I wanted to share a few writeups of several trips I've taken over the past few years into a neat area.
Wolf Lake State Forest is a relatively small (~4,000 acres) parcel of state land just outside the Adirondack Park in St. Lawrence County. Included within the boundaries of the state forest are several loop hiking and backpacking trails, as well as 4 nicely situated lean-tos for overnight camping.
Wolf Lake is a neat area- the varied terrain abounds with all kinds of neat features, rocky ridges, gullies, hills and so on. Correspondingly, the area is full of small lakes, beaver ponds, wetlands and bogs in the low-lying areas. Yet the overall topographic relief across longer distances is minimal, with in turn results in easy hiking. There's plenty of little ups and downs but no major sustained climbs or descents.
First Visit: 9/25 - 9/26/15
Link to full photo album
My first trip into Wolf Lake State Forest was with a group of Syracuse University and SUNY ESF students on a beginner backpacking trip that I lead through the SU Outing Club. We picked a nice early autumn weekend for our visit and were treated with perfect weather for the duration of our visit. Our late Friday start from the Ames Road trailhead on the south side of the forest was met with clear blue skies as we hiked in, passing several beaver ponds along the way.
In a couple of spots, beaver flooding had resulted in wet stretches of trail but these were easily dealt with.
At one point, we saw a beaver swimming across one of the beaver ponds. He instantly gained celebrity status among the members of the group.
Even when there weren't beavers swimming in view, the ponds still provided excellent scenery along the way in.
Less than two hours of casual strolling brought us to our destination for the evening- Moon Lake. On the south side of the lake a rocky peninsula juts out into the water, and situated on the peninsula in a gorgeous spot is an Adirondack Lean-to. The lean-to was empty, so we called dibs and moved in. The rest of the afternoon was spent relaxing and exploring the lake.
Cool Autumn temps meant that sleeping bags were quick to make an appearance for some.
We also wandered around to the east side of the lake to enjoy a spectacular sunset.
Back in camp, those on their first backpacking trip ever had the opportunity to learn the intricate ins and outs of priming and using a white gas stove for cooking.
And of course the evening was punctuated with a nice campfire before we turned in for the night.
The Moon Lake Lean-to faces east, so sunrise the next morning had everyone up and moving around before long.
We also had a birthday in our midst and it turns out someone had brought a surprise mini-birthday cake to celebrate.
Before heading out, we decided to take a stroll over to the Wolf Lake Lean-to to check it out. Wolf Lake (and the lean-to there) are located a mere hop, skip, and a jump from Moon Lake- less than 15 minutes of casual walking and we were arriving at the lean-to. Similar to Moon Lake, the Wolf Lake Lean-to faces due east, and is located in a pleasant stand of pines on the shore of the lake.
Like Moon Lake, Wolf Lake was a scenic body of water, with plenty of rocky outcrops along the shoreline.
The allure of the water also attracted the attention of some in the group. One merely waded, while a couple of others dove in.
I also spent a few minutes poking around the shoreline of Wolf Lake and found a few other nice spots with excellent views out over the body of water.
All too soon, it was time to head back to Moon Lake to finish packing up and prepare for the hike out.
We decided to hike out by way of Huckleberry Lake. This would add just over a mile to our return trip but would also allow us to check out a new body of water- and see the lean-to located there as well. More easy hiking through mixed woods, over little ups and downs, and past small beaver ponds brought us to Huckleberry Lake fairly quickly.
Huckleberry Lake was a scenic body of water in the same vein as Moon and Wolf Lakes- with interesting rocky outcrops along the shoreline. It certainly did not disappoint.
The Huckleberry Lake Lean-to is situated right on a rocky outcrop next to the shore. It's a beautiful spot, although the lean-to also had a collection of "stuff" accumulated over the years, left by groups camped there. Of the 4 lean-tos in the State Forest, Huckleberry Lake is clearly the most popular- and is likely even an occasional party spot. On this day, we had it to ourselves, and we were more than happy to stop for a quick break there.
The rest of the hike wet quickly. We were treated to a few more excellent views across Huckleberry Lake from more open rock outcrops before turning south and passing through mixed woods and easy, rolling terrain back to Ames Road. A short stretch of road walking brought us back to the Moon Lake trailhead and our cars.
(And during the next week's outing club meeting, several of the attendees raved about the amazing, "chill" backpacking trip they'd been on. :cool: )
Continued in next post...
