Participants: David, Dean, Jeffrey, Josh, Scott II, Adults: George-SM, Scott-ASM/Lifeguard
Troop 53 returned to the Fulton Chain for another 50 miler in August 2003.
Below is a brief description of our float plan.Day 1
We drove to Old Forge, NY where we parked cars, packed our boats, and paddled part of Fourth Lake to our campsite on Alger Island.
Day 2
We paddled all the way from Alger Island through Fourth and Fifth Lakes to the Inlet Carry along Rt.28 to the dam at 6th lake. After lunch we paddled on towards Seventh Lake. When we reached the end of Seventh Lake, we setup camp at Eighth Lake State Campground.
Day 3
After breaking camp we set sail across Eighth lake to the Brown's Tract Carry. Brown's Tract was a 1.3 mile carry over flat terrain. We did it with empty boats and it was much easier this time (we bought portage carts!). The carry led us to Brown's Tract, some of the most remote waters on the trip. After over an hour of twisting through the switchbacks of this remote and natural swamp, we landed at Raquette Lake Village where we resupplied at the General Store. (remember the one pound Cheeseburgers and mashed potatoes?)
Day 4
We explored a remote feeder stream of Raquette Lake by canoeing about a mile and a half inland to some waterfalls. We swam and cooled off for a while. Dean lost his watch and Josh lost a wad of money there in the water, but it was worth it!
Day 5
We paddled across Raquette Lake to the Marion River. This river led to a short carry into Utowana Lake. The state campsite was filled, so we camped on the private island just beyond that was marked "Camp at your own risk". I think some horror movies started out this way, but we did just fine there. David picked up a leech on his foot, but was able to remove it without much hassle.
Day 6
Our last day of paddling took us out of Utowana Lake onto Eagle Lake and Blue Mountain Lake, where we ended our trip. This portion was extremely beautiful. We swam at the village beach, then departed for Nick's Lake State Park, where we camped for 2 days.
Finale
From Nick's Lake, we took 2 day trips. The first was to Old Forge's Enchanted Forest, the best waterpark in NY. The second was to the Adirondack Museum, a must see for anyone going near here. George's friend from college met up with us and enjoyed a Fried Chicken dinner- along with the Galins and Hosiers, who joined us for some family camping.
Summary
The trip was a great success. "Where's Bill?", "Paddle, Jeffrey, Paddle!", "Move faster.", "Dunk your Junk!", "Dean, did you put your sunblock on?", and "Mr. Bain, why is my skin all red?"