Canoeing the Lower Bog

Martha near the put-in for the Lower Bog

 

Most people who canoe the Bog River start at the Lower Dam and paddle upstream to Hitchins Pond. From there, they can carry around the Upper Dam to enter Lows Lake. But there is another flatwater trip on the Bog that doesn’t see as much traffic.

 

Last Friday, my daughter, Martha, and I were looking for a short trip as the weather forecast called for rain. We launched our canoes near the Bog River Falls (just above where the river flows into Tupper Lake) and paddled upstream for about one and three quarters miles to the confluence of the Bog and Round Lake Outlet. Rapids on both rivers prevent paddling farther.

The iron ring.

About a half-mile above the falls,we passed under an old bridge. Just around the next bend we passed a solitary boulder in the middle of the river. Bolted to the upstream side of the boulder is an iron ring, evidently an artifact from the logging days. I am wondering if anybody knows the story behind this ring. Or if any would care to speculate. If so, please leave a comment.

After your adventure on the Lower Bog, you can cool off with a dip in the natural pool near Bog River Falls.

Paddling scenic Fall Stream

Paddling the weedy end of Fall Lake. Photo by Phil Brown.

A few years ago, the Explorer published a story by Mark Bowie about a canoe trip on Fall Stream, a tributary of Piseco Lake. Mark did the trip with some volunteers from the Adirondack Mountain Club who were investigating the possibility of adding Fall Stream to the state’s Wild, Scenic, and Recreational Rivers System.

Mark concluded that all or most of Fall Stream should be classified as Scenic. After paddling the river to Fall Lake and Vly Lake last weekend, I heartily agree.

Most of the river lies within the state Forest Preserve, but the put-in and some of the land upstream are owned by the Irondequoit Club. You paddle upstream to Fall Lake and then Vly Lake, winding through beautiful marshes decorated with pickerelweed, cardinal flower, turtlehead, and other flowers. We saw lots of ducks and a few great blue herons.

I can think of three reasons for adding the stream to the Wild, Scenic, and Recreational Rivers System:

1. To give this lovely stream the cachet it deserves.

2. To provide some extra protection against development.

3. To give the state more reason to ban motors from at least part of the stream.

The last would be controversial. Despite beaver dams above Fall Lake, anglers take small motorboats all the way to Vly Lake. On Saturday, we saw three motorboats on the lake. Given the dams and the smallness of the stream, I was rather surprised that they made it that far.

As a compromise, motors could be allowed as far as Fall Lake, which is located about a mile from the put-in. Most of the property in this stretch is private, and the stream is broader. Above Fall Lake, the stream narrows and becomes wilder as it penetrates the interior of the Jessup River Wild Forest.

Directions: From the intersection of NY 8 and NY 30 in Speculator, drive west on NY 8 for nine miles to Old Piseco Road (County 24) on the right. Turn and drive 1.6 miles to the bridge over Fall Stream. The put-in is on the right on the far side of the bridge. Park along the road, being sure not to block the entrance to the put-in.

‘Wild Times’ is here

We at the Explorer just received copies of our new book, Wild Times, a full-color anthology of 120 hiking and paddling adventures from the past ten years of our newsmagazine.

Softcover, 132 pages, $14.95

This is news you can use, whether you’re looking to paddle a quiet river, spend time on an uncrowded summit, visit a fire tower, or jump in a lake. As in the Explorer, most of the stories are personal accounts of trips, accompanied by hand-drawn maps and color photographs.

Our writers, photographers, and artists made this publication possible. A lot of credit also goes to Susan Bibeau, our designer, who laid out the book.

Wild Times sells for $14.95 (or $13.95 if ordered from our Web site). That works out to about 12 cents an adventure. Not a bad deal.

You can find a few samples from Wild Times on our main Web site. The book can be ordered online and soon will be in stores.

To order from our home page, click on “Order Now” in the Wild Times box on the right side of the screen. That will bring you to the sample pages from the book. Click on “Order Now” again to get to the order form. Or you can simple click here to get to the form.

Shingle Shanty update

Charles Morrison, a former DEC official, wrote a letter to the Times Union in response to my op-ed piece on the navigability of Shingle Shanty Brook. He agrees that it should be open to the public. Morrison is the former director of natural resources planning at DEC. In that capacity, he once commissioned a lawyer to study the legal history of the common-law right of navigation. A few years ago, he co-authored a booklet on navigation rights that can be found on the Web site of the Association for the Protection of the Adirondacks.

Testing the legal waters

Phil Brown paddles through private land toward Lake Lila. Photo by Susan Bibeau.

In an earlier blog, I mentioned that I did a two-day canoe trip from Little Tupper Lake to Lake Lila in May. A story about the trip will appear in the July-August issue of the Explorer. It’s more than just another account of Adirondack adventure, for I took a route that has been posted for years.

 Essentially, I avoided a mile-long portage by paddling from Mud Pond down the outlet to Shingle Shanty Brook, which flows into Lake Lila. Despite no-trespassing signs and a cable across the brook, I believe what I did was legal. I explain my rationale in an op-ed piece published by the Albany Times Union. A fuller airing of the legal issues will appear in the next Explorer.

Incidentally, Susan Bibeau’s photo will grace our next cover.

Fun in the Champlain Valley

The map sells for $4.95

Many tourists heading for the High Peaks may not realize that much of the Champlain Valley lies within the Adirondack Park and that it offers plenty of outdoor recreation. The next issue of the Explorer will carry an article on hiking trails near Elizabethtown. Kayakers and bicyclists might be interested in a recreational map of northern Lake Champlain published this spring by Huntington Graphics of Vermont.

 ”Bike and Kayak Map for Northern Lake Champlain,” which is in color, sells for $4.95. It describes seventeen paddling routes (six starting in New York) and thirteen road-bike routes (five in New York).

The map shows only the put-ins for kayak trips. The destinations on the New York side are Point Au Roche, Long Point, Valcour Island, Ausable Point (and the Ausable River delta), Schuyler Island, and Willsboro Bay. My main criticism is that it omits the paddle around Split Rock and past the stunning Palisades, which can be done from Westport or Whallon Bay. However, the Palisades can be seen on one of the Vermont trips.

The bike routes are highlighted in yellow. Those on the New York side range from 12.4 to 38.3 miles. The longest actually is a two-state trip, requiring ferry rides between Port Kent and Burlington and between Essex and Charlotte. I’ve done this, and while it is a great trip, you should be prepared for traffic south of Burlington. The trip I would find most appealing is a 29.5-mile ride through the hills of Essex and Lewis. An easier trip follows the Ausable River west of Keeseville (12.4 miles). The other two New York rides explore the rural countryside near Plattsburgh (23.5 miles) and Peru (19.2 miles).