High Adventure Trip Report

Long Lake from Deerland Carry, to Tupper Lake boat launch along NYS Route 30. by Henk de Smidt

BSA 50 Miler, Adirondacks, NY

One of our Venturers had made contact with the DEC regarding service projects and was told we could work on the Deerland Carry/Portage and on campsites, fire pits along the way.

Day one: Afternoon & evening working on service hours, cutting back over growth, removing blow down and widow makers. Empty out fire pits, removed an illegal one and revegetated the area. Adults shuttled VAN and trailer to take-out after sunset to maximize work during day light. Wildlife highlight: beaver

Day two: morning work on service hours, trail hardening and building a trench drain to dry a wet area. Noon time lunch push off for an all afternoon paddle, straight into the wind towards the NE end of Long Lake. We spend the night at Rodney Point lean-tos. Emptying out fire pits and removing another illegal one. Miles paddled: 10.5. Wildlife highlight: Bald eagle nest with eaglet.

Day three: continued northward, leaving the lake and entering the Raquette River to the portage. The portage goes quickly uphill which is followed by a rolling mid-section and flat end. We stayed on the water till 19:00 hrs. Miles paddled: 20.5. Portage miles: 4. Wildlife highlight: black bear.

Day four: it wasn’t long until we heard car traffic before the river heads westward along NYS Route 30. Via Simon Pond we passed the take-out and headed southerly on Tupper Lake weaving through the islands until we reached the most beautiful peninsula site on Tupper Lake at Slim Cove. We logged some more service hours building a bench at the campsite and picking up glass and other non-combustibles from the fire pit area using an empty food container for safe storage. Miles paddled: 14. Wildlife highlight: catching fish, grilling and eating it.

Day five: on the way out we visited the now vacated “island” site north of us and cleaned up quite a mess from the past year. From there we crossed the lake to visit a (Eagle Scout Project) lean-to site across from the take-out. We repaired a fire pit bench and cut back overgrowth towards the new “thunderbox”. After lunch we paddled the final 1.5 miles. Miles paddled; 5.