Tim & Nancy's 2011 Kayaking Adventures: Tuesday August 23, 2011 Long Pond to Paul Smiths College

This was our 2nd kayaking trip of our vacation. We missed the trip on Monday as we were in Greenwich for the house inspection on Megan's home that she is purchasing. On Monday night the "planning meeting" took place to determine the paddle on Tuesday.

The Planning Session


We started at the bottom and worked our way up to Paul Smiths

On Tuesday morning we were dropped off at the boat launch for Long Pond. We got the boats ready while Tim & Doug drove to Paul Smith's College to leave a vehicle there for our one way trip.


Megan at the launch at Upper St. Regis Lake

We headed out for our multi-lake trip. The weather was uncertain, so we were prepared with spray skirts and raincoats. There was an island straight ahead of us. It looked so pretty.

The first Island we came across

We headed off to the left edge of Upper St. Regis Lake. We saw some beautiful homes on this Lake. They were so unique and different from each other. This home had logs for the roof rafters and split logs for trim. In my opinion, it was very "adirondack-style".

Logs for trim and rafters

Just another pretty house

We paddled to the former home of Marjorie Merriweather Post, founder of General Foods. She has quite an autobiography. Her home, Camp Topridge is where she lived with her 2nd husband E.F. Hutton. She considered it a "rustic retreat". there were 68 buildings, with butlers and 207 acres. Topridge is located between The Spectacle Ponds and Upper St. Regis lake. The property was left to the state of New York. Much of the property and buildings were sold and a portion was left to the Adirondack Forest Preserve. The lakeside buildings are currently owned by Harlan Crow,Texas Real Estate.

1st Boathouse at Topridge

2nd Boathouse at Topridge

The front view of the 2nd Boathouse


Close-up of the inside walls and windows

We paddled through a small pass and headed for Rabbit Island. You can read more about Rabbit Island on Google search: Edward Livingston Trudeau. I was unable to post the actual link. The island is Posted - No Trespassing.

After Rabbit Island we paddled in Spitfire Lake. There were more beautiful homes and Boat houses all over these lakes. Many were very unique.


There is a name, Rutjies Camp, woven into the top of the arch

Cruising by

We saw loons along the way. Megan had a lot of fun with them. We were very entertained.

Loons

We paddled into Lower St. Regis Lake and headed for Paul Smiths College where we would get out. The view of the campus was very nice. There was a fire pit on the shore. It must be nice to sit by a campfire with a view of the lake.