William Woodcleft Journeys

 Lower Osgood River

September 4-8, 2021

Day 1: Saturday, September 4

To say that this was an eventful trip would be an understatement. Looking back on it, going camping in the Adirondacks on Labor Day weekend during a pandemic was not a wise choice. The Adirondacks had been crowded all summer, no matter where you went. This, the last long weekend of the summer, would probably be the worst. It was definitely the fact that school didn't start until Thursday the 9th that persuaded me to go. Afterall, five and half days off was a lot. If it had been only three days, I probably wouldn't have gone. I made some mistakes and miscalculations on this trip that made the situation worse. First and foremost was my decision that going to a more remote, less known location with only few campsites was better than going to a more popular location with a lot of campsites. I chose the former; looking back on it, the latter would have been a better choice. My second mistake was leaving early Saturday morning rather than Friday afternoon. That head start on Friday might have made a difference. Also, picking a destination further north (above Sarananc Lake), rather than someplace closer meant it took longer to get there, giving others a jump on getting the campsites. Next, when the campsite I was planning on getting was occupied, I hesitated to "stealth" camp 150 feet back on the river. Looking back on it, that was a viable option, I just wasn't willing to make the move. Going forward, I will always keep that in mind as an alternative and not hesitate to do it (where legal of course). Lastly, I probably should have done a backpacking trip rather than a canoe camping trip, as there are a lot more location options. 

So what were the consequences of these decisions? First, upon my arrival at Osgood Pond (which was the put-in for my first option), there were a lot of cars there and I assumed that the one campsite about 3 miles up the river was taken. In hindsight, it was early enough and short enough of a paddle, that I should have actually paddled up there to see. Having now been there, had it been taken, I realize that there were locations along the river where I could have "stealth" camped. Instead, because of the number of cars there, I assumed the site was taken and there would be nowhere else to camp, so I abandoned option 1 and went with option 2, which was to paddle up the lower Osgood River to Baker Pond. This meant an additional half hour of driving, but with the remote location of Baker Pond, I felt I had a good chance of getting to the (empty) site and setting up camp well before dark. So off I drove towards the put-in at the outlet of Meacham Lake. 

It was easy to find the turn-off for the large parking area that was right off the road. As I drove in and parked, I noticed a woman in the process of loading her kayak, getting ready to launch. We spoke briefly - she was there on a day trip to do some bird surveying. After our conversation and her launch, I unloaded the canoe and carried it and gear down to the water. It didn't take long for me to load it up, launch and begin the paddle up the outlet towards Meacham Lake.

There was quite a bit of bird life evident during my paddle up the outlet. Song birds were flying about, I saw water birds in the plants along the way and heard bird calls from the forest on either side of the outlet. 

It didn't take long for me to reach the end of the outlet and enter Meacham Lake. The view of the lake and the mountains (including the tallest one, Debar Mountain) was quite stunning.

Fortunately, the lake was calm, making the paddle along its south shore quite pleasant. Despite there being a state campground further up the lake and powerboats allowed on the lake, I saw no one else out on the lake. 

After a short paddle, I arrived at a large beach along the south shore. I pulled up to take a water break and have a snack. 

I walked the beach, looking to see if perhaps there was a campsite tucked back in the trees that lined it, but unfortunately, there wasn't. There were spots where one could be established and I couldn't help but thinking that the DEC should place one at this fine location. 

As much as I wanted to linger there longer and admire the view up the lake, I had a distance to paddle and did not know what to expect on the twisty Osgood River that lay ahead of me. So off I went, continuing the paddle along the south shore of the lake, enjoying the fine scenery and sunshine as I went. 

It didn't take long for me to arrive at the wide entrance to the Osgood River. 

I entered the river and using the GPS unit and the map, started navigating my way up the river, having to pause to check both at various points to make sure I was taking the correct channel. Paddling this part of river is a bit like navigating through a maze. Other than navigating the channels, the first part of the river was relatively easy to paddle, with no obstructions of any kind. 

