DSettahr
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Took an afternoon hike in to Moose Pond yesterday (the one on the west side of the McKenzie Mountain Wilderness, near Saranac Lake). Since the gate on the road to the boat launch on the north end of the pond was closed, I came in from the south, via the trailhead on Route 3 in Bloomingdale. A few summers ago, I spent 4 days on a bushwhack overnight trip in the vicinity of the east shore of Moose Pond, but I'd never taken the opportunity to explore the west shore, where the trail is, before yesterday.
The Saranac River was certainly running pretty high- the parking area was underwater and I was forced to park on the road. I managed to get across the wet spot without getting my feet wet, and crossed the bridge to the east shore, where the trail starts. The trail was in excellent shape, some small patches of ice as well as some mud here and there, but overall dry and snow free. It looked like a trail crew had been recently, I saw lots of freshly cut blowdown on the trail. The trail follows an old logging road, and makes for some really nice easy walking through the woods.
Midway in to the pond, I made a curious discovery- someone had made both an "x" and an arrow on the ground with birch logs. I surmised that as I was getting pretty close to the pond, this was probably someones indicator that this was the spot to leave the trail to get to the east shore of the pond. The trail sticks to the west shore, and in order to access the campsites on the east shore by foot, one would have to bushwhack.
Just as I was starting to see the pond through the trees, I reached a junction. This junction isn't shown on any map that I've seen, and it was quite obvious that the majority of traffic takes the right fork, which heads down to the lake. As I was hoping to follow the trail all the way to the boat launch, I went left here, taking the path less traveled.
The second junction wasn't as obvious, but still would be hard to miss. At this one I did take the right fork down to the lake, which lead me to a pretty little designated campsite on the water. Nearby there was a foundation and an old chimney as well- remnants of permanent habitation from before the land was owned by the state, I presume.
I climbed back up to the old road and continued north. The third junction was not as easy to spot. Near a grove of hemlocks, I spotted what looked like the foundations of an old stair case leading down the hill towards the water. I followed this down to a second designated campsite, also on the water, and with another foundation nearby.
Again, I returned back to the old road up on the hill, and continued on my way towards the north end of the lake. The National Geographic map for the area shows this trail as following all the way through to the boat launch on the far end of the lake, but I was to find that this is not the case. The old road was becoming quite overgrown and less defined, and soon I reached a spot where the maintenance ended. The road bed was still visible, and I followed this for about a half mile further. It curved up and away from the lake to the west, and before long I reached a spot where I simply could not see any sign of where the road continued. I turned around and retraced my steps back to the third junction, looking for a spot where I might have missed a junction, but found nothing.
Back at the third junction, I returned down to the second campsite on the shore. From here, I followed a faint herd path north along the shore. It lead me past several illegal campsites, as well as a closed one, and then to a third designated site. Three younger guys were fishing here, and when they indicated that they knew the area pretty well, I asked if they had ever heard of a trail connecting the north and south ends of the lake, and they said that they hadn't. Looks like the NG map is in error!
North of the third campsite, the herd paths became better defined, and it was obvious that it receives some maintenance. Soon I was at the boat launch on the north end of the lake, my turn around point for the day. I returned back to the second campsite via the herd path along the shore, and from here climbed back up to the road, and headed back to the very first junction to check it out.
I was expecting to find another campsite at the end of the path down to the water at the first junction, but there was no designated site in the vicinity. I did find another foundation with a chimney, however. It seems that this spot is used mostly as a launching spot for those who choose to carry boats in from Route 3, rather than launch at the boat launch on the north end of the lake.
Instead of returning back up to the old road and hiking straight out, I decided to poke around the south end of the lake. With the spring melt, the water level was high and the land swampy in the vicinity of this part of the lake, but I was able to make it all the way around to the south shore. I made an interesting discovery here- a faint trail marked with old can lids that had been painted red. I followed this trail east to campsite on the south shore. I'd say that the campsite would be a nice site, if it weren't for the fact that it was trashed. Lots of garbage had been thrown into the fireplace, and the site itself was littered with bottle caps... Ah well. Perhaps it could be a project before the advent of summer. The interesting part about the campsite was that the fire place had a couple of pieces of marble incorporated into it. I wonder where they came from?
I returned on the "unofficial" trail, and sure enough, it brought be back almost exactly to the birch arrow and "x." The return hike to the Saranac River went quickly and easily, and as I crossed the river on the bridge, I noticed that the Silver Maples were starting to bud out their flowers!
Overall, a nice and fun day in the woods. With regards to the National Geographic map, it is possible to walk the west shore of the lake fairly easily, but not on a marked trail as is indicated by the map. The route to take seems to be, as from the south: Continue on the old road, going left at the first and second junctions, to the third junction, take a right here down to the lake, and continue north on the herd path. From the north: take the herd path south to the second designated site, then climb up to the old road and continue south.
Definitely some nice camping in the area, and worth a visit for a day paddle at the very least.
