Canoe Tripping: Lows Lake

It seems to me canoe tripping is a bit mellow and boring for most skier types.  Blazing along at 3mph on flat water and carrying the boat and gear between lakes and ponds can almost seem like work.

The advantage, I've found, much like skiing in the backcountry is being able to go and stay places that normally would be difficult to get to by hiking (mainly because of water obstructions).  In the winter the water becomes frozen and if you can bear the wind, the canoe paths become open for skis.  I often prefer the shelter of the wooded areas though.  Anyway, the appeal of such travel is going to really beautiful and remote places where motors are not allowed, and in a much more pleasant way than carrying a backpack.  That is not to say that backpacking doesn't have it's merits, there are certainly many places to go with a pack on one's back where a canoe would be impractical, but the relative lack of views, bug and mud, and strain of walking with a pack can be more than some can handle.  Most people can paddle a boat with a little practice.  Exploration of much of the Northern forests was done using this mode of travel, and one can be quite comfortable doing so.

Lows lake is just such a trip in my mind.  There is one carry to get to the lake.  It is a couple hundred yards at most.  You could carry the kitchen sink and still complete the carry in reasonable time.  This is stark contrast to some other Adirondack canoe trips where the carries can be long and arduous and one wants to pack as light as possible.  I carried 75lbs (my canoe and pack) from St. Regis Pond to Ochre then to Fish Pond twice earlier this season and wondered on every little incline how I could make this easier.  That trips is not for the faint; Lows, however, is for anyone.

What Lows lacks in rugged carries, it makes up for in distance.  It is a long paddle to get out to the lake.  I don't know the exact distance but I've heard 14 miles.  I think it's more like 10, but maybe it is 14 to the outer edges.  A strong paddler can make it with the carry in 2.5 hrs, expect 3 to 4 if you are inexperienced.  That still puts it in the realm of a day trip out and back if you don't want to stay over night.  But the abundance of really nice campsites and open space out there makes it worthwhile to spend a few days.

We did just that on our trip out there this year.  Despite being pretty into canoe tripping myself, I had never been out to Lows.  I had heard about it countless times but had avoided it on the tales I'd heard of long days of horrible wind and waves.  We must have gotten lucky because I didn't not find it bad.  The lake, or rather flow, is quite large and did have some wind, but the voyage there is relatively sheltered.  I'd say Cranberry lake is a much more formidable sea, but I'm sure Lows could get pretty hairy in a storm.

I've been to quite a few lakes, rivers and backcountry ponds within the blue line but I must say, Lows is one of the prettiest I've seen.  Naked and rugged cliffs rise from the sides and in the distance, sandy bluffs line the islands of the lake which lead to shallow, sandy beaches that make for good wading or swimming.  The bogs themselves are quite scenic, but are best viewed from the ridges that line the river.  Hitchens overlook on Lows Ridge and Grass Pond Mountain are two areas that provide views of the area.

I've heard tell of leaches in the lake, in fact, I think they reside in every slow moving water body in the Adirondacks, but I did not see any on Lows or Hitchens Pond.  This is stark contrast to say St. Regis Pond in the canoe area where I pulled 3 leaches off the bottom of my boat at one landing and saw many, many more swimming the waters.  I've yet to get one myself, but it seems they are more abundant in certain areas than others.  On to more pleasant life forms...

The Bog River area is home to abundant wildlife.  One of the most popular is the bald eagle.  I happened to see one sitting on a log, munching a fish on Hitchens Pond.  I'd seen them before but this was a unique experience.  As we paddled away toward the river, the eagle left it's perch on the log and flew over us and landed near us in some reeds.  We were treated to being able to observe it again poking around on the shoreline.

Besides the eagle I saw less popular forms of life.  On Lows Ridge I saw a red fox, who scampered up one of the cliffs until he saw me and then promptly scampered back down into a small patch of trees clinging to the rock.  That fox certainly had no fear of heights!  I also happened to hear, and then see, a hummingbird when I was sitting at camp one afternoon.  It isn't often I see them not at a human feeder.  This one must have been combing the shoreline for wild flowers when I happened to hear the buzz and spot him.

Other less popular but more exciting encounters include bears.  I did not see one but the area around the lake is very active with bear and many reports come from the Boy Scout camp which lies on the north side of the lake near where it joins the river.  Others come from people who camp there frequently.  I brought a bear canister to protect my food.  Anything else that was tainted with smells was tied high in a tree.  I didn't take any chances with a bear ravaging my camp at night.  I never heard anything, but it is a big area... and there are probably easier targets than my food at the other campsites.

As for other details, we were quite lucky on our little voyage.  We had near perfect weather the whole time and the full moon.  My camera is not very good and I found it hard to try to shoot.

This is just after I saw the fox on the ridge.  If you google Lows Ridge you are likely to see this same view minus the dude in the green shirt.



The first is from site 5 on Hitchens, where we stayed the first night to aid climbing Lows Ridge.  It didn't take long and we could have moved on, but it was a nice spot.



I recommend site 20 if you can get it.  It has a nice sandy beach and lots of flat tent spots.  Site 18 across the water is very nice too.



And here is the moon on Lows:



If you have two or three days free, and a boat - go out.  You won't be disappointed.  If you don't have a boat, rent one in Tupper Lake and go.  You won't be disappointed.  It's a popular area and the parking is sparse, so be prepared to wander to find a place to park and camp.

