Campin' and Fishin' -Cranberry Lake WF

Cranberry Lake Wild Forest

April 21-23, 2026

Chill in the air at the Burntbridge trailhead, but warming quickly in the early afternoon. Headed about 8 miles to Curtis Pond for the first night. 30 minutes later I was at the junction with the CL-50, a newer section since my traverse in 2008. Still have plans to redo the hike with the new sections. Perhaps this summer. So far the trail is along a snowmobile trail, obvious it was an old woods road. Another half hour to the Brandy Brook flow junction. A number of campsites here and further down the lake. Staying on the CL-50, I continued on along the lake often moving inland with the trail above the marshy spots and bays. My pace was slowing as the day wore on. I need to do more miles. Nice weather and temp; no bugs either.

I paused at the junction to Hedgehog Pond. About 2.5 miles to Curtis. The trail approached the lake again with a campsite before swinging east and up around the bay. Trail swung to the south, starting to feel the miles now. Trail sign appeared signifying I was getting close. A spur trail to Cranberry Lake headed west. Up a short hill and Curtis came into view. Trail hugged the shoreline a bit above the pond as it descended to the outlet dammed up by the resident rodent. I rock hopped just below the dam and found the campsite soon thereafter. The site was situated on a rocky prominence a fair bit above the water. Easy path to the waters edge. 

I set up camp and prepped a fire for dinner. Tested out the T-mobile satellite connection again, still not working. Hope to find cell service tomorrow to set Emily's mind at ease. Oddly I am having difficulty getting my own mind right too. Trying to connect with technology is making it difficult to connect with the outdoors. I am sure this will pass. Not very hungry, but know I should eat. As the sun set I could feel the temperature dropping. Supposed to get close to freezing overnight.

Definitely a chilly night. A warming fire for breakfast along with some hot coffee is welcome. Made a skillet breakfast of potatoes, bacon and cheese. Plan is to hike past a few ponds today and swing around the otterbrook trail to Chairrock flow. I think I will see how the ponds do for fishing and consider the campsite at Dog Pond.

After Curtis is Irish Pond, then Willys (or Target) then Dog Pond about 2 miles away. The trail goes up and down over an esker and some small hills, crossing the outlets of the ponds below beaver dams. Another great day of hiking weather. Atop one of the eskers I found a cell signal and was able to check in.

At Dog Pond, some trash left in a heap off to the side. Grrr. A nice rock jutted out into the pond providing a perfect spot from which to fish. Aggressive brook trout here, all around a foot long or just under. Kept a couple for dinner later. Set up camp and had a snack. I suppose I decided to stay here for the afternoon and night. Very pretty pond. Located a spring nearby for some cool refreshing water. Fish made for a nice dinner. The sun set away from the water's view but the golden hour colors and reflection was still nice.

Night started off warm, but was cool in the wee hours of the morning. As the sun crested the hillside, the day was already warmer than yesterday. Another skillet breakfast, bacon,  eggs and cheese rolled up in a tortilla. Plan for today is to head back north towards the car and set up camp at one of the sites on Cranberry Lake. Will check out Hedgehog Pond too. If the site is awesome, will stay there.

Definitely the warmest of the three days so far. No rush for the day. The short mileage yesterday was a good idea. Feel great now.  Spent more time scanning the woods while hiking. Sent another check-in at the spot on the esker. At the campsite on Cranberry Lake, I laid down on the dried grass and took a sun bath for 20 minutes. The trail to Hedgehog was only a half mile away. Someone has strung some cables between trees here above the campsite which would be useful for hanging food away from critters. The trail to Hedgehog (Clear Pond on the old maps) crossed its outlet before terminating at the campsite. A boat and canoe were both here. The campsite was ok, not great for a hammock so after a lunch break I would head back to Cranberry.

Soon I found myself nearing Brandy Brook flow. It was late afternoon and only 3 miles from the car. I chose to hike the last hour out. I know Emily would be happy to have me home early. Will stop in Oswego for a cheeseburger sub.

 Cranberry Lake

Hedgehog Pond (aka Clear Pond)

Spring! Finally -Chase Lake

 April 8-10th.

