Northville-Lake Placid Trail

[dirtbag]

Ive done my research over the last few years. Have and studied maps, guidebooks, read what books were available,  searched the internet extensively,  watched YouTube videos and listened to Podcasts. So Yes I have done my homework about the Northville Lake Placid trail and it has been on my list of longer distance hikes to start off with for a bunch of years now.. and I think this year, September 2022 I am going to try to make it happen, 138 miles, hiking North from Lake Placid  to South in Northville, over 8 days total. That will include driving about 7 or 8 hours each way on day 1 and day 8… So, im posting here asking if anyone here has thru hiked this trail, or section hiked it and if so, if you have any information that could be of interest to me or helpful. I do plan on no resupply,  so I will be carrying 8 days food with me in my Bearikade Blazer. I know that is not necessary, but that is how I want to do this trip.. so anyone with some tips or advice???

[David Hartley]

I have thru-hiked it twice and also hiked southern and northern sections of the trail many times as part of longer hikes that added other trails. The first thru was a solo hike in 2014 and the second thru was with my brother two years ago. Both thru hikes I/we resupplied in Piseco and Long Lake. Lots of info on the web these days so I doubt I can tell you anything new you don’t already know.

On my solo hike I used a custom bearikade. I hate hanging bear bags when solo. I can hike longer into the evening without worrying about that particular camp chore. In recent years I have switched to the ursack when solo. With my brother we did a bear hang every night. Outside of the eastern high peaks I have never had a bear in camp in the Adirondacks. We did scare one out of a tree just before Spruce Lake. I had thought they were going to require bear cans in the western high peaks section, but I did not think that was in effect yet.

September is a great time of year for this hike – most years in September will see a few nights with lows in the 20s. Both my thru hikes were in the middle of the month. On my first thru there was lots of rain and two nights in the 20s. On the hike with my brother we had 3 nights in the high 20s and then one night dipped into the high teens – our water bottles froze solid. But last year in mid-September we were up in the 5-ponds wilderness area and the night time lows were in the low to mid 60s – that was unusual though. Another cool thing about September is how fast the leaves change – leaves were pretty green at the start, but by the time we got to the Cold River area there were reds and oranges present.

I love this hike. The scenery is sublime. I like the open beaver meadows the best. I am sure you have read about the section just past the Carry Lean-To on the Cedar River that is flooded by beavers? When I hiked with my brother 2 years ago it was only ankle deep mostly – but watch out for the tops of the old nails from the rotted submerged boardwalk sections.

When I hiked it solo in 2014 I saw only a few other people on the whole trip – on 4 days I did not see another person and when I got Lake Placid at the end it was very quiet – had no trouble getting a hotel and a table in a restaurant. The experience two years ago was very different – we saw other hikers most days and when we got to placid it was a zoo – had trouble getting a hotel and had to wait an hour to get a table at a restaurant. I hope you get a bit less crowded experience.

[dirtbag]

Thankyou!  I love hearing first hand from someone who has actually completed it. How many days did you do it in?

[David Hartley]

I/we took our time on both hikes – 11 days the first time and 12 the second. The trail is not particularly challenging – other than some mud and blow-down, but many of the camping and lean-to locations are too good to miss. We slept in, had leisurely mornings, and were relaxing at beautiful back country lakes sipping cognac* and listening to loons by 4 pm most afternoons. But I understand that not everyone can take that time – I have thought about maybe trying a shorter trip the next time.

* In addition to resupplying food at the post offices, when I hiked with my brother we started with 750 ml of cognac and I left a stash of cognac in the woods where the trail comes out on the cedar river road just before wakely dam.

A few other random thoughts in no particular order:

– Favorite campsites or lean-tos: Canary Pond (tent), Spruce Lake #3, West Lake #1, Cedar Lake #2 (also called Beaver Pond), Plumley’s #2, Seward

– Favorite sections of trail: Cold River (I liked the lakes in the west canada lakes wilderness but the trail itself can be pretty muddy there)

– Least favorite section of trail: Just north of Duck Hole – trail is a mess for a while, lots of encroaching brush. The trail is extremely well marked – except there was a spot in this section near a drainage where it gets confusing

– I had wet feet pretty much through-out – plenty of mud (I had to soak my shoes in baking soda and hydrogen peroxide afterwards to get the stench out)

Few things beat the sound of a loon on a quiet clear evening echoing over a glass smooth back country Adirondack lake.

