Planning for Fall Camping – the Adirondacks with RICKA

RICKA has been running its annual Adirondacks trip for as long as I can remember. Each year, 20 to 30 RICKA members and friends gather to enjoy a week of base-camping and paddling on the beautiful lakes and streams of the Adirondacks.

I've only done one trip to the Adirondacks, and it wasn't the RICKA trip. I did the section of the Northern Forest Canoe Trail from Long Lake to Saranac Village back in 2012. The Adirondacks are great, but with family obligations and limited vacation time, the RICKA trip never made it to the top of my list of things to do when I was working. Now that I'm now retired, I am excited to be able to join the RICKA trip this year. 

My trip will have two parts – 4-days (Friday to Monday) tripping on the Oswegatchie River with Aaron and Dan, and then 5-days (Monday to Saturday) base camping at Lake Eaton Campground and doing day trips with Bill and the RICKA crew.

Oswegatchie River

The Oswegatchie trip will be up-and-back from Inlet to High Falls – about 22 miles round trip. The river meanders through the Five Ponds Wilderness Area - a massive state forest that contains one of the largest stands of old-growth forest in the Northeast.

There are 34 primitive campsites and several lean-tos along this 11-mile stretch, so there should be plenty of campsites to choose from. Depending how things go, we will probably spend our first night at High Rock (sites 45-46), and our second and third nights at High Falls (sites 12-18).  

On our lay-over day we can either paddle up the river above High Falls, or hike over to Cat Mountain, which has great views of Cranberry Lake and the surrounding wilderness. The hiking route is 8.6-miles round trip on the Plains Trail to the Cowhorn Junction Trail to the Cat Mountain Trail.

On Monday, we will paddle back from High Falls to Inlet. Aaron will head home, and Dan and I will head to Lake Eaton Campground to meet the RICKA crew.

Day Trips from Lake Eaton

At Lake Eaton, I’ll be sharing a campsite and paddling with Bill. We'll be paddling my Spirit II. I haven’t done a lot of base-camping, so I needed to upgrade some of my gear. I got a new base-camping tent, a cot, a large and small folding camping table, and a 16’ x 12’ tarp. It is amazing how much this stuff can cost, so I tried to go with reasonably priced options.

In terms of trips, there are lots to choose from. Here are some of the trips that RICKA has done in the past:

• Raquette Lake
• Forked Lake
• Little Tupper Pond
• Bog River-Lowes Lake
• Rich Lake
• Upper Saranac Lake
• Middle Saranac Lake (Upper Locks and Hungry Bay-Weller Pond)
• Second Pond (Lower Locks-Oseetah-Kiwassa)
• Lower Saranac Lake
• Raquette River (Axton Landing to The Crusher, Axton Landing to Raquette Falls, Axton Landing to Stony Creek Pond, Crusher to Tupper Lake)
• Long Lake
• Round Lake
• Rollins Pond
• Lewey Lake–Miami River

I did sections of Long Lake, the Raquette River, Stoney Creek and the Saranac Lakes on the NFCT trip, so I will probably skip those.  Bog River-Lowes Lake, Round Lake and Lewey Lake–Miami River are on the list.  

There are also three beautiful lakes the RICKA hasn't done yet:

• Lake Lila
• Boreas Ponds
• Henderson Lake

All three have great views of the mountains, but involve portages and long drives down dirt roads. I'm up for a little adventure.  

Looks like we may get some rain in the middle of the week – hopefully the forecast will improve.

Links: 
Lake Eaton Campground
Five Ponds Wilderness
Five Ponds Wilderness map
Five Ponds West Map (GeoPDF)
Five Ponds East Map (Geo PDF)
Suggested trips from St Regis Canoe Outfitters

Pawcatuck - Bradford to Potter Hill - August 29, 2026

Portaging the Bradford Fish Weirs

For the past few years I have been leading a late summer trip on the Pawcatuck River from Bradford to Potter Hill - about 7.5 miles. It is a section of the river that holds its water well, so this is a good time of year to do it. Bill agreed to do the run with me tandem.  

The Pawcatuck River arises at Worden Pond in South Kingstown and flows southwest for 34-miles to Westerly where it flows into Little Narragansett Bay on Long Island Sound. Along with the Beaver, Queen - Usquepaug, Wood, Chipuxet, Shunock and Green Fall - Ashaway, the Pawcatuck received Wild and Scenic River status in 2019.

