Cowhorn, Olmstead, and Big Deer Ponds, plus Lows Lake and the Oswegatchie Headwaters

[DSettahr]

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Covered quite a bit of distance on the south shore of Cranberry Lake in the Adirondacks a few weekends ago (weekend of October 14). That was the really rainy weekend, although it turned out to be a great weekend to be in the woods- I had the entire area to myself and didn't see a single other soul all weekend.

Arrived at the Dead Creek Flow trailhead later afternoon on Friday, and hiked into Janack's Landing in a drizzle. Some muddy and wet spots on the old railroad grade into Dead Creek Flow, but nothing major. There is a flooded spot just before the junction with the side trail to Janack's Landing though, courtesy of the beavers. I wisely tested the bog bridge before I stepped on it, which turned out to be a good idea- it was floating in 2 feet of water. I was able to cross below the beaver dam but the woods there were a bit thick and it was still pretty muddy.

Got to Janack's Landing in the dark- and fortunately the rain mostly held off till I got there. As I set up camp and made dinner, it really started to pour, and it continued to rain pretty hard all night.

Saturday dawned bright and sunny, with lots of blue sky and only a few clouds. The cold temperatures made for great hiking weather as well. I packed up camp and headed south, joining the CL50 at Sand Hill Junction and heading east, towards Glasby Pond.

It looked like someone had camped Friday night at the designated campsite at Glasby Pond, as there were fresh embers in the fire pit and spilled oatmeal that wasn't wet. I figure it was probably CL50 through hikers, and I probably only missed them by an hour at most.

The shoreline of Glasby Pond was a bit wet and muddy in spots, but I made good time past the junction with the Cat Mountain trail and was soon descending towards Cat Mountain Pond. The trail here is quite steep, and some wet and slippery spots made the descent a bit interesting in spots. At Cat Mountain Pond, I stopped briefly to check on the designated campsite there on the eastern end of the pond- it doesn't seem like this site ever gets much use; I don't think too many people know about it.

A little ways beyond Cat Mountain Pond I dropped my back and took the herd path to Bassout Pond. The herd path is pretty easy to spot if one looks for it. It leads around to the north side of Bassout Pond to a campsite that looks like has been used regularly for a permit hunting camp. The herd path continues beyond the campsite past a small spring and down to the shore of Bassout, eventually disappearing in the swampy terrain near the shore.

Back at the main trail, I continued to head east. The the outlet of Bassout Pond was running a bit high, and the crossing was a bit tricky- no bridge here. Beyond, it was an easy hike up a gradual incline to Cowhorn Junction on top of the Cowhorn Esker. With the reopening of the Big Deer Pond/Lows Lake Trail, Cowhorn Junction is once again an actual junction, and there are DEC signs here pointing the way for all three trails.

From the junction, it was an easy walk north to the turn off for the Cowhorn Lean-to, where I stopped to eat lunch. The lean-to is located in a pretty conifer stand. It's certainly one of the nicer lean-tos that I've ever visiting in the Adirondacks.

By the time I'd stopped for lunch, the blue skies and sun had disappeared behind a gray curtain of clouds. I decided to head north for the afternoon, to check out Olmstead Pond, West Flow on Cranberry Lake, and Sliding Rock Falls. The hike north along the Esker went was pretty easy, and soon I was near the turn off of the 6 mile creek trail to join the trail around Olmstead Pond. Just before the turn off, the trail crosses an old but very obvious road bed that runs east-west, at 90 degrees from the direction of travel on the trail. You can't really miss it- it looks like a bulldozer scrapped off the top 2 feet of soil from the esker. Does anyone know the history of this road? I can't find it on any old maps.

The 6 Mile Creek Crossing is pretty interesting- a tree has fallen across the stream here, and it looks like the trail crew just left the tree where it is and used a chainsaw to flatten the top of the trunk to make it suitable for walking!

I camped out at the Olmstead Pond lean-to 2 years ago in November while I was hiking the CL50, and I remembered that the trail around the pond was wet and muddy in several spots where it got close to the water. It turned out that, upon my return, the beavers had made conditions even worse, raising the water level another inch or two since I'd been there previously, flooding even more of the trail! The loop around the bond is definitely one that will get your feet wet! As I made my way around Olmstead Pond, I took my time to check out the lean-to (where I stopped for a quick snack), as well as the short herd path to Simmons Pond and the two designated campsites on the north shore of Olmstead Pond. Both the lean-to and the designated campsites seemed to be in great shape.

Beyond Olmstead Pond, the trail continued to pass through several wet spots and crossed multiple small streams. I think even the smallest trickle of water in the woods was running high due to the previous night's rainfall, though.

Soon I was back on the 6 Mile Creek Trail, and I turned north to descent towards Cranberry Lake. From the junction with the northern terminus of the Olmstead Pond trail, it was a short and very quick hike down to the lake, where the trail ended on a small breach on West Flow used for landing boats. Despite the signs stating that doing so was illegal, it was obvious that people do occasionally camp here.

After admiring the view across the lake, I turned around and headed south on the 6 Mile Creek Trail. A short distance beyond the northern terminus of the Olmstead Pond trail, I passed another junction, where the CL50 leaves the 6 Mile Creek Trail and heads east towards Chairrock Flow. A short distance beyond this, I reached Sliding Rock Falls. I must say, this is certainly one of the more scenic destinations I've found in the Five Ponds Wilderness. It's basically a large slanted rock outcrop where 6 Mile Creek flows out of a wetland and cascades down across the rock face into a deep pool. It's not actually on the CL50, but rather only a short distance off of it, and well worth the time to take to make the side trip. I'd also bet that it makes for a great swimming hole in the summer.

