Section 2 - Union Falls Dam of Section 3

July 2nd - July 5th, 2011

Day 1:

View from our campsite at Lake Eaton Campground

Woke up way too early today as dawn creeps into our tent much easier than it does our bedroom at home with it's smallish windows and mini-blinds.  By 5:30 I was up and packing up my stuff.  Poor Louise isn't used to getting up so early but she was a trooper.  After packing up our gear we headed to the Long Lake Diner for breakfast.  We had a long day ahead of us and needed fuel.  I had a breakfast burrito with biscuts and gravy (weird, I know) and Jason had french toast, bacon, hashbrowns, scrambled eggs and coffee.  Anyone doing this section should really take the time to visit this diner.  Great service and good food.  By 7:30 we arrived at the Long Lake beach.  The outfitter, Raquette River Outfitters, has a small office/store across the street.  We began unloading and sorting all our gear.  It's funny when you are packing your boat for an extended trip the people that pull over to stop and see what you are doing.  One guy stopped by and wanted to learn all about our trip and what we were doing.  He even ran to get his wife.  They stayed with us the entire time, even watched as we set off on our adventure. 

Long Lake

We started our journey on Long Lake at 8:30am.  We had paddled this section before during the 740 miles paddled in a day event last year so it was kind of boring to us.  We paddled by last year's campsite and almost didn't recognize it.  Due to the flooding in the north the lake was up and the rocks were almost submerged.  We made it through Long Lake around 12pm and we started the Raquette River.  Several people in both kayaks and canoes passed us.  They were like machines.  We later found out that they were racing in "The Cannonball" - a 90 mile in a day race.  CRAZY!  They were paddling more miles in a day than we had planned for our entire trip.  The Raquette River was nice.  Very lazy and scenic.  They consider the Raquette River the most remote area of the canoe trail in the state of NY.  We paddled for a few miles and finally made it to our first portage, The Raquette Falls Carry.  We would soon find out this would be 1.3 miles of complete hell.  We normally rely on being able to wheel our boats through every carry.  We realize that this doesn't always happen, but we hope it will.  Raquette Falls carry by far was the worse carry we have experienced on our section paddle adventure.

  Lots of rocks and roots.  We finally made it to the first lean to.  We thought the lean to was going to be much closer to the water.  So we dropped our boats and kept walking.  We decided instead of staying at that lean to for the night we wanted to complete this carry and be done with it.  We finished the carry, packed up our carts and off we went.  We met the ranger that lives out on the Carry trail.  He told us the Palmer Brook campsite was available and in his opinion was the best spot on the river.  So, we took his advice and headed for the lean to.  He was right.  Very nice area.  Nice beach to pull the boats up on.  Nice logs to tie the boats to.  Nice lean to and flat area for tents.  Since the bugs were horrible we all pitched our tents for the night.  Jason started a fire and we ate smores using peanut butter cups instead of chocolate.  We also had fresh picked blueberries that I had brought on our trip.  Normally I like to stay out of the tent until bedtime.  I enjoy sitting around the fire and hanging out.  However, the black flies and mosquitoes would not allow me to have my quiet time by the fire.  So I climbed into the tent before the sun set.  Our tent has a open feel to it so we kept the rainfly off. 

Day 2:

Last night I thought something was stalking our tent.  For those who have never traveling in the outdoors with me I am a nervous wreck during the night.  I have really good hearing so I hear EVERYTHING!  Every snap of a tree branch, every step in the woods, every animal near our camp, etc.  So, unless I take something to knock me out, I do not sleep well.  Turns out our "stalker" was a bird.  It's weird though.  It sounded like it was on the ground and was pacing back and forth.  It made a really weird noise too.  Oh well.  Got out of camp late due to a thunderstorm.  It was ok with all of us though.  Just allowed for us to sleep/relax a little longer before paddling.  Once we got out on the water we paddled just a few hundred feet before I saw something swimming across the river.  It looked like a dog to me at first until it got onto land and looked at me.  To me it looked like a wolf but everyone says it was a coyote.  It would have been awesome if it was a wolf.  Oh well.  We finished Raquette River and went to Stony Creek.  Stony Creek reminded me a lot of Browns Tract Inlet in section 1. 

