Saranac Lake

Photos:
1.) Buttermilk Falls
2.) Ice travel
3.) Western Terminus
4.) Loaded Jeep

After loading up the Jeep and driving up to Old Forge, we put in on April 24th, about 4 days ago. Thule hooked us up with a sweet rack for the Jeep, the only way we would have gotten all our gear up to the put-in. After saying good-bye to my parents and a group of local well-wishers, Ben and I pushed off on the Fulton Chain of Lakes. That was five days ago.

Today, we pulled into Saranac Lake about two hours ago under gray, overcast skies. It has been misting for the last day or two, but on the whole the weather has been fair, if cold. Last night was the first that it did not get below freezing; an encouraging sign.

We are hanging out in the Saranac Lake Free Library now, getting our fix of warmth and electricity. We ran into Megan Papineau a few minutes ago in the library- crazy to see a familar face in the middle of a big trip.

There is a phenomenal amount of water in New York, the Raquette River has totally jumped its banks and we wandered through a forest before finding the current again. Raquette Falls was huge, as you can see in the photo.

Our only major obstacle thus far has been the tremendous amount of ice. Forth Lake, Raquette Lake, and a bit of Long Lake were all in different stages of ice-out, with Raquette Lake being completly blocked about one-quarter of the way through. We made it though, about 7 miles in one day over the ice. Our ice hook has been absolutely vital, we have been able to pull the canoe up onto the ice sheets and use its weight to break through. It is slow and exhausting, but it works.

Other than the ice, things have been going smoothly. The bugs aren't out yet and we haven't had any real downpours or headwinds. The Adirondacks are fairly well marked and each campsite has a lean-to, so it is fairly plush accomodations. We had to set tents last night, as we were coming in for the night a bit too late at night and the only lean-to available was full of fishermen with an eye for celebration.

We've hit our stride with 27 miles in the hole yesterday, and two 1 mile+ portages. We're slipping into a routine. With about 85 miles behind us, we start the descent off the Adirondack Plateau on the Saranac River, 60 or 70 miles down to Lake Champlain, Vermont, and our 25% mark. Back to the river, and some big water on the downhill run.