The little blue backpack was put to good use last week during the aforementioned family tradition. While my grand hiking plans were thwarted, I did get to adventure along one of my favorite paddling routes. You win some; you lose some.
I (generally speaking) have a fairly strong aversion to the unsalted-ness of lakes and ponds. Fresh water folks do not understand this. They try to tell me that what they have is where it's at with their lack of post bathing sticky skin and absence of Jaws-related fish. (That last one is false by the way if you've been keeping up with Shark Week.)
There are, however, exceptions to every rule (or irrational fear as the case may be) and Rollins Pond encompasses two of them. Foremost, it is deep enough at points for me to ignore the fact that all things wrong in this world lie at the bottom of it. And secondly, it is connected via a variety of creeks and rivers to other ponds and lakes. This means I can focus my attention on the adventuring aspect and less on the leeches lurking below the surface. (They are worms and therefore they take no prisoners. Scientific fact.)
As my family likes to make it a habit to invade where ever we may go, we enlisted our full flotilla of kayaks and canoes for our descent on Rollins Pond and the surrounding areas. That above photo is only a fraction of the group. I told you - we do not mess around. We slowly meandered our way from one pond to the next, regaling anyone within a mile radius with our never-ending Pocahontas inspired sing-a-longs. (Spoiler alert: smallpox was just around the river bend.)
While these pictures may indicate otherwise, it actually ended up being a beautiful, sunny day. No one unintentionally ended up in the water, hazardous run-ins with the local fauna and flora were kept to a minimum, and as far as I know everyone was still on speaking terms at the end of our journey - which may be related to points 1 and 2. All in all, it was a successful family outing in the great outdoors, fresh water included.
Should you find yourself in this neck of the woods and looking for a paddling adventure, here's a breakdown of ours:
Route: Rollins Pond --> Floodwood Pond --> Little Square Pond --> Whey Pond --> Rollins Pond
Mileage: ~6.5
Time: 4 hours (we moseyed, stopped for lunch, and indulged all whims)
Canoe Carries: 2 (one is about 1/3 mi, the other is a hundred yards or so)
Tears Shed: 0 (whining not included but it was kept to a minimum, especially post lunch)
Number of Disagreements Regarding Paddles versus Oars: 5,926 (and counting)
notes:
- the tri-lakes region (tupper/saranac/placid) is home to a plethora of paddling adventures. we mostly bring our own gear but i have heard good things about the folks at st. regis. they even have a list of suggested routes and trip planning tips. so fancy.
- if scavenger hunts are your jam, there are a bunch of geocaches in the area which could easily be incorporated into the trip or be their own separate adventure. we indulged in the latter and good times were had by all. don't forget to bring a trinket to add to the stash.