Who: SilvrSurfr and his two sons, 22-year-old VanillaPudge, and 15-year-old Shelf Life
HF Member SilentOrpheus
SilvrSurfr's friend Gmarc from Boston
What: 5th Annual ADK Canoe Trip
When: 8/13 to 8/17 2014
Where: Little Tupper Lake to Lake Lila Traverse
Why: Because a recent court case opened up Mud Pond and part of the Shingle Shanty Brook (private land) to the public, thereby eliminating a .8 mile portage from the trip. The landowner Brandreth appealed and the court case will be heard October/November. Till then, it's open to the public!
I've been scoping out this trip for a few years, but the number of portages sounded discouraging:
1) 200 yard portage over Rock Pond bridge.
2) 1.75 mile portage from Rock Pond to Hardigan Pond
3) .25 mile portage from Hardigan Pond to Little Salmon Lake (this turned out to be the worst of all of them)
4) 1/8 mile portage around waterfall on Brandreth land.
5) 1/3 mile portage from Lake Lila to parking lot.
None of us have ever portaged a canoe more than 1/3 of a mile - there were serious doubts if we could do it. Last year we walked the Rock Pond to Hardigan Pond 1.75 mile portage (sans canoes) and everyone was in agreement that it was too tough for us. However, after the recent court case that opened up Brandreth's private land for paddling, I decided that I was going to do it, even if I had to do it alone. After much cajoling, the rest of the crew agreed to participate. We focused on being able to portage in one trip with backpack and canoe.
After months of planning, we finally got under way.
Wed 8/13
The trip seemed doomed when an NJ state trooper pulled me over and said I was going 83 mph in a 55 speed zone. He asked where we were going and I told him I was going on an epic ADK canoe trip with my son. He asked if I had a clean driving record and I said it was excellent. He went and checked it on his computer, then came back and gave me a $54 ticket for obstruction of license plate - thank you officer! Saved me quite a few points on my driver's license.
SilvrSurfr and son Shelf Life arrived at Long Lake and had dinner at the Adirondack Hotel. There was live music! We had pizza and hot wings. We headed to Buttermilk Falls Adirondacks shelter on North Point Road, just outside of Long Lake, and set up camp around 7:15 pm. SilentOrpheus showed up around dark. VanillaPudge rode with GMarc from Boston. Gmarc got lost and couldn't find the shelter - they didn't arrive till near midnight.
Thu 8/14
We had a big breakfast at the Long Lake Diner; $44 for five people. After car shuttling to Lake Lila and generally dragging butt, we didn't get onto Little Tupper Lake till near 10:30 am. I paddled the Old Town Pack canoe but the wind was a monster and I ended up tacking to the north shore and losing everyone. I finally spotted them on the south shore and caught up with them at an island, where I gave Shelf Life the Pack canoe because he rows crew and is a stronger paddler. We headed to the Rock Pond outlet, where I discovered I'd left my Ribz pack on the island. My kids gave me plenty of verbal abuse for being such a moron, and VanillaPudge was particularly peeved that I insisted we stay together as a family unit since I didn't pack stuff individually and there was no guarantee that VanillaPudge would have what he needed if we were separated.
VanillaPudge lollygagged about a mile behind us in the Pack canoe while Shelf Life and I retrieved the Ribz pack. As soon as we grabbed the Ribz pack, it started raining hard. We put on our rain gear, but Vanilla Pudge had none (it was in our packs). He was in a foul mood and hypothermic for most of the rest of the day, but if he had done what I said and stayed with us, he wouldn't have gotten soaked.
We arrived at Rock Pond around 5 pm. Gmarc and SilentOrpheus had selected a campsite, so we hunkered down for a night of rain. We set up a Guide Gear tarp over the campfire, which warmed us up tremendously and dried out clothes and shoes.
Friday 8/15
The boys slept in, and we didn't head out till mid-morning. We did the 1.75 mile portage and it was a beast; none of us had ever portaged a canoe more than 1/3 of a mile. We then paddled across Hardigan Pond, then tackled the .25 mile portage to Little Salmon Lake. And what a portage it was! Waist high mud. We got stronger as we endured the portages. We arrived at Little Salmon Lake around 5 pm and settled in for the night.
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Originally Posted by Zilla
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