After paddling for awhile, I pulled up on a sand bar to stretch my legs, have some water and a snack. 

I decided to break down the double-blade paddle since I was going to switch over to my bend-shaft standard paddle to make it easier to paddle the river, which had grown narrower.

Once I finished my snack and had some water, I pushed off and headed up the river towards my destination, Baker Pond.

The river alternated between narrow sections near the forest and wider sections where the meanders were.

Although there were many meanders and channels to navigate, the paddling was easy and the views interesting. There were no obstructions thus far, but that was soon to change...when I arrived at a major obstruction in the river that totally blocked it.

Since there was no way to paddle around or go directly over the obstruction, I had to squeeze the canoe into the opening between the bank and the down log. All the gear and the canoe had to be unloaded from the canoe, tossed up on the bank and then carried around the obstruction.

I wasn't the first one to do this. There was a distinct carry trail up on the bank that lead around the obstruction.

The canoe had to be dragged across the bank and back down to the river to be loaded with the gear. I could then continue the paddle up the river.

It didn't take long to complete the paddle to the outlet of Baker Pond and paddle into it. Immediately, I was disheartened to see another paddler fishing the pond. I realized that the one established campsite, up on the esker, which is said to be a beautiful location, was taken. This would mean that I would have to find an alternative place to camp, either on Baker Pond itself or on Mud Pond (which I passed before Baker) or somewhere on the river. My last fallback option was an established site along the south shore of Meacham Lake, beyond where I had entered the river. 

As I paddled the perimeter of Baker Pond I thought about how the occupants of the campsite had gotten there. They obviously arrived well before me, as their campsite was already setup. There were no other cars at the Meacham Lake outlet parking area, so I determined they must have come in from the other direction. I had read that there was a put-in along the route 30 at Spring Lake, so they must have come in from there. Baker Pond was really beautiful and I decided I would revisit it and this time come in the way they had.

It was now late afternoon and knowing that I had to either find a campsite along my route back on the river or paddle further and try to find the campsite on the south shore of Meacham Lake, I exited Baker Pond. 

It was only a short paddle to Mud Pond and entering the outlet, it quickly became apparent why it had its name. It was shallow and muddy and the there was not a chance of finding a campsite there. While I was in there looking around, two other paddlers, a man and a woman, both paddling Hornbecks entered. We waved at each other as I headed out, continuing down the river towards the obstruction. I had just finished unloading my gear, carried it around the obstruction and was about to take my canoe around when they arrived. Since they had lightweight boats and little gear, I suggested they carry around first. As they did so, we had a conversation in which they asked about Baker Pond. Apparently they had not continued past Mud to Baker and were curious about it. I told them what I had observed and what my situation was now that the campsite was occupied. They agreed that they had not seen any suitable campsites along the river on the way in. They were kind enough to offer me their backyard as a place to stay if I could not find a campsite. I declined, but looking back on it now and knowing what I would go through later that day, I should have gotten directions to their house. Anyway, we said our goodbyes; they headed out and I finished the carry and soon followed, but I never saw them again.

It was around 6 pm when I arrived at end of the Osgood and the start of Meacham Lake. The lake was no longer as calm as it was earlier in the day. The wind had come up, creating small waves and making the paddling more difficult. I headed right, towards where the campsite was indicated on the map. Using the GPS, I identified the spot where the site should have been, but there was no apparent site. I traveled the shoreline twice looking for it without success. Now it was starting to get dark, so I decided I would have to take-out and try to find a place to camp, so I headed for the car at the Meacham Lake outlet. It took me about 40 minutes to get there and another half hour to unload the canoe, get everything in the car and the canoe loaded on it. 

It was now nearly dark. The Meacham Lake campground was just up the road, so I decide to head there to see if I could get a site. Unfortunately, when I arrived at the front gate, there was no one in the booth. There was a sign that said only those with reserved sites should enter. So I turned around, drove towards route 30 and pulled over to check the map for another location to camp. 