Ian was interested in another trip but with a lean-to. Chase Lake was nearby and not a long hike in. No brookies in the water. Lake still had ice on at least 50%. Temperatures dropped enough at night to make more. Daytime sun was high enough to melt any new ice. Heard first loon of the year. Woodpeckers active, spotted a pileated nearby. Able to capture a grainy video of him way up in the tree. Saw but did not scout a faint path to Mud Lake near where the trail followed its outlet before veering away. Some remnant snow in the woods especially in protected areas. Streams running hard. Located a spring about 50 yards away from the lean-to. The trail crosses its drainage. 

Quick overnight in the Woods (Lake)

 

It has been quite a while since my friend Ian and I have hit the trail. With a weekday night available for a quick getaway for us both we settled on Woods Lake on the NPT. There are a few campsites along the trail side of the lake and another off a spur trail to the west.

The pull-off parking area was recently plowed and a large berm of snow separated us from the trail. We climbed over the snow and followed the red trail which had remnant tracks from other people. Was not difficult travel on the packed trail even with a few inches of snow on the firm base. Off trail was completely different; deep snow even with snowshoes. It was less than a half mile to the campsite. As we neared the previous tracks split off, one towards the lake while the other stayed on the trail. 

We passed two closed campsites before reaching our destination. A few boats were here on the point overlooking the lake. We setup our gear and went scavenging for wood. As previously mentioned, offtrail was difficult. I took my pulk aways back down the trail and scavenged a small amount of wood. The area nearby the campsites was picked clean, evidence of significant camping pressure.

We had enough for a small fire to keep us company. The temps were mild, and warming up. The sky would transition from blue sky to overcast, then a snow flurry and back again. Some winds off the lake chilling, but when they subsided the temps were reasonable. 

The sun set and the temps stayed mild. The moonlight cast shadows on the snow. Quite pretty. Clouds would roll in darkening the woods and then depart.

Eventually we climbed into bed. The changing weather continued all night although it stayed rather warm. 

After some great sleep I arose at first light. Some heat in the firepit signalled potential buried coals which I coaxed back to life. Soon a small fire crackled with the burnt ends leftover from our previous night's campfire. We cooked up some bratwurst for a morning snack. Packed up and headed home.

Preston Pond 2026: Tribute to Tammy

 Met the crew at the Stewarts Shoppe in Long Lake just before ten AM. We caravanned to the Upper Works lot and deployed our gear. Five of us plus a dog, two pulks. We headed up towards Henderson at around 11:30. A bit of a late start. The trail to the lake was broken out and some faint tracks still visible. Some wind out on the lake, but not that bad. Around the turn, I took the lead and broke trail. Mostly crusty snow but a few spots where lighter snow had drifted up. It was Glen, George and I taking turns up the lake. In the deep snow, Jet would hop through it instead of taking the easier way in our wake. 

A short break at the Henderson lean-to. 1:20 minutes to traverse the mostly flat 1.75 miles. This is about the normal time. The next 1.75 miles would be on unbroken trail with deep snow. It was very slow going. At the second bridge (broken) I took the lead. For the next mile and a half it would be me, George and Glen in front. With Jet following George and Glen with a pulk, I would do the majority of the main trail breaking. At spots I was sinking into the deep snow hip deep. Most of the time it was up to my knees. It would take us over 5 hours to reach Preston, and another 20 minutes to across the pond to the cabin. The sun was just below the mountains as we set out onto the pond. The waning twighlight was beautiful. We stopped momentarily to rest and appreciate it. Too tired to dig out my phone to capture it. Looking back, I wish I had. Glen put on his headlamp for the remaining 100 yards up to the cabin. Total of 7 hours to do less than 4 miles!

Once inside we all started on different chores, lighting the woodstove, starting dinner, breaking a trail to the outhouse were the major ones. I had dinner duty. The typical bratwurst and rolls. I also brought some creamy potato soup which was a great way to start and warm us up. The temp was already dropping considerably. We saved dishes for the morning when we could dig out a hole in the creek to get water. 

We all slept in. The sun was out before any of us got out of bed. The kitchen was cold. Ceiling covered in frost. I started some water for coffee. George made breakfast. Only one egg had cracked on the way in. Great filling breakfast.

