Sep 21-Sep 23 (Tue-Thu), 2021 - Set up camp then went for a counterclockwise 4.5-mile paddle with a 2.5-mile side-hike to LIZARD POND lean-to which looked in great shape (it just so happens that Bill McKibben is the lean-to adopter) - saw one loon. The pond has a great echo. Saw a few paddlers on GARNET LAKE, 1 small moboat, several loons, mergansers, mallards, gb heron. Day 2 - Paddled around the lake clockwise in the morning & saw 2 otters, then went for a 5-mile hike to Round Pond, fairly flat at first but then the trail gains 700' before dropping to the pond. Day 3 - packed up & headed home. Fairly peaceful overall, fall foliage ~10% with some bright & some muted.
May 9, 2019 - GARNET LAKE. Great loonacy! Saw a group of 6 loons that all took off - suspect they were on their way to Canada. Regardless, the resident loons were often in sight or sound. Also mergansers, osprey. buffleheads, C geese, mallards, yellow-bellied sapsucker & nesting (20' up a dead tree) wood ducks; sounds of coyotes & barred owls. Flowering: maples, yellow violets, spring beauties, coltsfoot, and purple trillium just opening up; fiddleheads. No biting bugs as of May 9 altho I think I may have seen a couple black flies & mosquitoes.
May 12, 2017 - MUD POND & ROUND POND hikes from Mud Lake Rd (a 0.9 mile dirt road).
150 yard downhill walk to MP. Yellow trail marker at start (0.65 miles up ML Rd), no more needed after that. An old rowboat at the water so I went back to the Nehasanemobile & grabbed a canoe paddle & PFD. Regrettably, the boat leaked & was a pig to paddle so I soon turned back - had about 1 gallon of water in it when I got out.
From the end of the dirt road the newly-marked trail (yellow) bears L, gains 100' then drops the same, reaching Round Pond in 0.6 miles. Before crossing a beaver dam I took a L & soon reached the wide marsh at the mouth of Mud Pond Outlet. Had to bushwhack (a bit wet) & cross 3 channels on small beaver dams to reach Stony Point on the E shore - there is a nice campsite here. Rested & watched a pair of loons. Back to the yellow trail then along the N shore until I reached yesterday's turnaround spot. Overall, a much easier way to access RP than the trail from Garnet Lake. Some blackflies, not biting. 2.4 miles.
May 11 - ROUND POND hike from Garnet Lake. Wilcox Lake WF in the southern Adirondacks. 2.3 mile trail from GL to RP, lots of new yellow markers. Elevations 1,500'-2,100'. RP is far from round. New markers continue NE along the shoreline with nice views along the way: Wolf Pond Mtn to the SE, Long Tom Ridge to the SW. Lunched on a peninsula/island that juts out onto the pond. New trail links to the old path from Mud Lake Rd. Lots of wildflowers along the way: purple trillium, Dutchman's breeches, sessile bellwort, Solomon's seal, billions of spring beauties; shadbush & hobblebush also flowering. 6.3 miles, 4.6 hours.
In the Adirondack Park, there are 43 Mud Ponds, 21 Long Ponds, 16 Clear Ponds, 16 Round Ponds, 14 Lost Ponds, 14 Rock Ponds, 14 Deer Ponds, 13 Grass Ponds, 12 Buck Ponds, 10 Lily Pad Ponds & 10 Bear Ponds.
GARNET LAKE. GL has 3 primitive campsites along the access road (outhouses need work or need to be moved) & several more out on the lake. S half of the 2-mile-long lake is state land, some cottages in the N half. Blackflies were out by late morning but not too hungry, quite bearable, generally 0-20 flies around me in the pm - one bit me & no longer lives.. Highs in the upper 50s to low 60s, lows in upper 30s. 5 loons (a pair & a threesome). A black & white warbler explored a dead birch next to me.
