Isle Royale Trip: Preparations are Half the Battle

Jan 22nd, 2012 / 0 Comments

Siskiwit Bay

I always wanted to explore Isle Royal National Park. That is, ever since I discovered its existence in 1996.

The discovery of this gem of the National Park system occurred while I was working as a field assistant (searching for bird nests and doing point counts) within the Chippewa National Forest of Minnesota. If being in the woods for five and half days a week was not enough, I journeyed often to the Boundary Waters Canoe Wilderness in the Superior National Forest on my time off. While visiting the International Wolf Center in Ely, MN I picked up a brochure on Isle Royale and almost immediately started planning a trip before returning to New York at the end of the summer.

When the job finished in late August, my plan to take the Voyageur II ferry from Grand Portage to Windigo was scheduled. Not wanting to miss even a shred of the Isle Royale experience, my plan was to hike around the entire perimeter of the island (or as much as I could by trail).
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Oven Lake Trip: Exodus from Five Ponds Wilderness via Sand and Rock Lakes

Dec 24th, 2011 / 2 Comments

Rock Lake

The following is a description of an eight-day bushwhacking adventure into some of the most remote areas within the Five Ponds Wilderness in the northwestern Adirondacks. The trip includes traversing areas of intense blowdown along the oddly-shaped Oven Lake, exploring a cluster of wilderness ponds and following the wild Robinson River. Part two of the final day is a hike along unmarked trails from Sand Lake back to my vehicle at Bear Pond Road.

Section Stats:
Date: July 5, 2011
Length: 4.1 miles (6.8 miles for the day)
Difficulty: Easy

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Oven Lake Trip: Hiking some Adirondack Trails to Sand Lake

Dec 18th, 2011 / 0 Comments

Sand Lake

The following is a description of an eight-day bushwhacking adventure into some of the most remote areas within the Five Ponds Wilderness in the northwestern Adirondacks. The trip includes traversing areas of intense blowdown along the oddly-shaped Oven Lake, exploring a cluster of wilderness ponds and following the wild Robinson River. Part one of the final day is a hike southwest along a marked trail from Wolf Pond to Sand Lake.

Section Stats:
Date: July 5, 2011
Length: 2.7 miles (2.7 miles for the day)
Difficulty: Easy

A hermit thrush greets me with its flute-like song at the beginning of my last day in the wilderness. The sun is still not above the horizon but the darkness’s hold on the surrounding forest is quickly weakening. In the dim light, the hermit thrust appears in front of the lean-to, apparently in search of an early breakfast of invertebrates.

Hear the hermit thrush’s etheral song at Wolf Pond.
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Oven Lake Trip: Spending the Final Night at Wolf Pond

Dec 7th, 2011 / 0 Comments

Wolf Pond Lean-to

The following is a description of an eight-day bushwhacking adventure into some of the most remote areas within the Five Ponds Wilderness in the northwestern Adirondacks. The trip includes traversing areas of intense blowdown along the oddly-shaped Oven Lake, exploring a cluster of wilderness ponds and following the wild Robinson River. The fourth part of day seven is a hike southwest along the Five Ponds Trail to Wolf Pond for the final night of the trip.

Section Stats:
Date: July 4, 2011
Length: 1.4 miles (5.0 miles for the day)
Difficulty: Easy

Standing in the Five Ponds Trail between Little Shallow Pond and the intersection with the Sand Lake and Cage Lake trails gives me some perspective on my newly completed bushwhacking trek through some of the most remote areas of the Adirondacks.
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Shopping Deals: Holiday Outdoor Gear Sales Including Savings Coupon Codes

Dec 4th, 2011 / 0 Comments

The Black Friday/Cyber Monday deals have come and gone. Hopefully everyone took advantage of the great deals to get some of their holiday shopping done. I hope the deals found here last month were helpful and saved some stacks of cash (yeah, I watch Breaking Bad too).

For those who are more the-wait-and-see types (or just procrastinators, of which I am one), fear not as there are still many stunning deals still available. I will continue to update this post as new deals come to my attention. Or perhaps I will publish a post of deals weekly until New Year’s.

Some of these deals require coupons, although many do not. I thought I would pass along the better ones that have accumulated in my inbox from the past week. I hope they help!
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Shopping Deals

Oven Lake Trip: A Long Bushwhack from the Robinson River to the Five Ponds Trail

Nov 28th, 2011 / 0 Comments

Reaching the 5 Ponds Trail

The following is a description of an eight-day bushwhacking adventure into some of the most remote areas within the Five Ponds Wilderness in the northwestern Adirondacks. The trip includes traversing areas of intense blowdown along the oddly-shaped Oven Lake, exploring a cluster of wilderness ponds and following the wild Robinson River. The third part of day seven is a bushwhack from the northern portion of the Robinson River to the Five Ponds Trail.