We were all way to tired to anything other than chores at camp. Glen and Matt dug out a hole in the creek, I broke a trail and dug out our sump hole for waste water. Georgecleaned up our dishes from dinner snd breakfast, Teresa starting shoveling off the roof of the cabin. The stove pipe for ghe kitchen stove was completely buried. We checked the bunk room chimney the previous night before we started the stove in there. Sam arrived today, took him less than half the time. He mentioned it was minus 5*F when he was at the parking lot in the morning. We figured it was in the minus teens up here over night. 

Did some playing around at the cabin in the afternoon. With the kitchen chimney now unburied, we could get this stove lit. As the temperature of the kitchen rose, the now melting frost would drip down. Matt made chili for dinner.

Up a little earlier on Saturday. The snow from the roof is now piled up so high it blocks quite a bit of the sunlight. Sam re-started the kitchen stove and I put on water for coffee. Sam made breakfast. Was not as sunny today. Mostly overcast. After cleanup, Glen got ready to hike out to Henderson to meet up with his friend Aaron. Just before he set out, Carla arrived. She day hiked in with somd resupplies for us including donuts from Stewarts. We all hung out mostly in the bunk room around the stove. 

Glen returned with Aaron. Said it took less than an hour to get to the lean-to on Henderson. Carla said goodbye and headed back out. Glen & Teresa made dinner, chicken & biscuits. After cleanup and relaxing a few of us turned in early. Those who didn't stayed in the kitchen enjoying cigars and bourbon.

Sunday was departure day. Same morning routine as Saturday with the addition of packing up and securing the cabin. Final project before we left was to replace a chimney elbow in the bunk room stove. 

Headed out around 10:30. Back at cars in about 2.5 hours. 

First trip of 2026 -Beaver Pond on the Bristol Hills Branch of the FLT

 The Beaver Pond lean-to is one of the closest to me with the exception of probably Darien Lake. The latter require a (free) permit which puts them out of reach for last minute trips. The weather was giving us a slight warm-up before the plunge again this weekend. So Berns joined me for a quick overnight.

We arrived at the unplowed parking lot. Some tracks from a high clearance vehicle entered and exited the lot. Neither of our vehicles would be able to get, and worse out. We began to shovel hoping once we removed the first few feet of salt-ridden plow snow it would just become lighter. It did not. After at least 20 minutes we had barely made a dent. My mood soured. D noticed a house down the road and decided to see if they would allow us to park in their driveway over night.

He did not return for a while, hinting at a promising result. I continued to shovel, but at a slower pace. Even with the extra time, still little progress was made. D returned with the good news. He spoke with the gentleman at the house. An older guy who had been a canoe guide with a large driveway. With his permission we  dropped our gear at the trailhead, and drove our cars to the house.

After a short walk back to the TH, we started on the trail. It was unbroken and deep. Snowshoes and the pulk sleds were slow going. Only about a mile though to our campsite. After briefly moving through the woods and over some logs through a swamp, we skirted the field to where the trail re-entered the woods. Soon after we csme to a woods lane which had no tresspassing signs clearly indicating it was not the trail. With deep unbroken snow, it took us a minute to see where our footpath continued. Once we regained our trail we followed along a flat area along a plateau. A frozen pond appeared to the north which provided our location on the map. The trail then turned away from the pond. At the top of a steep ravine we could see a frozen stream below, with our trail markers. We took it slow down the steep pitch. Crossed the stream and followed it upstream to the pond. Following the perimeter of the pond we then kept a lookout for the side trail to our campsite. In the distance I spied the lean-to, we followed our trail a fair bit more until we intersected the well marked side trail to the lean-to.

It was only a mile, but a tough one. A short break, then collecting firewood. We spent the afternoon collecting wood with snack breaks. Soon after we lit the fire, Jim arrived. He had mentioned he would try to sneak over for the day. He was also not able to get into the parking area, but he knew someone up the hill. So he parked there, and bushwhacked to the pond until he found our tracks.

We all hung out, Jim tested out his quilt system but finally opted to pack up snd head home. It was right at dusk so he put on his headlamp and would follow his tracks back out.

Berns and I had dinner. We chatted around the fire. The stars were bright. Approaching 10pm we climbed into our downy cocoons for the night. At one point I heard what I thought was a crackling fire. Odd, b/c we had dispersed the wood in the fire so we would not waste it by burning while we slept. I rolled over and sure enough a small section was alight. 

The temp dropped lower that expected by a few degrees, those last few made for a frigid morning. Later I would hear from Jim that it got down to 10degF. We restarted the fire, made coffee and breakfast. 

