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Jessup River to John Mack Pond

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Aug 1, 2011
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Location
North Creek NY
I thought this might be a fun little trip, so Saturday morning found me back at the Rt. 30 crossing and heading down the Jessup again. Dang that's slippery mud at the put in.

Water levels were down from when we were there last, as expected, but I was able to navigate down over all the dams but one. Thank you to whomever opened up that sweeper.

The weather for the weekend was clear with the high moving through Saturday night. Winds were to be from the north switching to the south overnight.

As I got past Dug Mt. Brook Falls I started to pick up a headwind and when I peeked around that last little island it was blowing pretty steady and some rollers were starting to build. I battled my way up the east side and stopped at a campsite and put my main pack up front and the day pack in the back. In hindsight it was probably too much weight in the front.
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After I get out in the lake I decide the west side looks better so I work my way across. If I quartered the waves too much the wind would occasionally drop them over the bow, but as long as I kept into the wind and waves it was fine, but it took a darn long time to work my way across. I took shelter in a bay for a while and waited until I thought it had died down a little and took off again. Sometimes I made better than 2 mph but there were times when I was making just over 1 mph. Luckily when I got nearer to where the lake narrows again, the rollers, at least, subsided.

The views of Snowy Mt. are amazing from the lake.

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Eventually I made it around the corner and headed across John Mack Bay with a following sea. Now with the weight up front it made for a very interesting paddle; more of an effort to just keep it straight as much as anything else...

Eventually I made into the trail head and loaded up for the mile and a half carry to John Mack Pond. I'll admit it felt good to get out of the boat, it had taken me 5 hours to go 6 miles. The trail was in good shape with a few deadfall. Before long I arrived at the pond. Swampy around much of it's perimeter John Mack is a pretty typical Adirondack pond.

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I took a paddle around the pond, set up my hammock and relaxed. The odometer on the GPS said 11 miles but it felt like a few more. The beaver were not appreciative of my presence and throughout the night would splash repeatedly as they swam by repeatedly. Maybe it was my snoring.

I broke camp and was at the lake's edge by a little after 8. The wind was still calm.

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But that didn't last long. Soon after I got around the corner and headed back down toward the Jessup the winds started to pick up. (Remember the forecast?) Headwinds on the trip in and headwinds on the trip out. It builds character.

Anyway they weren't as bad as the day before and there were far fewer rollers so I was able to navigate right down the center. I made the short carry and passed some kayakers enjoying the river ("Hey, how far does dis go, it's our first time here") and before long, I was back at the car. Best of all, the beer from the day before was still cold.

I have to say that the New Trick 12 I have is everything I hoped it might be. I wanted something that would handle the bigger water and still toss on my back and wander off to some other blue spot on the map. As grueling as some of the paddling was, it was still fun to do it with this boat.

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