Cracker Pond from inlet
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 five includes washing up and laundry at Cracker Pond.
Section Stats:
Date: July 2, 2011
Length: 0.3 miles (1.2 miles for the day)
Difficulty: Easy
After a pleasant morning bushwhack from the northern point of Oven Lake to Cracker Pond, I find myself with a sizeable chunk of free time on my hands. And I know exactly how I could put such time to good use too. The stench permeating from my bushwhacking attire as well as every inch of my body demands I perform some long overdue backcountry personal hygiene and laundry.
My cleanliness spree would have to wait a little while though. The half-way point of my eight-day trip was over yesterday and that day’s long and arduous day (parts one, two and three) never gave me a chance to enjoy it. So although a day late, Cracker Pond is an ideal place to celebrate this milestone given its remote and attractive location.
View Day Five, Part Two in a larger map
Cracker Pond is shaped like an upside down horseshoe, with a wide peninsula jutting out from the northeastern shore opposite of its inlet, and dividing the pond down the center. The water near the inlet is especially crystal clear, where the depth is shallow enough to see the mucky bottom in great detail.
The peninsula is tree-covered at its far end, where it rises at least ten-feet out of the water. Several medium-sized white pines stand along the water’s edge on the peninsula. Mingled among the pines are numerous smaller spruces. The very tip of the peninsula was mostly bare of trees, only a few small spruces are scattered among the dense fern cover.
The peninsula is connected to the main shore of the pond by an herbaceous-choked wetland. At higher water levels the peninsula must have been an island, though the number of old snags scattered within the wetland suggest at one time the water levels were much lower. A history of the presence/absence of beaver probably explains these historical fluctuating water levels.
The pond’s shoreline is dominated by conifers with a few large white pines towering about the canopy scattered about the perimeter. Shrubs dominate the shoreline while snags and herbaceous-covered small islands lie scattered about near the shore. Many logs lie in the water in different orientations near shore; some covered with so much herbaceous growth they resemble long, thin islands more than logs.
From my location near the inlet, a small peninsula juts out into the water a short distance. Its tip contains a small clump of young conifers and just enough open and dry ground to offer an ideal place to sit and view the pond.
Unable to resist the temptation to loiter, I make my way to the end of the small peninsula. A combination of dry land, wet vegetation and soggy moss connects the main shoreline to the clump of trees at the end of the peninsula. Despite the wet conditions, I hop between several dry spots and arrive at its end without soggy feet (point #57). Once again my Asolo hiking boots and gaiters
I spend about an hour watching the comings and goings of Cracker Pond. I alternate between scanning the area with my compact Leica binoculars in search of wildlife activity and taking photographs with my lightweight Olympus e-Volt 420 digital SLR
The avian community proves to be both diverse and active here. A female hooded merganser and her 6 ducklings swim out on the pond, keeping a very safe distance from my location. Two dueling common yellowthroats sing in rapid succession from opposite sides of the pond. Olive-sided flycatcher, purple finch, Swainson’s thrush, hermit thrush, least flycatcher, golden-crowned kinglet and red-winged blackbird are just a few of the other species singing in the surrounding area.
Cracker Pond shoreline near inlet
I blush slightly at the site of two cedar waxwings engaged in amorous behavior in a snag overhead. Or maybe I am just flushed from the sunshine and associated higher temperatures. Regardless, I find their exhibitionistic behavior fascinating and watch them intently while increasingly feeling like some sort of voyeur. Finally, they fly off; continuing their business in private, no doubt.
A flock of tree swallows divert my attention from the carnal activities of the waxwings with their aerial antics. The swallows appear to be a family unit as mid-air exchanges of food take place between them often. Obviously, the parents are still feeding their young despite the next generation’s nearly adult-size.
As it approaches noon, I exit from my vantage point and return to the main shore. I bushwhack along the perimeter of the pond to the north, staying a short distance into the forest where the going is considerably easier. While navigating through the forest I keep my eyes open for a convenient place to access the water.
