No worries - it's all good!
Two more pins!
In early August, Paul and I set out to paddle Pink Pond and Little Pink Pond. It's my desire to pin all the ponds that I can access and these little ponds were my choice today. Pink and Little Pink are accessed via Long Pond. Due to the forecast we accessed Long Pond via the Floodwood Road off Route 30, the quickest route. We stopped at St. Regis Outpost, a great store in a unique area which has camping, paddling, and some clothing supplies, as well as kayak rentals. Paul picked up a map and a spork, I purchased pack towels and a couple of Clif Bars. Long Pond access is approximately 5 miles down the Floodwood Road on the right. As we traveled in I was thinking this would be a great place to bike in the fall as we only met a few cars, and the vista was fantastic!
The portage in is a bit long but relatively flat — until you get near the pond, then it is downhill. Being you will be going uphill on the way out, you may wish to use wheels if you don't have a light-weight kayak or canoe. Today we used our Hornbecks, so wheels were not necessary. On the way in we met a family from Naples, NY that were wilderness camping for three days. Steak was on the menu the first night, the next two nights they planned to eat the catch of the day — I hope they caught some fish! Another family of three were visiting from Montgomery, NY, and from the smiles on their faces they seemed to be enjoying our region.
Access to Pink Pond
Pink Pond access is opposite the put-in for Long Pond, and a little to the left. As we paddled towards the access we came across a loon and her chick, sadly it was too choppy to get a decent photo. We also saw a Blue Heron a few times, but he escaped my lens as well.
Swamped the Hornbeck!
The passage into Pink Pond was narrow, and the Pond itself is very small and shallow along the shoreline which is adorned with white lilies. We then headed into Little Pink Pond. As we came to a beaver dam, Paul offered to assist me, but being independent I stated I could do it. It was very mucky and appeared to be shallow, but when I pushed my paddle in, it appeared you would sink up to your neck! I backed into a pocket between two pieces of mushy land. As I leaned over to get out, I took on water — a lot of water! My canoe was full to the rim! Paul laughed and so did I. Paul offered to help again, but I got out very fast! He was surprised to see me out dumping the canoe. I asked him how he got out, he stated “the old fashioned way.” He exited by crawling to the bow and crawling out onto the beaver dam, I totally missed that, it would have been a good photo!
Little Pink Pond - small and mucky!
Little Pink was more like a little mud puddle, perhaps in higher water it is more pond-like! We continued on a little stream beyond Little Pink until it was just too mucky to go further. Paul, is actually the only person I know that would be willing to paddle into the muck with me and even go beyond the destination point in the muck!
Beautiful Long Pond!
We returned to Long Pond, which is absolutely beautiful. We were both very hungry, and campsite number 3 looked like a great place to stop but unfortunately it was occupied. We paddled on. Paul was being a bit selective that day, he wanted a perfect site with a sunny, sandy beach shoreline so he could take a dip — I just wanted to eat! Campsite 10 looked good to me, but he wanted to paddle across the lake to a campsite that appeared to meet all of his specifications. However, the site was closed for restoration.
Finally we eat!
The portage area to Slang Pond was our picnic area. As we had our lunch we spoke about doing the carry to Slang Pond, but due to the threatening sky we headed back to our point of access.
Dark clouds!
We had a quick rain shower as we headed back, but then the skies cleared. We extended the paddle by going towards Pink Pond again, and teased about doing it all over - but neither of us really desired to go back in that day. Maybe in the spring when the water is high. Perhaps that's when we will see the pink flowers in bloom!
Back to Tupper Lake to relax and enjoy!
That evening after cleaning up from the muck we had dinner at Little Italy. Paul enjoyed a local beer and the Chicken Parmesan and I had my favorite - Eggplant Rollatini, with thin spaghetti and a glass of red wine. What a perfect ending to a great day paddling in the Tupper Lake area!