I did the Wanakena to Inlet loop last week; gave myself six days so I could appreciate it better. I went clockwise, since I wanted to cross Cranberry Lake on a day when I knew it wouldn’t be too rough, and also wanted to end with the Oswegatchie which was my main focus. I drove up Sunday night and stayed at the Packbasket in Wanakena, so I could start earlier on Monday. Although I called them on short notice, Rick & Angie were welcoming, gave me advice about the trip, and sent me off with a gourmet breakfast. I highly recommend them for anyone seeking a base up there. The Cranberry transit went smoothly. It was interesting seeing the small inholdings in several places, some run-down and others pretty fancy looking. I checked out a couple of the campsites on Joe Indian Island, just for future reference since I wanted to camp at the site nearest the carry. Site 21 (Long Point) is spectacular. Then I went & set up camp at site 17, much less nice but with the prime virtue of being right next to the carry. Afterwards I spent some time paddling around that end of the lake, and had my best wildlife experience of the trip: a family of otter frolicking around in Chair Rock Flow. Three young ones and one adult, keeping well distant but not too alarmed. Chasing & diving & tail-flipping.
The carry is easy to follow. The only place someone might get confused is at the start, if they went right & over a small bridge onto the Cranberry 50; also after turning left there’s an unmarked junction, of which the left turn just goes back to the campsite. However it is a long & rough trip. There are areas of uneven footing and mud and corduroy in the first section, plus several small stream crossings of which the largest was the trickiest place on the carry – large slippery rocks to walk across with a 2-3 foot gap in the middle where most of the current is flowing. Almost fell there, trying to swing the big wet sack across. After that, it was some ups and downs, one larger hill, then meanderings, then along a couple of large beaver areas, then more meanderings, then an even larger hill near the end (as it came in sight I was thinking “please don’t tell me I’m going up that”; I was). As others have said in their reports, I can’t help feeling it’s a bit longer than the 3.6 miles they say. I do two carries, one with the canoe-paddle-pfd-guidebooks-tent, and one with the large and small wet packs; and the total two-part trip took me 6 ½ hours, not counting a 25-minute lunch break, and I wouldn't usually take that long for that distance. On one of the walk-back bits, I got a nice view of a Barred Owl which flushed from low down and perched pretty near me, peering down to identify this odd intruder, so I got a good look. I hear them often but see them rarely.
When I got to Grass Pond, I paddled across and camped at site 29; it was a bit late to try for one of the ones closer to the Oswegatchie carry. In the morning I saw 8 people in 4 canoes in the middle of Grass Pond. That was the only people I saw between the middle of Cranberry and the Oswegatchie. The carry to Big Deer Pond was easy. I carried the packs to the official put-in on Big Deer, but put the canoe in earlier and paddled around, to avoid the denseness of the last bit of carry. I did have trouble finding the Oswegatchie carry, mostly because I believed the Paddler’s Guide and map too literally. The map shows one distinct island which I didn’t see on the Pond (I only saw two much smaller semi-islands in the southwest corner), and the carry as on a line from the put-in and the island. The book says there’s no sign visible from the water, but to keep looking where the map shows it since that’s right. So I spent lots of time searching the southern part of the west shore, even getting out and bushwhacking back & forth. I should have paddling along the whole far shore first, and would have found a clear sign marking the carry, further north than it looks to me on the map. Anyway, once I found it the carry was much easier than I feared: mostly flat and smooth, though long. There’s one hill in the middle, rather interesting actually since it looks like the juncture of two eskers. I did see moose tracks on this carry that seemed fairly new to me, though I’m no tracker. I camped at the end of the carry, on Wednesday night, in site 4. By the way, there’s a channel of water right at the site, which I think might lead to the river and avoid the first beaver dam, so anyone camping at 4 might check that out. This was the end of three “big lake, long carry” days and the start of three “meander, beaver dam, rocks” days. At that campsite I heard another Barred Owl asking about the cooking arrangements.
