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Jessup River to Indian Lake - Adirondacks

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Aug 1, 2011
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North Creek NY
I took a mental health day on Wednesday and Judi (who just joined the forum as Spadderdock) and I did the paddle from Rt.30 down the Jessup River and into Indian Lake.

I had never done this trip and was looking forward to checking it out since it is part of a circumnavigation trip I have planned.

The day was sunny and the black flies were hungry.

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3 beaver dams and 2/3 strainers were encountered before the carry.

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If I had had my saw I could have cleared the first strainer so it could have been navigable. Next time..

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The second strainer (or was it the third) could be run on the right side, but you couldn't tell till you got to it.

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I checked Phil Brown's guide book and it says a mile to the take out, but the meander quotient must have changed some because my GPS read almost 1.5 miles before the walk.

Greek legends say that Anemos, the Wind, sends his namesakes the anemones, in the earliest spring days as the heralds of his coming.
Pliny affirmed that they only open when the wind blows, hence their name of Windflower, and the unfolding of the blossoms in the rough, windy days of March has been the theme of many poets:
'Coy anemone that ne'er uncloses
Her lips until they're blown on by the wind.'

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We evidently were not the only ones using the rough carry trail.

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But we made it across the carry ok and on to Dug Mountain Falls.

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And on into the lower reaches of Indian Lake.

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Where the shad was blossoming.

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We went only as far as the second campsite (#50) and turned around for our trip home. Unfortunately, none of the dams we came down over were we able to go back up over so it was the beaver dam dance with my partner New Trick.

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and on back from whence we came.

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8 .5 miles total and a beautiful day on the water.
 
Last edited:
Black flies this year?

Black flies this year?

Keith,

Very nice.

I’m jonsing to get up to the Adirondacks soon, but not enough to deal with black flies. I can deal with mosquitos, stable flies, greenheads, no-see-ums and most other flying nasties, but I hate black flies and usually avoid the north country for the spell between Mother’s Day and Father’s Day.

How IS the blackfly season this year? Early, late, good (oxymoron) or bad?
 
I would rate it as a week or so late but about average in intensity.

Of all the bugs, I think mosquitoes are the worst. Unlike black flies they stay out after dark and will go after you when you are inside. Stable and deer flies run a close second only because of the annoyance factor.

Having said that, none of them keep me out of the woods.
 
I would rate it as a week or so late but about average in intensity.

Of all the bugs, I think mosquitoes are the worst. Unlike black flies they stay out after dark and will go after you when you are inside. Stable and deer flies run a close second only because of the annoyance factor.

Having said that, none of them keep me out of the woods.

Mosquitoes don’t seem to care for the taste of me that much, but I still avoid the salt marsh in summer.

Greenheads are annoying but easy to swat; not easy to kill, you can nearly smash them and they somehow put themselves back together and fly away – you have to actually pop them, which makes a satisfying sound. Greenheads are attracted to movement and will actually swarm a slowly moving car. That’s when you know you don’t want to exit the vehicle.

One secret to paddling with Greenheads is to “allow” another canoe to go first. If you follow 30 or 40 feet behind you will have a nearly Greenie-free trip. That trick only works on novices, and then only once.

Stable flies will nail the backs of my ankles like everyone else, but if I keep my feet off the ground when sitting that seems to eliminate most of the ankle biters.

But black flies like me, and I do not like them. They don’t keep me out of the woods, they just keep me out of the northwoods in spring.
 
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