Oct 14 - Oct 16, 2016 - GARNET LAKE canoe camping. Fall foliage still brilliant! The N half of this 2-mile-long lake has some cottages but the S half is wild. Nice campsites on the W shore but they face the developed shoreline. Got a nice S-facing site in the S lobe - got good amount of sun. After setting up camp took a paddle around the S half of the lake. Quite a few tree stumps in the shallow SE. 1 person fishing with a motorboat. Day 2 - 32F when I got up but sun warmed things up after 7:50am. A family of 4 loons were often active & provided entertainment; a mink swam out from near campsite, dove & returned to land several times. Paddled short distance to trailhead for Lizard Pond & hiked 0.7 miles. Went off-trail W of N & started climbing steeply to open rock below summit of MOUNT BLUE - 900' climb in 0.9 miles - great views S & E. 0.7 mile return to trail on a route slightly W of the up route but got into some blowdown near Lizard Pond. Visited the lean-to on LP. 1.2 miles back to GL. A family of 5 in a motorboat looked like they wanted my campsite, they ended up at a site on W shore well away. Mostly very quiet other than the ducks, geese, loons, owls. Lovely moonrise. Day 3 - 45F when I got up. Packed up & paddled out.
May 10, 2015 - GARNET LAKE Paddled around the 2-mile-long lake in the morning. The hillsides were various shades of green - Mt Blue rises almost 1,500' above W shore, Crane Mtn seen to the NE. Lots of drowned stumps in the southern half of the lake. Just hung out in the pm waiting for predicted showers & storms which never came, water warm enough for a swim. A hot Sunday, saw ~15 other paddlers, most in small kayaks. Turtles, loons. Columbine bloomed on rock on NW shore, leatherleaf on islands. Light blackfly activity - did not use protection (did have the Original Bugshirt with me), got some bites.
Feb 18, 2013 - LIZARD POND from Garnet Lake's E shore. Poor to excellent conditions, not crusty. Nice mountain views crossing the lake - Mt Blue to the W.. The 300' in 1 mile climb to Lizard had plenty of rocks showing, was packed by skiers & snowshoers plus had been traveled by ATV! - poor skiing. Skied across the pond to the lean-to for lunch - and, yes, there is still quite the echo in winter. Mount Blue N of the pond & Crane Mtn well to the E. Tracks of any kind soon disappeared W of the pond & skiing was excellent with a few inches of powder on a good base. Dropped 300' in about 1.5 miles thru pleasant mixed woods, E Stony Creek never far to the L - nice skiing. Reached trail junction to Indian Pond & Baldwin Springs & turned back - a snowmobile had been in recently. Desiring to avoid a nasty downhill back to the lake, Rongwae suggested we ski E off-trail to the S of Gillingham Knoll. Some interesting steep terrain & obstacles drove us more SE - mostly very good snow conditions. Reached marshes then headed NE along streambed then short distance thru the woods to the lake. 10.4 miles, 5.7 hours.
Nov 22 - THANKSGIVING "DAY CAMPING" on GARNET LAKE. N half of lake ice-free but S half had much ice early - the 50 degree temp did manage to melt half that ice & we were able to paddle into the S half of the lake later in the day. Foil cookery over the fire which also warmed up the apple pie. Mount Blue rises almost 1,500' to the W & Crane Mtn is seen to the NE. Some cottages in N half, S half mostly state land, several campsites on the lake. Ducks, geese, bald eagles, beaver, mink. 6+ hours.
Sun Oct 2 - GARNET LAKE canoeing. Some cottages at N end & down E shore but rest of lakeshore is state land. No-one camped at the several sites on the lake or on road near put-in. Red-tailed hawk(s), many ducks. Paddled a circuit of the 2 mile long lake. S end particularly interesting with tree stumps of all shapes. Crane Mt. looms to the NE. 4.5 mi. 2 hrs. Mt. BLUE hiking. Trailhead (boat access only) on W shore. Took trail to just before Lixard Pond then bushwhacked NNW staying on or just W of ridge. After half hour start coming out onto areas of open rock. Below summit there is large area of rock with great views NE, E (across Garnet; could just about see the Green Mtns.), S, SW. Early fall colors. 1,300', 4+ zig-zag miles, 4 hrs. Merrimack Baboosic, a 14' solo canoe, based on a Prospector design. Camped near the put-in - the Nehasanemobile converts to (not quite) a leanto for the purpose.