With daylight rapidly fading, I quickly made my way back to Cowhorn Pond, where I'd left my overnight gear. It'd been gray and dreary all afternoon, but fortunately the rain had limited itself to only the occaisional passing shower. As luck would have it, the heavy rains had again held off for most of the day, and it was only as I crossed the last few hundred feet to the lean-to that the skies really started to open up.

Saturday night the winds really picked up- for the most part, I was able to stay dry by sleeping as far back in the lean-to as I could, but I did still feel the occasional raindrop on my face during some of the stronger gusts.

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Continued...

 

[DSettahr]

As with Saturday, Sunday dawned sunny again. I was up and packed early and soon out on the trail, as I wanted to visit Big Deer Pond and Lows Lake before heading out. I'd visited both before, on a 6 day paddling trip on Lows Lake last summer, but I was interested to revisit the area on foot from the north, instead of by canoe from the east.

The trail south of Cowhorn Pond is in great shape, and kudos to the trail crews that have opened it up again. The further south I went, the more blowdown I encountered- the micro burst truly most have been a sight to behold. I can see why this trail was left untouched for so long before it was reopened.

The trail was quite flat until it reached the shoreline of Grassy Pond. Immediately beyond, the undulates a little bit as it passes through an area marked with some very impressive kettle holes. Beyond, it flattens again as it passed Slender Pond and continued south. Shortly before it reached Big Deer Pond, the trail passed a small natural blueberry meadow on the left. I bet this area is popular with bears in the late summer.

I hadn't been planning on hiking the canoe carry to the Oswegatchie Headwaters, as I didn't think that there was a trail connecting the carry with the Big Deer Pond/Lows Lake trail. Shortly after Big Deer Pond came into view through the trees and the trail began to descend to it, however, I noticed an obvious herd path that split off to the right. I followed it about a quarter of a mile to the takeout on the west side of Big Deer Pond, and what was obviously the headwaters canoe carry. I stopped here to deliberate- the carry was 2.5 miles one way, and I wasn't sure that I had the time to add 5 miles to my day and still get out to the trailhead before it got really late. On the other hand, however, I wasn't expecting to return to this area at any point in the near future, and if I didn't check out the carry, I knew I'd regret it.

The red liner in me won out, and so I started down the canoe carry. The carry, as it turns out, passes through some of the worst damaged areas from the micro burst. There were areas where not a single large tree was standing, and the forest had become a dense tangle of regeneration. The trail was pretty well clear of blowdown, however, and the mostly flat terrain and moderate grades made for easy walking. Along the way, I passed a pretty substantial beaver flow that the trail went right through. I'm sure that paddlers typically paddle across this, but I was forced to cross on the beaver dam below, although it wasn't at all a difficult crossing.

Just beyond the beaver dam, I made an interesting discover- a metal mailbox was sitting beside the trail; it was just about one of the last things I expected to come across in the woods. I opened it to find a journal for people who were passing by to sign. Pretty neat!

My arrival at the Oswegatchie River was accompanied by a deep and fulfilling sense of remoteness- here I was, 10 miles by trail from the nearest road, at the headwaters of one of the more famous Adirondack rivers. Judging from the register box at the put in, I was the first person to visit the headwaters in several weeks. I wonder how many other people have been in here on foot rather than by canoe? There were 2 designated campsites at the Oswegatchie River, although it looks like they don't really get much use. I'd love to go back there sometime and camp out at one of the sites- the spot really and truly is remote, and my visit there has only increased my desire to some day do the Lows-Oswegatchie traverse.


I didn't stick around long, as I was still eager to visit Lows Lake before hiking out of the woods. I made good time back to Big Deer Pond, although, as had happened on Saturday, the blue skies disappeared just as I was arriving back at the pond. I made my way around to the campsite on the north shore of Big Deer Pond (where the put in from the carry from Lows Lake is), ate a quick lunch, and started off to Lows Lake.

The carry to Lows Lake is pretty straightforward and easy, and follows an old road bed most of the way. Soon, I was at the Lows Lake end of the carry, looking out and across Lows Lake. In the distance, I could see the high peaks, illuminated in one of the last gaps in the clouds as they rapidly disappeared to the east. Before leaving, I quickly checked out the campsite at this end of the carry- in good shape, but obvious not receiving much use!

My hike back out to the trailhead went quickly and steadily. I noticed as I recrossed some of the same streams that I'd crossed the day before, that the water had come up an inch or two in many of them due to the continuing rains. Fortunately, as I hiked out, the heavy rains held off, and I was treated only to the occasional drizzle. Some of the beaver flows on the Dead Creek Fall trail were quite high, however, and in spot I had no choice but to slosh through knee deep water where I'd been able to easily jump across 2 days before!

All in all, a great trip to revisit some old areas that I was familiar with, as well as visit some new locations. Beautiful country back there, and despite the readily apparent damage from the micro burst, it is also readily apparent that nature is rapidly taking over again. The Five Ponds Wilderness is definitely one of my favorite places to hike, and I look forwards to being able to visit it again!