Winter? Not yet. -Paul Smiths Easement

 Last week my friend Dan headed out to continue fishing until the water becomes hard. Since brook trout season is over, he is targeting waters stocked with brown and rainbow trout. His plan included Osgood in the Paul Smiths Easement. I had a night available so I planned to meet him at one of the lean-tos in the area.

There are many trails on the maps for the VIC in Paul Smiths, but only one appears in this section; the red jackrabbit ski trail. It crosses the road close to the Osgood boat launch so zi figured I could hike in from there, then bushwhack to find Dan at one of the lean-tos.

Some winter weather was expected throughout the state. Emily showed me a report with up to 12 inches possible in some areas. The system appeared to be trending south and we were expecting rain and wintry mix with little to no accumulation. Having the lean-to would ne a nice dry spot to hang out.

On my drive up Dan sent me a text he was at the launch and was paddling over to the Osgood lean-to and will gather wood before while it was still dry. He mentioned a trail right at the launch as well. 

I arrived at the launch at 11:30am. I noticed the jackrabbit ski trail on the way. There were painted arrows on the road where it crossed. The sky was overcast but it had not started to rain yet. There was a trail register by the launch and a painted red mark on a tree with an obvious trail headed west. 

After signing in I headed west towards the lean-tos. Soon I was walking along a cut canal which did not appear on my maps. I came to a junction, the trail split two ways here south of the junction and a bridge also crossed the canal. From the map I surmised this canal connected Osgood to Little Church Pond. The first lean-to was on the north side of the pond as was the Osgood lean-to. I crossed the bridge snd immediately the trail split again, one path heading westerly and the other more North. I took the westerly one and soon the Little Church Pond and its lean-to came into view.  The lean-to was labeled as Little Osgood. 

The woods were rather open and a path seemed to continue past the lean-to. Soon it disappeared and I cut up the hill towards Osgood Pond itself. At the top of the rise was an obvious trail running along the esker. I am guessing had I taken the more northern trail, it would have been this. A couple hundred yards later the trail sharply turned and descended to the water level at which the Osgood South lean-to was situated.

Dan's pack was inside and he had gathered a fair amount of wood already. The rains still have not come. I dropped my pack and went to gather more wood. I could hear Dan off in the distance breaking branches, I headed in a different direction and returned with some decent dead and down fuel logs.

With enough wood to at least get us started we lit the fire and made lunch. Enjoyed sitting out before the weather turned. After eating we grabbed a bit more wood and I told Dan about the spiderweb of trails. We decided to take a short hike to check out the other lean-tos and the network of mostly unmarked trails.

We started back to the Little Church lean-to, crossed the bridge and took the path which continued along the canal. Very soon we could see where it emptied into Little Church among the cattails. The trail followed the south side of the pond to a bridge across another canal connecting Little Church and Church Ponds. The lean-to was just beyond. Here it also connected to the red jackrabbit trail.

The trail continued west, and then split again. One path west, the other north. Our lean-to was to the north so we followed that. A large trail junction sign indicating the Osgood lean-to one way, and the "red trail" the other. About 500 feet later the lean-to came into view. So many trails in this little area and yet maps only showed the one. 

Grabbed a bit more wood and stoked up the fire. Between the slight wind and dropping temps the fire was nice. We chatted by the fire through dinner and after. To the west and north we could see a sliver of blue sky. To the south was gray and dark. So far the weather system has missed us. As the sky darkened after the early sunset, the sky cleared some more and stars appeared. The temp dropped precipitously thereafter. The fire was cozy.

We shared some beverages and stories from our last trips. Also discussed next week and where to meet up for a 3 day excusrion. We made it well past hiker midnight before we turned in. I slept well, plenty warm. The overnight temperature was below freezing as evidenced by some ice in the coffee cup. 

With the fire restarted we soon had some hot coffee to chase off the morning chill. Dan was meeting Will near lake placid at noon, and I was only heading home so we had no rush. Dan cooked up some fish and we had trout and mayo on tortillas. We then packed up and headed to the cars. As I walked the esker trail, Dan paddled below along the pond. We both reached the register at about the same time.

On the drive home, there was snow in the mountain tops and an inch of accumulated wet snow in the woods along the road to our south. We just got lucky.

Three days in the West Canadas. "Camping with a Purpose"

 I needed to head into the West Canadas to check on the Colvin Brook lean-to and clear part of the NPT. I decided to go in via the Pillsbury trailhead to Cedar Lake, then day trip the 12 miles (6 there and 6 back) to the Colvin Brook lean-to and clear trail along the way.

