THIRTEENTH LAKE paddling & camping

 

In New York State, anyone in a boat under 21' (includes canoe, kayak, SUP, rowboat) must wear a life jacket from Nov 1 thru May 1 - in warmer months it must be readily available. Children under 12 years of age must wear one at all times. So... On April 23, 2019 at Thirteenth Lake in the Adirondacks, with some ice still on the surface, I see these... 5 people not wearing life jackets, including kids!

2019 - THIRTEENTH LAKE hiking & camping - warm days with a fair amount of sun, no snow.

April 21, Easter Sunday - walked down the W side of the lake (elevation 1,675'), which still had ice over 90% of its surface, passing 2 bc campsites, then turned NW on trail toward Peaked Mtn Pond -several wet spots on marked trails, but not too muddy. Peaked Mtn Brook had many nice waterfalls thanks to high water. A brook crossing would mean wet feet. From brook crossing, bushwhacked E up LITTLE THIRTEENTH LAKE MOUNTAIN - mostly open hardwoods & dry underfoot. Got a peek at Peaked Mtn thru the leafless trees. Summit is a bit over 2,500'. Dropped a little to the SE to open rocky area with view. Dropped down to the E then NE, crossed a brook, then to a ledge (2,000') with view of N end of lake & Gore Mtn. NE down to 2nd brook & followed that down to campsite #11 near the trailhead. Loon (& calls), mergansers, gulls, raven, grouse. 4+ hours.

April 22, Earth Day - loon calls (wail, tremolo, yodel) around daybreak, + music from white-throated sparrow & pileated woodpecker. Went W up along brook behind campsite #11 - quite a few unofficial flagging markers along S side of brook - up to the col between Little & BIG THIRTEENTH LAKE MOUNTAIN. Whacked N & soon came out onto an open area of mossy rock with nice views across the Siamese Ponds Wilderness. Up to the 2,780' summit where views were ok - could see the garnet mine on Ruby Mtn. Wanted to get an unobstructed view of the rocky faces of Peaked (2,919') & Slide (2,868') Mtns, so dropped very steeply down the W side but that took me into nasty spruce/balsam so I retreated but soon stumbled upon some nice ledges & got my view - Snowy Mtn could also be seen. 13th Lake now 50% ice-free. 4 hours.

April 23 - a day of rest, temp got up to 70F; the ice had no chance today, still some ice in the afternoon but gone by sunset. No biting bugs yet but there were some "house"flies that kept landing on exposed skin; 5 turkeys flew in, landed & ran up a nearby brooklet; more looney tunes.

May 11, 2015 - THIRTEENTH LAKE Paddled around the 2-mile-long lake + up the inlet at the S end for 0.4 miles going over 3 beaver dams. Hot again. Much colder water than Garnet, waded in but no swimming. Light blackfly activity. Male mergansers hung out together; a Canada goose laid low over nest on top of a beaver lodge; red-winged blackbirds chattered, white-throated sparrows sang; loons. Only saw one other paddler but a lot of folks had signed in on the weekend.

 

May 24-27, 2002 - Thirteenth Lake canoe camping, near North River. Blackflies already out at 5am Friday (this is unusual, they usually wait til the air warms up more). 150 yd carry from parking to put-in - a number of campsites along the carry are popular with fishermen. 13th Lake is 2 miles long & has many birches along the shoreline reflecting in the water - not as much conifers as lakes farther north - small rocky mountains rise steeply on the W shore. All but a small part of the E shore is state land (Siamese Ponds Wilderness). Fishermen use small motors but are generally unobtrusive - no PWCs allowed on this lake. Set up camp on a piney point on the E shore. The pair of resident loons were rarely vocal. Tarp came in handy with light showers Sat evening & Sun morning - don't know how anyone can go camping without a tarp. Hiked up the trail from Elizabeth Point to the old road (0.3 mi.), then S for 0.65 mi. to Old Farm Clearing (used to be a farm here 125 yrs. ago). At OFC we bear left (SE) on an unmarked but obvious trail which leads to the E. Br. Sacandaga River in 1 mile. 1st half of this trail is thru a tall spruce plantation (small spruce & balsam in the understory), second half is deciduous & spring flowers can be found. Relaxed on flat rock in the rocky river listening to the water splash by. Fair amount of blackflies in the woods - not too bad when you keep walking. Back at camp, the S wind blew strongly & kept the blackfly activity to a minimum. Paddled to the S end of the lake & worked our way up the inlet (Hour Pond Outlet), over beaverdams for less than a mile before we were unable to go any further. After dinner, we paddled out to watch the moonrise & canoed for a while under the light of the full moon & saw a beaver. Paddled out Mon morning under calm conditions & I took my time so as to savor my surroundings. Original Bugshirt combined with Sawyer Broad Spectrum repellant with R-326 anti-fly kept me mostly bite-free thru the weekend (does not smell real bad, either). No mosquitos. Bell Canoe Works Merlin II, 15' solo Kevlar canoe, handled my larger than average load easily, glided silently thru still waters, was easy to control into a hard wind, turned easily in the inlet with some edging (heel it down on outside of turn, eg to turn L heel down to the R), survived dragging over beaverdams - love this boat - good looking, too! We had 3 Merlins in our group (the Bell's Angels) + 1 Wildfire RX.

Nov. 26, 2001 - Thirteenth Lake canoeing. Town of Johnsburg has put up signs on the Hudson River & at 13th Lake prohibiting PWCs. Carry the Bell Merlin II 150 yds. past several campsites (hunters have set up a huge 2-stove tent) to the 2 mi. long lake. Paddle the E shore then back on W shore with its steep hills. Most of shoreline is state land. Heard 2 gunshots & saw several hunters/fishermen. Somewhat colder than expected with occasional drizzle. Luckily I was paddling a wonderful canoe with an ottertail paddle & was able to use a variety of strokes: pitch, Canadian, Indian & j-stroke. Chose a solo canoe over a kayak today for a few reasons: lighter, easy access to my gear, less likely that I would get wet, easier to enter & exit, kneeling position good for posture & easier on lower back, greater variety of strokes. 4+ mi., 2 hrs. 13th Lake, Garnet Lake & Putnam Pond are 3 of my favorite small lakes. Think I smell snow in the air.

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