Below the Bradford Fish Weirs

Perhaps nowhere in Rhode Island has river restoration and dam removal been more active than on the Pawcatuck River. In 2010, the Lower Shannock Falls Dam was removed and replaced with a short rapid. In 2013, a fish weir was built below the Kenyon Dam. In 2016, the White Rock Dam was removed. In 2017, a fish weir was built below the Bradford Dam. Combined with fish ladders at Potter Hill and Upper Shannock Falls, the removal and modification of these dams has opened up the 34-miles of the Pawcatuck River to migratory fish, and improved paddling on the river considerably.

I scouted out the river on Thursday to check on water levels and access to the portage trail around the Bradford Fish Weirs. The water level was fine - 2-feet 90 cfs on the Wood River Juntion gage. We could have bumped our way down the Bradford Fish Weirs, but I decided to bring the Spirit II and portage. The portage trail was blocked with weeds and tall grass, so I used my paddled to chop open the path, and gave myself a good blister in the process.

Polly Coon Bridge

I met Bill at the commuter lot off Route 117 in Warwick at around 9:15. We arrived at the put-in at Bradford Landing at round 10:00 and the rest of the group was already there. We had 10 paddlers in 9 boats – 2 canoes and 7 kayaks. We ran the shuttle down to the take-out at Potter Hill. Parking is available at Post Office Landing – a DEM boat launch across the street from the take-out that is down a dirt road that looks like someone’s driveway. At least they have put a sign up now.

We got on the water at around 11:00. It is a short trip down to the portage at the fish weirs. We worked together to get everyone's boat down the portage trail and back on the water.  

Take-out at Potter Hill

After the Bradford Fish Weirs, the river twists and turns through conservation land owned by the Westerly Land Trust and Hopkinton Land Trust. We passed under the Polly Coon Footbridge and continued downstream to the beach off Narragansett Way where we stopped for lunch.

Below Route 3 there is more development as the river meanders through marshland formed by the deadwater of the Potter Hill Dam. The take out is on the Westerly side of the river just above the Potter Hill Road Bridge at the Whiteley Preserve - a Westerly Land Trust property. We loaded up our boats and Bob was nice enough to get Sharon, Bill and I back to Bradford to pick up out cars.

Me and Bill in the Spirit II

Links:

My Pictures
Wood River Junction Gage

Slatersville - August 26, 2026

The last Blackstone Valley Paddle Club trip of the 2026 year was last night at Slatersville. I paddled tandem with Danny in his Spirit II, but unfortunately deleted the pictures on my camera. I did get this shot of the group at Uncle Ronnie's on my phone. Next year will be our 27th year.

Paddling in Wellfleet - August 15-22, 2026

Heading out from the cottage in a light wind

We just finished up a week-long vacation in Wellfleet on Indian Neck Beach. There are several great paddling location nearby, but I only got out twice due to tides and weather. When paddling in the cape's protected bays and salt marshes you need to get out at around high tide since the water retreats significantly at low tide exposing huge mudflats. You also need to be careful about the the wind since it can change quickly and kick up significant chop. I also like to paddle early in the morning so I have time with the family later in the day. Getting all three of these to align turned out to be a challenge. I did get out twice - Wellfleet Harbor and Great Island and Blackfish Creek.

Blackfish Creek - August 20, 2026

View to Great Island

Conditions were perfect this morning to get out and paddle – light winds and tide just going out. It was my second time paddling this vacation (the first was Wellfleet Harbor and Great Island), and I decided to head south from the cottage to Blackfish Creek.

The Blackfish Creek is named for pilot whales, known locally as "blackfish". Even before Wellfleet sent whaling ships into the North Atlantic, local residents were “shore whaling”. Blackfish Creek was one of the places that whale carcasses were brought ashore for “trying” – the process of stripping and boiling the blubber.

Lieutenant Island Bridge

I launched from the Barton Baker Beach Access (Michelle got some pictures) and headed south along Indian Neck Beach. The views over to Great Island were amazing.

There are three coves off Blackfish Creek – Paine Hollow, Drummer Cove and Loagy Bay. I got confused and rather than paddling down Blackfish Creek to Drummer Cove as I intended, I paddled down Loagy Bay. Along the western shore is Lieutenant Island and the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary. I made it down as far as the Lieutenant Island Bridge before paddling back.

Back at the cottage

Links:

My Pictures
Michelle’s Pictures – Launching at Burton Baker Beach Access

Where to Paddle in Wellfleet

Paddling the Cape Cod National Seashore

Wellfleet Harbor and Great Island - Auguast 18, 2026

Cottage at Indian Neck Beach

We are renting a cottage on Indian Neck Beach in Wellfleet this week. The good news is that there are several great paddling locations just outside my door. The bad news is that the wind and tides have been conspiring against me when it comes to paddling.