[dirtbag]

Awesome Awesome Awesome!  Perfect info, its the little personal things I like to hear and learn about!

[Steve Thompson]

I solo’d in October 2016.  7 nights, 8 full days of hiking.  No resupply and I carried an ursack to handle the overflow of my bear can the first few days.

Past peak color, but the leaf fall coating the trails was a beautiful mosaic.  It rained everyday.  I carried an umbrella as I do out west, totally useless with the overgrowth and over story.  Poncho worked well however.

Temps ranged from 20’s at night to low 80’s on a couple of days.  After a good rain should the sun break out it can get steamy pretty quick.

I also learned to embrace wet feet. A couple times a day I would just stand in a moving creek to rinse my shoes and I carried breadsacks to protect my dry socks when I wanted to wonder about while in camp.

Used lean to’s after the first night.  And should you be camped near a lake, when the temps are right, the fog rising in the early morning light is hypnotizing.

[dirtbag]

7 nights, 8 days.. That’s my plan!  Will be packing all my food in my Bearikade Blazer, so I should be just fine with that. Depending on the temps mid-late September, I am, as of now, planning on using my MLD Spirit 28 quilt. That can definitely change depending on the temps as I approach. Wet feet I have embraced plenty of times and I do plan on expecting wet feet throughout this trip for most of its entirety. I don’t plan on sleeping in any lean to unless absolutely necessary,  otherwise it will be my tarp and bivy. Depending on weather for the week, I will last minute decide eVent bivy or Superlight bivy. Either way I am fine. Thank you for adding to this with your experience!!!

[David Hartley]

Lows in mid to late September can be anywhere from 20s to 50s (and a dip into the high teens or even a warm low of 60 is not impossible as we found out). You won’t know what you are going to get until just before the trip. I typically use the forecast for Blue Mountain Lake for my Adirondack planning because it is higher elevation than Long Lake. The Spirit 28 would be a 40 degree quilt for me, but I sleep cold. From your various adventures that you have posted here I assume you are a warm sleeper. With that and your planned pace a synthetic quilt might be good choice. The Adirondacks have a habit of serving up several days of cool temps and sustained rain, followed by a day with no rain but high humidity where the mist clings to the hills and mountains, followed by the lid coming off with a clear cold night – with no chance to dry out a down sleeping bag for days. Although you may need to be ready to supplement the quilt with a puffy some nights.

As far as tarping it – just an FYI, not all of the primitive tent sites shown on the NPT ADK chapter’s interactive map really exist – two that I can think of are the one shown at West Lake and just north of there the one at Mud Lake. There are probably areas where you could tent near West Lake, but Mud Lake (the Mud Lake in West Canada Lakes Wilderness) – good luck – the trees and forest cover are just too dense there.

Finding good tenting locations can be tricky. Going south to north, from memory – here are a few more ideas:

– There are tent sites at Woods Lake, but it is also close to a road, and given your planned pace you will blow right by there on Day 1.

– There is also good tent camping on the old spur to upper Benson (cross the bridge over west stony creek and back track along the creek a few hundred yards) – this is about 19.5 miles from the Northville start.

– There is also good tent camping (if not entirely level) on Rock lake at around 22.4 miles from the start

– I think there is a spot near Silver Lake Lean-to that isn’t bad

– Canary Pond is great for tenting

– There are tent sites near the bridge at Whitehouse over the West Brand of the Sacandaga River (an old girl scout camp) – there is one just to the left before the bridge, after crossing there are sites on the trail up to Big Eddy (it splits off of the NPT 0.4 miles after the bridge)

– There is a tent site just after crossing the bridge over Hamilton Lake stream and there is also an area near the Hamilton Lake Stream lean-to that is reasonable.

