Looking for a campsite in the Adirondack backcountry is neither science nor art, it is a struggle, especially so within the remote southwestern Five Ponds Wilderness. The chance of finding one of those flat areas so common along the trail system, devoid of vegetation and other debris due to many years of human use, is
Carpet Spruce Swamp: Bushwhacking through the Periphery of the Eponymous Swamp
Carpet spruce swamp. Confluence of the Middle Branch Oswegatchie River. These places are not on any maps, at least none that I ever seen. They exist only in the conversations of backcountry explorers that dare to leave the trail behind and venture into a remote corner of the Five Ponds Wilderness. Maybe on an occasional
Carpet Spruce Swamp: Over the Mountains and Through the Woods to a Gear Malfunction We Go
Rain delays on an aggressive bushwhacking adventure often lead to an alteration of a finely honed trip itinerary, which is never a good thing. Unfortunately, this exact situation unfolded at the dawn of the second day of my trip through one of the least frequently visited parts of the Five Ponds Wilderness in the northwestern
Carpet Spruce Swamp: Rain Delay at Lower South Pond
Although I wake to bright sunlight in the early morning on Lower South Pond in the Five Ponds Wilderness, the dark clouds move in and a downpour ensues. With the rain continuing throughout the morning, some changes in my trip’s itinerary are inevitable, including less time within the carpet spruce swamp. Luckily, the rain stops early enough for the trip to go on.
Carpet Spruce Swamp: Hiking On What Passes For The Upper South Pond Trail
My bushwhacking trip through one of the remotest parts of the Five Ponds Wilderness begins on the Upper South Pond Trail. The rough and rugged trail crosses the Middle Branch of the Oswgatchie River and meanders through a wild Adirondack forest on its way to a wilderness pond. My first encounter with moose droppings on this trip occurs on the trail just before approaching Upper South Pond, near where I leave the trail behind and begin bushwhacking south toward Lower South Pond.
Trip Plan: Carpet Spruce Swamp of Middle Branch Oswegatchie River
During the late summer of 2011, while hiking across Isle Royale, I planned an outing into what might be one of the remotest and least often visited (by humans anyways) parts of the Adirondacks. Unfortunately, a mysterious knee injury in the spring of 2012 put this trip onto the back-burner until this year. Now I
Oven Lake Trip: Exodus from Five Ponds Wilderness via Sand and Rock Lakes
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
Oven Lake Trip: From Bear Pond Road to Sand Lake Lean-to
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.
