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Five Ponds Wilderness Hike

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  • Five Ponds Wilderness Hike

    I am planning a four to five day backpacking trip this fall. I was thinking about heading into the Five Ponds Area. I haven't been there since I did some piliminary scouting for the DEC right after the 1995 storn (took a boat to Janacks Landing and went into Glasby Pond - amazing sights with blowdown 25 feet high in some areas!).

    I want to check out some of the Old Growth (if it is still standing... does anyone know?) in and arounfdthe Big Five/Big Shallow esker area.

    A possible route is Wanakena to either High Point or High Falls > Five Ponds Lean-tos> Wolf Pond> Cage Lake> Youngs Road

    1. How much blow down is there S. of High Falls area?
    2. Possible crowds?
    3. Old Growth?
    4. How are trail conditions on the cage Lake Trail?

    Its been a while since I've been to the area - Are there any other interesting loops in Five Ponds?

  • #2
    Trail conditions are currently, very dry, but the later in Fall it gets- usually, the wetter things become. Esp., on the trail between Buck Pond & the old RR grade and the mile section nearest to the Youngs Rd. parking....mainly, due to the camp owners @ Buck Pond legally running ATVs in & out. Also beaver activity @ Little Otter Pond makes a wet section there. But trail conditions are better than they were in the past.

    I'm pretty sure the Microburst knocked nearly, 100% of the trees down in the Big Five/Shallow area. @ least, it looked that way to me, but I could be wrong & there may be a very few still, standing.
    --"Pete You***?!, Pete You***'s grandson?!...That name is nearly sacred & uttered with awe in THIS house!" : The late Dr. Reed's wife, upon entering her house & being introduced- so to converse with her husband about the old days, a little before he died. The kind of greeting you'll never forget & reinforces your image of the hero you never met. --

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    • #3
      Originally posted by pondhopper View Post
      I'm pretty sure the Microburst knocked nearly, 100% of the trees down in the Big Five/Shallow area. @ least, it looked that way to me, but I could be wrong & there may be a very few still, standing.

      The microburst took its' toll, but there are still quite a number of really old trees standing right on the esker between Big Shallow and Big Five. The southern facing section of that esker seemed to have taken the brunt of Mother Natures' wrath.

      I've heard the leanto's up that way are really nice these days. Some are even getting nicer.


      Ordin
      They speak of my drinking, but never of my thirst...

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      • #4
        If you want to see old growth you should head to Sand Lake. It's a trek
        (14+ miles from Wanakena) but it is very worth it. a sandy beach, lots of big trees, and lots of trout make for a perfect hiking destination.

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        • #5
          Originally posted by Ordin Aryguy View Post
          The microburst took its' toll, but there are still quite a number of really old trees standing right on the esker between Big Shallow and Big Five. The southern facing section of that esker seemed to have taken the brunt of Mother Natures' wrath.

          I've heard the leanto's up that way are really nice these days. Some are even getting nicer.


          Ordin
          Uh-huh, I guess that answers the question- whether certain very busy people actually, had any time to "smell the roses"

          Haven't seen much of "Limber", lately. Last I heard, they were finishing up the new 50 miler trail around Cranberry. Recently, turned down a fishin' trip w/him, due to the forecast & was told they never got a bite...

          Yup, those lean-tos look NICE
          --"Pete You***?!, Pete You***'s grandson?!...That name is nearly sacred & uttered with awe in THIS house!" : The late Dr. Reed's wife, upon entering her house & being introduced- so to converse with her husband about the old days, a little before he died. The kind of greeting you'll never forget & reinforces your image of the hero you never met. --

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by pondhopper View Post
            Haven't seen much of "Limber", lately. Last I heard, they were finishing up the new 50 miler trail around Cranberry.
            Finishing up a 50 mile trail around Cranberry?! Wow! Very busy people indeed!

            Seems like there'd hardly be enough time in all that trail blazing to get in a fishing trip at all. If you get to take that trip with him, buy him a beer. He more than deserves it... I'm going to do the very same this weekend when I head up that way to go visit an old growth forest area near a pond that I'm told might have some trout in it.