– There are good tent sites near the bridge over the outlet to Buckhorn Lake. Just after the bridge turn left and walk towards Deadmans Vly.

– At the end of Haskell Rd, just as it turns back to trail, in Piseco there is a guy that lets people tent in his yard – you can’t miss it – signs, a picnic table, and axe throwing area.

– Heading up into the West Canada Lakes Wilderness there are good sites at the Fall Stream crossing and again at the Jessup River crossing.

– There is a nice area at Spruce Lake 2 near the lake where the lean-to used to be and again I think there may be an area near Spruce Lake 3.

– Into the West Canada Lakes proper it can be slim pickings. I think there is a site near the Cedar Lake 2 Lean-to to the left the trail

– Don’t plan on tenting near the Carry Lean-to – nothing good there

– There is a site along the Cedar River flow

– There are sites at Wakely Dam – sure there are drive up sites there, but cross the dam and head to the right between the big rocks and walk along the flow – there are a couple of good tent sites there

– There are a couple of good tenting areas near the Stephens Pond lean-to

– There are multiple tenting areas near the Tirrell Pond Lean-to, one just before the lean-to along the lake, and multiple sites toward the beach area from the lean-to

– There is a good site just to the left after crossing the Salmon River, after that there are not really good spots until after crossing 28N near Long Lake

– The Catlin Bay Lean-to area is a small city of heavily impacted camping spots with many side trails – popular with boaters, but often deserted in September during the week. There are also some areas that could be tented at near Plumley’s 2.

– The tent site at Shattuck Clearing is getting pretty overgrown. There is a picnic table there that I think has finally rotted to being collapsed.

– The terrain along the Cold River is generally not favorable to tenting – nothing at Seward. There is however a marked tent site on the right just past the Ouluska Lean-to.

– I have not seen them – but I think there may be a marked site near Duck Hole.

– There is definitely a good tent site just before the Moose Pond Lean-to, and there are marked sites near Wanika falls

– The last good location is a marked site after Wanika Falls on the left just after a creek crossing

Not that not all of these sites are DEC legal (marked with a camp here disk or 150 ft. from water and trail) but they are all impacted sites with fire rings (and many appear on the NY DEC interactive map)

You could also wander off trail and try and find your own spot – but that can be pretty challenging with the terrain and density of undergrowth.

[James Marco]

Yeah, I have done that trail 14 times in total, several times in blown camping trips, and the northern sections, twice as much.

I usually do it solo. I always hang my food. (I have had more bear encounters on trail than after my food.) I always use the lean-to’s. I carry an emergency tarp in case they are full. I use plenty of DEET as needed, day and night. The NPT is relatively tame these days. 15 years ago things were different. I have pushed my trail days further into fall and earlier in spring to avoid crowds. When I started the trail, I ran into three hikers the whole trail. Last year, I got 10 days of rain and still met four or more hikers per DAY.  Anyway, be prepared for company at any lean-to. As a member of Lean3Rescue, most of the lean-to’s are in good shape or have been rebuilt recently, as in the past 5 years.
I have gotten so I don’t take the main trail out of Duck Hole. Rather I cross down stream from there at Cold River 1 & 2 and take the horse trail down to Long Lake. Much quieter. David Hartley pretty much summed up the camp/tent spots. He missed Ouluska Lean t0 that has some good tent sites. The guy at the end of Haskel Rd has sold the property, do not camp there. There is a good facebook site for info at https://www.facebook.com/groups/110755895608272   You do have to join, though. Several others I know about, but, at your pace, you would be better off asking at the Facebook group. I have done it both ways multiple times, but, it changes, every year.

 

 

[David Hartley]

“He missed Ouluska Lean t0 that has some good tent sites.” – I didn’t miss it – it’s in the bullet that mentions the cold river and the Seward lean-to. However I did miss the site near the dam at the top of Cedar Lake.

The increasing crowds are also something I have noticed. I am hoping as things gradually normalize post-pandemic it will ease up a bit.

[James Marco]

Sorry David, missed that reading it…

 

[David Hartley]

Slightly off the NPT topic – how did you find the horse trail – OK to follow? It is definitely on our list.