Stony Creek Pond

Stony Creek Pond was really pretty and quiet.  On our way to the carry Jason dropped the GPS in the water.  Bye Bye GPS.  So now we have to search for our carries, campsites & connecting rivers between the lakes.  This can be difficult if signs are down.  Oh well.  The first half mile of Stony Creek carry sucked but not as bad as the Raquette River carry.  Stony Creek had a lot of roots and rocks as well.  I honestly lost count of how many times my boat fell over and flipped on it's side.  Good thing I always remember to take my camera mount down.  I'm sure it would have been destroyed after all the flips. The other half mile is followed a gravel road and was very easy.  I love walking roads with my boat.  We reached Upper Saranac Lake.  What a beautiful lake.  We sat down on the dock and had lunch.

Upper Saranac Lake

  I think it took us less than 1hr to paddle this lake.  The next carry was easy to find thanks to the HUGE sign pointing the way. 

Most of the carry was on a dirt road.  The first 1/2 of the road is uphill, then it levels out and begins going down.  When the road starts to level out again you will turn left onto a trail.  You are only on this trail for a short amount of time.  I want to add for anyone that maintains the trail that's reading this there are huge trees blocking the trail.  It's very easy to squat down and push/pull your boat underneith but someone may want to clear it out.  We reached Middle Saranac Lake in no time.  Another beautiful lake and probably my favorite out of the lakes paddled on this trip.  Since there was no wind we cut across the lake to shorten our paddle miles and cut down on time.  As we looked for our lean to we noticed a family headed in the same direction.  Wouldn't you know they reached it first.....so now where are we going to stay?  Right next to the lean to mentioned on the map there is a beautiful campsite.

Our Campsite

View from our tent

  Although the no one kept up with the grass and it had a downed tree it was still beautiful to us.  We set up camp and then decided to go for a swim.  We passed the frisbee around for a bit and then I noticed an official DEC boat headed our way.  The ranger pulled up and advised that we could not stay at that campsite because all sites on the lake require a reservation.  I advised that I had no idea and that our map didn't say that.  The map reads "Permit and map for the many sites of the Saranac Lake Campground must be picked up in person at State Bridge Boat launch on Rt 3 prior to camping"  If you look at the map our campsite is no where near the Saranac Lake Campground".  So note to everyone.....you need a reservation to camp in Middle Saranac Lake, even for the lean to.  The ranger asked where we were headed and I told him we were paddling the canoe trail from Long Lake to Union Falls Pond.  I asked him where he suggested that we stay.  He said we could stay put but we had to be out of camp early the next morning.  That was no problem for us since we start paddling early.  THANK YOU DEC Ranger for allowing us to stay at this camp.  After getting out of the lake I headed straight for the tent.  Damned black flies and mosquitoes will not leave me alone.

Day 3:

Woke up early and packed up camp.  I am sure going to miss our lovely campsite.  We headed through the channel and toward the Upper Locks.  When we arrived it was too early and the lock master was not on duty yet.  So, Jason worked the locks.  SO COOL! 

Upper Locks

It's neat how quickly the water levels drop in the locks.  After the locks we continued paddling through the channel.  The channel opened up into Lower Saranac Lake.  This was a quiet lake and huge.  It didn't take us long to find the channel which would take us toward Oseetah Lake.  On our way through the channel another DEC boat passed us.  The driver asked if we were headed toward the next set of locks, which of course we were.  He advised that they were broken so we would have to use the portage.  This was a bummer to hear because Jason wasn't able to experience the ride in the lock.  We decided to hang out a bit in the channel to give the guy a chance to fix it before we arrived.  We sat for about 30 minutes and then headed to ward the lock.  When we arrived they advised that we could not go through.  They were only allowing power boats through.  Blasted lock worker.  Gurr.....This carry sucked as well.  Roots and Rocks.  I should have made up a song about the carries.  At the end of the carry there were more fallen trees.  We walked my boat down and headed back up to help carry more boats down.  When we walked back up we noticed a group of canoeist coming down the trail.  A party of 6 canoes, may I add.  I had to get into my boat and paddle out to give them room to get down the trail and into the water.  If the lock person was nice all 8 of us (kayaks and canoes) could have easily fit in the lock.  Frown.....Oseetah Lake was very busy.  It's amazing how many motor boats could care less if they hit or drive too close to kayak and canoers.  They will not even slow down.  We booked it into the the small town of Saranac Lake and arrived at Lake Flower.  I found some locals and they advised that we should go to the deli across the street from the boat ramp.  So we headed that way. 

