In my mission to explore all areas the Adirondacks have to offer, I took a short trip back into the Siamese Ponds Wilderness this weekend. I started out from the Thirteenth Lake TH where I ran into a couple guys from a trail crew on their way to Peaked Mountain. They were nice enough to warn me of certain blowdown on my route. In the first mile or so I passed a couple day hikers. These were the only people I saw the whole trip!
I took a side trip up to Hour Pond. This was well worth it! It's a nice area with a great Lean-to and fairly open forest. I spent a couple hours exploring the area and taking a lap around the pond.
I continued on to Puffer Pond where I intended to camp. The trail out to the pond had a fair amount of blowdown as I had been warned but nothing unmanageable. Neither of the lean-tos on Puffer Pond were in stellar shape. Since there was no rain in the forecast, I settled on the water front lean-to with holes in the roof (as opposed to the lean-to with a tree on it). Not being in an ambitious mood, I spent the evening fishing, reading and relaxing by the campfire. It was nice to have the whole area to myself.
Saturday night ended up being pretty cold. Perhaps close to 35F. Needless to say I think I found the lower limit of my warm weather sleeping bag! Had to get a little creative to keep my feet warm and comfortable during the night.
I awoke around 4am to something sloshing through the pond - it was making slow rhythmic strides through the water and sounded fairly large. It was like nothing I had heard before. It was still too dark to see anything so I stayed in the comfort of my sleeping bag and went back to sleep. I woke again at 6:30 to the same exact sound. This time I looked up and clearly saw movement on the other side of the pond. Despite the cool air, I shot out of my sleeping bag grabbing my camera in mid stride. What a way to see my first ADK moose!
For the next couple of minutes I watched a cow and calf moose walking the shallows of the pond mirroring the shoreline. Every once in a while the cow would stop and wait for the calf to catch up. I snapped several pictures and watched in awe. Eventually the cow was about 50-75 yards from me headed straight in my direction and completely oblivious that I was there. Not wanting the moose to get any closer and not knowing what to do, I spoke up to alert them to my presence. The last thing I wanted was to surprise them when they got too close. The cow finally saw me and paused, the calf looking to her for guidance. I calmly walked out of sight and listened to them as they passed. Did I do the right thing? What should I have done in this situation?
It was hard to shake the excitement for the rest of the hike. The walk out was fairly uneventful. I spent a few minutes trying to find the remnants of the trail to Twin Ponds. Not being able to find anything definitive I gave up, not wanting to bushwhack with a full pack. Does this trail still exist or is my map being generous calling it a trail?
I opted to save Peaked Mountain for another day and stopped at Oscars to stock up on the essentials (i.e. Smoked bacon).
I took a side trip up to Hour Pond. This was well worth it! It's a nice area with a great Lean-to and fairly open forest. I spent a couple hours exploring the area and taking a lap around the pond.
I continued on to Puffer Pond where I intended to camp. The trail out to the pond had a fair amount of blowdown as I had been warned but nothing unmanageable. Neither of the lean-tos on Puffer Pond were in stellar shape. Since there was no rain in the forecast, I settled on the water front lean-to with holes in the roof (as opposed to the lean-to with a tree on it). Not being in an ambitious mood, I spent the evening fishing, reading and relaxing by the campfire. It was nice to have the whole area to myself.
Saturday night ended up being pretty cold. Perhaps close to 35F. Needless to say I think I found the lower limit of my warm weather sleeping bag! Had to get a little creative to keep my feet warm and comfortable during the night.
I awoke around 4am to something sloshing through the pond - it was making slow rhythmic strides through the water and sounded fairly large. It was like nothing I had heard before. It was still too dark to see anything so I stayed in the comfort of my sleeping bag and went back to sleep. I woke again at 6:30 to the same exact sound. This time I looked up and clearly saw movement on the other side of the pond. Despite the cool air, I shot out of my sleeping bag grabbing my camera in mid stride. What a way to see my first ADK moose!
For the next couple of minutes I watched a cow and calf moose walking the shallows of the pond mirroring the shoreline. Every once in a while the cow would stop and wait for the calf to catch up. I snapped several pictures and watched in awe. Eventually the cow was about 50-75 yards from me headed straight in my direction and completely oblivious that I was there. Not wanting the moose to get any closer and not knowing what to do, I spoke up to alert them to my presence. The last thing I wanted was to surprise them when they got too close. The cow finally saw me and paused, the calf looking to her for guidance. I calmly walked out of sight and listened to them as they passed. Did I do the right thing? What should I have done in this situation?
It was hard to shake the excitement for the rest of the hike. The walk out was fairly uneventful. I spent a few minutes trying to find the remnants of the trail to Twin Ponds. Not being able to find anything definitive I gave up, not wanting to bushwhack with a full pack. Does this trail still exist or is my map being generous calling it a trail?
I opted to save Peaked Mountain for another day and stopped at Oscars to stock up on the essentials (i.e. Smoked bacon).
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