After years of writing about my adventures, I decided to put together a video to see if I could capture the feel of a typical packrafting trip. I think the video below is a fairly accurate depiction of what many of my trips look like these days. It is almost 20 minutes long (think feature length) so may not be of interest to those without backcountry aspirations, but it does capture the challenges, beauty, stupidity, and appreciation of the little moments that make up my typical adventure.
The centerpiece of this roughly 90 mile loop is the Hudson River Gorge, a 19 mile stretch of class III whitewater, approaching class IV at higher water levels. It is one of my favorite places in the world, and one that I return to every chance I get. To create a loop this year, I relied on a variety of trails, both established and unmaintained, as well as almost the entire paddle-able length of the Cedar River, with a couple big lakes thrown in for variety. I hope you enjoy!
Video
(Click link to watch)
The Route
Parking at the hiker lot just north of the Indian Lake Boat Ramp and Lewey Lake Campground on Route 30.
Segment 1: Hike Sucker Brook Trail to Height of Ground. Continue along Colvin Brook to Carry Lean To (8.5 miles).
Segment 2: Paddle the Cedar River from the Carry Lean To, through the Cedar River Flow, and all the way to its confluence with the Hudson River (32 miles)
Segment 3: Paddle the Hudson River through the gorge to the town of North Creek (19 miles)
Segment 4: Hike the Raymond Brook Ski Trail, Botheration Pond Trail, East Branch Sacandaga Trail, Puffer Pond Brook Trail, Round Pond Trail, and Wakely Brook Trail. These trails have been incorporated into the growing North Country Trail system in New York. Follow the Kunjamuk Long Pond Trail to Long Pond. Take the John Mack Pond Trail to Johnny Mack Landing on Indian Lake (26 miles)
Segment 5: Paddle Indian Lake back to car (3.5 miles)
Post-Trip Thoughts
In the early stages of this trip, I spent a lot of time wondering why I spent so much time on trails that went from nowhere to nowhere, and dragging my boat down dry rivers, just to set up for a single great river mid-trip. I vowed to do a little less grinding in the future, and a little more of the fun, scenic stuff. In retrospect, I wouldn’t change a thing about this trip. It was perfect. I guess deep down, the suffering it takes to get to a good backcountry river is worth it all.
The Trails
A brief description for those who might travel this route or parts of it in the future (no need to read on).
Sucker Brook Trail: This trail leaves from the back end of the Lewey Lake Campground. Not surprisingly for a trail that terminates at “Height of Ground” the pass between Lewey Mountain and Cellar Mountain peaks, the trail is all up. The trail is well maintained. There is no view from the top, at least when leaves are on the trees. Life is like that sometimes.
Past Height of Ground, the Sucker Brook Trail follows the Colvin Brook. This portion of trail is unmaintained, but is easier going as it is down most of the way. The trail is overgrown, but blazes are still there, and for the most part the trail is still readily navigable, though you will lose some time here in route finding. It crosses back and forth over Colvin Brook many times, and if you lose the trail, it is probably because it crossed the brook yet again. There are no bridges. The trail terminates on a beaver bog and the blazes in this area have disappeared. The Colvin Brook lean to on the far (West) side of the bog, next to the Cedar River. In 2021, I was still able to cross the bog, but this year the channels crisscrossing it had deepened and widened. Ultimately, I had to turn back and bushwhack at a higher elevation through dense evergreen forest to get around the bog. See map below. Consequently, this trail may not be for the casual hiker.
The Northville Placid Trail: The NPT crosses the Adirondack Region in a South to North direction, and many of my Adirondack routes have relied on it at one point or another. On this trip, I was only on it briefly, but you can read about my 2011 thru-hike of it here if interested.
The Cedar River (through Cedar River Flow): This was a beautiful paddle from Carry Lean-to through the Cedar River Flow. There is beaver sign everywhere, and 3 beaver dams to drag the boat over. The waterways seem to be getting narrower since I was last here in 2013, and in the beaver dam section have been filling in with rushes. Approaching the flow, it feels like navigating a maze through the rushes. You will get there though, as long as you follow the main channel. The Cedar River Flow is beautiful, though big lakes in the wind are not super fun in a packraft.
