Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Anticipating
The summer is nearly over. Work out west, here in California, is getting tedious. I am counting the days to return to the Adirondacks, or specifically, the Five Ponds Wilderness. It still seems odd to me after my first Adirondack experience of nearly forty years ago as an 11-year old that I would return again and again to recharge and rediscover what I think I lost on the left coast.
Preparation for this trip involves hours for car, flights, dates, family visits and other necessities just for the reward of relaxing in a wild secluded spot. First trip will be to Sand Lake, which is a rough, wet and tangled 7.5 mile hiking trip from the hamlet of Wanakena. I've managed to find a lesser-known route to this extremely secluded spot from the opposite side. It is by means of a long logging road and a mere 3.0-mile mild bushwhack. To be honest, I have tried this approach before - twice. The first time, I borrowed my stepbrother’s canoe and dragged the Middle Branch of the Oswegatchie River upstream, scraping every rock available. To my astonishment, I found a sign titled, "To Sand Lake" pointing to the outlet. After several hours of witnessing the outlet getting smaller and smaller, I had to give up, as the day was coming to a close. The second time a few years later was slightly different. I dragged a friend to the same parking area and decided (through my amazing memory of maps) to bushwhack to Sand Lake. After several hours of being 'lost', I discovered we had, in fact, turned full circled back to a fork in the deer trail. Again, we returned to the car.
This third time I will have a map, compass and a GPS handheld to make damn sure I make it. It embarrasses me to think how audacious I was to think I could find my way without a map and compass. To help, I've been given GPS coordinates for the route from a friendly novelist from my computer who knows the area very well. The electronics were another hurdle to overcome, but after several GPS models, software and hours of success and failure, I've finally got what I need for back up. I've laminated many small maps of the region and familiarized myself with a new compass again. The GPS handheld is for back up only.
I'll camp somewhere off the track near the lean-to at Sand Lake and spend the two days exploring Rock Lake, Sand Lake, the esker that divides them, Wolf Lake, the Five Ponds and the biggest esker in the Adirondacks that splits the ponds into neat little postcard positions. When I exit from the canopy of forest, I have one day to clean up, buy food for a four-day excursion and sleep one night in a real bed. Then my nephew and I will be off for four days into the Lows Lake area to explore the lake, wetlands, marshes, bogs, mountains, cliffs, other rare places and the biggest (or widest) white pine on the East coast. This will be the cream of the trip. In and out by floatplane with all the luxuries. It is the only way I could get my nephew to go.
Preparation for this trip involves hours for car, flights, dates, family visits and other necessities just for the reward of relaxing in a wild secluded spot. First trip will be to Sand Lake, which is a rough, wet and tangled 7.5 mile hiking trip from the hamlet of Wanakena. I've managed to find a lesser-known route to this extremely secluded spot from the opposite side. It is by means of a long logging road and a mere 3.0-mile mild bushwhack. To be honest, I have tried this approach before - twice. The first time, I borrowed my stepbrother’s canoe and dragged the Middle Branch of the Oswegatchie River upstream, scraping every rock available. To my astonishment, I found a sign titled, "To Sand Lake" pointing to the outlet. After several hours of witnessing the outlet getting smaller and smaller, I had to give up, as the day was coming to a close. The second time a few years later was slightly different. I dragged a friend to the same parking area and decided (through my amazing memory of maps) to bushwhack to Sand Lake. After several hours of being 'lost', I discovered we had, in fact, turned full circled back to a fork in the deer trail. Again, we returned to the car.
This third time I will have a map, compass and a GPS handheld to make damn sure I make it. It embarrasses me to think how audacious I was to think I could find my way without a map and compass. To help, I've been given GPS coordinates for the route from a friendly novelist from my computer who knows the area very well. The electronics were another hurdle to overcome, but after several GPS models, software and hours of success and failure, I've finally got what I need for back up. I've laminated many small maps of the region and familiarized myself with a new compass again. The GPS handheld is for back up only.
I'll camp somewhere off the track near the lean-to at Sand Lake and spend the two days exploring Rock Lake, Sand Lake, the esker that divides them, Wolf Lake, the Five Ponds and the biggest esker in the Adirondacks that splits the ponds into neat little postcard positions. When I exit from the canopy of forest, I have one day to clean up, buy food for a four-day excursion and sleep one night in a real bed. Then my nephew and I will be off for four days into the Lows Lake area to explore the lake, wetlands, marshes, bogs, mountains, cliffs, other rare places and the biggest (or widest) white pine on the East coast. This will be the cream of the trip. In and out by floatplane with all the luxuries. It is the only way I could get my nephew to go.
Under White Pines
When the wild west gets a little loud and unruly. When normal life just isn't anymore. I can always return to be under white pines.
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