On August 20th I started another overnight backpack trip in the Adirondacks. This time in the Pigeon Lake Wilderness area (see kiosk photo below) which is west of Raquette Lake.
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| Trail-Head for Pigeon Lake Wilderness |
Like the previous trip, this was fashioned from a network of trails mostly intended for day-hikes. I started out on the trail to Cascade Lake which is apparently popular for walking your dog (several families were out doing just that). I soon left those families behind as I headed towards Windfall Pond.
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| Junction with trail to Windfall Pond |
The day was nice, weather wise so the walking was pleasant. After a couple of hours I reached Windfall Pond where I had my lunch.As I ate I spied an older couple at the other end of the pond talking and after 10 minutes they left. After another 10 minutes I too left, heading northeast, in the general direction of Mays Pond. The trail condition wasn't too bad, some wet spots and an occasional small blow-down.
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| Trail bridge |
When I reached the junction with the trail to Pigeon Lake (and West Mountain) I could hear what sounded like a chainsaw. As private property was close by this was not unlikely. Moving east-northeast from the junction the noise faded, but the wet/muddy conditions became more persistent. Because of the summer rain this was not unexpected, although unwelcome, as it slowed my travel. After A bit I reached the vicinity of Constable Pond, visible to my left. The trail passed it for some distance.
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| Constable Pond |
Very soon after this point I met an elderly couple headed in the opposite direction. They informed me they were coming from Chub Lake. I asked about trail conditions, but their information was of limited use to me as I intended to go much further than they had come.
Below is the trail junction with the Chub Pond trail, note the homemade quality of the sign. This should have been a warning to me of the trail conditions I would eventually encounter.
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| Trail Junction for trail to Chub Pond |
Continuing past this point the trail conditions were still significantly wet, but otherwise passable. Eventually I reached Pigeon Lake which appeared on the right. It was getting later in the afternoon and I was concerned about the time I had to reach West Mountain (my intended destination for the day). I reached a clearing which was marshy and the trail on the opposite side of the marshy area was not apparent. This was disconcerting. I crossed the marshy area as best as I could and when I got it the other side it was not at all obvious where the trail was. I searched for about 10 minutes before eventually seeing a trail marker. This allowed me to continue on, although I was concerned with the time lost. From here the trail became more overgrown, it obviously need some work. I then came to a large blow-down, to big to simply cross. I detoured around but in the process became unsure where the trail was. It took me 15 minutes to locate the next trail marker, with a period of anxiety at not being sure where to go and maybe needing search and rescue (via my SPOT satellite messenger). I started taking photos of trail markers and location when I thought I might have trouble so I could try to return to a known location (I did not include those here btw). Anyway, I started off again on the trail, worrying even more about the lost time. When it got to be about 6:30 pm I finally stopped for dinner (I had delayed awhile due to the trail uncertainty). After dinner, locating myself via GPS, as approaching Otter Pond I encountered another obstacle. At that point I apparently turned myself around by accident and headed in the direction I had come. I did not realize this becasue I was tired and wanted to believe I was still going the same way. After about 15-20 minutes I noticed familiar terrain and the sinking feeling that was had gone the wrong way came over me. Soon after I decided to stop for the night as the light was fading and I needed time to set up camp.
I quickly set up my camp, making do with the location (near Pigeon Lake). I tried to briefly start a fire but my matches would not work, the striking surface was too smooth and the stones I could find were too wet. So I gave up on the idea of a fire. I decided that evening that it was better I was going the way I had come in due to possible additional bad trail conditions going towards West Mountain. And so I realized it was not such a bad thing that I had made a wrong turn. The next morning, after a fitful sleep, I got ready quickly and got myself back on the trail to return to my vehicle. It was fairly easy going despite the mud because the temperature was mild and the light was good. I decided that I would take the shortest distance back to save time (for personal reasons I needed to return home before 6 pm). That meant taking the trail past Chain Ponds instead of Windfall Pond. The trail guide made that trail sound less than desirable but except for one major blow-down (below, but this one was smaller than the large one I had seen the day before) it was probably easier than the way I had came in.
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| Blow-down on trail by Chain Ponds. |
Eventually I reached the vicinity of Cascade Lake and as it was about lunch time stopped to eat. After this nice break I made quick time before getting near the trail-head. Just a few minutes before reaching the trail-head I met a trail crew headed out to do trail work (you can tell because they carry very, very heavy equipment packs with heavy tools). I met about 5 of them altogether (they were mostly walking by themselves, maybe each adjusting to the heavy load they were carrying, including one woman. All appeared to be under the age of 30. I thanked as many of them as I could becasue they work so hard for my hiking enjoyment (I had also thanked trail crews on my Northville-Placid hike). They seemed to appreciate the thanks. I did fail to ask whether they were headed to the West Mountain trail though, oh well. I soon reached the trail-head and proceeded to drive home, stopping for a brief interlude (as I ended up with time to spare as it turns out) at Rock Lake for a short walk and a look at the lake, seen below.
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| Rock Lake |
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