Archive for the ‘Trips’ Category

Stillwater Reservoir to Cranberry Lake Trip Report Day Seven

Oct 23rd, 2010 / 0 Comments

View Day Seven in a larger map

The following is an account of day seven 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 seventh day consisted of a short bushwhack from Streeter Fishpond to the Sand Lake trail followed by a long haul via trail to Cat Mountain for fireworks and sleeping on the rocky cliffs.

Date: July 3, 2010
Length: 0.8 miles bushwhack, 9.8 miles trail
Difficulty: Easy (long trail distance)

Read More

Reports, Trips

Stillwater Reservoir to Cranberry Lake Trip Report Day Six

Oct 9th, 2010 / 1 Comment

View Day Six in a larger map

The following is an account of day six 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 sixth day consisted of bushwhacking west from Toad Pond through the interior of the Five Ponds Wilderness to Streeter Fishpond.

Date: July 2, 2010
Length: 2.3 miles
Difficulty: Moderate (pockets of blow downs and thick conifers)
Read More

Reports, Trips

Central Pepperbox Trip Teaser

Oct 1st, 2010 / 0 Comments

Threemile Beaver Meadow

From August 31 to September 4 I took what is most likely my last bushwhacking trip in the Adirondacks for 2010, where I journeyed deep into the heart of the central Pepperbox Wilderness. Although I have explored much of this 22,560-acre wilderness area in the past (e.g. the northwestern Cowboy Beaver Meadow area during Labor Day weekend 2009, the ponds west of Threemile Beaver Meadow as recently as 2008 and the northeastern ponds for my Birdathon adventure in May 2010 (see teaser here)), I never bushwhacked through the heart of the Pepperbox Wilderness. This area is devoid of large ponds or wetland complexes but contains many smaller beaver vlys along waterways and is bisected by the Moshier Creek running from the Moshier Ponds to the north down into the Moshier Reservoir along the Beaver River to the south.

Read More

Reports, Trips

Stillwater Reservoir to Cranberry Lake Trip Report Day Five

Sep 26th, 2010 / 0 Comments

View Day Five in a larger map

The following is an account of day five 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 fifth day consisted of traversing the entire Red Horse Trail from Trout Pond to its northern terminus at Clear Lake followed by an extensive bushwhack north to Summit Pond, Crooked Lake and finally Toad Pond.

Read More

Reports, Trips

Stillwater Reservoir to Cranberry Lake Trip Day Four

Aug 30th, 2010 / 0 Comments

View Day Four in a larger map

The following is an account of day four 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 fourth day consisted of traversing the entire 5-mile long Red Horse Trail book ended by two bushwhacks, one from Summit Pond to the trail’s northern terminus and another from near Trout Pond east to Gun Harbor on Stillwater Reservoir. A ceremonial hands and face washing was performed at Gun Harbor to mark the halfway point on the trip.

Read More

Reports, Trips

Stillwater Reservoir to Cranberry Lake Trip Day Three

Aug 11th, 2010 / 0 Comments

View Day Three in a larger map

The following is an account of day three 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 third day consisted of bushwhacking from one water body to another through the deep interior of the Five Ponds Wilderness.

Read More

Reports, Trips

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

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

Wanakena to Stillwater Reservoir to Cranberry Lake Trip Plan 03-2010

Jun 23rd, 2010 / 0 Comments

Little Shallow Lean-to

Last year when I was backpacking within the Five Ponds Wilderness around Memorial Day I read an entry in the Little Shallow Lean-to register about someone who had hiked from that lean-to to Stillwater Reservoir and back within a 24-hour period. To see a trip report from that individual click here. At the time I found this startling given the bushwhack from near Wolf Pond to Clear Lake was through an area hardest hit by the 1995 microburst. But at the same time it really got me thinking of a trip I fantasized about when I was just starting to explore the northwestern part of the Adirondacks back in the mid-nineties. I wanted to trek from Cranberry Lake to Stillwater Reservoir and back in a single trip but after experiencing the 1995 microburst first hand, I decided such a trip would not be possible for many years. But now someone actually did it!! Although I seriously thought about it last year, I decided to explore the southern part of the Five Ponds Wilderness instead.

Read More

Plans, Trips