Streeter Fishpond on a Nicer Day

The following is a chronicle of an eight-day bushwhacking adventure into some of the most remote areas within the Five Ponds Wilderness Area in the northwestern Adirondacks. The trip included traversing some areas of intense blow down along the oddly-shaped Oven Lake, exploring a cluster of wilderness ponds and following along the wild Robinson River. The second day of the trip was wet and short involving a hike along the trail from Sand Lake lean-to to the southern end of Wolf Pond followed by a bushwhack to Streeter Fishpond.



Date: June 29, 2011
Length: 2.4 miles
Difficulty: Easy

The first early morning of my Oven Lake trip greeted me with dark cloud cover and windy conditions. This was in stark contrast with the clear, starry skies I witnessed when getting up in the night to relieve myself. The one thing remaining constant throughout the night and into the morning was the mosquitoes; they just never seemed to give up and take a rest.

The dreary conditions did little to help relieve my anxiousness I felt since I left the trailhead along Bear Pond Road the day before. Whether the source of my apprehension was the weather, the plethora of mosquitoes or the vast blow down areas around Oven Lake, remained a mystery. These feelings were similar to those I felt during the first half of my final trip last summer when I bushwhacked through the interior of the Pepperbox Wilderness. Hopefully, this feeling would pass in a similar fashion upon reaching the half-way point at Oven Lake.

With the dark sky and the remaining wet conditions from the shower late yesterday there was little to snap me out of my funk so I remained in my Highlite sleeping bag (safely cloistered from the mosquito horde) until around 8 AM. Only my curiosity about the yodeling common loons on Sand Lake got me to extract myself from my shelter and walk the short distance to the sandy shoreline.

The current shoreline of Sand Lake was radically different from the wide, open and sandy beach I remembered from some of my previous visits. Although the immediate shoreline was still sand covered, the vegetation was clearly encroaching on the beach. Could this be due to the high water, undoubtedly caused by the heavy rains of the spring? The high water turned the beach into a shadow of its former self, where it was once possible to walk around to the south shore with barely getting one’s feet wet.

A small fire ring remained near the water’s edge, made to avoid the mosquito swarm hovering around the lean-to. A cut log, set on one end, was nearby making a convenient seat in which to enjoy the warmth and protective nature of the now absent flame.

Further down the beach, up near the edge of the encroaching vegetation were numerous shallow holes in the sand. The remains of shattered snapping turtle eggs were strewn about near the edge of the holes. Some creature obviously feasted on a fine breakfast of turtle eggs recently. These nest raids appear to be quite common here as I have never failed to find the remains of these holes on every occasion I have been lucky enough to visit Sand Lake. Apparently, the snapping turtles produce more than enough eggs since they continue use this site. The turtles and their nemesis continue their dance of survival here at Sand Lake.

With the dark clouds refusing to yield their grip on the sky, I decided to take my time and wait to see if rain was an inevitability. The thought of suiting up in my rain gear to reduce the chance of rain crossed my mind, but I dismissed it since I felt my rain gear’s rain-preventing ability was probably limited to being on the trail (or on the bushwhack).

After a leisurely breakfast and pack-up, I was about ready to leave around 11 AM. The sky remained dark but not as much as earlier in the morning. Before leaving I went back to the lake shore to say my good-byes and was surprised to see a canoe with three people fishing out in the middle of the lake. They apparently brought the canoe in from one of the two unofficial trails from Bear Pond Road. Or perhaps, the canoe was stashed in the woods somewhere and where they retrieved it this morning.

Sand Lake Beach Firering

With my final good-bye said, I started down the trail toward Streeter Fishpond. In seven days I would return to Sand Lake on my way out but it was doubtful I would spend another night here this year.

There was little reason to stop along the trail as the mosquitoes were dense and ferocious. The vegetation was still wet from the thundershowers from the previous day and the air felt almost completely saturated with moisture. Apparently, all the moisture was highly conducive to the ravenous appetite of mosquitoes given the size of the swarm that buzzed around my head.

The wet areas along the trail were more extensive than I remembered, with numerous standing pools of water to creep around. The Asolo hiking boots combined with my Integral Designs gaiters kept my feet dream despite all the puddles I clumsily plowed through.

