I can add a little to this discussion. I have been visiting Pharaoh Lake since the 60's. Back then the only parking lot was at Mill Brook. It was common to see family vehicles there. No one ever parked at the new parking area, it didn't really exist. The Mill Brook area is locally known as the Culverfields (sp). I believe it was named after homesteaders who lived there long ago. I've looked but never found any foundations in this area. If you look at the older maps you can see there are two routes to the Mill Brook parking area. There is also a long abandoned route from the west. If you look around you can still find it. Unfortunately it crosses private land before it reaches Ernest Smith Road, near Adirondack. So this is not a viable approach option. In the 60's, the bridge over Mill Brook was a double track and strong enough for jeeps to cross. A local man, Norman Mead, would bring us kids all the way in with his surplus army truck to go fishing. The second water crossing at Pharaoh Lake Brook was accomplished by fording as there was only a footbridge at this location. Once you arrived at the lake you were greeted by a ranger cabin in a open field. There was a large sloping deck down to the water where NYSDEC rented canoes for $2 a day. The ranger had a row boat with an outboard motor that he patrolled the lake with. He would visit the lean-tos and collect the garbage (I vaguely remember metal garbage cans at the lean-to's but I may be wrong), ferry the garbage to the ranger cabin, and truck it out with his jeep. Once NYSDEC decided to transition from interior control to peripheral control, the decision was to remove the interior ranger cabins (with exceptions - a few favorites remained; Marcy Dam, John's Brook, Lake Colden, I guess I can't blame them but I digress). The Pharaoh Lake ranger cabin was not the only ranger cabin removed. Duck Hole, Shattuck Clearing, the West Canada Lakes, and, I'm sure, many more were also removed. My first editorial - I, for one, have never felt that a ranger cabin detracted from my wilderness experiences. I miss them. With the removal of the ranger cabin came the removal of the jeep bridge at Mill Brook - it was replaced with a foot bridge thus ending 4 wheel drive access but not motorized access. I continue to visit the Pharaoh Lake area all seasons and have seen snowmobile tracks across the frozen lake. I've also seen quad tracks past the Mill Brook bridge as a foot bridge is still wide enough for quads. The first time I visited Pharaoh Lake on my own I rode my "stingray" bike all the way to the lake. I then hiked around the lake and up Pharaoh Mountain. I was greeted in the cab of the fire tower by a fire observer (sorry, I don't recall his name) who was spending the summer on the summit. He was living in the cabin (long since gone) with his wife and young child. He used a root cellar to keep his spoilable provisions cold and safe from bears. It was a wonderful experience meeting him. I miss being able to bike into Pharaoh, they are not allowed. You are allowed to ride a horse to the lake or haul a wheeled canoe cart to the lake but no bikes (there is a sign next to the register). As far as thefts in the area, a few years back we had the "hermit of Brant Lake". He camped on Park Mountain, not far from the new parking lot. I never did hear any reports of him bothering campers at Pharaoh Lake. He did manage to break into my camp and relieve me of some fine spirits but that's another story. And once, back in 2010, I spent a week on the north end of the lake during late October. When we returned to our truck we found the tires slashed. ALL FOUR!! It ended up being a wacko who was angry at the world but regretted his actions and turned himself in. He paid for the tires. So, overall, I consider the area safe. One last thought, which do you prefer? Pharaoh or Pharoah, I see both commonly used. The current guidebooks and maps use Pharaoh. This thread is using Pharoah.
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Dave, Thanks, that was some nice reading for a "newbie" who first went to Pharaoh in 2000.
I use Pharaoh, that's how the Egyptians spelled it 5000 years ago and by gods, that's the way I'll keep spelling it.
I was there one winter when some snowmobilers came in for a spin around the lake, it was not the highlight of the trip.
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Pharoah/Pharaoh.
