Browns Tract to Long Lake DEC boat launch

[Ventoracing]

Getting ready to do the Browns Tract to Long Lake boat launch section Fri Jun 3rd – Sun Jun 5th. I’m actually going to launch out of Forked Lake Campground, go backwards to Browns Tract, turn around and follow the trail to Long Lake boat launch and then back track again to Forked Lakes campground….

Anything I need to be aware of on this section that is not already covered in the through paddlers books? Anything I haven’t considered that would make doing a round trip impossible?

The only thing that concerns me is finding unoccupied campsites on Raquette Lake/Forked Lake on a Friday and Sat night… perhaps these lakes are not as busy as I’m thinking they are…

Michael

[Chris Gill]

You should be prepared for black flies and mosquitos but mostly black flies, especially on the carries. Doing this section from east to west is going to mean you will be headed into the prevailing winds so be prepared especially on Raquette Lake. It’s peak bug season and kids are not out of school so you’ll have a better chance of finding open sites.

Have a great time.

@Ventoracing 430 wrote:

Getting ready to do the Browns Tract to Long Lake boat launch section Fri Jun 3rd – Sun Jun 5th. I’m actually going to launch out of Forked Lake Campground, go backwards to Browns Tract, turn around and follow the trail to Long Lake boat launch and then back track again to Forked Lakes campground….

Anything I need to be aware of on this section that is not already covered in the through paddlers books? Anything I haven’t considered that would make doing a round trip impossible?

The only thing that concerns me is finding unoccupied campsites on Raquette Lake/Forked Lake on a Friday and Sat night… perhaps these lakes are not as busy as I’m thinking they are…

Michael

[Ventoracing]

Well, my 3 day-2 night trip from Raquette Lake to Long Lake was a complete success.

I drove up Fri morning and parked my car at the Forked Lake DEC campground (Cost for 2 night parking = $16, Knowing you car will be there when you return = priceless). I proceeded backwards from Forked Lake to Raquette under a beautiful sunny sky and almost no wind. Easily completed the Forked Lake to Raqueete Lake carry (very wheelable) and headed down Raquette Lake to Browns Tract. To my mind, Browns Tract is the highlight of this section but boy are those switchbacks and beaver dams exhausting! I returned to Raquette Lake and spent the night in a Lean-to on Big Island. Total miles for the day was 17.8.

Saturday I was up and on the water at 7am, again, under a clear blue sky with no wind. 🙂 I headed this time in the “correct” direction up Raquette Lake, repeated the Raquette Lake to Forked Lake carry, and pulled back into the Forked Lake campground at around lunch time. After lunch i headed out on the 1.3 mile carry to the Pinebrook Lean-to. This is also a very easy wheelable carry. Back on the Raquette River until the take-out around Buttermilk Falls. The Falls are beautiful but the short 0.1 mile carry is not wheelable, so that meant unpacking the boat and making two trips once with the gear, and one with the boat. Here my Hidden River universal kayak yoke was indispensable. Back on the river for too short a time and its again time to carry around some shallow rapids. This second Deerland carry is also not wheelable and much longer than the carry around Buttermilk Falls. Once you make it to the Deerland Lean-to you can put in on Long Lake. From there i proceeded to past Oven Point to a lean-to on an unnamed island and enjoyed a gorgeous sunset. Total mileage for the day was 26.3.

Sunday saw me waking to a heavy rain and I got to do the Deerland, Buttermilk Falls and Forked Lake carries again in reverse…. these difficult carries are even more unpleasant in a driving rain… I was back to my care at Forked Lake Campground by lunch. Total miles for the day was 12.4 miles.

With ~48 hours on the trail i was able to cover 56.5 miles. Counting my previous 2 day trip from Old Forge to Eighth lake and back, i have now completed everything on NFCT map #1 TWICE!

On to map #2….

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