All the standing water increased my apprehension about crossing the Robinson River on the next to last day of the trip. The resulting anxiety motivated my imagination enough to get me thinking about canceling my plans to head around Oven Lake to the south and instead just head northeast immediately toward Cracker, Gal and West Ponds.

Sand Lake Shoreline

There were numerous tracks in the plentiful mud along the trail. Although some of them were hard to distinguish with any certainty due to their age, those of deer and black bear were obvious enough. Some of the older tracks resembled those of moose but they could have easily been tracks from parts of old hiking boots instead.

Soon after Wolf Pond started to become visible through the forest to the north, my Garmin eTrex Legend GPS indicated I had arrived at the location where I joined the trail last year near the end of my epic Stillwater Reservoir to Cranberry Lake trip. My plan was to take a similar route back to Streeter Fishpond and then decide whether to continue onward since the sky was becoming increasingly darker.

When I had rested for a short time, I started immediately uphill toward Streeter Fishpond, hoping that the previous trail section would reduce the amount of time before I gained my bushwhacking legs.

I made pretty good time climbing from the trail and the height of land was reached by about noon. At this point I changed my bearing to 132 degrees so as to hit the northernmost tip of Streeter Fishpond, where I remembered there were some good potential campsites. If the rain started falling before I reached Streeter, I would most likely need to set-up my tarp in a hurry.

Preparing to bushwhack from Sand Lake Trail

After descending for a while through a mixed forest dominated by hardwoods, I entered a patch of denser softwoods surrounding a small stream. The stream was the outlet of a small, open marsh to the east, which eventually flowed back into Sand Lake. Since getting through the dense and wet conifers got me off course, I made another bearing adjustment to 120 degrees. This new course sent me immediately uphill toward Streeter Fishpond.

At about 12:45, I glimpsed the small pond through the trees. I proceeded to move toward its eastern shore to search for a spot where I remembered there were some ideal camping spots not too far from the shoreline. Unfortunately, I made it the entire way back to my extremely uncomfortable campsite from the previous year without finding any of those idyllic campsites. They apparently existed only in my imagination.

Heading back toward the north, I found an adequate campsite within a cluster of some young spruces near the northernmost point of the pond. With the sky getting increasingly darker, there was no time to hold out and keep looking for something better. I swiftly set up my tarp without a moment to spare as light rain started falling from the sky.

The rain continued throughout the afternoon, falling as sheets of thick, small droplets. Several times I exited from underneath my tarp to watch the sheets of rain against the backdrop of Streeter Fishpond. How could the rain be falling yet I was barely getting wet? So fine where the droplets they did not even make a sound as they collected on the outside of my tarp.

I spent the majority of the afternoon and evening under my tarp. The lack of motivation was still with me and as a consequence I did not cook my dinner. Instead of cooking I snacked on a granola bar, beef jerky, dried pineapple slices, pretzels and ginger snap cookies before finally hanging my food bag in a large, nearby hemlock for the night.

Streeter Fishpond Campsite

During the time spent under the tarp I finally came to an important conclusion. With two short hiking days in a row, Grassy and Hitchins Ponds would have to wait until another trip. Instead of bushwhacking around Oven Lake to the south, I would head directly northeast along the lake’s western shore to Cracker Pond. This would still leave me with an aggressive day tomorrow where I would have to attempt getting all the way to the southern end of Oven Lake. Hopefully the weather would be cooperative.

The rainy weather continued into evening, accompanied by windy conditions and cooling temperatures, so I settled in for an early night’s sleep. Since I decided on an aggressive plan of reaching Oven Lake tomorrow, I would have to get an early start tomorrow morning and would need to be well rested.

I drifted off to the sleep to the sound of light rain striking my tarp and wind rustling through the coniferous canopy overhead. With apprehensiveness still gripping my mood, my final thoughts were bleak. Could the Bushwhacking Fool be losing his nerve? Was this the end of the Bushwhacking Fool?

My last thought was I hoped I would not have any of those weird outdoor dreams during the night.

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