A few cars in the lot when I arrived. Two more as I was putting on my pack. I greeted the other hikers; they were headed in the same direction as I. Noticed another lean-to adopter had signed in earlier that day, he was planning on his second night to be at the Beaver Pond lean-to where I was staying. I am hoping to run into him as we have never met.

The familiar trail was covered in the fallen leaves which crunched loudly as I made my way up the old military road trail. It will be only about 2 hours to reach the lake so I was not in any hurry. Muddy parts of the trail were mostly dry, like play-doh. The old boardwalks in the swampy parts are really starting to deteriorate to the point they are now a safety issue. More on this later.

Soon before the trail made its final descent to the old dam, I spotted an obvious path heading off the trail to my left. I noted the spot on my map with hope to explore later, perhaps on my way out. I wondered if this was the old path I had seen on some of the historic usgs maps? The yellow beech leaves paved the way like the brick road in the Wizard of Oz. The trail dropped elevation (slightly, it is not a hilly trail) then wound around to the old dam and bridge to cross the Cedar River. 

I signed in at the register, as well as a note in the Cedar #1 shelter. My home for the night was a bit less than a mile further. I arrived to sn empty lean-to, did my adopter checks which went quickly as the site was clean and I was here back in July. I gathered some wood and checked on the old spring; it was mostly mud.

Afternoon turned to evening, sun sets earlier now especially with the clocks changing back to standard time. I was in bed before 7pm.

Morning came and I packed up supplies for my day trip to Colvin Brook. I stopped at Cedar #1 and chatted with the guys whom I met in the parking lot. They recognized my name from the NPT fB page. They were hiking the whole loop, planning to stay at Sampson Tuesday night. Great guys, hope to run into them again.

The trail to "woodstove" went quickly, no real maintenance to do. Between the work I have done over the years and the DEC coming through in the spring, thd trail is in great shape. Cleared a couple drainages of the newly fallen leaves and cut some smaller blowdown. Took a short break at the campsite and washed the sweat from my head and brow. Only a mile and a half to the junction.

Spent 20 minutes on a blowdown, not huge just a lot of branches to cut and move off trail. The latter part of the work is often the most time consuming. After turning down the Sucker Brook trail I recalled the ranger report from Aug which a lost group was directed down this trail to Colvin Brook to await extraction at the lean-to. I cut another blowdown along the way. A very light rain came and went as I traversed the red marked trail.

I was pleased to be able to rock-hop across the river instead of requiring me to switch to water shoes. My pleasure quickly waned when I saw the condition of the lean-to. Not the structure; we know it is in need of repair and is on the list. The trash and gear left behind, including the previous occupants having moved the firepit up against the lean-to. There was trash every where; in the fire pit and all around the lean-to.

I spent time cleaning up, moving the firepit back. Brushing out the spot to hide the fact it was ever moved. I packed up the trash and gear to carry out. I took photos to send in to the DEC to report the situation. The previous occupants had the presence of mind to sign the shelter log with their last names. I suppose they forgot that fact before they left after 5 days of trashing the place.  

Colvin Brook trash and gear cleanup

With my pack loaded up, I headed back to Cedar Lake. The short rain had now quieted the leaves underfoot. I was back at camp a little before 3pm. Plenty of time to clean up and make dinner before the early sun set. The fellow adopter, Chuck was there. He had also run into the same gentleman I spoke with in the morning so knew I was in the area. He set up in the lean-to as well. Was great to talk with him. I gave him my contact info so we could coordinate future trips in the area. I showed him the photos of the trash and the gear I pulled out of my pack. We started the fire and chatted through dinner and into the evening.

Chuck was up and out before me. I turned over to get some more sleep. When the sky turned pink, I got up to grab a photo. Chuck was over at the bench near the bridge watching the sunrise. He came back after seeing I was up.

We started a morning fire and had coffee and breakfast. Neither of us were in a hurry to leave. Probably close to ten AM by the time we started hiking out. I mentioned to Chuck I might check out the path I saw on the way in. He was interested too. As we headed up the trail I could not find it. Strange how obvious it was just two days ago. I need to comd back and explore more. As we reached the height of land I mentioned there was cellular coverage. Our phones were switched out of airplane mode and the texts/emails from the past couple days started pouring in.

The hike out went quickly as we chatted through the miles. The small rocks under the leaves were a bit hazardous on the downhills. Chuck mentioned he heard the boardwalks were scheduled to be replaced soon. Back at the car and register we signed out, changed clothes and reiterated our plans to let each other know about our future trips into the area.

Cedar Lake

Beaver Pond from the bridge

Bear mark or porcupine?

Sunrise Wednesday morning

Blowdown removal

Blowdown removal

Blowdown removal

Collage of trash and cleanup 

at Colvin Brook lean-to