A Little More Primitive: Forked Lake Campground

Forked Lake Primitive Campground (DEC), Adirondacks 5/23 & 5/24/09

Highlights: fishing; our new screen house; canoeing; freeze-dried food; bear lockers; loons singing after dark; coyotes in the distance

Not-exactly-highlights: black flies; the outhouse; rain; packing up wet camping gear; leaving early

Pictures-only version: click here

We’d heard about Forked Lake from a couple different people, so the first weekend in May we drove up to scope it out, and chose the perfect site to reserve, # 75. While planning this trip, we developed grandiose ideas of how we were gonna “really rough-it” this time. Oh yes! We were going to hike in about ½ mile to our site, with all our gear on our backs, and not much gear at that… just the bare essentials. We wouldn’t need our stove or the propane, as we would cook on the campfire. This campfire would not be lit with a modern lighter, or even matches. No, no, only a magnesium fire starter would be used. We wouldn’t need a cooler, either, as we’d be bringing only freeze-dried meals and other dry food items. What about something to drink? Well we’d be camping right next to a lake, for God’s sake! We can gather water from it and boil it over the campfire, rendering it perfect for drinking and cooking. We even bought a mess kit to cook with, thereby eliminating the need for our usual pots, pans, and tableware. This would be a lot less stuff to hike in with. We were also planning a hike along a snowmobile trail, possibly 15 miles round trip, depending on how quickly we tired. It was to be the mother of all camping trips!

First Camping Trip of the Season: Piseco Lake; T Lake Trail

Little Sand Point State Campground, Piseco Lake, Adirondacks 5/15 & 5/16/09
Hike: T Lake Trail 3.5 miles (7 mi. round trip)

Highlights: fishing; Common Mergansers (ducks); hike to T Lake lean-to; red-spotted newts; toads; Purple Trillium (a.k.a. “Stinking Benjamin”)

Not-exactly-highlights: black flies; rain; packing up wet camping gear; leaving early

Pictures-only version: click here

In spite of what we’ve heard about the black flies in the Adirondacks from May through mid-July, we decided to go camp there anyway. We prefer to camp away from the crowds. See, we’re not drinkers like most campers seem to be, and as a result their drunken antics and loud behavior tend to be annoying. The whole reason we enjoy camping is because it’s relaxing, and if you’re quiet enough, you’ll see some pretty cool wildlife. Loud drunks tend to interfere with all of that. So we thought we’d enjoy some solitude and take our chances with the black flies. We did our homework, bought 100% Deet, and got bug nets for our heads. I was hoping we wouldn’t really need the nets; they do look silly.

We arrived at the site and it wasn’t two minutes before we were putting on the bug spray… and the bug nets in five, after spraying them as well. Those flies were all over us, and they concentrate around your head – go figure. We set up camp, ate lunch, and took off in the car to tour the area. We located the trailhead for the next day’s hike, and scoped out another campground at Lake Durant, which was beautiful.