Dave Bourque but that was a great write up on Pharaoh. My memories are from hiking in from Curtis Read Scout camp in the 70s, just over Mt. Stevens.It was about an eight mile hike, with a two night outpost. the way back was quicker as we avoided the "Gap" and took the "B" line right over Mt. Stevens. I remember the Ranger cabin and rowboat rentals, one year we did rent one, later years they were discontinued.
My later years maybe around 78/79 ish, I went up to the lake, hunting season. My van was broken into and the stereo, speakers, binoculars were stolen. I figured it was the hunters who were checking us out as we were preparing for the trek up from the parking lot by Pharoah lake brook. If this guy wants to reimburse me for these items I would accept,. I want to thank him that he didn't break a window, just forced the vent window open.
Don't leave anything of value visible.
My first year we rowed out to the island from site D, they lettered them then, it was a nudist colony out there, no women though.
Another time I portaged a canoe in with my friend Bob who later became a Ranger at Camp Read. It is a very nice lake to explore with a canoe, especially split rock bay and the spring over near there, great drinking water, I wonder if it is still active. I think a trip back this summer is in order.
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The DEC also added 4 new designated sites to the lake recently (3 in 2016 and 1 in 2017).
The 3 sites added in 2016 are all along the north end of the lake, along Split Rock Bay. These were sorely needed due to the increased amount of use by backpackers coming in from Crane Pond. All of these are nice sites and are right on the water, although one of them is pretty small and only has room for a single tent.
The single site added in 2017 was an overflow site near Lean-to #3, set back away from the water. This site has a really nice fire pit built up against a rock outcrop.
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Picture set of some bushwhack hikes last spring.
The best, the most successful adventurer, is the one having the most fun.
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To piggyback on DSettahr's comment regarding the new sites (they are penciled in on most of the maps posted at the trail registers), last year thunderboxes were added to most if not all of the sites around the lake. They were sorely needed, so on your next visit look for the signs to the toilets near the campsites.
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This is a follow-up to my original post. I have additional information about the Mill Brook approach. My spelling of the Culverfields is correct. In the late 1800's the Culver family had a homestead near Mill Brook. They cleared the land and created fields in the Mill Brook area. In the 1930's the CCC did a re-forestation project and replanted the farm's fields. Even though I have searched, today I cannot find any signs of this old farmstead. I speculate that during the re-planting, the CCC removed any signs of the old farmstead. I plan on looking again once the snow melts this spring.
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Originally posted by Dave Bourque View PostThis is a follow-up to my original post. I have additional information about the Mill Brook approach. My spelling of the Culverfields is correct. In the late 1800's the Culver family had a homestead near Mill Brook. They cleared the land and created fields in the Mill Brook area. In the 1930's the CCC did a re-forestation project and replanted the farm's fields. Even though I have searched, today I cannot find any signs of this old farmstead. I speculate that during the re-planting, the CCC removed any signs of the old farmstead. I plan on looking again once the snow melts this spring.
I learned about it a couple of years ago from a gentleman I spoke with who was hiking in the area. He indicated that the sawmill had been his grandfathers. He said that it was abandoned before the second world war, and at that time the army went in and pulled out anything metal to be melted/re-purposed for the war effort. The crank shaft was too big to take out and so they left it behind- and it can be found to this day if you know where to look. After he told me about it (and told me about where to find it), I spent an afternoon looking- and sure enough, I found it.
(I'm a bit hesitant to specify where exactly it is on a public forum but if you PM me I'll give you more info.)
I've also been told that there is a grave somewhere near Glidden Marsh but despite substantial bushwhacking in the area, I've never found it. A forest ranger who used to patrol the Schroon Lake area (before he got promoted) once told me that he also looked for it extensively and also without any luck. There's obvious foundations on the north end of Glidden Marsh- and I can't imagine that the grave was far away if it was associated with that settlement. If it's there, the tombstone unfortunately probably got knocked over and is buried beneath decades of accumulated pine needles at this point.
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