Rollins Pond and Floodwood Pond, 2013 part two

To continue my description of our paddle through Rollins and Floodwood Ponds...

As I mentioned in part one, we loved this section of our paddle.  The creek is high right now and flowing well through the rocks, making it easy to paddle through, except for a few spots where the current threw us toward downed branches or boulders.  This was not anything dangerous or scary-- we just had to steer to avoid a collision.  If you have paddled in fast moving streams, you understand what I mean.  It was fun, not stressful.  (The creek being only a few feet deep in most spots with an average of 3 feet wide helped!)  Here is the creek shortly after we began paddling downstream:

And another shot along the way:

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We have heard that this part of Fish Creek between Rollins and Floodwood Ponds is often shallow, forcing you to either walk your boat through it or use the carry which is to the left of the creek, coming out onto Floodwood Pond.  From the maps we saw, it looks to be less than a 1/4 mile of a carry, but I can't be certain.

Near the end of the creek as it flows into Floodwood pond, many wild irises were in bloom:

I took a lot of photos of these gorgeous flowers.


Here is Brody as we enter the widened area of the creek before reaching Floodwood Pond.

Here is Floodwood Pond at its southern end:

And here is another iris shot, this time with butterfly!  Ahh.... just found out they are tiger swallowtails! (Canadian or eastern)

Near the shore in 8 inches or so of water, I spotted these 2 circular disturbances (lighter areas in middle of photo) in the sandy bottom.  I have no idea what they are.  Did a turtle or fish go around in circles creating these?  Anyone have any idea?

Brody has his eye on something ahead of us.  Want to hazard a guess?

People in a kayak?  Fisherman?  A leaf floating on the water?  ...........

Ducks seem to be his favorite.  Not sure why he likes them better than loons, but he does.  This duck is a black duck, very common to the Adirondacks.

This is a pretty view looking toward the northeastern corner of Floodwood Pond.  We thought Floodwood was just beautiful.  There are a few camps/houses on the eastern shore in this area, but that's it.   At the end of this stretch of water is another place to put-in.  We may try that next time.  There is also an outfitter in that area if you don't have a canoe or kayak and want to give it a try.  (Or you're on vacation and don't have your own boats with you!)

Floodwood has a number of primitive campsites that are first-come, first-serve.  There are a few on the large island in the middle of Floodwood and others along the northern bank and even more as you paddle east on the pond.  We love paddling places with these bare campsites because on week days, even in summer, they are often empty and provide us a great resting and picnicking spot!

After our picnic lunch, we rested with a pine needle mattress.  Brody is at his most attentive when food is involved!

As I reclined, I found this angle of Brody and the trees worth a shot:

And I really liked the shapes made by the trunk of this paper birch against the sky:

Here are some scenes of the water from the campsite where we stopped for lunch:

And here is the area where we beached our kayaks at the campsite:

The island is just across the water in the photo above.  The campsite was such a beautiful spot, on the mainland, north of the island, that we plan to stop here again the next time we paddle on Floodwood.

Well, it looks like I have enough descriptions and photos for one more part to this set of blogs on Rollins and Floodwood Ponds.  I will meet you back here for part three very soon!

And I'll leave you with this shot:

Happy Kayaking!