On day four I paddled down to High Falls. Wonderful environment and paddling. With my Black Jack I don’t mind hauling over dams at all, and its size also helped in squeezing through a couple of tight spots with deadfalls. Had to do one carry around a small rapids, and around the most difficult deadfall (a log mostly just above water, and the middle just under the surface but too high to go over – luckily it was a sharp turn so the “carry” was literally about 10 or 15 feet). I went over 27 dams, not counting two that were totally breached so you could paddle through the gap at the same level, and ones all underwater being too old or new. A handful could be paddled over. Most were small or medium, with only two or three being as much as three or four feet high. The whole beaver ecology is amazing, the food being the same as the building materials, and the work creating even more environment for the alders they love. Beavers who discover the Oswegatchie must think they’ve died and gone to heaven. I saw none of the busy chewers themselves, this time. I know they’re mainly nocturnal but usually if I spend this much time where there are this many beaver, at least one comes out to investigate. Only the asters were still in full bloom, and sometimes a single bit of something else hanging in there.
I camped two nights at High Falls, and spent the layover day hiking to Cat Mt. Good hike. The woods are oddly varied; some parts mature, and others just pole-sized trees (fire? Logging? The pattern would lead me to think logging, if it was done that recently in this area.) In both areas, some big trees including the signature big White Pines. Also I noticed, from High Falls down, a lot of Black Birch which I haven’t previously thought of as a characteristic ADK tree. Cat Mt has big ledges on top with good 180 degree views, though the Oswegatchie is out of view; you can see Cat Mt Pond, Glasby Pond, and just a corner of Cranberry.
The whole trip was cool during the days and cold at night – unseasonably cold. Several nights in the 30s, and Thursday night in the upper 20s. All my layers of clothes and the down sleeping bag were just enough that night, but I was still cold. Otherwise the weather was good. Rain on two nights, and windy the last day.
On Saturday I paddled from High Falls down to Inlet, taking my time. I checked out a number of the campsites for future reference, watched a Peregrine far overhead, and then some accipiter flashing by. This part of the river had fewer dams (I counted to 6, but there were several after that; maybe 8 or 10 overall?) but more rocks. I carried around a couple of rapids, which people with bigger canoes and more moving-water experience might have paddled through. With zero whitewater experience, and a tiny, light, heavily loaded canoe, and by myself, I didn’t want to take any chances at all. Besides the rapids there were a number of places with scattered rocks to watch out for. On this last day I finally saw a few other people, all heading upstream: two guys in a big canoe, one solo guy in a pack canoe, and another solo in a big one. At High Rock I met a guy paddling a 1976 Hornbeck. It must have been one of the first years they were in business! The vintage car of the Hornbeck line… He was with his son and a couple of friends in a large regular canoe. After hanging around at High Rock for lunch and a rest, I went the rest of the way to Inlet, finding that the last mile or two the landscape reverts from extensive swampland back to conifer forest. By the way, the deciduous trees were already colorful, esp. the Red Maples. I found myself paddling more slowly because I didn’t want the trip to end, which resulted in my getting to Inlet at 5:30 and therefore not getting home until 11:30.
A great but strenuous trip (I found I’d lost 4 or 5 pounds in less than a week).
Some photos for those who want to look:
http://ift.tt/ptP6Tr
The carry is easy to follow. The only place someone might get confused is at the start, if they went right & over a small bridge onto the Cranberry 50; also after turning left there’s an unmarked junction, of which the left turn just goes back to the campsite. However it is a long & rough trip. There are areas of uneven footing and mud and corduroy in the first section, plus several small stream crossings of which the largest was the trickiest place on the carry – large slippery rocks to walk across with a 2-3 foot gap in the middle where most of the current is flowing. Almost fell there, trying to swing the big wet sack across. After that, it was some ups and downs, one larger hill, then meanderings, then along a couple of large beaver areas, then more meanderings, then an even larger hill near the end (as it came in sight I was thinking “please don’t tell me I’m going up that”; I was). As others have said in their reports, I can’t help feeling it’s a bit longer than the 3.6 miles they say. I do two carries, one with the canoe-paddle-pfd-guidebooks-tent, and one with the large and small wet packs; and the total two-part trip took me 6 ½ hours, not counting a 25-minute lunch break, and I wouldn't usually take that long for that distance. On one of the walk-back bits, I got a nice view of a Barred Owl which flushed from low down and perched pretty near me, peering down to identify this odd intruder, so I got a good look. I hear them often but see them rarely.