The Cedar River (below Wakely Dam): The Cedar River is an absolutely beautiful river, flowing over stone and sand, with numerous small waterfalls. There are also several gorges to paddle through. Water levels are typically quite low in the fall, and most would say it couldn’t be paddled this time of year. I’m not sure I proved them wrong. Between Wakely Dam and Sprague Brook, I probably spent as much time out of the boat as in it. Also lots of combat paddling and pushing off rocks, trying to stay within the narrow flow. Far too many rock gardens to drag through. An old two track, a past relic of the NPT can be found to river right in part of this section when portaging is needed. Cedar River Road can be found to river left, though the land between the river and road is often posted private property.
There is a class V gorge approaching Sprague Brook that is quite fun at lower flows. Look for a cable crossing the river signaling the start of this section. Past the Route 28 overpass, the river is primarily flat water and the paddling gets easy for a while. However, you start to hit rocks and rapids again about 4 miles before the confluence with the Rock River, and this section was fairly challenging at low water levels. The river banks are gorge-like and overgrown, and the river bed is round, slippery rock. I got so angry trying to drag the boat down the river bed or to portage alongside. Some real big fish in this section- I could hear them jumping all night. Past the confluence with the Rock River, water levels were reasonable again until the Hudson. This section had many fun whitewater sections. There is a small stretch of class IV whitewater approaching the confluence with the Hudson that is very doable this time of year in a raft. A chute to river left is probably the best bet. There is a great campsite at the confluence of Cedar and Hudson.
The Hudson River Gorge to North Creek: This is one of my favorite places in the world. The sign at the canoe takeout warns of class V whitewater, but it has been rated by American Whitewater as predominantly class III, with some class IV at higher water levels. In the fall, at lower levels, this is a fantastic packrafting river. There are many submerged and protruding rocks this time of year however. Many beautiful campsites to choose from as well. I developed a hole in the raft flooring nearing the end of the gorge, and while the raft continued to float, it became much heavier to maneuver as I was sitting in a pool of water. I ended up taking out at North River to repair the boat.
The North Country Trail– From the town of North Creek, the Raymond Brook Ski Trail, Botheration Pond Trail, East Branch Sacandaga Trail, Puffer Pond Brook Trail, Kings Flow East Trail, Round Pond Trail, Wakely Brook Trail, and Kunjamuk trail have all had portions incorporated into the North Country Trail. There are many blowdowns through these sections, particularly after Puffer Pond. The DEC does not currently have enough staff for maintenance of these remote sections. As of 2024, it can be difficult to find accurate maps of the North Country Trail. It does not appear on most map layers in Gaia GPS, and when it does, its route is often erroneous (Some maps show it following my route along the Kunjamuk Long Pond Trail to Long Pond, but in reality, it diverges from the Wakely Brook Trail southward along the Kunjamuk Trail toward Cisco Creek Trailhead).
About the Puffer Pond Shelter: I give this shelter a hard time in the video, but it is actually one of my favorite places. I met the shelter caretakers, an absolutely lovely couple, on trail in 2021. They told me that there were two shelters on Puffer Pond. Theirs was in poor repair, but had the much better view. I couldn’t agree more. Just have a backup plan if there is any chance of rain, as it is not at all watertight, even with the tarps someone threw on there recently. I hope this shelter gets some much needed repair soon.
The Kunjamuk Long Pond Trail: From the Wakely Brook Trail, the NCT diverges southward along the Kunjamuk Trail, a wide two track in this area. My route headed briefly north on this two track toward Round Pond. The Kunjamuk Long Pond Trail is a yellow blazed trail that diverges west from this two track. Its origin is really easy to miss, and the trail itself is fairly faint in places. This 1.3 mile trail terminates at Long Pond. It is not shown on the Nat Geo Trails Illustrated Map.
John Mack Pond Trail: From Long Pond, the John Mack Pond Trail heads northwest toward John Mack Pond, and then to Johnny Mack Landing on Indian Lake. Leaving Long Pond, the trail is virtually non-existent, but blazes can still be found on trees for route finding. It seems like this trail is in danger of disappearing in the next ten years if it doesn’t get some love. Past John Mack Pond, the trail is very well maintained and practically straight until it reaches Indian Lake.
Indian Lake: Absolutely beautiful, wild, undeveloped lake, with forested banks, and many primitive campsites on the shores and rocky islands scattered throughout. Advanced reservations are needed for camping.
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