In part that's because before the former Whitney lands were added to the Forest Preserve the area was heavily logged and these forests will need another 50 years to recover their full stature. On top of that there's the issue of distance. Bum Pond, the closest of the destinations reached by trail, is over five miles from the trailhead and the other ponds you might want to visit require round trips in the 15 to 17 mile range.
But now I had a reason to go (which I'll get to in a minute). So, starting at the Burn Road parking area on the Sabitis Road, I set off for Hardigan Pond south of Little Tupper Lake. The Burn Road trail follows what was previously a well built logging road and its' purpose is to get you to the southern end of Little Tupper lake (which despite the name is six miles long). After about five miles on the Burn Road trail you reach the first of the side trails that can be taken to reach Bum Pond, Lilypad Pond, Rock Pond, and Hardigan Pond. You can also access the shore of Little Tupper itself at several points along the way.
My motivation for walking this route on a beautiful Sunday in July was rain. The preceding weeks had been exceptionally rainy, even by Adirondack standards, and trails everywhere were flooded and muddy. I knew that Charley Pond Stream, the only substantial stream in the first five mile stretch along the Burn Road, was spanned by a substantial bridge. With streams running at spring flood levels throughout the Adirondacks I figured the Burn Road would be relatively dry. Turns out, this was only partially true. On this particular weekend, the Adirondacks were soaked.
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| Charley Pond Stream just below the bridge on the Burn Road. The water on this day (7/2/2017) was exceptionally high following two weeks of heavy rains. |
The bridge over Charley Pond Stream is just under four miles from the trailhead and a mile past the bridge the trail reaches the first junction. This side trail (also following what was once a gravel road) heads east toward Bum Pond and the former site of Bliss Camp on the south shore of Little Tupper Lake. The junction is marked by an ancient sign post with a homemade sign on which someone has written "Bliss", with an arrow pointing the way. Given that this is the only destination in the area likely to get any traffic, I should have realized that this might not be a good omen.
My intended destination was Hardigan Pond; a trek of 8.5 miles (each way). That's about my distance limit but old roads usually provide easier walking and, if conditions were good, I figured I could make it (and still be able to walk back out). But the extremely wet conditions posed challenges even on this relatively dry route. The first of which was a large beaver pond just two miles in. The pond covered an extended section of the trail and the rains had swelled the pond out into the forest in all directions. The terrain at the spot the beaver selected is particularly rough and rocky, and getting around the flooded area led me through a dense spruce thicket and I still got my feet wet crossing a large a marshy area. And this little detour ate up a lot of time.
Bum Pond, in the William C. Whitney Wilderness just south of Little Tupper Lake.
A mile past the Bum Pond/Bliss Camp junction the trail reaches a junction with the single DEC sign I spotted anywhere along this route. The sign pointed the way towards Rock Pond and Hardigan Pond and I knew that the route straight ahead continued on to Lillypad Pond. I headed towards Hardigan and, from that point on, there were no signs or trail markers. There was also no indications that anyone goes this way. Following the old road through the wooded sections was easy enough but at one large clearing brambles and weeds had filled in to the point that I was unsure which of the three old roads leaving the far side of the clearing was the actual trail. And I picked the wrong one. After a half mile I realized that I was heading in the wrong direction and turned back. Backtracking to the clearing, and coming at it from that alternate direction, the main route was obvious. Beginners mistake.
By now it was too late to make Hardigan Pond but there was one more complicating factor. Have you ever seen a movie from Siberia or Alaska with people surrounded by a cloud of mosquitoes? It was now early afternoon, and quite warm, and I must have been the tastiest creature to come this way in a while. Even drenched in deet the mosquitoes were attacking in waves and were way past being just annoying. It was time to head back.
Along the way I took the one mile side trip to Bum pond and the Bliss Camp site, and both are worth a visit. Resting and enjoying a swim in Little Tupper made the five+ miles back along the Burn Road much more enjoyable.
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| Bum Pond southwest of Little Tupper Lake. |
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| Little Tupper Lake from the former Bliss Camp landing. Back in the 60s and 70s Bliss Camp was an in-holding in the Whitney property and a substantial "camp" (private home) was located at this spot. Later, a hunting and fishing club had a camp here as well. The buildings are long gone and, other than some open areas rapidly filling in with small trees and early successional growth you wouldn't know that buildings were once located here. |
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| A small pool along the Burn Road was filled to the brim and based on the population of large polliwogs the local frog population will soon be greatly increased. I had stopped to try to get a picture of a snapping turtle that I noticed sitting on this submerged log, but the turtle spooked and all I could get were the soon to be frogs. |
Eastern BlueBirds (nesting)
Cedar Waxwings
Ravens
Yellow Bellied Sapsuckers
Turkey Vulture
Great Blue Heron
White Crowned Sparrows
Ruffed Grouse
And of course Blue Jays, thrushes and other ubiquitous species
Footnotes:
Locals refer to this as the Burn Road but the DEC calls this the Lillypad Pond Trail.