            Ordin
            They speak of my drinking, but never of my thirst...

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            • #7
              Thanks for the input. Are much of the trails as described in the first post through the blowdown or is it scattered? How far has the forest come back since 1995?

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by Ordin Aryguy View Post
                Finishing up a 50 mile trail around Cranberry?! Wow! Very busy people indeed!
                . If you get to take that trip with him, buy him a beer.

                Ordin
                I assume, that's the trail he was talking about, because he said "he was clearing around Cranberry L. in the public/private patchwork". I'm probably, wrong again

                I'll buy him that beer! (like me, he doesn't drink too often & has a low tolerance )

                Wkies: I don't think there'll be too many people @ that time of year, hard to say. Trails are well cleared, with an occasional log to step over. I'll let someone else answer about the blowdown etc.

                Here's a pic of Big Five w/the end of Panther Mt. showing on the right hand side. It was taken in 1994, the year before the Microburst. We ran a Radisson down Wolf P. Outlet & carried over to Big Shallow & back to the Bear Pond Rd. Spent a couple nights @ Sand's lean-to.:
                Attached Files
                --"Pete You***?!, Pete You***'s grandson?!...That name is nearly sacred & uttered with awe in THIS house!" : The late Dr. Reed's wife, upon entering her house & being introduced- so to converse with her husband about the old days, a little before he died. The kind of greeting you'll never forget & reinforces your image of the hero you never met. --

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by wkies View Post
                  Thanks for the input. Are much of the trails as described in the first post through the blowdown or is it scattered? How far has the forest come back since 1995?
                  It's very scattered. There are places where a person could be convinced that a nuclear weapon was air-burst right over the forest. Nothing standing vertically except for the new stuff that has grown after the '95 microburst. The area east of the trail that runs from Big Shallow to Little Shallow is a perfect example of this. Then there are other areas that are seemingly untouched.

                  The strangest places are where there are areas that still have many giant trees standing right next to the rotting remains of those less fortunate. The area immediately around the Wolf Pond leanto is like that. Looking out from the leanto, towards the pond, it's difficult to see where there was any storm damage. However, just a few feet behind the leanto there's now a sizable hole up towards the sky that giant trees once kept closed. Only a few yards separate untouched from obliterated.

                  Succession. The old falls away to make room for the new. Even though the microburst took its' toll on the big trees, there's now room for a new crop of little ones to stretch their wings. The hiking is good, go see it.


                  Ordin
                  Last edited by Ordin Aryguy; 09-06-2007, 06:25 PM. Reason: bad wordsmithing
                  They speak of my drinking, but never of my thirst...

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    5 Ponds Loop

                    I did a nice loop in the 5 Ponds area a couple of week ends ago with a couple of hiking partners. Went in from Wannakena to High Falls and hiked along the river to the bridge. Stayed at a site on the south side of the river near where the bridge crosses. Day Hiked to Sand Lake and back on the second day and then Backpacked out via High Rock back to Wannakena. You come out about a half mile from the High Falls trail head. Trails are in great shape and the leanto's are fantastic--they've all been recently renovated and repaired by the leanto rescuers who sometimes post here and more recently DEC has given them a coat of brown paint (wouldn't have been my choice--what about a stain?), but in any case, they're in great shape. I was in this area in November of '95 before the trail to Big Shallow had been reopened, and it took 3 of us all day to hike from the bridge to there and back--a distance of 3-4 miles.

                    As some of the previous posters have said, there is still much evidence of the blowdown, but also much is coming back. It certainly looks much better than when the trails were first opened and there was nothing much above 6-7 feet high anywhere that the microburst had hit and the trails felt like narrow corridors chainsawed right through all the blowdown.

                    I also did an interesting hike from the south in June, getting in to Sand and then hiking along the trail north toward the Oswegotchie. There is a relatively little known trail head and some old haul roads there, and you can also hook up with the inlet to Sand and paddle in along that, although not all of it is paddleable. We hiked and did a lot of rough bushwacking, which I wouldn't necessarily recommend to others, especially with the blowdown in that area.