No rush, but we packed up as time allowed. We had discussed avoiding the steep ravine by taking a shortcut across the pond. The ice was solid until we were mostly across, and then a section of ice had a slushy layer between the ice and snow. A short climb up to the trail we broke the previous day. The trail gradually climbed for most of the way until the field came into view. From here we could see the trail then sloped down along the field to the swampy section. We opted to avoid the log bridging in the swamp as it was difficult with the pulks. D had noticed my pulk always falling off, so he had cut across the swamp. We followed his tracks. 

Back at the road, I left my gear and we walked to our awaiting vehicles. The kind gentleman was not at home so we were unable to thank him in person. Berns left a note. He noticed the sunburn on my face. I had put on sunscreen the day before, but did not think of it this morning. An error I often make in winter.

Lean-to number 179.

Two night trip to Sugar Hill

 Originally I was planning on visiting a series of lean-tos along the Raquette River, accessing them from a nearby trail. The forecast had the temps below zero, so my potential hiking partner was a no-go. Not wanting to spend 3 nights in the ultra cold alone, I opted for a two night trip in the Finger Lakes area with him instead. The temps would be significantly milder with a low in the high teens.

Picked up Dan at his house on Tuesday morning and we drove to the Sugar Hill State Forest, parking at Tower Rd. We loaded our packs & pulks and first climbed the hill to the tower past the horse stalls and camping area. We then descended to the Twin Lean-tos and made camp. Plenty of downed wood in the area which we brought up to the first lean-to.

Had lunch and then took a day hike to the Parks Hollow lean-to where I had Thanksgiving in 2022. Saw my entry in the book as well as Jackson's from June 2024. It has been six months since he passed away unexpectedly. 

After a short break and brief look at the nearby cellar hole we headed back to camp. It would be mostly an uphill hike back. Total about 4-5 miles.

Dinner, campfire and libations followed. Made it well past hiker midnight before we retired. Clear night so temps eould be dropping. No Geminid meteors were sighted. Could hear the wind racing through the hollow all night, but little hit us directly. 

Wednesday morning I restarted the fire and made coffee. Dan slept in later than usual but we had nowhere specific to go today. His breakfast did not agree with him, so we waited until closer to noon before we set out on our day hike to the Van Zandt lean-to. My two maps had conflicting trails and the reason soon became apparent. A trail had been closed and rerouted so my FLT map from 2006 was outdated. Right near the intersection of the new and closed trail I found a massive shed in the area where the deer were scratching for acorns. We followed the new trail which had some ruts from trucks driving illegally on the snowmobile trail (we saw where they by-passed the locked gate). Crossing route 21 and back on trail, total about 2 miles to the lean-to. 

After a break we tried to find another old trail which would connect to a lane that eventually joined the FLT. The old trail was not obvious, so we just headed in the direction of the old woods lane. Just before a creek crossing Dan spotted a blood trail. We followed it for a bit and then noticed human tracks also. Figuring the hunter already tracked down his harvest, we turned back and pressed on across the creek and hit and old woods lane. Followed it a while before we realized it was heading due east and not south as the lane we wanted. Typical for Dan and I to just walk and talk following a man-made trail and not notice we either passed a turn or like time headed in the wrong direction. We took a bearing and turned 90 degrees off the lane and headed uphill to intersect with the FLT. We could have continued on the old lane, but it would have necessitated crossing private property. So the bushwhack was the proper decision.

After crossing route 21 again we soon came across another blood trail, this time accompanied by tracks of a sled. Since it followed the trail, it most likely was a hunter dragging out his kill. The sun was getting low by now, so we headed straight back along the trail to camp. Made dinner and sat by the fire. 

Night time temps were a little warmer than previous night. After coffee & breakfast we broke camp and headed back to the car taking the lower route. Again saw the sled tracks with a few blood spots. Back at the waiting car before 11am. Good trip, great company. RIP Ranger Jackson.

Thanksgiving in the woods 2025

 Another successful Thanksgiving in the woods. Our initial location was likely going to be difficult with the seasonal access road and impending snow, so we switched to plan B. 

Three of us on Thursday: George, Eric, and myself. We set up, gathered wood and enjoyed the snow.

On friday, everyone else arrived throughout the morning and early afternoon. Like usual I cooked turkey in the fire. Everyone else provided different side dishes, appetizers and dessert. Great time as always.

