Day 1 Friday 5/22
We put in Friday later than planned at Low’s Lower Dam around 230pm, nice skies and a light breeze a great start for our 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] ADK trip. We paddled the Bog River, stopped at site #2 and had lunch then paddled through to Hitchens Pond and noted the change in the skies ahead of us. We decided we would hike up to the view over the pond on our way out and headed for Lows and a site for the night.
As we continued to the portage around the upper dam it started to drizzle and as we started the portage the rain gear came out. WE passed a kayaker as we set in to continue our paddle to Lows Lake. The floating Bog was interesting and very cool, we slipped up the left side and talked about it for a few minutes, especially the plant life on the bog.
Somewhere around the time we realized all of the sites along this stretch were taken the rain started in earnest and then the Hail, wind and some sleet for good measure. My wife, Nicole looked at me and asked with great emphasis “Are You (something something) kidding me? I replied just as passionately “something something something etc…” Yup
We finally found site #16 open and parked it for the night. I got the fire going and we set up the tent and had a nice meal. I believe it dropped to 28/30 degrees that night and our new Big Agnes Double Bag was a winner Thank Goodness.
Day 2 Saturday 5/23
Morning brought coffee, clear skies and a warmer day. After breakfast we were off again to Lows. We reached the #18 site where we wanted to get to the day before and Nicole liked it so we set up in a light breeze, the lightest breeze we would encounter until our last day. Shortly after setting up the wind cranked up to HOLD ON and we watched as Low’s turned into a white capped lake with 1-2” waves/chop. So I Settled into wood gathering and chopping mode and had us set up w/ 2-3 days of wood arranged neatly by the large log someone positioned in front of the fire ring. We paddled Frying Pan, Pole I islands around Goose Neck Island back to #18 before having a meal and retreating to the berry patch behind the site but before the privy – set up our camp chairs and sat laughing and enjoying each others company and the company of the recently emerged Dragon Fly’s. Watching like 2 small children and delighting as their wings De-crumpled and hardened in the sun and breeze. We walked about and discovered 2 types of Trillium which is a favorite of ours. Here they were White and Burgundy and discovering these here brought us back to a hike on the Appalachian Trail near Bulls Bridge CT where our relationship solidified & we committed in earnest to each other. And so the conversations continued as did the intensity of the wind.The wind died down at sunset and we had a restful sleep, a bit too restful.
Day 3 Sunday 5/24
By the time we were up the next day the lake was already winding up so we ate and headed off to Grass Pond Mountain to try & bushwhack to the top. We paddled to around site 25 and walked along the road until We found and old road leading off toward the mountain, we thought… After several ups and downs we came across what I called Beaver Town – a very elaborate series of dams and a large Hut this looked like a Beaver resort and I am guessing has been there a while. We went a bit further and I got turned around so we headed back retracing our footsteps (kind of). We headed back to camp at a leisurely pace and settled in for the remainder of the day. We again sat in the berry patch and were entertained by a hummingbird or 2 for several hours as they worked this patch of small flowering shrubs on and off and we dozed off for a few minutes – very relaxing.
We decided that we would head out the next day, a day early so we could catch up at home and go through the gear and clean it up so it would be ready for the next trip and relax before starting the grind again on Wednesday. The wind continued until bed time.
Day 4 Monday 5/25
Wouldn’t you know it calm, no wind and barely a breeze the lake like a mirror tempting us to stay one more day but no we would have our coffee and breakfast and paddle out leisurely. We paddled in a light drizzle taking just under 3 hours to get back to the parking area. We saw several deer near campsite 2 and out we were.
We will be back, this was our first trip this year and we had some new gear to try out all of which performed as or better than expected. Most notably our Big Agnes Big Creek 30 Double sleeping bag (5lbs 8oz) and our Kondos Outdoors Outfitter Expedition Pack (8300 cu in). The sleeping bag was great our sleeping pads slip into sewn pockets in the bottom of the bag and the Outfitter Pack held all of our gear, food, Axe etc allowing a single carry even with my camera gear – which I never took out this trip. The pics attached are from my iPhone 6+.
Special Thanks to stripperguy for suggesting this route we will be back to do it again, next time I want to camp on Clear pond or bog lake.
