Northeast Wild

  August 4, 2024 - LAKE ABANAKEE paddling.  Put in at the E end of the causeway on Big Brook Rd. Headed under the Jerry Savarie Rd bridge & into the S lobe - saw 4 loons (2 growing chicks). Blowdown blocked the way to Round Pond Brook. Got up Big Brook a fair distance, up to a fork & 2 bridges. More loons N of the causeway. Ospreys (1 on nest). Joe Pye weed, cardinal flowers, goldenrod, lily pads. Mostly evergreen shores. Quite a few houses/camps. Motors allowed but mostly quiet. 4 miles, 2.1 hours. May 12, 2009 - LAKE ABANAKEE & ROUND POND BROOK.  Put-in E of causeway on Big Brook Rd.  Headed SW past camps & private shores & 2 loons to where Indian River rapids enter; took a short walk upstream to a pool.  Back on Abanakee & under Jerry Savarie Rd bridge into SE lobe.  Up Round Pond Brook, undeveloped & very nice, best part of this trip.  Portaged around a log jam (went over it on way back) & stopped at a small rapid with 1' drop (tried to paddle up

  July 26, 2024 - MINERVA STREAM paddle, from the gazebo on CR 30 in Olmstedville. Elevation 1140'. Good water level. Mostly wild shores but hints of civilization here and there - mostly quiet & peaceful, pretty. Beaver dams about every half mile - had to get out & pull over for most going upstream but able to run or scooch over all but the one biggest on the way back downstream. Tempting backwaters along the way. Flowering: Joe Pye weed, cardinal flower, steeplebush, buttonbush, goldenrod, yellow pond lily, fragrant white lily, smartweed, purple loosestrife. Mostly grassy shores, when trees came close they were often cedars & white pines. Peaks in view: Moxham, Gore, Green, Snyder, Oliver, Hayes. Paddled under 2 road bridges: CR 30 (you can launch there too) & O'Neill Rd (you can put in at the transfer station). Saw 2 solo paddlers. No bad bugs. Temp rising thru the 70s, mostly sunny, breezy. 9.4 miles, 5.3 hours.     Moxham Point & Gore Mtn in the distance

  July 22, 2024 - The trailhead is now gated! July 5, 2024 - FRENCH MOUNTAIN hike. LGLC Hike-a-Thon at the McPhillips Preserve. The trail goes along old logging roads, sometimes overgrown. Reaching 1360' el, we took a L & dropped down to the rocky lookout where there is a view to the southern end of the lake & LG village. Also in view are West, Darling, Potash, Hadley, Black Spruce, & Prospect Mountains. Temp 75-80F, mostly cloudy, humid. Fun tho. No issues with bad bugs. A few ripe blueberries at the lookout, black raspberries at the trailhead. Wild turkeys near the parking area. 2.4 miles, 928' el gain, 2.8 hours (1.6 hours moving time). Still no sign of any work being done about marking trails. Lower slopes are in the town of Lake George, higher elevations in Queensbury. Note from June/July 2024: the driveway for the below FRENCH MTN hike is chained off with a no trespassing sign: Nov 15, 2023 - FRENCH MOUNTAIN RANGE hike, from Bloody Pond Rd. I call it a range b