Hiking NY: Backpacking Around Cranberry Lake

Last week I headed out with two friends for a 40 mile backpacking loop in upstate NY around Cranberry Lake in the Adirondack Region. We parked and started at noon in Wanakena heading counter clockwise. (An alternate and longer loop adds about 10 miles at this point on the High Falls trail to make the Cranberry 50, however we did not do those). We aimed for a campsite along the lake about 10 miles in and all was well until around a mile from the site it started pouring rain! So we made it to the site around 5pm with wet feet.

It stopped raining just long enough to set up our tents, but started up again while cooking dinner and did not stop until the morning. Despite the mud, the site was nice with a creek-fed pipe giving us all the water we could want. We listened to the loons on the lake overnight.

 We were happy to be greeted with the sun as we started out early the next morning, it almost made us forget our wet shoes! Our goal for this day was about 12 miles to the next camp site on the other side of the lake. We crossed over creeks, beaver dams, and thru many forested areas.

There was another chance of rain this night, but we were elated to make it to the next site with sunshine AND a beautiful view of the lake. We had stumps for chairs, and a rocky beach. We all immediately took our nasty shoes and socks off to dry out for the first time that day. We then hung a clothesline and dried out all of our sleep gear and set up the tents to dry as well.

The rain held off that night, however as soon as we hit the trail in the morning it started up again (getting our nice dry feet all wet once again) and followed us ALL day until the late afternoon.

The goal for day 3 was about 15 miles to the last campsite before ending and halfway thru that was a road walk in the town of Cranberry Lake. We happily took a long break inside a small convenience store for lunch and rest. By this time my feet were very sore and my poor wet skin was starting to blister and tear. I bandaged them up the best I could but nothing really sticks in wet socks.

As we made our way out of town onto the last stretch of trail we all agreed that instead of saving the last 5 miles for the next morning, we would just pound them out since we had the daylight to finish. The next campsite would definitely be wet, and there would be no drying out for the next day. So if we already had wet feet, why not just finish?

So we began the death march and man were my dogs singing! As fresh blisters developed and tore open I had to stop occasionally to retape and bandage them so I didn't limp so much. The trail was painfully uneven with roots and rocks just enough to twist your ankle if you didn't pay attention. Everything was wet and muddy, and when the sun finally showed its face around 3pm we were happy at least to not be finishing in the rain.

After endless miles we finally made it back to our starting point of Wanakena and boy if your car isn't the most welcome sight after a long hike!!!! I was very thankfully to have thought ahead and brought clean dry clothes for the long ride home and I quickly took my nasty shoes and socks off then changed clothes. I felt halfway human enough to hit the road and forage for some gas and a hotdog to sustain me for the 4hr drive home.

All in all it was a decent loop but I don't prefer road walking or going thru towns. It would be pleasant to section hike or stay in specific sites overnight that were scenic. I'm sure it would have been much more enjoyable had the rain stayed away. Wet shoes are hard to come back from on a multiday hike. Day 3 we knocked out about 17 miles which is my new daily record with a full backpack for a total of approx 40 miles and 3600ft gain in 3d/2n.