Took an afternoon hike in to Moose Pond yesterday (the one on the west side of the McKenzie Mountain Wilderness, near Saranac Lake). Since the gate on the road to the boat launch on the north end of the pond was closed, I came in from the south, via the trailhead on Route 3 in Bloomingdale. A few summers ago, I spent 4 days on a bushwhack overnight trip in the vicinity of the east shore of Moose Pond, but I'd never taken the opportunity to explore the west shore, where the trail is, before yesterday.
The Saranac River was certainly running pretty high- the parking area was underwater and I was forced to park on the road. I managed to get across the wet spot without getting my feet wet, and crossed the bridge to the east shore, where the trail starts. The trail was in excellent shape, some small patches of ice as well as some mud here and there, but overall dry and snow free. It looked like a trail crew had been recently, I saw lots of freshly cut blowdown on the trail. The trail follows an old logging road, and makes for some really nice easy walking through the woods.
Midway in to the pond, I made a curious discovery- someone had made both an "x" and an arrow on the ground with birch logs. I surmised that as I was getting pretty close to the pond, this was probably someones indicator that this was the spot to leave the trail to get to the east shore of the pond. The trail sticks to the west shore, and in order to access the campsites on the east shore by foot, one would have to bushwhack.
Just as I was starting to see the pond through the trees, I reached a junction. This junction isn't shown on any map that I've seen, and it was quite obvious that the majority of traffic takes the right fork, which heads down to the lake. As I was hoping to follow the trail all the way to the boat launch, I went left here, taking the path less traveled.
The second junction wasn't as obvious, but still would be hard to miss. At this one I did take the right fork down to the lake, which lead me to a pretty little designated campsite on the water. Nearby there was a foundation and an old chimney as well- remnants of permanent habitation from before the land was owned by the state, I presume.
I climbed back up to the old road and continued north. The third junction was not as easy to spot. Near a grove of hemlocks, I spotted what looked like the foundations of an old stair case leading down the hill towards the water. I followed this down to a second designated campsite, also on the water, and with another foundation nearby.
Again, I returned back to the old road up on the hill, and continued on my way towards the north end of the lake. The National Geographic map for the area shows this trail as following all the way through to the boat launch on the far end of the lake, but I was to find that this is not the case. The old road was becoming quite overgrown and less defined, and soon I reached a spot where the maintenance ended. The road bed was still visible, and I followed this for about a half mile further. It curved up and away from the lake to the west, and before long I reached a spot where I simply could not see any sign of where the road continued. I turned around and retraced my steps back to the third junction, looking for a spot where I might have missed a junction, but found nothing.
Back at the third junction, I returned down to the second campsite on the shore. From here, I followed a faint herd path north along the shore. It lead me past several illegal campsites, as well as a closed one, and then to a third designated site. Three younger guys were fishing here, and when they indicated that they knew the area pretty well, I asked if they had ever heard of a trail connecting the north and south ends of the lake, and they said that they hadn't. Looks like the NG map is in error!
North of the third campsite, the herd paths became better defined, and it was obvious that it receives some maintenance. Soon I was at the boat launch on the north end of the lake, my turn around point for the day. I returned back to the second campsite via the herd path along the shore, and from here climbed back up to the road, and headed back to the very first junction to check it out.
I was expecting to find another campsite at the end of the path down to the water at the first junction, but there was no designated site in the vicinity. I did find another foundation with a chimney, however. It seems that this spot is used mostly as a launching spot for those who choose to carry boats in from Route 3, rather than launch at the boat launch on the north end of the lake.
Instead of returning back up to the old road and hiking straight out, I decided to poke around the south end of the lake. With the spring melt, the water level was high and the land swampy in the vicinity of this part of the lake, but I was able to make it all the way around to the south shore. I made an interesting discovery here- a faint trail marked with old can lids that had been painted red. I followed this trail east to campsite on the south shore. I'd say that the campsite would be a nice site, if it weren't for the fact that it was trashed. Lots of garbage had been thrown into the fireplace, and the site itself was littered with bottle caps... Ah well. Perhaps it could be a project before the advent of summer. The interesting part about the campsite was that the fire place had a couple of pieces of marble incorporated into it. I wonder where they came from?
I returned on the "unofficial" trail, and sure enough, it brought be back almost exactly to the birch arrow and "x." The return hike to the Saranac River went quickly and easily, and as I crossed the river on the bridge, I noticed that the Silver Maples were starting to bud out their flowers!
Overall, a nice and fun day in the woods. With regards to the National Geographic map, it is possible to walk the west shore of the lake fairly easily, but not on a marked trail as is indicated by the map. The route to take seems to be, as from the south: Continue on the old road, going left at the first and second junctions, to the third junction, take a right here down to the lake, and continue north on the herd path. From the north: take the herd path south to the second designated site, then climb up to the old road and continue south.
Definitely some nice camping in the area, and worth a visit for a day paddle at the very least.
