Archive for July, 2010

Stillwater Reservoir to Cranberry Lake Trip Day Two

Jul 29th, 2010 / 0 Comments

View Day Two in a larger map

The following is an account of day two of my epic hike from Wanakena, NY to Stillwater Reservoir, Cranberry Lake and then back to Wanakena. The entire trip required backpacking via trail into the heart of the Five Ponds Wilderness, a lengthy bushwhack to the northern terminus of the Red Horse Trail and another trail hike, and then a short bushwhack to Gun Harbor on Stillwater Reservoir. The trip back followed a similar route except heading to Cranberry Lake before returning to Wanakena. The second day consisted of hiking by trail a short distance followed by bushwhacking along a stream to an pond within the interior of the Five Ponds Wilderness.

Read More

Reports, Trips

Aside: Is the CL50 adversely affecting trail conditions?

Jul 25th, 2010 / 0 Comments

Truck Trail

While using the Truck Trail in the Five Ponds Wilderness to gain access for my most recent bushwhack from Stillwater Reservoir to Cranberry Lake I noticed an increase in the amount of human impact on this trail. The increased impact was evidenced by the presence of human foots prints, bike tracks and many pieces of miscellaneous litter. Unlike the other major trail out of Wanakena (the trail heading to Dead Creek Flow and Cat Mountain), which has been historically the more used of the two trails, the Truck Trail was a fairly little used trail especially past the junction with the old Leary Trail.

Read More

Asides

Stillwater Reservoir to Cranberry Lake Trip Day One

Jul 21st, 2010 / 0 Comments

View First days route in a larger map

The following is an account of day one of my epic hike from Wanakena, NY to Stillwater Reservoir, Cranberry Lake and then back to Wanakena. The entire trip required backpacking via trail into the heart of the Five Ponds Wilderness, a lengthy bushwhack to the northern terminus of the Red Horse Trail and another trail hike, and then a short bushwhack to Gun Harbor on Stillwater Reservoir. The trip back followed a similar route except heading to Cranberry Lake before returning to Wanakena. The first day consisted of an extensive hike by trail to Wolf Pond within the interior of the Five Ponds Wilderness.


Read More

Reports, Trips

Stillwater Reservoir to Cranberry Lake Trip Report Teaser

Jul 13th, 2010 / 0 Comments

Gun Harbor on Stillwater Reservoir

From June 27 to July 4, 2010, I traveled to Wanakena, NY and performed the Stillwater Reservoir to Cranberry Lake trip I previously discussed here on June 23rd (see trip plan here). It was a complete success and I intend to describe it in detail here soon. Since its length and the extensive area covered (due to the trail portions), I decided to continue my previous convention of writing a single post for each day of the trip. Therefore in the next few weeks I will be posting the trip report in eight parts with an occasional side bar post covering a related topic sprinkled in. Each post will contain a Google map showing the approximate route taken for that day, including any interesting landmarks I saw while traveling through the area. Unfortunately, most of the extra ponds and lakes I thought I might have time to explore on this trip to the east of Witchhopple Lake and north of Clear Lake were not visited due to the trip taking much longer than I originally planned.

Read More

Reports, Trips

New bushwhacking toys….uuuhh….I mean, equipment.

Jul 7th, 2010 / 0 Comments

Recently, I purchased several new bushwhacking related products (i.e. toys that I rationalized purchasing based on their use during bushwhacking trips). They included a new handheld GPS, a tripod (head and legs) and a personal digital voice recorder. I purchased each of the products for different reasons. The GPS replaced (and upgraded) my previous GPS unit since the old unit was starting to display the irritating tendency of blinking out during the most inopportune moments. The tripod was purchased to allow for increasing the quality of my digital photographs and therefore increasing the aesthetics of this website. Lastly, the personal digital voice recorder was supposed to replace the need for me to take written notes during bushwhacking trips. Although I will definitely write up a detailed review of each product when I have thoroughly experienced them in the field, I thought I would report some information about the new products including some of my rationale for choosing them.

Read More

Equipment