We put in Friday later than planned at Low’s Lower Dam around 230pm, nice skies and a light breeze a great start for our 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] ADK trip. We paddled the Bog River, stopped at site #2 and had lunch then paddled through to Hitchens Pond and noted the change in the skies ahead of us. We decided we would hike up to the view over the pond on our way out and headed for Lows and a site for the night.
As we continued to the portage around the upper dam it started to drizzle and as we started the portage the rain gear came out. WE passed a kayaker as we set in to continue our paddle to Lows Lake. The floating Bog was interesting and very cool, we slipped up the left side and talked about it for a few minutes, especially the plant life on the bog.
Somewhere around the time we realized all of the sites along this stretch were taken the rain started in earnest and then the Hail, wind and some sleet for good measure. My wife, Nicole looked at me and asked with great emphasis “Are You (something something) kidding me? I replied just as passionately “something something something etc…” Yup
We finally found site #16 open and parked it for the night. I got the fire going and we set up the tent and had a nice meal. I believe it dropped to 28/30 degrees that night and our new Big Agnes Double Bag was a winner Thank Goodness.
Day 2 Saturday 5/23
Morning brought coffee, clear skies and a warmer day. After breakfast we were off again to Lows. We reached the #18 site where we wanted to get to the day before and Nicole liked it so we set up in a light breeze, the lightest breeze we would encounter until our last day. Shortly after setting up the wind cranked up to HOLD ON and we watched as Low’s turned into a white capped lake with 1-2” waves/chop. So I Settled into wood gathering and chopping mode and had us set up w/ 2-3 days of wood arranged neatly by the large log someone positioned in front of the fire ring. We paddled Frying Pan, Pole I islands around Goose Neck Island back to #18 before having a meal and retreating to the berry patch behind the site but before the privy – set up our camp chairs and sat laughing and enjoying each others company and the company of the recently emerged Dragon Fly’s. Watching like 2 small children and delighting as their wings De-crumpled and hardened in the sun and breeze. We walked about and discovered 2 types of Trillium which is a favorite of ours. Here they were White and Burgundy and discovering these here brought us back to a hike on the Appalachian Trail near Bulls Bridge CT where our relationship solidified & we committed in earnest to each other. And so the conversations continued as did the intensity of the wind.The wind died down at sunset and we had a restful sleep, a bit too restful.
Day 3 Sunday 5/24
By the time we were up the next day the lake was already winding up so we ate and headed off to Grass Pond Mountain to try & bushwhack to the top. We paddled to around site 25 and walked along the road until We found and old road leading off toward the mountain, we thought… After several ups and downs we came across what I called Beaver Town – a very elaborate series of dams and a large Hut this looked like a Beaver resort and I am guessing has been there a while. We went a bit further and I got turned around so we headed back retracing our footsteps (kind of). We headed back to camp at a leisurely pace and settled in for the remainder of the day. We again sat in the berry patch and were entertained by a hummingbird or 2 for several hours as they worked this patch of small flowering shrubs on and off and we dozed off for a few minutes – very relaxing.
We decided that we would head out the next day, a day early so we could catch up at home and go through the gear and clean it up so it would be ready for the next trip and relax before starting the grind again on Wednesday. The wind continued until bed time.
Day 4 Monday 5/25
Wouldn’t you know it calm, no wind and barely a breeze the lake like a mirror tempting us to stay one more day but no we would have our coffee and breakfast and paddle out leisurely. We paddled in a light drizzle taking just under 3 hours to get back to the parking area. We saw several deer near campsite 2 and out we were.
We will be back, this was our first trip this year and we had some new gear to try out all of which performed as or better than expected. Most notably our Big Agnes Big Creek 30 Double sleeping bag (5lbs 8oz) and our Kondos Outdoors Outfitter Expedition Pack (8300 cu in). The sleeping bag was great our sleeping pads slip into sewn pockets in the bottom of the bag and the Outfitter Pack held all of our gear, food, Axe etc allowing a single carry even with my camera gear – which I never took out this trip. The pics attached are from my iPhone 6+.
Special Thanks to stripperguy for suggesting this route we will be back to do it again, next time I want to camp on Clear pond or bog lake.
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