Long Pond and Round Pond, part two

And now for the rest of the trip on Long Pond and Round Pond:

One other feature which makes us enjoy this destination is the short upstream paddle you can make on the Oswegatchie as it empties into Round Pond.  Here are a couple of photos of that area:

It's less than a half mile before the water gets swift and the river is filled with rocks and boulders.

We spent a few minutes battling the current, just to see if we could get further upstream.  It looks as if there is a possible path through the rocks, but there are tons of them just under the surface (notice the ripples in the photo above.)  It was fun trying, but the current was strong enough, the water shallow enough and the rocks plentiful enough that we didn't get far at all.

Here is a photo of the same area from a few years ago when the water was higher, causing more foam/bubbles as the water rushed over the rocks:

It was time to turn around and head back the way we had come.  There are a few beaver houses just off Round Pond on the river.  We caught a glimpse of one as he dove under and wondered if we really saw what we thought we did in the second or two his head was above water.  We're pretty sure since when we paddled by the beaver house, we heard him scolding us!

On the way back, around the top (north) side of Round Pond we stopped to stretch our legs.

This area is part of the FFA camp.  You would not be able to stop here if there were campers on the pond.  There are cabins in this area for those attending the FFA camp, and trails leading to the main buildings on Long Pond.  When there is no activity at the camp, we have stopped here for a quick walk to stretch our legs.  From past experience, I would guess that as long as you are only stretching your legs, you won't have any problems.  (Don't for instance, try to camp here.)

It's a very pretty area, here on Round Pond.  This is a view from the woods looking out at the pond:

Once back in our kayaks, we headed for the footbridge, scooted under and were back out on Long Pond.  By this time, those on the pond were waking up.  We heard a lawn mower, voices, etc. and knew that our quiet time on Long and Round Ponds was at an end.  A lone loon agreed with us.  We saw him/her on Long Pond as we were heading into Round Pond and looked for the bird on the way back.  He/she was no where to be found.

The paddle back didn't take long as these two bodies of water aren't very large.  It was a great way to start off a beautiful weekend morning and we enjoyed it immensely, as we usually do.

I will leave you with 2 more photos from an earlier trip to Long and Round Ponds.  Just seeing these photos  makes me wish we were going back again soon.  It's a beautiful spot. 

Happy kayaking!