Paddling here is very dependent on the tides. At low tide, the water retreats significantly dropping by 8-10 feet and exposing huge mudflats. While Wellfleet Bay is protected by Great Island to the east, a southwest wind (typical many mornings and most afternoons) can kick up significant chop in the bay.

Boats in Wellfleet Harbor

Since I am paddling alone, I’m pretty particular about where and when I paddle. I'd prefer to launch early in the morning, in light winds and around high tide so I will have a couple of hours of paddling before water recedes. I woke up yesterday to near perfect conditions – tide just going out and light winds from the east, so I decided to explore Wellfleet Harbor and Great Island.

I launched from the public beach access at Burton Baker and headed north along Indian Neck Beach. After rounding the breakwater I headed into Wellfleet Harbor. In the 18th and 19th centuries, Wellfleet was home to a large whaling and fishing fleet. As tourism grew in the 1870’s a dike and railroad bridge were constructed across Duck Creek, which cut off much of Wellfleet’s inner harbor. As the inner harbor silted up and turned into salt marshes, commercial fishing moved out leaving Wellfleet to become a quiet seaside town.

Chequessett Point and Great Island

Today, Wellfleet Harbor is filled with small recreational boats. I paddled around the harbor, past the pier, along Mayo Beach and past Chequessett Point to Great Island.

Great Island is no longer an island but rather part of the 6-mile barrier beach that separates Cape Cod Bay from Wellfleet Bay. The peninsula incudes two former islands (Great Island and Great Beach Hill), two salt marshes (the Gut and Middle Meadow Marsh), and a narrow sand spit at the end called Jeremy Point.

Middle Meadow Marsh and Great Beach Island

As I paddled past the towering cliffs of Great Island I could see seals feeding just off shore. I landed at the bottom of Great Beach Hill at Middle Meadow Marsh to check out the cliffs and the salt marsh. Unfortunately, there was no clear path across the marsh to the Cape Cod Bay side. The wind was starting to pick up so I decided to head back.

My original plan was retrace my route along Great Island, Chequessett Point and Mayo Beach before crossing the bay. When I got to the bottom of Great Island I got confused and started the crossing. It ended up being a crossing of about a mile rather than a quarter mile, but it cut two miles off the trip. I made it across fine.

Sandbar at Middle Meadow Marsh with
the cliffs of Great Hill Island in the distance

Links: 

My Pictures

Where to Paddle in Wellfleet

Paddling the Cape Cod National Seashore

Snow Peak Amenity Dome Medium

Two openings in the vestibule

Now that I am retired, I will finally be able to join the RICKA Adirondacks trip. I’ll be canoe-camping for 3 nights with Aaron on the Oswegatchie River, and then join Bill and the RICKA crew for day-trips based out of Lake Eaton Campground.

I dug out the old Eureka Mountain Pass 3XTE that I usually use for base-camping and found that the plastic windows in the fly had degraded and cracked. It's nothing that can't be fixed with duck tape, but it wasn’t quite as big as I wanted, so I decided to look for a new base-camping tent.

View from the front

I wanted a tent with a full fly, plenty of interior room for a cot or large air mattress and a large vestibule to get out of the rain. I ended up with the Snow Peak Amenity Dome Medium. Since it was a discontinued model the price was right.

The Snow Peak Amenity Dome Medium is a 3-season, 4-person, Japanese-style tent that trades some interior standing room for durability in challenging weather. Spec’s are:

• Fly including Vestibule: 16.6' x 9.2’
• Sleeping Tent: 8.8’ x 8.8’
• Peak Height: 4.9’

Front flap set up as an awning

The packed size is 29" x 9.8" x 8.7" in its carrying case with a total weight of 19.6 lbs. It’s a big tent that takes up a lot of room in the canoe and the campsite.

While most car-camping tents prioritize stand-up ceiling height, this Japanese-style tent is intentionally built low to the ground to survive severe wind and heavy rain. The tent is divided into two distinct zones – a sleeping area and a front vestibule or “porch”. The front vestibule extends the length of the fly by 7.8 ft and can be used as an outdoor kitchen, lounge, gear garage, or a dry entryway during downpours.

All closed up

The front vestibule can be opened from a large front flap or zippered side panel. This allows you to close off the side facing the wind or rain while keeping the other side open for ventilation. The front flap can also be set up with poles to become an awning.

I also bought an 8’ x 8’ ground cloth, a cot and small folding table to put inside. I think it is going to work out fine.

Plenty of room inside with a twin-size air mattress

Links:

My Pictures

Snow Peak Amenity Dome

My Tents