My plan to wash up and do laundry requires an access point to the water, combined with an easy route back into the forest for disposal of waste water. A nice clearing with a couple hardwood trees for hanging a clothes line would be helpful too. I trudge along the northern shore but finding a convenient place to do my chores remains elusive.
I hike nearly the entire way to the pond’s outlet without finding an ideal spot, so I settle for the edge of some mucky pools separated from the pond proper by what appears to be some ancient beaver dams (point #58). One of these dams connects a small forested island with the mainland creating an ideal spot to hang my food rope as a clothes line. The nice breeze blowing through this spot combined with the abundant sunshine should dry my laundry rapidly.
Laundry holdouts on Cracker Pond
Unfortunately, the shoreline rises rapidly and steeply from the water’s edge here making carrying multiple changes of rise water extremely tiring. Between washing and rinsing my entire bushwhacking ensemble (including shirt, jacket, pants, two pairs of socks and a particularly stinky pair of underwear), doing my laundry proves more exhausting than the morning’s bushwhack.
After finishing my laundry, I begin performing some long overdue personal hygiene. The deer flies rejoice at the sight of me shirtless and/or pantless, trying multiple times to bite places where I have great difficulty reaching. By the time I finish, my back is mottled with many red bite marks though just as many crushed flies lie lifeless or occasionally twitching on the ground around me. When aimed correctly the MSR super-absorbing pack towel 
Upon finishing my washing, my laundry is still not completely dry. While waiting for the drying to complete, I sit down and enjoy what is to be a temporary state of cleanliness while preparing another late lunch. I notice both the temperature and humidity have risen significantly since this morning and fear such changes will quickly undue all my cleaning efforts.
Cracker Pond from north shore
By the time I finish a late lunch, my laundry is dry enough to pack up so I can start looking for a campsite for the night. Although I would rather stay along the main pond, there are no level areas along the northwestern shore. Since I plan on heading north toward Gal and West Ponds tomorrow, I want to camp near the northernmost point of the pond. Luckily, I find a relatively level area free of the thick hobblebush near the shore of the mucky ponds before actually reaching the outlet.
While setting up my tarp, beads of sweat form all over my back and chest due to the high humidity. And there goes my brief period of cleanliness. To add insult to injury, the high humidity brings the mosquitoes out in a ravenous state of hunger, forcing me to take refuge in my mosquito-proof shelter much earlier than planned.
Between the higher temperatures, increased humidity and swarms of mosquitoes, I decide not to cook dinner and instead pick through my snacks to construct an adequate (if, not very nutritious) meal to satiate my hunger until tomorrow morning.
For a while I alternate between lying under my tarp and wandering around the edge of the pond in the vicinity of my campsite. I fantasize about seeing a moose wandering within the water but it never becomes a reality. During one of my wanderings, a red-tailed hawk flies over the edge of the pond in hot pursuit by several other much smaller birds. On another wandering, a red squirrel scolds me, obviously upset about my campsite being located too close to its precious midden.
Campsite on Cracker Pond
As dusk approaches, I retreat under my tarp for good as the mosquitoes increase in intensity. While lying on top of my sleeping bag, I slip in and out of sleep repeatedly during these early evening hours as I listen to the night come alive in sound. In addition to the green frogs and spring peppers, I hear fireworks off in the distance to the east as dusk turns to darkness. Obviously some places chose to have their Independence Day celebration early on Saturday evening instead of wait until Monday.
Tomorrow’s bushwhack takes me to the north where the last two goals of my trip lie in Gal and West Ponds. After visiting those two ponds the long journey west back toward the Five Ponds trail system begins. That is, if I can find a way across the northern portion of the Robinson River. Thoughts of possible contingencies in case there is no possible river crossing fill my head as I drift off to sleep along the shore of Cracker Pond.
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