When I got to Grass Pond, I paddled across and camped at site 29; it was a bit late to try for one of the ones closer to the Oswegatchie carry. In the morning I saw 8 people in 4 canoes in the middle of Grass Pond. That was the only people I saw between the middle of Cranberry and the Oswegatchie. The carry to Big Deer Pond was easy. I carried the packs to the official put-in on Big Deer, but put the canoe in earlier and paddled around, to avoid the denseness of the last bit of carry. I did have trouble finding the Oswegatchie carry, mostly because I believed the Paddler’s Guide and map too literally. The map shows one distinct island which I didn’t see on the Pond (I only saw two much smaller semi-islands in the southwest corner), and the carry as on a line from the put-in and the island. The book says there’s no sign visible from the water, but to keep looking where the map shows it since that’s right. So I spent lots of time searching the southern part of the west shore, even getting out and bushwhacking back & forth. I should have paddling along the whole far shore first, and would have found a clear sign marking the carry, further north than it looks to me on the map. Anyway, once I found it the carry was much easier than I feared: mostly flat and smooth, though long. There’s one hill in the middle, rather interesting actually since it looks like the juncture of two eskers. I did see moose tracks on this carry that seemed fairly new to me, though I’m no tracker. I camped at the end of the carry, on Wednesday night, in site 4. By the way, there’s a channel of water right at the site, which I think might lead to the river and avoid the first beaver dam, so anyone camping at 4 might check that out. This was the end of three “big lake, long carry” days and the start of three “meander, beaver dam, rocks” days. At that campsite I heard another Barred Owl asking about the cooking arrangements.
On day four I paddled down to High Falls. Wonderful environment and paddling. With my Black Jack I don’t mind hauling over dams at all, and its size also helped in squeezing through a couple of tight spots with deadfalls. Had to do one carry around a small rapids, and around the most difficult deadfall (a log mostly just above water, and the middle just under the surface but too high to go over – luckily it was a sharp turn so the “carry” was literally about 10 or 15 feet). I went over 27 dams, not counting two that were totally breached so you could paddle through the gap at the same level, and ones all underwater being too old or new. A handful could be paddled over. Most were small or medium, with only two or three being as much as three or four feet high. The whole beaver ecology is amazing, the food being the same as the building materials, and the work creating even more environment for the alders they love. Beavers who discover the Oswegatchie must think they’ve died and gone to heaven. I saw none of the busy chewers themselves, this time. I know they’re mainly nocturnal but usually if I spend this much time where there are this many beaver, at least one comes out to investigate. Only the asters were still in full bloom, and sometimes a single bit of something else hanging in there.
I camped two nights at High Falls, and spent the layover day hiking to Cat Mt. Good hike. The woods are oddly varied; some parts mature, and others just pole-sized trees (fire? Logging? The pattern would lead me to think logging, if it was done that recently in this area.) In both areas, some big trees including the signature big White Pines. Also I noticed, from High Falls down, a lot of Black Birch which I haven’t previously thought of as a characteristic ADK tree. Cat Mt has big ledges on top with good 180 degree views, though the Oswegatchie is out of view; you can see Cat Mt Pond, Glasby Pond, and just a corner of Cranberry.
The whole trip was cool during the days and cold at night – unseasonably cold. Several nights in the 30s, and Thursday night in the upper 20s. All my layers of clothes and the down sleeping bag were just enough that night, but I was still cold. Otherwise the weather was good. Rain on two nights, and windy the last day.
On Saturday I paddled from High Falls down to Inlet, taking my time. I checked out a number of the campsites for future reference, watched a Peregrine far overhead, and then some accipiter flashing by. This part of the river had fewer dams (I counted to 6, but there were several after that; maybe 8 or 10 overall?) but more rocks. I carried around a couple of rapids, which people with bigger canoes and more moving-water experience might have paddled through. With zero whitewater experience, and a tiny, light, heavily loaded canoe, and by myself, I didn’t want to take any chances at all. Besides the rapids there were a number of places with scattered rocks to watch out for. On this last day I finally saw a few other people, all heading upstream: two guys in a big canoe, one solo guy in a pack canoe, and another solo in a big one. At High Rock I met a guy paddling a 1976 Hornbeck. It must have been one of the first years they were in business! The vintage car of the Hornbeck line… He was with his son and a couple of friends in a large regular canoe. After hanging around at High Rock for lunch and a rest, I went the rest of the way to Inlet, finding that the last mile or two the landscape reverts from extensive swampland back to conifer forest. By the way, the deciduous trees were already colorful, esp. the Red Maples. I found myself paddling more slowly because I didn’t want the trip to end, which resulted in my getting to Inlet at 5:30 and therefore not getting home until 11:30.
A great but strenuous trip (I found I’d lost 4 or 5 pounds in less than a week).
Some photos for those who want to look:
http://ift.tt/ptP6Tr
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