Adirondacks backpacking

[Hikingjim]

I'm looking for some suggestions for a short backpack in the adirondacks (anywhere). Some criteria:
- i'm with my wife, and she doesn't like persistent very technical terrain. a lot of elevation change is fine
- 20-50 miles
- will be early august, but starting on a wednesday.... so crowds shouldn't be as terrible as a weekend

thanks!

[nsherry61]

The Cranberry 50 is a pretty decent route in a less heavily traveled area. Not as spectacular as the High Peaks area, but beautiful with fewer rules and fewer people and more ponds and beaver dams.

[Slo-go'en]

Part of the Northville - Lake Placid trail might do. Looks like about 35-40 miles from Lake Placid to the first road crossing at RT28N. The trail basically follows a river. A whole slew of Adirondack shelters along the route.

The high peaks area is busy all the time, midweek or not. Everyone makes a bee line for the High Peaks. It can be a zoo.

[ADK Walker]

I'd second the Cranberry Loop 50. Did it last year in August over four days. Had a great time. Saw only 6 other people on the trail which was nice. We started in Wanakena and went counter clock wise. The trail is pretty easy to follow and there are some incredible campsites along the way.

[cmoulder]

I did the CL 50 a couple of years ago on Labor Day weekend and met NO other backpackers for the entire trip. I went clockwise from Peavine Swamp and got the road walk (thru town of Cranberry Lake and down to the main campground) out of the way first. Pretty wet loop, esp some areas between High Falls and Wanakena, but totally worth it.

Some great campsites, but Dog Pond ain't one of 'em, IMO. However, Olmstead Pond was IMO one of the best ever:

Olmstead Pond, Adirondacks_SMALL_02.jpg

[ADK Walker]

Definitely a wet trail in places. I seem to remember Dog pod as being pretty cool. Was that the one with a lean to and a small boat?

[cmoulder]

No lean to at Dog Pond, unless I missed it. And none at High Falls... I think there was one there that has been removed. Not a problem for me as I don't use shelters, but I find that all shelters in the Daks are, in general, very well maintained.

[ADK Walker]

I seem to recall a lean to at High Falls in 2017. Either way its a great trail to get away and really enjoy yourself. Very little cell coverage over 85% of the trail which was nice actually as our group wasn't glued to their phones (me included).

Some notes I can pass along:

Bring a filter system that allows the water/particles to settle before passing through a filter. Gravity type set ups work really well.

The view from Cat mountain is amazing. Huge flat ledge up top that is just perfect for hanging out on. Did have some verizon service here in 2017.

The road walk isn't that bad if you have an ice cream cone in your hand.

The Cranberry Lake state campground is a great place to stage your trip from if your driving any distance to reach the trail. The campground supervisor was a huge help and really went out of her way to take care of us.

There are some incredible camp sites on the northeast arm of Cranberry Lake on the CL 50 trail.

Bring a fishing rod.

Bring a paper map.

The Log of Doom is actually pretty fun even though there is a new trail routed around it now.

Register your hike and get the patch!

[cmoulder]

Ok this link indicates TWO lean-to shelters at High Falls, so clearly my memory is faulty on this... happens when you don't use shelters!

I did Cat Mtn as well but it was overcast so the views were limited (lake was totally obscured), though still worth the side trip and it isn't difficult.

And I didn't know they called it the Log of Doom but I know exactly what you're talking about. Wouldn't want to fall into what appears to be the muckiest swamp on the planet!

[ADK Walker]

I also heard there were two Lean-to's but they are on opposite sides of the river as I understand it. Used mainly by those paddling the river.

[nsherry61]

. . . I didn't know they called it the Log of Doom but I know exactly what you're talking about. . .

That log, I'm sure we are all talking about the same one, is definitely one of my most vivid memories of our Cranberry Lake trip. It was awesome. In our case, the log was a couple inches under water for the first 10 or 20 feet of the crossing. We walked right past the log and got lost for 20 minutes or so in pouring down rain, in a maze of hurd paths going nowhere. Then, I pulled out the map one more time where I was sure we lost the real trail and I saw the opening to the trail on the other side of the swamp, then, looked down into the water and saw the log. We were already soaked, so wading across the log, although a bit unnerving, was yet one more step in our wet adventure.

Yeah, plan on hiking in wet feet for at least a few miles of the trail as you walk along sunken logs and/or flooded beaver damns.

cranberry 50 sunken log.jpg

[ADK Walker]

That's the log!

[cmoulder]

That log, I'm sure we are all talking about the same one, is definitely one of my most vivid memories of our Cranberry Lake trip. It was awesome. In our case, the log was a couple inches under water for the first 10 or 20 feet of the crossing. We walked right past the log and got lost for 20 minutes or so in pouring down rain, in a maze of hurd paths going nowhere. Then, I pulled out the map one more time where I was sure we lost the real trail and I saw the opening to the trail on the other side of the swamp, then, looked down into the water and saw the log. We were already soaked, so wading across the log, although a bit unnerving, was yet one more step in our wet adventure.
Yeah, plan on hiking in wet feet for at least a few miles of the trail as you walk along sunken logs and/or flooded beaver damns.

cranberry 50 sunken log.jpg

You know, that's crazy because we did the same thing... the main path appeared to continue straight past the swamp and we wrestled through some tangled blowdowns into another mushy area and floundered around for a while. Went back to the last confirmed marker a couple of times before spotting the blaze on the tree facing the swamp!

[Slo-go'en]

With all the rain that area is getting, better bring the hip boots!