Franklin Pond Boat Launch to Union Falls Dam
Weather: Still sunny and warm, tailwinds
Portages: 1- Franklin Pond Dam. Wheelable on road. Road had sharp curves that made us want to get off it sooner than later. There were several paths from the road to the river after the dam, which looked steep and were unmarked. (Never saw the NFCT blaze.) Took the one just before the guard rail started and before the next blind curve. It was well-used and not too rocky.
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| Franklin Dam Pond Portage |
So here's what we decided to do with the car:
a) We drove to Franklin Falls boat launch on Sunday, where we left it parked overnight. (Lots of trash there. Didn't leave me with a very good feeling about the area--a theme that continued all the way to Plattsburg.)
b) On Monday, St. Regis came to pick it up and then met Sam and I up at the Union Falls Dam, drove us and our gear to Clayburg, avoiding the bigger falls AND the 10 mile hike that went with it.
c) Then they continued on to Plattsburg, to leave the car for us to pick up on Tuesday.
We spent the day paddling from Clayburg to Baker's Acres, but that's tomorrow's story. (The main thing for future paddlers to know is that, is with a pre-arrangement and some ready cash, you can get shuttled past the Teft Pond Falls area.)
The downside of this plan/day is that we didn't have to paddle very far. We didn't leave until noon, so we had time to paddle UP to the base of Permanent Rapids to scout out the end of what was missed. Ended up surprising a pair of lovers on a campsite that obviously weren't expecting paddlers going toward the rapids. More wildlife sightings! They were about to be surprised again by four more kayakers who also were paddling in their direction after we turned back. We have noticed quite a few more "unofficial" campsites in the DEC lands which would have made me feel less anxious about finding a specific mapped campsite, if we had known that.
Union Pond has a lot of old tree trunks just under the surface which made paddling a little spooky. The view of the receding mountains was beautiful, but in general, this didn't strike me as a great lake, perhaps colored because of the trash we kept seeing by the road accesses. Camped off of Bear Point. Not a great view, but the point was nice and windy and someone had civilized it by installing some table-like structures. We had a flat service to cook and eat. An early night for once. Even had time to work on a beaded bracelet and played cards for a while. We had checked out the first site along the same point, but it seemed as if it hadn't been used in a long time. Lots of downed trees, especially birch tree limbs with one big dead tree still standing adjacent to the best tent site. There was also more trash (again) left in the firepit from whenever it had last been used. This site could really use a clean-up.
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| Bear Point campsite on Union Falls Pond |
Wildlife:
2 deer
1 surprised couple
no loons :(
lots of clams!
Dinner: Seafood Curry (with tuna) and Chocolate Pudding