To avoid the crowds we have also been hiking different shaped routes that incorporate pieces of the NPT with the western high peaks loop (Calkins Brook trail and Ward Brook truck trail), coming in from Long Lake (Tarbell Rd.), or the NPT from Placid, or via Preston Ponds trail to the NPT (from Upper Works), or for a real walk on the remote side – Moose Pond Stream trail from Newcomb Lake.

[James Marco]

Well, 5-6 years ago, Lean2Rescue offered to help clear the trail, soo, I headed up there in early spring. I couldn’t really follow the trail all the way, but I did a survey of the lean-tos at Moose Pond Stream and the The Northern Lean-tos. Turns out, I was alone, so not a lot of work got done, but I cleared a lot of scrub along the trail.I did NOT have anything more than my Svensaw, so anything over a couple inches stayed, but, I cleared out the bridge just north of Moose Pond Stream campsite and about a 1/2 mile in either direction from the Northern Lean-tos. The bigger stuff was left, of course. The crew was supposed to be helicoptered in to Duck Hole, but they never made it. So the last 2-3 miles is very rugged.  There was a LOT of snow that year, so, a lot of the scrubbing went well without being overheated doing the work. Anyway, it is a nice hike with a few streams or good watering holes along the way.
Since then, I have taken that route, north or south. The only caveat is crossing the cold river just outside of Cold River 1 & 2. In high water, it can be dangerous. Coming South, check it before crossing. If it is high, muddy and raging fast, just continue on the NPT. Headed north, I was stuck, soo, I stayed at the Northern Lean-tos a couple days till it was safe to cross. It is only about a 9 mile hike, but very rugged country. I thought it would be better the next day, but I ended up staying a third night. It takes the better part of half a day to make it to the Northern Lean-to’s from Cold River 3 & 4. About a days Hike from Caitlin Bay, even though it is only about 15 miles…again a rugged hike.
I have done the Newcomb to Moose Pond Stream Lean-tos. A rugged hike that is.

 

[dirtbag]

Wow. Thats pretty sweet. Nice that you have done some work out there and you are able to stay a few nights to wait for water levels to drop. That is some leisure I long for. Very impressive!! Thanks again!

[dirtbag]

@David.. thats good intell on the possible “tent sites”.  I will definitely take it all into consideration and make it work. Thanks for that too!

[dirtbag]

Looks like this could be happening for me. Sunday September 11 I plan to head out.. I have had some minor foot pain, 3 weeks ago went to podiatrist and xrays showed peroneal tendinitis in my left foot. I have since stopped my daily 2 – 5 mile runs, been icing it every day 3 times and messaging Diclofenac and Lidocaine on it 3 or 4 times a day.. as well as extra strength tiger balm too! I also have been using a cork ball and rolling out my feet 4 or 5 times a day.  It feels better just about back to normal.. so I am hoping it holds up for this hike. I have 9 days to this, but my goal is 8 days.. 7 would be sweet but that is definitely pushing too much considering day 1 and the last day I have to drive to and from trail, so realistically.. 8 days is my goal. I see plenty of rain in the forcast.. nothing threatening or heavy but as expected for this trail.. My Bearikade Blazer is packed.. tightly with my food and I plan on using my borah gear solo tarp with MLD eVent bivy, and MLD FKT quilt, carrying everything in my ULA Circuit pack. The reason I am using the Circuit is because of the Bearikade Blazer and no resupply of food, it sits nicely in the pack with my minimal gear.. soooo.. hopefully I get this done and hit the NPT.. if for some reason I dont make it out there, I will be upset but understand the trail will be there for another time…

[David Hartley]

I hope you make it dirtbag –  the ADKs are special. Looks like night time temps will be very mild (mostly mid 50s) for this time of year – but it also looks like you could have rain Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. I know you plan to use your bivy and tarp exclusively – but the space and dry floor of an Adirondack Lean-to is awfully nice after hiking in the rain!

I will be up there next week too in the West Canada Lakes wilderness – mostly not on the NPT, but there is a chance I will be around the Cedar Lake to West Lake section Wednesday PM/Thursday AM.

