October 14th 2023 Lake Taghkanic NYS Park day gathering

[coldfeet]

Hello fellow paddlers, I'm driving up from the NYC suburbs for a day paddle at this state park on Saturday October 14th. There is no entrance fee that late in the season but there is a $10 paddle fee which I believe is good for 7 days. The office opens at 8:00 am and the park closes at sunset for day users. We are allowed to use the BBQ's in the day areas and have lunch and early dinner. As of now Reserve America will not accept a 1 night reservation,, it's a minimum of 2 nights. One of the office helpers told me that sometimes Reserve America will accept a 1 night reservation but you have to go online that morning and try it. No guarantee that it will work according to the park helper. There it is, I'm going to the ADK's the weekend before on a foliage trip with the AMC and wanted to squeeze in one more paddle close by (about 125 miles from me sadly).

I'm going to camp out at a friends place that night near there but I will try to book a site through Reserve America that day and stay there. I cannot get there Friday night. The sites allow up to 6 people but 2 cars only. If others are interested in camping out please chime in with ideas. I don't mind sharing my site that Saturday night if I can get one. Foliage should be nice also. Not a big place just a nice place to relax.

Of course if the weather calls for storms that day it's a no go. Best to all.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

As of now Reserve America will not accept a 1 night reservation,, it's a minimum of 2 nights.

I was just fiddling around on reserveamerica.com and it seemed to allow me to book one night on either October 14 or 15. There were 12 or 13 campsites available each day. I didn't go through the entire process but got to the "Book It" page for one night.

 

[coldfeet]

wow, i tried 3 sites, the one off the large parking lot which i thought was good, then a few up towards the top of the map..I'll check it again..PS, 1:24 AM? All ok? I was sort of up with a slight cramp in my leg around that time. Lost to much fluids in school, I need to load up today. I'll check site now..

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

I was just fiddling around on reserveamerica.com and it seemed to allow me to book one night on either October 14 or 15. There were 12 or 13 campsites available each day. I didn't go through the entire process but got to the "Book It" page for one night.

Well, I just went further into the Book It process and did eventually get a notice that a two night reservation is required, as Coldfeet has reported.

 

[SouthernKevlar]

Sounds like an opportunity for a second day of paddling...

 

[coldfeet]

I'm going to book it for 2 nights, Friday and Saturday App $50. Let me know if your interested in camping out and don't mind sharing cost. It's ok if things happen at last minute. We can have up to 6 at the site. I have 1 friend wanting to join also but he might be sleeping in his truck.

Done! Site P006, plus for a few bucks they now have a rain protection if forecasted.
Day trippers come join and we can cook and relax at the site.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

Day trippers come join

Where do you anticipate putting in—at the main beach with it's huge parking lot on the west side of the lake or at the small canoe launch on the east side? I'd suggest the west side.

https://parks.ny.gov/documents/parks/LakeTaghkanic2020GeneralParkBrochure.pdf

 

[Ripple]

Thats cool, I am interested in joining for at least the day , and the camping if possable.

 

[coldfeet]

Where do you anticipate putting in—at the main beach with it's huge parking lot on the west side of the lake or at the small canoe launch on the east side? I'd suggest the west side.

https://parks.ny.gov/documents/parks/LakeTaghkanic2020GeneralParkBrochure.pdf

I agree with the large parking area, thanks for mentioning the put in.

 

[coldfeet]

Thats cool, I am interested in joining for at least the day , and the camping if possable.

Excellent, as of now I'm not sure if I'll be getting there really late Friday night or early Saturday morning.
I'll pencil you in for one of the site occupants.

 

[Tsuga8]

@coldfeet thanks for organizing!

I'll be there for the day on Sat the 14th. If weather is good I might be induced to come up for a dawn/early morning paddle on the Sunday as well if folks will be on the water.

I agree about using the west boat launch. The east launch is hemmed in by bushes, has uneven rocky ground, and a narrow channel to launch - not particularly well situated for laying out a bunch of boats and having multiple boats coming/going at once.

 

[Tsuga8]

PS - I'm willing to endure scattered showers, especially if there's a tarp and fire on shore. We've had a lot of rain forecasts recently that never materialized, so I tend to head out on day trips unless lightning is a real threat or wall-to-wall rain is all but guaranteed. But understand if those coming from a distance don't want to camp in the rain.

 

[coldfeet]

Tsuga8, I'm hoping for good weather this fall. Last year my trips got rained out way to many times.

 

[coldfeet]

I'm hoping next weekends weather is better than this coming rainy one. As of now I'll be up there really late Friday night (9pm?) depending on traffic or early Saturday morning.

 

[Tsuga8]

I'm fairly flexible in terms of arrival time on Sat morning.

Is this a BYO lunch to grill/cook over a fire situation? I could bring some noshes of some sort to share.

 

[coldfeet]

Yep, bring your own food BUT I too like to bring some goodies to share. i'll have a stove, plus I'll puck up a bundle of wood for camp fire.

 

[coldfeet]

I can't believe that it's going to rain 3 Saturdays in a row... forecast calling for rain Friday night and as on now 50% chance of rain Saturday.
I'll keep on eye on it, if that stays the same I'm going to cancel my reservation. Then see how the weather looks on Friday for Saturday. It's about 250 mile round trip for me, last year we had so many rainy weekends. Sorry.

 

[coldfeet]

I cancelled the reservation. But if the weather turns out nice I’ll go up for the day. Guess that’s October weather.

 

[Curlymoe]

Not looking as bad as it did. I'm showing cloudy but no longer a washout on Sat. May take a drive down earlyish Sat if I don't get called for grand daughter duty.

 

[Tsuga8]

From NOAA just now, for Lake Taghkanic:
Saturday
A chance of showers, mainly after 1pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 57. Northwest wind around 6 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible

I'm still game! What time are folks thinking they'll get there?