July 11, 2005 - GARNET LAKE. 2 mile long lake in Town of Johnsburgh which has outlawed PWCs on all its waters which include Garnet & 13th Lakes & Hudson River. Some cottages at N end of lake, most of rest is state land. Water skier & a lawn mower broke the peacefulness for a bit but most of day was quiet. Several backcountry campsites, all unoccupied. Lake is surrounded by steep hills - Mt. Blue dominates to the W & Crane Mt's massive rocky hulk is to the NE. Varied shoreline invites slow exploring. Lilypads & pickerelweed in shallows, old tree stumps at SE end. Saw huge snapping turtle & some small turtles, too. Loons - a few tremelos behind me were answered with several wails to the E. The S end has a wonderful wilderness feel. From W shore, hiked 1.3 miles mostly uphill to leanto on LIXARD POND. Mt. Blue rose steeply to the N & Crane seen in the distance down the end of the narrow pond - a loon here too. Trip punctuated with a couple of comfy chair breaks (it's so easy to bring along extras in a canoe) & a swim at the small sandy beach put-in. 4+ miles paddling, 2.6 miles hiking, 4+ hours. Bell Merlin II, a 15' solo canoe.
July 21-23, 2001 - Garnet Lake canoeing & camping, Mt. Blue hiking. Put-in at end of dirt road on east side of Garnet Lake near Johnsburg. Small steep mountains surround the lake, Mt. Blue rises 1,500' above the lake on the west shore. Some camps at northern end but a large part of lake is state land. Paddled about a mile & camped on a point facing south in southern lobe of lake. Long Tom Ridge dominates to the south. Late start dictated that we set up the tarp & start a fire in twilight. Slept under the tarp. Sunday am, paddled around southern lobe, saw 2 loons & a few cedar waxwings chasing flying bugs. Parked the Merrimack Traveler (17' Kevlar canoe with cherry ribs, company out of business) at the trailhead for Lixard Pond (water accessible only.) Hiked on the trail less than a mile to just before Lixard Pond then bushwhacked generally NWN up Mt. Blue (map & compass required). Generally easy walking thru fairly open woods. After half hour of bushwhacking, start coming out on open rocky areas which are a pleasure to climb taking the occasional break next to blueberry bushes & gorging on the tasty fruit. Near summit, went around a bit to the east & enjoyed the views of Crane, Moose, Baldhead Mts., Garnet Lake. Going around to the south we stop at a large area of open rock & admire the views of Lixard Pond, Long Tom Ridge & the Madison Creek valley. Some deerflies accompanied us on the climb & blackflies joined us near the summit (only light mosquito activity at the lake). Actual summit is wooded; we stopped ~300' below summit so total climb from the lake was 1,200' in about 2 miles. On the return, hit the trail exactly at the spot where we had left it. Hike took 4.5 hrs including breaks. Paddled some in the evening. Returning to camp, paddling solo from the kneeling thwart & into the wind had to work some to keep canoe in desired direction. Many people blame their canoe when this happens but I blame the paddler - many people don't take the time to really learn how to paddle in a variety of conditions. In this case, if I had put a little more weight (gear) in front me or slid myself further forward in the canoe it would handle better. Paddling into the wind you want to be slightly bow heavy because the wind will tend to take the highest end of your canoe & send it downwind. Lake is 2 miles long & some small motorboats are seen since lake is popular with fishermen. Second night spent alone. Southerly breeze keeps the bugs down. Some mosquito activity after sunset & before sunrise. While lying on my sleeping bag & reading by the light of my candle-lantern, I hear a rustling behind the camp. Noisy enough that I felt this was no small critter like a squirrel. Quickly shining my headlamp in that direction, it lit up 2 large reddish eyes staring right at me. I see that it is a deer & soon it saunters off. Loons call before sunrise (no complaints from me.) As I pack up camp, I hear a small splash & turn to see a bald eagle flying off then landing on a dead tree leaning over the water. Later watch it fly across the water & land on a stump. 2 herons flew out of a tree on my paddle out. Quite a few fishermen out early on a Monday.
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