The final ⅓ rd of the October trip

It is easy to forget how cold and dark that mid-October tends to be. More hours in darkness then light, plus it’s been fairly windy since the front came through on Monday then Tuesday was drizzle.

Another day of taking camp down, and setting up on the other side of Tupper Lake in St. Regis Canoe Area or the Saranac Lake Wild Forest. 🛶 Despite having my kayak, with the cold breeze and low water temperatures, I don’t know if I’ll ever find the time or desire to put it on water. Sometimes October paddles can be quite desirable but not when it’s 40 degrees and the wind is blowing.

Most of this trip has turned out to be wake up in the dark, smoke some grass, hop on my bike and ride to whatever suits my fancy without much of a plan, snapping photos and making observation on the land. 📸 Heading back to camp, cooking dinner and some nights having a fire. At least the fire risk is low though I wasn’t happy to see someone had left a rip roaring fire with a big bed of coals on the other side of Horseshoe Lake. I should have tried to put it out but I didn’t have a shovel or bucket and it was like 2 or 3 miles away from camp. But not good. Things are a lot damper then they’ve been but it’s been a dry autumn.

I was up early this morning as I awoke and said I want coffee ☕ and pancakes with the remaining cranberries I had plus some carrot fiber to make them soft. Served with some Greek yogurt. I still have a bit of milk left but I’m going to try to drink that this morning, and mid-day get to the store in Tupper Lake, get eggs and milk as I’m out of that, maybe some rice and certain to be absurdly expensive bananas 🍌. Rural grocery stores kind of suck but there is no Wally World in over 75 miles of here.

Going to watch the sun rise on Horseshoe Lake, then pack up camp and try to be on the road by around 9 AM. ☀️ Bump-bump-bump, go easy along NY 421 so I don’t break something on big-jacked up truck, as I want this final “big” adventure to go smoothly with Red. Still only have used a half tank of gas, because it’s been a straight shot up here, bar driving through Mason Lake/Perkins Clearing area last Friday looking for a site, and idlign the truck a little bit on Tuesday and Wednesday nights to ensure I kept the starting battery 🔋 healthy with the cold and relatively lack of sunshine. But other then that, I’ve ridden everywhere around camp on my bike.

Once I find a campsite that I can camp in Red with, then I will get things set up this afternoon and if I’m close enough to the Adirondack Rail Trail, ride that for a few hours. 🚲 Then another cold and dark night, followed by hopefully somewhat warmer weather tomorrow and Saturday, which I might actually do some paddling. Sunday, I want to head out fairly early, especially if it is going to rain, head home, get unpacked and out to visit my parents house. 🏡 Then the next few weeks I don’t have anything planned until probably Veterans Day Weekend, that is if I take off November 10th and make it a four-day weekend, probably spent at Stoney Pond State Forest in Nelson/Cazenovia. Always a lot of neat little parks to explore that way, and I like seeing the agricultural landscape, 🚜 even if it is a bit pungent with the manuring that time of year. Or maybe just stay at the Charles Baker Horse Camp 🐴 if I want to ride the Erie Canalway between Utica and Rome, the one section between Albany and Syracuse I’ve never done before.