                    I was warned that the Star Lake trail was in bad shape because of the ATV use, so we avoided it. If you do decide to take that route, would be interested to hear how the trail is.

                    Good luck and let us know how it works out.

                    Gerry Magnes
                    Schenectady, NY

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                    • #11
                      Originally posted by madison View Post
                      If you want to see old growth you should head to Sand Lake. It's a trek
                      (14+ miles from Wanakena) but it is very worth it. a sandy beach, lots of big trees, and lots of trout make for a perfect hiking destination.
                      The beach has been much smaller for the past two years, due to tenacious beavers on the outlet. Used to worry that it would effect reproduction in the spawning creek, but the population's still, going crazy (too much).

                      Posted the pic for a little before/after Microburst contrast, only good (half way) forested one I could find for that specific area.

                      A few notes on a hot day
                      --"Pete You***?!, Pete You***'s grandson?!...That name is nearly sacred & uttered with awe in THIS house!" : The late Dr. Reed's wife, upon entering her house & being introduced- so to converse with her husband about the old days, a little before he died. The kind of greeting you'll never forget & reinforces your image of the hero you never met. --

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        SO there is pretty good fishing in Sand? or the creek?

                        Thanks for all the helpful info. Is High Falls a heavy used campsites? How many lean-tos? I often read about all these numbered campsites, I'm assuming those are on the river... right?

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                        • #13
                          High Falls has two lean-tos. One is accessible by trail, the other only by water. It can be a pretty crowded place if you catch it at the wrong time, but not always.

                          Last December I did a ~31-mile loop through the Five Ponds, beginning and ending at Youngs Road in Star Lake. I hiked south along the Buck Pond ATV trail, which for the most part was either rutted from ATVs or flooded by beavers. While I can respect the club at Buck Pond's need to access their property, the state (who owns the access trail) should step in to say enough is enough. From the end of the Post Henderson RR bed to Buck Pond, the trail is a continuous series of deep ruts.

                          I spent the first night at Cage Lake, then hiked through the Five Ponds to spend night two at Ross Rapids on the Oswegatchie. I hid my pack near Wanakena, and then hiked the Moore Trail to Inlet. From there I followed the new Alice Brook snowmobile trail back to Youngs Road.

                          The only redeeming quality about about the Buck Pond and Alice Brook trails was that they made this loop possible.

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                          • #14
                            In the lake. If you make it there, walk out to the beach from the lean-to & turn left, then walk 150-200 yds., along the edge. The *little* spawning creek runs in there, from the open area, near that end of Sand. If, you're sneaky enough, you'll see many small trout schooling in the stream @ this time of year. It provides for the entire fishery there, although trout are just starting to work down the outlet in limited places. Find a way to cast out in front of the bull rushes, where the stream trickles in and you should, catch a good number of fish. I don't mind telling this, because of the continually, increasing trout population .

                            I'm not an authority on the campsites along the river, but I hear High Falls gets a lot of use. I'm sure, someone else will chime in. Oops, I see he already has @ the same time I was typing this .
                            --"Pete You***?!, Pete You***'s grandson?!...That name is nearly sacred & uttered with awe in THIS house!" : The late Dr. Reed's wife, upon entering her house & being introduced- so to converse with her husband about the old days, a little before he died. The kind of greeting you'll never forget & reinforces your image of the hero you never met. --

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Regarding the trail from Youngs Rd. I agree, it's normally quite bad, but right now, things are so, extremely dry, that it's good. That's why it depends on- how late in Fall, you go (progressively wetter). IMO
                              --"Pete You***?!, Pete You***'s grandson?!...That name is nearly sacred & uttered with awe in THIS house!" : The late Dr. Reed's wife, upon entering her house & being introduced- so to converse with her husband about the old days, a little before he died. The kind of greeting you'll never forget & reinforces your image of the hero you never met. --

                              Comment

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