Monday August 31, 18.2mi/29.3km

Rock Lake (21.7/1920ft) to West Branch Sacandaga River (33.5/1290ft) (NY)

The morning came quickly, and I shuffled down to the lake to get water. Nice view!

Jim and Mark looking for wildlife across the lake. No moose or loons were found.

We hit the trail at 8am and had a nice morning on a smooth trail.

A mile in, we passed Meco Lake, a small marshy body of water.

After another mile, we passed another lake. Silver Lake looked much larger and nicer.

We took a break at Silver Lake Lean-to and I ate way too many goldfish. We also recorded some short instructional videos for the Adirondack Winter Mountaineering School. I packed up all my gear and we got moving again.

There was a long marshy area with some nice elevated puncheon boardwalk.

A few miles later, we stopped for an early lunch break at Canary Pond.

It was a great little spot, and all three of us went for a swim in the deep, clear lake.

Jim pointing to a turtle in the water.

I finished drying off, and we had a nice stroll down overgrown trail. Eventually the forest opened up, and we crossed a large meadow. There were many old signs of beaver activity.

This tree was huge, and we stopped for a few minutes trying to figure out what species it was.

The trail improved, and we even saw a trail maintainer working on installing more markers.

At the end of the day, we arrived to an area called “white house”, where a swingbridge crosses the Sacandaga River.

The West Branch Sacandaga River was still flowing after a dry summer.

We stopped to look for good fishing spots.

After searching for a campsite on the far side of the bridge, we crossed back to the south side and setup camp. What a great spot!

We went for another swim, this time the water was colder so it was a quick swim. After dinner, we had a nice mini campfire and a tasty distilled beverage. A great day!