Looking at the map, I noticed there was a location down route 30 towards Paul Smith's called Slush Pond road that had free, primitive campsites. I decided to try to camp there for the night. It was already dark when I arrived at Slush Pond road. I turned off route 30 and started driving down the road. I went about two miles and did not see any apparent campsites. The road was not great and I was not driving a high clearance vehicle, so I decided it was unwise to continue. I turned around and drove back to route 30, with my intention being to drive to Jones Pond, which was nearby and also had some free, primitive campsites. 

Unfortunately, all were taken so I headed for Floodwood Road in the St. Regis Canoe Area where there are also free, primitive campsites. It was now 9:30 when I arrived there. Driving down Floodwood Road, again I found all the sites taken. At this point, I decided I would go to Tupper Lake to see if I could get a motel room. I was unsuccessful there too - as I drove through town, all I saw were "No Vacancy" signs. Knowing the area well, I decided I had two options - camp at Horseshoe Lake, just south of Tupper Lake, where there are free, primitive campsites or at the very least there are places to pull over and sleep in the car or check-in with the Tupper Lake police and get permission to sleep in my car overnight at the town park. I opted for Horseshoe Lake.

When I arrived there it was after 11 pm. I drove along the lake and all the sites were taken, so I decided to pull into one of the parking areas there and just sleep in the car. I pulled my wool blanket and top quilt from the pack, put on a hat and jacket and made myself as comfortable as possible. I didn't sleep very well, but I made the best of it. The next morning I drove back towards Tupper Lake and stopped at Raquette River Outfitters to get an idea of where I might go for the couple of nights I had left. They suggested Stony Creek Ponds since it is close by, isn't really popular and there were about six campsites there. I thanked them, headed towards Tupper Lake, stopping to get a pastry and hot coffee for breakfast and then headed towards Coreys Road and Stony Creek Ponds.

The put-in for Stony Creek Ponds is marked and parking is along Coreys Road, just after the bridge. There was one other vehicle there when I pulled up so I could park close to the carry trail. I unloaded the canoe and carried it about 50 yards to the put-in. Surprisingly, there was no register at the start of the carry trail or at the put-in.

There was a couple with their child there with their gear and they were in the process of inflating a large raft. We spoke briefly and they indicated that they were planning to camp at the ponds. Like me, they had not been there before.

I returned to the car to start re-organizing my gear to carry down to the canoe. When I got back to the car, there was a man there who had just dropped off his son who was going to run the road. He was waiting for his son to arrive and offered to help me carry the gear down. It turned out he is a tech director for a school district near Rochester and was staying with a friend who has a camp up there. We had a nice conversation as we made a couple of trips with the gear. I thanked him and loaded the gear in the canoe. By this time, the couple had given up trying to inflate the canoe and was in the process of packing up to go back to their car. I pushed off and headed for the campsites, which were a short paddle away. The weather had turned, it was now getting windy and a drizzle was starting. 

The first two campsites were on the points of land between the first and second ponds. I passed them by and headed along the shore towards campsites 3, 4, 5 and 6, which were located on the second pond. All of them were unoccupied and after cruising by each one, I opted for site #3, which was on the point of land adjacent to an island. I was amazed that each of these sites had a picnic table, but none of them had a privy or thunderbox. Site 3 is a beautiful site, with plenty of room for tents and trees for hammocks. The picnic table was a luxurious extra to have. After setting up camp, I did some reading while I had lunch and then opted for a nap.

I spent two nights at Stony Creek Ponds. It is not wilderness camping. There are multiple camps on the ponds and being Labor Day weekend, they were occupied and there were parties. People from the camps go on day paddles. There was no motor boat traffic because most of the ponds are within wilderness area, where no motors are allowed. On my second day there, I paddled down into the lower pond where outlet begins, but I did not go down the outlet which ends at the Raquette River. That will be something for another day. I was able to finish the trip relaxing around camp, taking paddles at various times during the day and doing some fishing. It was also quick and easy to take out when it was time to leave.