping trip<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Throughout\u00a0that afternoon we took short\u00a0walks, messed around camp and took photos. I was wishing I had a fishing rod because this is the perfect campsite for fishing on Saint Regis Pond because it’s located at the waters edge with no obstruction (I think it’s one of the nicest campsites in the St. Regis Canoe Area).<\/p>\n

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\"Relentless<\/a>

Relentless rain on Saint Regis Pond<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

It was getting later in the afternoon\u00a0and it looked like we would be spared from any major downpours then suddenly the\u00a0sky opened up with a very cold rain shower that drove us for cover, and we still had a few hours of daylight left. The rain continued\u00a0heavily into the next morning ruining our plans for a night paddle on the pond.\u00a0I spent most of the remaining day and the entire night in my tent. I\u2019d occasionally poke my head out to snap a photo or exit\u00a0the tent to examine for leaks and redirect the water away from my tent. It was definitely one of the heaviest downpours I’ve\u00a0seen on a canoe trip.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n
\"Saying<\/a>

Saying goodbye to Saint Regis Pond<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The Fourth Day\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

This was the final day of our Adirondack wilderness canoe trip and\u00a0our only goal was to reach our vehicles at the Little Clear Pond canoe launch. We skipped breakfast and wasted no time\u00a0packing our wet camping gear. But eager as we were to\u00a0leave this wet wilderness\u00a0we took time to appreciate the incredible view of St. Regis Pond, and we took a little extra time paddling through. There is something sad about leaving this serene wilderness even when you are heading for the greater comforts of home. While paddling\u00a0near the shore of one of the islands we saw two paddlers emerging from a small tent. Their campsite was disheveled in appearance and placed in an awkward\u00a0growth of trees and weeds, and after speaking with them for a few moments it was clear that they were unexpectedly forced into camp by the severe rain the\u00a0day before.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n
\"Preparing<\/a>

Preparing for our final portage<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n

We finally made the short portage into Green Pond and the strenuous final portage to Little Clear Pond; and you could see it in our faces that we were ready for this trip to end. We then started our\u00a0paddle across Little Clear Pond the eagerness to return home became evident as\u00a0large gaps\u00a0between canoes began to form. Our Adirondack canoe trip was over but I’ll return for another soon. \u00a0<\/p>\n

I hope this information is useful to your Adirondack canoe trip.\u00a0See part 3 to this trip report about my lessons learned and easy steps I can take to improve my next wilderness canoe trip<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read my trip report on my 2007 St. Regis Canoe Area canoe\u00a0trip<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

View\u00a0larger map\u00a0 This canoe trip report is continued from part 1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0The Third Day Just as most of\u00a0our first day was about getting to Fish Pond most of\u00a0our third day was about making our way back to Saint Regis Pond … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/moshannonfalls.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3387"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/moshannonfalls.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/moshannonfalls.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moshannonfalls.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moshannonfalls.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3387"}],"version-history":[{"count":70,"href":"https:\/\/moshannonfalls.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3387\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3484,"href":"https:\/\/moshannonfalls.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3387\/revisions\/3484"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/moshannonfalls.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3387"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moshannonfalls.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3387"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moshannonfalls.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3387"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}