Algonquin Provincial Park, between Welcome and Harry
lakes, photograph by the author.
What
with COVID, and the Canadian/U.S. border being closed for the duration, I’m not
going to get to Algonquin Provincial Park this summer, bummer! But it’s not too late for a fall adventure! So, I’m starting to plan and outfit an adventure
that is both closer to home and doesn’t cross international or state borders.
“I’ve
never planned a wilderness adventure before?”,
you say. Okay, I’ll walk you through
what I do to plan an adventure and later, in “It’s Not Too Late For A Fall
Adventure, Part Two”, coming soon, I will talk about how to outfit your trip
and gather your gear and food.
To
plan a wilderness adventure, first you have to answer these four questions; do
you want to hike or canoe, where do you want to go, how long you do want to
stay and how many people are going, and lastly, when do you want to go.
Question
one, do you want to canoe or hike? Since
my wife and I are planning on going on the adventure together, we decided to go
canoeing, not a hiking, so...
The
second step is deciding where you want to go on your wilderness adventure. These days, with COVID closing the border
between the United States and Canada for unnecessary travel and with some
states quarantining other states, your choices of where to go are a little less
than it might have been, if there wasn’t a pandemic. If you live in in New York State, you could
plan an adventure in New York’s Allegheny State Park or in the Allegheny
National Forest, in Pennsylvania, or in New York State’s Adirondack Park, or in
other areas of Vermont, Pennsylvania or New York1. When planning a canoe trip, in Pennsylvania
or New York, you could plan a trip on the Allegheny River, either starting and
ending within New York’s Allegheny State Park, or the Allegheny National Forest
in Pennsylvania, or you could start in one and end in the other. You could also plan your canoe trip in New
York State’s Adirondack Park.
My wife and I decided, since we have never canoed in the
Adirondacks before, that we would go there.
Mead Run in the Allegheny National Forest, from
Wikimedia, “Mead Run3”, found HERE. To find information on Allegheny National
Park, go HERE.
Long Pond, in the Saint Regis Canoe Area., from
Wikimedia, “Long Pond - St Regis”, found HERE.
You
could go for two days, three or four days, or maybe even a full week or more,
it is all up to you.
How
many is going is also up to you, however, check with the area that you are
going to as they might have restrictions on how many people can be in each camp
site. For example, in Algonquin
Provincial Park you are allowed only nine people per site and the Adirondack
allow only ten people per tent site and eight per lean-to. Also, you should always go with a buddy or
two, and never alone, since in the case of an accident, you are, well, alone
and there is no one to help you! For
more on this see “The Buddy System ©”, HERE.
Fall
is kind of hectic for us, what with back to school and all, so we decided to go
for a three to four-day trip, over a long weekend. Since we were going to the Adirondacks, we
went to Raquette-River Outfitters’ website, which is excellent and full of
route suggestions, HERE,
and then to their three-day trip section, HERE,
before we settled on Lake Lila.
An excerpt from Adirondack Atlas’, “Lake Lila” map found HERE.
Photograph by the author.
The
last step in planning your trip, is to decide when you are going, and for this
step you need to check your personal calendar and decide when you are free.
After
you have decided exactly when you are going, it is time to outfit your
expedition and gather your gear and food.
For more on how to outfit an adventure, look for “It’s Not Too Late For
A Fall Adventure, Part Two, Outfitting ©”, coming soon!
I
hope that you continue to enjoy The Woodsman’s Journal Online and look for me
on YouTube at Bandanaman Productions for other related videos, HERE.
Don’t forget to follow me on both The
Woodsman’s Journal Online, HERE,
and subscribe to BandanaMan Productions on YouTube. If you have questions, as always, feel free
to leave a comment on either site. I
announce new articles on Facebook at Eric Reynolds, on Instagram at
bandanamanaproductions, and on VK at Eric Reynolds, so watch for me.
That
is all for now, and as always, until next time, Happy Trails!
Notes
1 Currently, as of August 21, 2020, New York State’s list of restricted states is:
Sources
Adirondack Atlas, “Lake Lila”, https://adirondackatlas.org/?token=71943e36e7f5dfe92bd4ce1f4ee83fff, accessed August 12, 2020
Collins, Joan; “Canoe Camping on Lovely Lake
Lila”, Hamilton County Dept. of Economic Development & Tourism, https://www.adirondackexperience.com/blog/2014/10/the-lure-of-lovely-lake-lila, accessed August 12, 2020
Editorial Staff, “Featured Waters: Lake Lila
in Long Lake”, The Adirondack Almanack, July 6, 2018, https://www.adirondackalmanack.com/2018/07/featured-waters-lake-lila-in-long-lake.html, accessed August 12, 2020
“Lake Lila”, New York State, Department of
Environmental Conservation, https://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/76408.html,
accessed August 12, 2020
Raquette River Outfitters, “Canoe & Kayak:
Route Suggestions & Trip Planning”, https://raquetteriveroutfitters.com/routes-and-trips/, accessed August 12, 2020
Raquette River Outfitters, “Three Day Canoe
& Kayak Trips”, https://raquetteriveroutfitters.com/routes-and-trips/three-day-trips/, accessed August 12, 2020
United
States Department of Agriculture, Natural Resource Conservation Service,
“Welcome to the Allegheny National Forest!”, https://www.fs.usda.gov/allegheny,
accessed August 12, 2020
Wikimedia,
“Long Pond - St Regis”, July 19, 2006, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Long_Pond_-_St_Regis.jpg,
accessed August 12, 2020
Wikimedia,
“Mead Run3”, May 28, 2006, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mead_Run3.JPG, accessed August 12, 2020
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