Rollins and Floodwood Ponds, part 3

To continue with my description of Rollins and Floodwood Ponds...

After our picnic lunch and about a half hour of relaxing, we headed back out on the water.  We had close to a few hours of paddling to do in order to return to the boat launch at the campground, so we cut short our exploration of Floodwood Pond.  When we return, we plan to check out the eastern part of Floodwood.


Below is  Brody, guiding my way on the water, keeping his "daddy" in view.

 

As we came around the east side of the island on Floodwood, Brody was checking out signs of campers-- towels hanging on a line, kids' voices.

Here is a pretty view looking northwest from the east side of the island on Floodwood.

Hmmm... I was hoping to show you the abandoned railroad tracks in this photo, but it's more difficult to see than I thought.  If you can see a raised bed about 1/3 of the way up the photo, that's where the tracks are.  This is on the west side of Floodwood.

My husband took the camera long enough to get a shot of Brody with his Doggles on.  They are a bit crooked, but he doesn't seem to mind.  He kept them on long enough to get some fans who were also paddling.  He's becoming a star-- we had 2 different groups of people say hello and ask if they could take Brody's photo.  I'm sure the Doggles had something to do with it!

When we had almost reached the creek to paddle back into Rollins Pond, I thought I saw a dead baby turtle in the water far from shore.  It was floating, not swimming.  (But what do I know about baby turtles??)  I felt bad for it, and wanted to see if he was really dead or just resting.... Sure enough, when I picked him up, he poked his head out all the way as well as his feet, and started scrambling around in my hand.  He was very quick for such a little guy.  I was just happy he wasn't dead!  Apparently he was resting.  I got a few photos of this painted turtle before we gently returned him to the water where he could continue his adventures.

At the entrance to the creek, I took more photos of the beautiful wild irises:

 Along the creek, paddling upstream, I did not take any photos.  The current was strong in some spots, making stopping for a photo impossible.  It took some muscles to get back up the creek due to the rocks and tree stumps creating hazards that required lots of steering and paddling.  But it was fun, not dangerous, and we felt a sense of accomplishment when we once more reached Rollins Pond.


In the northwestern corner of Rollins Pond, a creek flows in from Rock Pond.  Here is the culvert which the creek flows through into the pond.  NOW you can see the abandoned railroad tracks I spoke of earlier in this post.

I took a few more close-ups of the culvert with the creek's water flowing.  This one is my favorite of the 4 or 5 I shot that day:

Below is a photo of Rollins Pond looking south from the area where the culvert is:

Brody was happy we were greeted by a family of black ducks once we got closer to the boat launch.
We were happy too, since the only other wildlife we saw were the loons.  But, that is to be expected in an area where there are lots of campers and lots of paddlers on the water.  I'm sure very early morning would yield better wildlife viewing.

We thoroughly enjoyed our paddle on Rollins and Floodwood Ponds and plan to go back in the future and hopefully reach a few of the other ponds as well.

I'll leave you with another photo of Brody-- this pose and shot are almost becoming an icon, I think!

 Happy Kayaking!

Rollins Pond and Floodwood Pond, 2013 part one

How is everyone enjoying the paddling season so far?  It has been very wet in the northeast (and other places) this year.  We have had rain here for almost every day in the last 6 weeks.  I can only remember one day out of those that was completely dry for the whole day. 

So!  We haven't done as much kayaking as we would have liked.  We have also had some other commitments on the weekends that have kept us off the water.  But we did take a Friday off several weeks ago and made it up to Rollins and Floodwood Ponds.

This beautiful area includes many ponds that can be visited in the same day by way of a creek that connects some of them and others that are a short carry away.  It is a great area because there are loops you can do to return to your starting point.  I am only writing about Rollins and Floodwood because we did not do a loop on this paddle and only explored those 2 ponds.

There are a number of campgrounds in this area which is north of Tupper Lake.  The point of access to Rollins Pond is at the Rollins Pond Campground (which you reach by driving through Fish Creek Campground-- both of these are NY State campgrounds) and their boat launch as shown in the photo below: 

There is also a dock:

Once on the water and headed north, this was our view:

Brody already has an eye on a loon. But I didn't get any good shots of it.