I did not take any photos, the following were taken by Kalie.

Chillin' -Seventh Lake

 Dan and I boated over to the double-wide lean-to on Seventh Lake. Spent 3 nights in the early throes of winter. Dan fished and brought in 6 Rainbow trout. I collected wood and checked out nearby trails and lean-to. 

Wintry mix the first few days; off/on. Saturday the sun emerged so we enjoyed the final day of sunshine before heading back to civilization.

Haderondah loop

 With Shannon & Andy. Weather was great.  Shannon and I hiked in from the Thendara trailhead about 7ish miles to Middle Settlement Lake. When we first started out we passed by a trail crew mining and splitting rocks to  shore up the creeks righ near the footbridges. Made good time to MSL, it has been a long tome since I was here. Lake level was super low. The island was surrounded by grasslands. The shelter log indicated the beaver dam went out in 2023 lowering the water level significantly. Shannon went to her tent for a moment and when she returned, she said a group of Mennonite women were standing behind the lean-to. A dozen of them, not making a sound. They moved on to the campsite around the point. Andy arrived just after dark, he saw our campfire which helped him navigate the sparsley marked path to the lean-to. A little chilly the first night as the wind kept stealing my warmth from the underquilt.

Cool morning made for great hiking weather. We crossed over the outlet and saw where the beaver dam had been. Made our way on the Lost Lake trail towards Pine Lake. Stopped a few times for some breaks. Lost lake was pretty. Passed by a huge beaver dam. The flooded section from 5 years ago was still there, but with the drought, it was just muddy. Had to be careful where we stepped as some spots were quite deep. At the junction to Pine Lake, the inlet was flooded. Andy went to scope out a reroute as the signs indicated. He found a well worn herd path. Shannon and I were talking with a hiker from the Niagara region. He was waiting for the other ten in his group on their way to Middle Settlement. Shannon and I found the herd path, but then lost it right as we crossed the inlet. We were checking out some old stove remnants alongside an uprooted tree. Made a hard left turn through the brush to re-capture the main snowmobile trail with the lean-to only a few hundred yards away.

A canoe was near shore, later on I would check it's seaworthyness only by pushing it out into the shallows and standing in it to see how quickly it would gather water. It will need some patching if anyone wants to really use it. Also no paddle. Lean-to was in good condition. We checked out the site of the old cabin which showed on the old maps. Some concrete and iron were all that was left in the overgrown field. 

The next day we headed to Middle Branch Lake. We stopped at the campsite on Big Otter Lake for a water break soon after we checked out the new bridge. I took the group off trail a short ways to the waterfall/cascade on the South Inlet Creek which eventually feeds into Big Otter. We sat on the rock and had lunch. Someday I would like to fish the pool just below the falls. There appears to be a campsite on the far side. I had recalled this from my visit here with Jim 5 years ago. Getting to it would likely require a wet crossing.

After lunch we hit the wet section which was now completely underwater for over 200 meters. Shannon tried to skirt the edge along the beaver dam. Andy donned his crocs and headed right through the water, he was glad it was an old roadbed with a durable bottom instead of the sometimes squishy muck. I removed my boot liners and socks and waded through. On the other side I poured out the water from my boots, replaced the liners and my socks. Socks were then damp all afternoon, but it was better than really soggy had I left them on.

At Middle Branch I opted to set up a ground set-up with my tarp just for practice. andy and Shannon stayed in the lean-to. We had some laughs about the entries in the shelter log. Apparently the previous night the Menonnite women came upon a couple celebrating their anniversary and witnessed a bit more of nature than they bargained for. 

A great sunset over the lake. Some small showers over night. Just enough to add some moisture to the super dry trail and make my tarp wet to pack up. Rained a bit more on the hike out. We saw the work the trail crew from the first day had completed. Next time here I think I will do the northern loop on the minimal maintenance trails and fish the South Inlet at the falls.

Middle Settlement Lake

Middle Settlement Lake

Middle Settlement Lake 

Morning at Middle Settlement Lake

Beaver Dam on Lost Lake trail

Lost Lake

Lost Lake

Pine Lake

Big Otter Lake

Big Otter Lake

Otter Brook Trail

Middle Branch Lake

MBL at sunset

MBL sunset