Day Three- Mud and More

Here we are with our spotting crew for these first three days. Sarah is middle back and Lisa is on the right. We are blogging from their cabin, and showering so we appreciate that.

We were checking out an alternate NCT route that doesn't deal with the broken bridge. NY DEC doesn't get around to fixing things too fast.

This is Woodhull Creek (not Little Woodhull). It's truly beautiful, but this trail follows a snowmobile trail. That's not a problem when things are frozen, but it was sphagnum squishy and full of wetland plants which are lovely but scratchy for walking through. We stumbled along for a half mile in that before the trail went into higher ground. The deer flies were fun too.

If I'd had time to botanize, there were tons of neat plants. A nice clump of pitcher plant.

We ate lunch at the Sand Lake Lean-to, a nice clean one. Sand Lake Falls is right in front of it.

After that it was continual mud pits for a 3.8 miles. But we saw a lovely frog.

It was very difficult walking. That said, we finished at 4 pm. We logged 20 inventory items. I explain more about that another day.

North Country Trail, NY Adirondacks, Little Woodhull Trailhead to Gull Lake Parking.

We start backpacking tomorrow for three days. Definitely will not blog until the 17th.

See True Blue Gumby II

Day Two- Across THE Bridge

The big "if" for the day was getting across Little Woodhull Creek. We knew the bridge was damaged but parts were still there. Yes. Actually, everthing was quite stable. We scooted on our butts across the undamaged stringer. There were some nails we had to watch out for, but it really wasn't difficult. Good thing. There is no good place to ford and the water is moving fast.

Saw my first red eft of the year. They aren't found as far west as Michigan.

We went past Chub Pond and Gull Lake. This is Chub.

And Bill and I both think this is the largest beaver lodge we've ever seen.

It was an 11 mile day. Quite difficult, because what I didn't show you pictures of is that the part of the trail that is also open to snowmobiles was a total mud pit. Very bad slogging, and it slowed us down. But we finished before 5 pm.

North Country Trail, New York Adirondacks, Stone Dam Pond Trailhead to Gull Lake Parking.

Items inventoried 28.

See Day One- We Did It

Day One- We Did It!

Officially, we only hiked 7.5 miles today, but it was closer to 9. There was some backtracking and side trails, and then we had to walk back to our campsite.

Bill signs us into a trail register.

We made it to one of my favorite places for lunch- Bear Lake. The hill has no name, but I really like this spot.

There is a boat there- no oars, but it made good seating for lunch.

And guess what! I got my 2025 Hike 100 there.

We even saw a pair of loons

I think this birch "hand" was reaching down to grab the mossy knoll.

OK, this is hard work to collect all this data. Tomorrow we have 10 miles to do. Maybe we got some of the kinks out.

Gull Lake parking to McKeever. I'll update these mileages etc later. Barely enough service to blog.

See Bear Lake Trail Adventure

Home, Sweet Adirondack Campsite

We have landed, and right now things could not be better!

We stopped in Forestport for a few minutes. It's always been considered the last jumping off spot in NY before the Adirondacks. For proof of the "always", see this trail sign. The NCTA logo was changed from this in 2006, so this sign predates that by at least several years.

We are actually hiking northeast of here but Forestport is close to the "blue line" (the Adirondack Park border). And it has some awesome geology that I wanted to show Bill. The Black River runs through town, and it is where you can definitively see the volcanic geology of the Adirondacks. This is just below the dam. It's obvious New York has had significant rain recently.

This is the third time I've been here, and I really love this spot. Here's a view a little farther down the river.

Then we went to find a campsite. There are a number of free sites along back roads in the Adirondacks. We found ourselves a preemo one, close to the trail. High ground, level, large. Two tents all set up.

Ready for an evening out of the bugs.

We even have a little potty tent for privacy.

Here's the frosting on the cake. The site has a decorative rock entrance.

BONUS SECTION: I got to visit with Irene for a couple of hours.

Tomorrow we begin the hiking and the reason we are here- to track the trail. Weather looks good for a few days. Can't beat that! We are eating in Old Forge. Much less certain I'll be able to blog tomorrow. See you when I can.

See Famous Forestport

On the Road- Day 2

Missed the Ohio sign, but I got PA- with the appropriate addition for what it was like most of the way through Ohio.

Then NY.

To Sarah's house where we are spending the night. Another great meal with no picture. Meat on the grill, salad, asparagus, ice cream!

Then we got out the maps. Sarah is very familiar with the area where she will be spotting us beginning Thursday so we aren't likely to have snafus with meeting up. Of course we had to discuss the whole Adirondacks, loudly and with passion. These are the National Geographic maps spread out and lined up. The little yellow papers are stuck on along the NCT route.

Sarah, Bill, and Sarah's husband Jim.

One more travel day, but we will be setting up camp tomorrow and may or may not be able to blog. If you don't hear from me until 17th (when we have a motel for one night), don't worry. May be able to post occasionally on Facebook, and we may go into Old Forge for dinner tomorrow where there will be service. I'm just saying, it's the Adirondacks, and we can't count on having internet.

Our first hiking day is Thursday.

See On the Road- Day 1