JmurrayAthletics

Day one started easy enough with a 3 hour drive to New York States’ third largest lake, driving from the most south point of the Adirondacks to one of its most north points.

If needed there are two places along the way with hiking supplies. Northville, NY has two little general stores plus a Tops, and in Speculator, NY there is a general store called Charlie Johns where everything needed can be found.

We started at the Cranberry Lake boat launch, and began our hike clock-wise around the lake. For the first 2 miles we walked through the town of Clifton until we hit the first off-road trail head.

Getting through the first few miles on the trail weren’t too bad. While the area was filled with marshes and swamps, the trails had fresh wood to walk over. The hardest part may have been the rolling hills which never seemed to stop!

While the scenic beauty and vastness of the place was liberating for the mind, we really didn’t see anything overly spectacular on the first day. Little did I know, this was a good warm-up for the big two pushes ahead on Day 2 + 3.

Finishing our day at the northern shore of east inlet, we pitched our tents in a campsite right by the shore. Fortunately there had been a log placed there years earlier, perfect for sitting and soaking your feet in the crystal clear waters!

Mile breakdown:
-Boat Launch > East connector via RT.3 2.0 miles
-East Connector Trail 1.0 miles 3.0 miles
-Bear Mountain 1.2 miles 4.2 miles
-Burnt Bridge Pond 1.6 miles 5.8 miles
– Dog Pond Trail 3.0 miles 8.8 miles