It's so much fun to go through towns and stop for lunch.  It's a nice break.  Plus it's funny to see the looks you get when you're wheeling your kayak down the sidewalks.  Anyway, the deli was awesome.  Fresh bread, great cole slaw, and, to top it off I grabbed a Diet Coke....YUM!  We sat outside on the plastic Adirondack chairs in the shade and enjoyed the time out of our boats.  Next we headed to the convenient store.  I was running out of Benedryl and needed to pick some up.  We also grabbed ice cream and Gatorade.  We crossed the street and headed toward the NFCT Kiosk.  (I am trying to get a photo of all of the kiosks along the trail.....just because.)

  Then we put in behind the police station and began Section 3.  Floating through town was fun. 

Saranac Lake Village

It is a nice little town. The Saranac River portion of Section 3 is not terribly scenic but has a ton of wildlife (beavers, ducks, etc).  We portaged around the Permanent Rapids on a road.  LOVE road walking.  Instead of putting in below the rapids down the steep hill we decided to just walk to the boat ramp.  It's probably .5 miles of additional portage time and is a piece of cake.  Franklin Falls is a very nice pond.  Both campsites on the NFCT map were taken so we decided to just finish out the falls and head toward Union Falls Pond.  By this time it was really late, 9pm.  The guys walked the road to try to find the put in before dark while Louise and I pulled the boats up onto the road.  A van with 2 guys stopped and asked where we were headed.  We told him all sites were taken on Franklin Falls pond so we hoped to find a spot on Union Falls pond.  The guys told us about this little island that is state owned and not on any maps.  He said it was beautiful and we couldn't miss it, not even in the dark.  Another guy offered to shuttle us and our boats to the put in.  He knew exactly where it was, which was nice because Jason and Ed couldn't find it.  THANK YOU!!!!!  As we unloaded the boats it was dark now.  Jason told me to put my boat light on the back and Louise and I should head out quickly and look for the campsite.  They would see my light and catch up to us.  The guys in the van told us this "After you come through the channel turn left.  Then paddle straight.  You'll run right into it."  So, boat light on Louise and I headed out.  Once we reached the end of the channel we heard "There you guys are we've been looking for you"  It was the guys in the van having a party at their house.  Too funny.  He said again, Turn left and paddle straight.  You'll run right into it in 10 - 15 minutes.  Then he said watch out for bears.  We just laughed and said ok.  So we followed direction.  Turn left, paddle straight.  By now it's pitch black outside.  It was a crescent moon so it wasn't putting out enough light to see anything.  Another thing I am blessed with besides good hearing is good eye site.  I studied the tree line on the horizon looking for a change in pattern.  I soon noticed that the tree line stopped on both sides and then there were trees in the middle.  That had to be the island.  So I kept paddling.  We reached the site about ten or ten thirty PM, I would guess.  I'm really not sure though....lost track of time.  The island is very small and just barely accomodated our three small backpacking tents. Two tents would have fit more comfortably.  However this was such a nice island that I'd recommend it to anyone, if you can find it. Our map does not show it's location.  Follow the directions listed above.  HA!

Our Private Island

Day 4:

On day 4 we woke up and paddled the remaining portion of the trail which took all of about two hours.  We slept in and arrived at our car by 10am. 

Union Falls Pond is a nice lake to paddle.  They do not alow speed boats on it so we had the lake to ourselves.  Once we arrived at the car we loaded up the boats and headed toward Lake Placid.  We wanted PIZZA!!!!! Yum!  Every time I visit Lake Placid I am reminded how much I do not like to visit.....TOURISTS!

As I reflect on the trip it was a very difficult one.  The portages were rough and the bugs were horrible.  I have this memory forever etched in my mind and I will never paddle the NFCT again during the summer months.  I will stick to September/October when the bugs are gone and it's nice and cool.