[dirtbag]

I have no qualms about crashing in a lean to.. if its raining and I am tired!! Definitely am not ruling that out at all, again.. depending on my mileage and weather.. I am game.

[dirtbag]

Having done this trail before, with the recent weather conditions and possible rain during the week, what do you think the crossing conditions of West Stony Creek could be?  Is it something I should be heavily considering or should it be passable?? Figure if I do go, I should be reaching that by Next Saturday but most likely Sunday on my last day out…

[David Hartley]

Although its calling for some rain on M, T, and W, only Tuesday is calling for like 0.3 tenths of an inch – the other days just passing showers. Of course that could change. I have not been up there yet this year, but it has been quite dry in our area (south of Rochester) and even after several inches of rain recently creeks are still running pretty low. I suspect by your Saturday/Sunday time frame West Stony will be a fairly easy crossing with lots of visible rocks (but likely not a rock hop – the creek is pretty wide at the crossing point).

 

[David Hartley]

Did you join the Facebook group? I am not on Facebook so I can’t – but it used to be public and usually had fairly good g2 on things like bridges being out, flooded sections, etc.

I assume the section just before the Carry Lean-to is still flooded by Beavers?

Also, last I knew the bridge over Seward Brook just south of the Ouluska lean-to – but it was a fairly easy crossing 2 years ago (probably not in spring though). It may be fixed by now though – I think they had a pile of lumber sitting there ready to go for a work crew.

[dirtbag]

I dont facebook or Instagram.. but thanks for the info..

[David Hartley]

Fun fact – when you pass the Ouluska lean-to you will be – according to the Open Space Institute – close to the most remote location (farthest from a road) in NY State, and I believe the most remote location outside of the Florida Everglades east of the Mississippi river

[James Marco]

I’ve done the trail a few times. I usually take a couple weeks and just mosey from lean-to to lean-to. September is a good time to go, but a bit later would be better, once the leaves are down or mostly down, you can see the countryside much better.

I like you plan to pack everything for the entire trail when you start. Know what you have, how much food, and, how much camping gear you actually need. I hop from lean-to to lean-to so I only carry a 9’x10′ tarp. I have a small piece of painters plastic that doubles as a ground cloth for the rare occasion I sleep on the ground. Food and gear come up to ~23pounds at the trail head for the two weeks I am out.

Anyway, West Stoney Creek will likely be passable. The bottom is all boulders and can be a but problematic with some deeper pot- holes, but you can see where you are walking, mostly. Plant each foot before moving.
In 90% of the cases of stream crossings, I never exceed the height of my mid hikers and get wet feet. Only in heavy 2-3 day rains do my feet get wet. I carry a set of 3oz water shoes for at camp and evenings.
There will not be a lot of bugs right now. Maybe a few deerflies, a few blackflies and mosquitoes, but nothing really bad.Permethrin your cloths, DEET your hair, face and hands…you should be good.
The lean-to’s do have some mice of various types. Don’t leave anything around that smells of food.

Hang your food properly. Lots of black bears around that will raid your food. They seem to be getting more numerous, but it could be a product of the number of hikers on the trail…many more than in 1980. Bear cans are NOT required and weigh an extra 2+ pounds.

Yeah, the section just south of Carry Lean-to is a beaver paradise. I believe they are letting it go till they are forced to reroute the trail to higher ground, soo, it will not get better. Breaking in a new trail is no fun, either. But that would be down the road.

September can be tough finding firewood in a few spots. It has generally been pretty picked over. Bring a good 21″ saw and you should be able to cut up some stuff that was left.

Enjoy the trip!

 

 

 

 

[dirtbag]

Ughh.. looking at the weather reports I am seeing multiple days and nights of rain and thunderstorms.  Normally that would not deter me and I enjoy being out in a good storm.. but seeing as I have 8 days to do this and have to average six 20 mile days, with a not 100% foot.. I am considering pushing it off until October. But then my dilemma will be daylight hours to hike the hi milage!! Aarrgggghh!! I also could wait and see if anything changes over next 2 days.. but I agreed to let my shuttle ride know for sure by this morning..

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