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Five Ponds Wilderness Hike

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  • #31
    Originally posted by forevrwyld View Post
    S"Limber" can't catch fish . . even on a Zebco 202 and cartons of worms from Nice 'N Slezy!

    PS. Lean2Rescue was here!

    'Ev
    Well, it's nice to see that "Limber" hasn't lost his touch....at least, it looks like he finally, spent some of that moldy state money & sprung for a new reel & even, some of dem store boughten wermms. Must be the kids are getting to old for him to boss into nightcrawlering.

    Went up with some nice people & checked the handiwork, today. They stayed, I wussed out. Looks great!
    --"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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    • #32
      Quick question

      How did you get the canoes to Sand Lake? I’ve hiked there from Wanakena. One tuff hike without canoes in tow.

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      • #33
        PondHopper - do you have more photos?? i stayed a big shallow a few years back. i recall a huge white pine stump next to the lean to. this must have been the largest tree in the adirondacks. love to see a picture of it.

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        • #34
          Sorry, craig D - I have pictures, but they're not very interesting. Just things like: taking a Radisson canoe down Wolf's Outlet to Big Five & pictures of a friend carrying up over the esker & so forth. It's been very recent, that I've bothered with trying to get more pictures & having a better eye for what's interesting. Live & learn...etc.

          Well, back to my hiatus, later!
          --"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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          • #35
            White pine monsters

            It really hurts to read that the white pine trees on the esker at the 5 Ponds Wilderness are gone. They were special friends. In 1976 we hiked up to the top of the esker to find trees that took 3 eighth graders to stretch their arms around. We had to bury the firepit that some IDIOTs made just at the base of the monarch. And that was 30 years ago. I can imagine the damage done by many who have been up there since.

            It's almost like we shouldn't mention where any of our wild natural splendor exists. Just keep it to ourselves and allow others to find what we found by looking in places that others may not venture. Maybe I'm getting old but geez, why take away from others what we have enjoyed ourselves.
            You don't stop hiking because you grow old. You grow old because you stop hiking.

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            • #36
              Just Hiked to High Falls and Back

              I just hiked to High Falls and back this past weekend and stayed the night there. The Deer flies were intense but the path was amazing! The beaver dams, the log crossing, the timber rattler, and the falls were all spectacular! The Lean-to (site 15) was spotless and smelled like fresh paint and we did find one pit toilet that was usable, though the one right by the lean-to needs a new seat. What a great trip, even though we walked back in a torrential down pour. (10 miles up the old road with boots full of water in one shot) Next time we're going to make it to Sand Lake from Wanakena. A note to all who are attempting this hike: take as little equipment as possible. We over-packed and paid a dear price in exhaustion for it.

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              • #37
                Originally posted by customsax View Post
                ... The beaver dams, the log crossing, the timber rattler, and the falls were all spectacular! ...
                If you saw a rattlesnake in the Five Ponds Wilderness it would truly be a spectacular event, because this area is well outside of their range. Rattlers have a very small population in the Adirondacks, limited to the Lake George and Lake Champlain basins. Are you sure you saw a rattler?

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                • #38
                  Originally posted by wildriver View Post
                  If you saw a rattlesnake in the Five Ponds Wilderness it would truly be a spectacular event, because this area is well outside of their range. Rattlers have a very small population in the Adirondacks, limited to the Lake George and Lake Champlain basins. Are you sure you saw a rattler?

                  Hopefully he has a photo!
                  "There's a whisper on the night-wind, there's a star agleam to guide us, And the Wild is calling, calling . . . let us go." -from "The Call of the Wild" by Robert Service

                  My trail journal: DuctTape's Journal

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                  • #39
                    I'm pretty sure it was a Timber Rattler. It was in the pit created by a blown down tree on the top of the last hill on the trail to High Falls before it hits the road. I don't think we got a photo. I'll ask my counterpart.

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                    • #40
                      It could have been a Massasauga.

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                      • #41
                        Originally posted by customsax View Post
                        It could have been a Massasauga.
                        If so, than it was even further out of its range than a timber rattler.

                        If you really think you saw a rattlesnake in the Five Ponds, then you might want to get in touch with DEC. Conventional wisdom holds that there are no rattlesnakes in the Adirondacks other than the above-mentioned timber rattlers near Lakes George and Champlain, due to the relatively cold climate. The places where the timber rattlers are found have very specific habitat conditions that are absent throughout most of the Adirondacks.

                        DEC's website does feature a page on massasauga rattlesnakes, but it suggests they don't occur any further east than Syracuse in New York State.

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                        • #42
                          DEC Forest Ranger Pat Whalen suggests that it could have been a milk snake.

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                          • #43
                            Finally going to make this happen after too many years talking about it. Looking to canoe up the Oswegatchie for a few days, stash the canoes and hike towards Big/Little Shallow.

                            Which of the two lean-tos should we shoot for?

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