Two nights in the rainy, cold St. Regis Canoe Area, ADKs

In mid-October I made a two night trip to the St. Regis Canoe Area in cold, rainy, windy conditions. It was a Type 2 fun trip... the kind where you question your sanity while suffering, then once home warm and dry, you think "hey that was fun, let's do it again".

Here are a few shots.


The leanto on St. Regis Pond


Snug and dry under the roof!


Cloud shrouded St. Regis Mountain beyond the shoreline.


Scouting Grass Pond as a potential late night arrival destination; it's a very short portage from Little Clear Pond (an St. Regis Canoe Area entry lake):


Paddling out on Little Clear Lake which is a NY fisheries hatchery for land locked salmon. No fishing (although the Ospreys here eat well!) and no camping on it's shorelines.

Very nice, really liked the photos, little trips in the autumn are good to remember later in the cold dark months of winter.

Nice tr, pictures too, you never know. My favorite,



Well, this one too,

Glad that you got out and thanks for the TR & pics. Type 2 fun is usually my norm.

Nice photos. Your trip reminds me of my August trip to Ontario - after 3 nice days we had 3 days of wind, rain and 50 degrees temps while wind bound on a small island.

Robin said:

Nice tr, pictures too, you never know. My favorite,

View attachment 143961

Well, this one too,
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Thanks Robin. I rather like that pack & paddle picture also. Even though there weren’t any other folks out during my trip, I still like to keep my gear partway into the woods, out of the landing area for any carry/portage, to avoid having some clod come along and trip over or step on my paddles. Only thing I don’t like about this picture is an aesthetic one… I prefer the look of single board paddles, but that right hand paddle was one that I made from leftover Ash gunwale stock and the shaft offcuts from a Cherry paddle I made. Thing is that it’s a super paddle to use so it comes along in spite of being a bit ‘modern’ looking!

I really like that pic of the pack, and the other of your canoe, parked. Clamshell, Fish, Little Fish, Lydia, Little Long, and Kit Fox are my favorite part of the Wilderness... very few people.

I was up there around then too... but having pulled a tendon, I elected to stay on the Hoel/Turtle/Slang/Long stretch and not do the Hoel-Turtle-Clamshell-Fish portage route... I did two nights, 10-11 OCT, with an option to come out and go elsewhere for the 12th... I barely got off Hoel Pond intact (shipped 2" of water in my little Nessmuk XL) on the 12th, and the wind was just too much as I passed each put in on my alternate location (headed down Hwy 30 into Tupper Lake... Green, Follensby Clear, and Fish Creek put-ins were all 'surf'), so I headed for a slightly longer visit with my brother and parents.

Hoel Pond at takeout... never again in that much chop with that canoe. (The tailwind was nice though... just too much wind.)


My best picture, from the one clear sunny day, up Long Pond Mountain...

Like your canvas bag and paddles very nice. Thanks for the TR

Thanks for the reports and pictures, Patrick and Seeker.

Great pics!

I was up in the Hoel/Slang stretch in September, and made use of campsite recommendations from @Patrick Corry on another CT thread (thanks!).

A memorable type 2 fun trip in Sept 2019 was likewise to St Regis Pond. We had 2 nights and 3 days. Day 2 we were windbound on St Regis Pond. Night 2 and morning 3 had rain coming in the tent and us huddling under a pine waiting for the rain to abate enough to eat breakfast. I learned the importance of (not having) a tarp that trip. But we had enough layers, so paddling out in steady rain was actually a lovely experience, with the knowledge that hypothermia wasn't an issue and there were warm dry cloths in the car and a hot shower and real bed coming that night. Paddling in the rain, if you're not cold and you're not camping that night, is really quite pleasant.

As long as your gear stays dry and you have a tent, tarp and the ability to make a fire, you can still look forward to being warm and dry in the evening. Paddling in the rain may or may not be unpleasant depending on other weather conditions, but the knowledge that you will end up being warm and dry at the end of the day really helps with morale.

Seeker said:

I really like that pic of the pack, and the other of your canoe, parked. Clamshell, Fish, Little Fish, Lydia, Little Long, and Kit Fox are my favorite part of the Wilderness... very few people.

I was up there around then too... but having pulled a tendon, I elected to stay on the Hoel/Turtle/Slang/Long stretch and not do the Hoel-Turtle-Clamshell-Fish portage route... I did two nights, 10-11 OCT, with an option to come out and go elsewhere for the 12th... I barely got off Hoel Pond intact (shipped 2" of water in my little Nessmuk XL) on the 12th, and the wind was just too much as I passed each put in on my alternate location (headed down Hwy 30 into Tupper Lake... Green, Follensby Clear, and Fish Creek put-ins were all 'surf'), so I headed for a slightly longer visit with my brother and parents.

Hoel Pond at takeout... never again in that much chop with that canoe. (The tailwind was nice though... just too much)

Click to expand...

Seeker, I was at Hoel that same crazy windy day with two others! We had done the carry from Polliwog Pond, and finished around 11:30, intending on heading toward Turtle (We were doing a loop trip). We were pretty bummed seeing that wind and decided to wait it out. Two and a half hours later, I saw maybe 50-60% less whitecaps and the breakers on shore seemed a little smaller, so we went for it. Fortunately wasn't too much of a battle into the wind. I bet you had a wild ride south from Turtle!

Thanks for the TR, Patrick C, great pics.

-rs