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.