Section Stats:
Date: July 4, 2011
Length: 1.5 miles (3.6 miles for the day)
Difficulty: Moderate

With the early morning treks from West Pond to the Robinson River and along the river to where it sharply turns south behind me, it is now time to turn my attention to the last bushwhacking segment of my entire eight-day trip. From where the Robinson River turns abruptly south, I need to head southwest until reaching the Five Ponds Trail. After hitting the trail, the way to the Wolf Pond lean-to should be cinch since I have used this trail many times in the past.
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Oven Lake Trip: Bushwhacking Along the Robinson River

Nov 25th, 2011 / 0 Comments

Robinson River

The following is a description of an eight-day bushwhacking adventure into some of the most remote areas within the Five Ponds Wilderness in the northwestern Adirondacks. The trip includes traversing areas of intense blowdown along the oddly-shaped Oven Lake, exploring a cluster of wilderness ponds and following the wild Robinson River. The second part of day seven is a bushwhack along an extensive northern portion of the Robinson River.

Section Stats:
Date: July 4, 2011
Length: 1.6 miles (2.1 miles for the day)
Difficulty: Moderate

With the crossing of the northern section of the Robinson River behind me, I can now relax and concentrate on heading west along the northern stretch of the river. The river acts as my guide for at least another mile of bushwhacking before departing for the marked trail system to Wolf Pond.

This part of the day’s hike takes me through some of the most remote areas of the Five Ponds Wilderness in the northwestern Adirondacks. I plan on savoring this wilderness experience since before the day is out I will be hiking along the marked trail system for the majority of the remainder of my backpacking trip.
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Super Black Friday/Cyber Monday Outdoor & Backpacking Gear Promotional Deals

Nov 23rd, 2011 / 0 Comments

I can tell the holiday season is upon us simply by the amount of emails I get promoting the many Black Friday/Cyber deals. By the sales I am seeing, retailers must be desperate to move their products this year. This desperation is great news for anyone in the market for some super outdoor equipment deals.

Whether an outdoor enthusiast is on the holiday shopping list or you are simply looking to upgrade your equipment there are deals that should satisfy just about everyone. Take a look below and jump on these opportunities since most end November 28!

Some of the links are not yet live. If you do not find any links for the stated promotions then most likely they are not active yet. Come back and check often as I will try to add links as they are available.
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Shopping Deals

Oven Lake Trip: Robinson River, Here I Come!

Nov 16th, 2011 / 1 Comment

Robinson River

The following is a description of an eight-day bushwhacking adventure into some of the most remote areas within the Five Ponds Wilderness in the northwestern Adirondacks. The trip includes traversing areas of intense blowdown along the oddly-shaped Oven Lake, exploring a cluster of wilderness ponds and following the wild Robinson River. The first part of day seven is a bushwhack over a shoulder of Greenfield Mountain down to the Robinson River.

Section Stats:
Date: July 4, 2011
Length: 0.5 miles (0.5 miles for the day)
Difficulty: Moderate

A very active morning bird chorus greets me when I wake on my last full day in the backcountry of the Five Ponds Wilderness in the northwestern Adirondacks. The birds are not the only vocal wildlife though, as a boisterous frog chorus is still going on from the previous night. Apparently the frogs never took a break as they were making quite the ruckus during the middle of the night when I got up to relieve myself.
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Reports, Trips

Oven Lake Trip: Bushwhacking from Gal to West Pond in the Five Ponds Wilderness

Nov 11th, 2011 / 0 Comments

Eastern view of West Pond

The following is a description of an eight-day bushwhacking adventure into some of the most remote areas within the Five Ponds Wilderness in the northwestern Adirondacks. The trip includes traversing areas of intense blowdown along the oddly-shaped Oven Lake, exploring a cluster of wilderness ponds and following the wild Robinson River. The third part of day six is a short bushwhack between Gal and West Ponds.

Section Stats:
Date: July 3, 2011
Length: 0.4 miles (1.7 miles for the day)
Difficulty: Moderate

With the trip around Gal Pond complete, a lunch break was sorely needed before completing the day’s bushwhack to West Pond. My current location with its attractive view of Gal Pond was an ideal spot, so I shed my backpack and pull out my food with the notion of lightening my load by one lunch foremost on my mind.
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