Taking the wife on her first trip

[jish1969]

Gonna do the 7 Carries in St. Regis, I want to take it easy on her so she will come back here in the fall with me for a foliage tour. Two nights max followed by a night in a local hotel. Also the first time taking the new to me OT Penobscot 16rx on a trip. I don't think its too ambitious, and I can always trim it down when we're there.

 

[yellowcanoe]

It could be busy there depending on when you go.. The WCHA Assembly starts a week from tomorrow in Paul Smiths so at least stop by. Hopefully you have reservations made.. If not stop at the Assembly.. they have rooms but they are dorm style.. Though one of the dorms is nice its four single rooms per pod...perhaps not what you want.
Hopefully you have a canoe cart.. There is no launch at Paul Smiths near a car.. Its a bit of a walk from the parking lot. And you have one .6 mile carry..

 

[jish1969]

Thanks for the tips Yellowcanoe, we are starting Thursday afternoon at Little Clear Pond and gonna work up toward Pual Smiths, so we have the option to change course and head towards Fish Pond if it gets too crowded up there. I was debating a canoe cart over the last week and just clicked buy on the Seattle Sports ATC, so it should be here in time to test before getting out there.

 

[sweeper]

You might want to look at the Floodwood/Follensby Clear area just below St Regis. It has almost as many campsites, shorter Carries, Base Campable, with several loops to paddle

 

[Will Derness]

It sounds like you are keeping your gal's interests in mind. That's good.

Make sure her first trip is is one she enjoys, not endures. The second trip is at risk if she has to endure the experience.

In my early days, I would get excited about a trip I wanted to do. My partner didn't fully share my excitement, and rough patches that would call a trifle had a more pronounced negative effect on her state of well being; my well being suffered as a consequence. The lesson I drew from that was in the future plan her, not my, trip. That lesson served me well when I introduced my daughter to paddling, she always had a great time because we paddled her trip, not mine.

I saved the endurance oriented trips with my like minded paddling friends. I'm not suggesting your trip is too much for your wife, only offering a lesson I lerned the hard way.

 

[yellowcanoe]

Nine carries is a fair amount of walking.. Little Tupper or Lowes is way less.. I would not consider going to Fish Creek.. Those two words are synonymous with Summer Zoo. There is less population north of there.

 

[jish1969]

Part of wanting to do the 7 Carries is for her sake of not wanting to be all alone out there, and that campsites should be more or less readily available on that route since it could get busy out there next week. There are too many possibilities I want to pursue but I'm gonna keep it as simple as possible. She likes canoeing, she likes camping, just never combined the two in an all day excursion. We'll do this, learn from it, and then extend it out a few more days on the Bog River loop this fall. Thats the plan anyways.

 

[jish1969]

I gotta admit I'm getting more excited about Lows lake the more I think of it now, gonna browse the map again when I get home and make the call then.

 

[stripperguy]

If you really want your bride to have a fun, memorable first time trip, I would take her to Lake Lila.
Much less carrying, busy enough to make her feel comfortable, serene enough for you to enjoy it too. Many natural beach sites, no marathon paddling required, plenty of daily excursions to keep you both entertained...Shingle Shanty Brook, Harrington Brook, part of the Beaver River, Mt. Frederica, that "other" bushwhack overlook.

My gang did a trip to Fish Pond this past April, and I was shocked to see so many others out there. And my personal, jaded opinion: Lows is only OK. The definite possibility of motor vehicle and motorboat activity from the scout camp just ruins the experience for me.

Here's a look at Lila on one of those nearly perfect mornings

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[yellowcanoe]

I forgot about Lila... Nice hiking too and plenty to explore.. You can tell from the parking lot if there will be campsites.. And its on the same road as Little Tupper , another excellent choice.. you can tell from that parking lot too whether you will be likely go get a campsite

 

[jish1969]

Hmmm, Lila sounds nice too, the only thing is I booked the Adirondack Motel in Saranac for our last day/night before heading back to Ithaca, and these would be a little over an hour from there, not a bog issue for me but will have to see what the wife thinks now. Working overnights and overtime is not giving me a lot of time for changes right now but I have tomorrow to give it one last day of deep thought.

 

[yellowcanoe]

It's 30 min to Paul Smiths. I've never taken a whole hour to get to Lila. Maybe 45 min. Lows is closer. I don't see a big difference in time
The ADK motel is homey and right on the lake. I like it

 

[jish1969]

What route do you take from Lila? Google maps has me going way around and taking me 1.5 hrs.
We love the Adirondack Motel, stay there the last night of every peakbagging trip. The wife doesn't mind backcountry camping at all as long as the last night is in A/C and restaurants are near...

 

[jish1969]

Ok, Lila it is, looks like a nice relaxing weekend line up. Take a slow drive from there to the Adirondack Motel and maybe find some sales or antique shops or something. Does anybody think its too late to bring a fly rod?

 

[coldfeet]

Enjoy, I was reading this the other day while packing up for the 9 carries with my friend. After last years Alginquin 7 day trip with Bioguide I think I've figured out what to pack this time. I went through my friends gear and tossed about 50% away. We are just chilling out and doing it over 4/5 days then going to the WCHA assembly. Already registered, heard there will be a guy there showing off his canvas wall tent, wood stove with some real purty w/c canoes next to him!
My wife so far enjoys the car camping and paddling adventures we have been going with the Amc for the past few Columbus Day weekends for the foliage.
I passed your area yesterday driving back from the 1000 islands. Real nice. Have a great trip!

 

[coldfeet]

We are going on friday to Tuesday then to Paul Smiths.

 

[yellowcanoe]

Lila to Tupper is route 30. Google maps is insane. Use a ....paper map. We got a good paper atlas for cross country
WCHA. Nothing happens Tues. most set up Wed
Just don't expect the whole shebang Tues

 

[jish1969]

Enjoy, I was reading this the other day while packing up for the 9 carries with my friend. After last years Alginquin 7 day trip with Bioguide I think I've figured out what to pack this time. I went through my friends gear and tossed about 50% away. We are just chilling out and doing it over 4/5 days then going to the WCHA assembly. Already registered, heard there will be a guy there showing off his canvas wall tent, wood stove with some real purty w/c canoes next to him!
My wife so far enjoys the car camping and paddling adventures we have been going with the Amc for the past few Columbus Day weekends for the foliage.
I passed your area yesterday driving back from the 1000 islands. Real nice. Have a great trip!

I would like to get to the Carries this year still if I can swing it, I gotta start coming to these canoe get-togethers as none of my friends are into it and although my wife likes it, shes definitely not going to be doing a 4-7 day trip, ever. Ill probably be taking my solo back up in August and squeeze 3 days in. Perhaps we'll stop by the WCHA on Sunday on the way back to the Motel.

 

[Robin]

I gotta start coming to these canoe get-togethers .

Please do, Little Tupper Lake is a nice destination and the group we had last year where just great people.

BTW The Paul Smith's thing is over Sunday morning, Sat. afternoon is an auction/fundraiser but still lots of canoes to see.

 

[JoeO]

I am bringing my wife on her first trip also this year I went big bringing her to Algonquin going to do the Canoe lake trip for 3 days then we are going to spend 3 day base camping and exploring the park then I am taking a 6 hour detour and we are going to Niagara falls for 2 nights I would have wanted a longer BC trip but I want her to come again It is my first time also going to Algonquin so it should be fun I hope !