Rollins Pond is very pretty.  And so is the campground from what we saw, and from talking to others who camp there every year.  It can kick up some waves if the wind is more than very mild so keep that in mind.  The campground covers almost every bit of shoreline on the eastern side and some of the southern bank, but the western side has only a few homes/camps.  There are a number of nooks and crannies to check out as well on your way north from the boat launch toward Floodwood Pond.

I took 3 or 4 shots of Brody when we had just started the paddle and this is the best of those.  He looks so serious (but handsome) doesn't he?

Here is my best shot of a loon later in our paddle:

And here are Brody and I still near the beginning of the paddle.  As you can see, it was still chilly that morning.  I have my hoodie on.  But the sun was very warm so in less than an hour, I was warm enough to remove it.

It was a gorgeous day for a paddle!  It takes us quite a while to get to this destination, so we did not get an early morning start, but we did manage to be on the water by 9:30.  Most of the campers were up but not making too much noise as we paddled by.  We saw only 2 paddlers on Rollins Pond that morning, but plenty more in the afternoon when we returned.

Here is my husband with mountains in the background.  There was pretty scenery like this during the whole trip.

And here is Brody as we got closer to the end of Rollins Pond.  Looks like he needs the Doggles on-- the ones he had just pawed off a few mins. before this photo!

At the top/northern end of Rollins Pond is Fish Creek which connects it to Floodwood Pond.  It is in the northeastern corner of the pond.  The entrance to the creek is about in the middle of this photo.  It seems difficult to discern from the photo and as you approach it on the water, but once you're in that northeastern corner, you will see the creek without a problem.  The current is flowing north, into Floodwood Pond, so you will have an easier time getting to Floodwood than returning to Rollins as we did.  (But if you do a loop, you won't have to paddle back upstream on this creek.)

Here is a better photo showing the entrance to the creek, right in the middle of the photo.
We really enjoyed this next stretch of the paddle, as the creek was closed in with rocks along the way and many close-up details to look at.  Brody enjoyed it as well.

I'll leave this part of the description with one more photo of Brody enjoying our paddle.  Meet me back here for the next part of the description and photos of Rollins and Floodwood Ponds.

Happy Kayaking!

Long Pond and Round Pond, 2013, part two

Welcome back to part two of Long and Round Ponds!  Here is Brody, checking out the inlet to Round Pond, which is one of the branches of the Oswegatchie River.

The water was much higher than it normally is when we've paddled here in the past.  There is a swift water area which is indicated by the ripples in the photo below.  The water is usually shallow and the passage has lots of big rocks, making it impossible to paddle.

This time we thought we might be able to make it.  We both began paddling hard and made it most of the way up due to the higher water level.  But there were still a few extremely shallow and sandy areas that stopped my husband.  He decided to turn around rather than get out and pull his kayak through.  I continued on until I reached an area that was deep enough, but the passageway was narrow due to some large rocks.  The current kept throwing me back into a rock and prevented me from making anymore headway.  Since I had spent several long minutes making progress, I decided to get out and pull Brody through the last 15 feet that I couldn't paddle.

I was hoping to find a long stretch of quiet water, and if I had, my husband could have pulled through the shallow area and joined me.  As it was, there was only about 50 feet of calm water before another section of swift and shallow water, as shown near the bend in the river in the photo below.

So, I turned around and let the current take me back down to where my husband was waiting below the swift section in his red kayak.

Here are a couple of cute shots I was able to get of Brody:

We paddled back the way we had come, on our way to Round Pond from the inlet.  As I said in part one, it was a very peaceful day.

On Round Pond, several things caught my eye.  One was this tree in the water:

Another was the clouds.  I had noticed them when we began our paddle, but could not get a photo that did justice to the wispy clouds.  I tried again, and used sunglasses (my husband's great idea!) to capture the clouds in more detail.  The photos still don't really show what we saw, but at least you get the idea.

Brody and I paddled over to see a beaver lodge and as we approached we heard some squeaks that may have been beaver or muskrat.  The noise only lasted a second or two.  Brody's ears perked up immediately and he was on high alert for a minute, but with no more sounds coming from the lodge, he quickly lost interest.

I wanted a low shot of the just emerging reeds in the photo below.