If you like to rock climb, look up Grass Pond Mtn and go.  It you like wildlife, go.  If you like the Adirondacks, go.

If I could recommend one trip to introduce someone to canoe tripping in the park, it would be this.  I'm disappointed I didn't go sooner.

It looks pretty cool... I'm going to break out the Nat Geo maps and check it out this evening.

You might be interested in this as well... maybe not for the first time out, but I hear it's some nice climbing.

http://www.adirondackrock.com/GrassPond_2010.pdf

Silver Lake Mountain's cliffs may have you thinking as well although I think they may be on private land.  Just the view of them was enough for me.  They look like castle spires.

It all sounds good to me. I'd never get bored of seeking out lakes in the adirondacks to spend nice summer days on, without even worrying about rock climbing. I'd hoped to do a canoe trip on the Racquette but it didn't work out. Fortunately I may have something in the works for Lake George would combine canoeing and climbing... tough to beat that! I kind of want to step out of work to buy some maps now.....


I can't wait for ADK Rock 2.0.... more pretty pictures!

I'll assume you haven't checked this out:

http://www.canoeoutfitters.com/trip-planning/routes

A good short list.

The paddler's map:

http://www.canoeoutfitters.com/store/maps-guidebooks/adirondack-paddlers-map

is worth it's weight in gold mainly because it marks legal campsites.  There are a few that are not there or out of date but it's very, very accurate for the most part.  Knowing where the carries are helps too.

The lows map I linked earlier shows all the sites out there.  It's kind of like Stillwater in that regard.  It's big and it has lots of sites.  No motor boats though.

Pretty much anywhere in St. Regis Canoe Area and Saranac Lakes Wild Forest are nice too.  There are a ton of different loops one can do through there.  I've done them so much I can blast through most as a day trip (which is way easier on the carries), but it's fun to stay at remote pond for a night.

My trip for next year up there is:

1st day: Park the car at the Long Pond lot and launch at Floodwood by the base. Floodwood, Fish Creek, Fish Creek Ponds, and Upper Saranac Lake. Stay the night on Upper Saranac.

2nd day: Upper Saranac, Hatchery Brook, Little Clear Pond, St. Regis Pond, Little Long Pond, Bear Pond, Bog Pond, Upper St. Regis Pond, Spitfire and camp out there somewhere.

3rd day: Back to St. Regis Pond via same route.

4th day: St. Regis, Ochre Pond, Mud Pond, Fish Pond. Camp at Fish Pond

5th day: Fish Pond, Little Fish, Little Long Pond, Nellie Pond, Long Pond. Camp at Long Pond.

6th day: Back to car in the morning.

I loves me some pond hopping.

Nice report. I love to ski and I love canoe tripping. For me, skiing is about speed and canoe tripping is about slowing down. We need both.

Sick Bird Rider wrote

Nice report. I love to ski and I love canoe tripping. For me, skiing is about speed and canoe tripping is about slowing down. We need both.

Well put. There's something magical about being on calm remote water and no noise. Being under-sail is also very charming.

Thanks for the TR.

I should add one thing:

I was attacked by the worst swarm of stable flies on the Bog River.  Bring some heavy bug dope!

If you don't know what a stable fly is, you don't want to... but if you ever spend any significant time in a canoe in the wilderness, you will find out.  They look like house flies, but they bite like a SOB.  They are also very crafty.  They'll hide in the boat with you and attack when you are not looking, usually on your ankles or hands, where it is hard to swat them.  These are also the areas where the bug spray wears off the quickest.  Douse yourself good in those areas, and reapply frequently, or be at their mercy!

I think at one point I estimated there were at least 12 taking alternately turns biting me on my hands or ankles.  The second worse spot I've encountered them is Lake Lila, which is just to the south of Lows Lake.

Is that what they're called ? Those lil buggers are fast and Ouch! Their bite hurts almost as much as a Deer Fly except Deer Flies are slow and stupid so you can easily make them pay with their lives. Stable flies will not only bite you but they then laugh at you as you repeatedly swat yourself in a vain attempt to kill them.

" Watch me make this fool hit himself. HAHAHAHA! " . Bite. Swat. Bite. Swat.... Nothing is more embarrassing.

My defense and oh so enjoyable revenge is a spray bottle of Avon Skin So Soft. When they land on my ankle, I spray them. The bug goes all " AAAAAH!" and soon leaves me alone. I love spraying those lil @#$%%^^ !

WTH! Bugs must work in concert. I think they're conspiring against me.

A cricket just appeared on my living room floor. These can be very annoying at 3 am when they start their loud chirping. I once had one in my basement that caused me to make many a late night trip downstairs to eradicate the sleep disturber. More than once I was down there.... " Where are you you lil @#$### ? ". For weeks he got the better of me.

So today there I was, repeatedly stomping the floor like I was at a barn dance hoedown as the wily cricket leapt out of danger. Around the room we went do-si-do-ing until I finally got him !

To me, bugs are almost as bad as Squirrels. Squirrels and I have a long running feud. They always mess with me in the most extraordinary ways.....Don't even get me started on Squirrels.

If anyone cares I've found out the distance from the Lower Dam to the Upper is 3 miles and the distance from the Upper Dam to the Boy Scout Camp is 4.5 miles.