It took several tries, but I was finally able to get the perspective I wanted by holding the camera out and close to the water.  (I had the strap wrapped tightly around my wrist!)

We were soon back at the footbridge marking the connection between Round Pond and Long Pond.
Brody is keeping an eye on his daddy ahead of us.

OK. I took a number of photos of the footbridge from underneath.  Which one (s) do you like best?

1.

 2.

 3.

 
4.

I think my favorite is #3, but then when I look again, I see different things and change my mind.


On Long Pond, we headed back to the put-in/take-out.  The wind had picked up a bit, giving us some ripples, but nothing too serious.  With the hot sun, the breeze felt good.

Brody tracked a loon for a little while as it dove for a meal.  It was too far away for a good photo.

Before we reached the end of our paddle, I turned Brody around for a shot of his face.  He would much rather be facing in the direction we're headed, but graciously posed for this photo.  (I had to hold a treat above the camera just to get him to cooperate-- he usually looks away when I put the camera up to my face for a photo of his!)

Although Long and Round Ponds are not very large, they still make for a nice half-day paddle if you bring a lunch along and take time to beach your boats and stretch for a little while.  We didn't do that on this paddle, but have in the past.

I hope you're all enjoying the paddling season so far.  Here in Northern New York, we had a few rain free days and were able to get a paddle in, but since then we've had days that can't seem to stay dry the entire day.... hope this weekend's weather is better!

Happy Kayaking!

Long Pond and Round Pond, 2013, part one

Well, today it is not raining... and that is a very good thing!

The weather has not been cooperative so far this kayaking season.  At least not here in the northeast.  We managed a few short paddles but I won't blog about them since I only took a few photos.  We did manage a trip to Long Pond and Round Pond on Saturday.  Yay!

It was windy, but these ponds aren't large so we had rolls on the surface, no waves or white caps.  And although we don't enjoy paddling in windy conditions, it probably kept us on the water longer because there were many less black flies and mosquitoes with the breeze.

This is the put in.  It is off  a dirt road about 8 miles out of Croghan, just inside the Adirondack Park.
The area has a small circle to turn around, with no outhouse.  Getting out on the water is easy with the nice sandy bank.

I have blogged about Long Pond and Round Pond before, so for more descriptions and photos, check out the blogs I wrote in 2010 and 2012.

Here is the lake from the put-in.  There is an FHA camp at the end (about in the middle of the photo) of Long Pond.  On the day we paddled, there were no campers or day activities happening.  If you decide to paddle here in the summer, it is best to go early in the morning if you're looking for a quiet paddle.

These ponds are separated by an esker which has a campsite on it.  It is very similar to the esker on Francis Lake-- pine trees, pine needle strewn paths, etc.-- very picturesque.

 

This is a shot of the northwestern side of Long Pond.   Oops!  Got some Brody ears in this one!

We saw a loon not long after beginning our paddle.  Later we saw another on the other end of the pond.  It could have been the same one-- considering they are such great swimmers-- but we think it was its mate.

At the end of the esker and around its point is the entrance to Round Pond:

The footbridge is high enough to get under on the left side.  But there was definitely less head-room than the last time we were here, due to the large amount of rain we've had.  I think Brody was checking out some reeds that were rustling in the wind as we approached the footbridge.

Across Round Pond is the inlet to the ponds.  We headed there and couldn't believe the amount of pine pollen in the water.

This is not foam or scum, it is just tons of pollen floating on the water's surface.  Anyone with allergies should now understand why they may be having symptoms!

Along the inlet we heard a bird's call and saw him land in this tree.  I was able to snap a shot before he took off.  It's a Cedar waxwing-- I love their black masks-- makes them very interesting to look at.

The inlet area is a bit more protected by trees and so there were less ripples on the surface, allowing for some reflection photos.  As you can see, except for the wind, it was a beautiful day for a paddle.  The sun was warm and the ponds were quiet-- not a soul to be seen or heard.

Brody enjoyed himself as he always does.  He likes being closer to the shore where he can imagine there is a bird, duck or maybe a muskrat to sniff out.

Long and Round Ponds are beautiful to paddle.  We usually see deer here, though we didn't on this trip.  We always see loons and there are many birds singing away in the trees.  

I will be back soon with part two of Long Pond and Round Pond.

Happy Kayaking!