Round Lake: Enter the Boreal Core

The Adirondack Atlas refers to it as the 'boreal core'. No hard boundaries define this region and you'd be hard pressed to name the characteristics that make it distinct. The presence of boreal species and assemblages is certainly part of it, but it's also weather patterns and the glacial landscape dotted with lakes, streams and swamps. Lots and lots of swamps. For me it's the just feel of the place. Traveling west out of Long Lake you enter a landscape that feels different from areas to the east and south. The eastern Adirondacks can lay claim to the scenery but the core has the wildness.

Recent additions to the Forest Preserve make it easier than ever to enjoy that wildness. From the Adirondack Hotel in Long Lake it's barely 20 minutes to the first canoe put-in for the William C. Whitney/Round Lake Wilderness. There is a ranger station and canoe put-in for Little Tupper Lake at the old Whitney Industries Headquarters (with lots of parking) but you can also put your canoe in the water right along the road where you first come to Little Tupper Lake (there is good parking). From there you can head downstream following the flow into Round Lake or cross under the bridge into Little Tupper. From our base in Long Lake Elle and I were able to take advantage of this easy access on successive days over the long 4th of July weekend.

Round Lake is a large lake; 750 acres, but it is overshadowed by its' even larger neighbors; Little Tupper and Lake Lila. Perhaps this is why we saw only a smattering of people over the course of our two visits. Or maybe it was the black flies and mosquitoes. There's no shortage of either of those species.

The great boreal forests of Canada reach a southern limit in the Adirondacks. Vast amounts of water and long cold winters are necessary to produce the conditions in which boreal species thrive.

One of the small islands on Round Lake. Like the others, this island is wind swept and fragile.

Pitcher Plants in one of the many bogs and swamps that ring the lake.

The lake is home to multiple pairs of loons. We also spotted a Bald Eagle soaring overhead, a Cooper's Hawk (most likely ID) Cedar Waxwings and other common Adirondack species.  

What we used to call a Kodachrome moment.

I think this is Pickerelweed (Pontederia cordata).

Whatcha lookin at?
Dragon Flies are apparently attracted to pink. We know for sure that Black Flies are. Ellie's sweater seemed to collect them like a magnet.

You can just make out the dam on the outlet of Round Lake outlet. Click the picture to see the full size image. The dam comes in from the right (I'll try to get a better picture next time). The concrete dam is apparently just remnant of the original structure. My Dad worked on Whitney Park in the late 50s and early 60s and he tells me that at that time there were mechanisms to control the water level and a second wooden dam designed by Bert Stanton (my great uncle). The wooden dam is gone, and the concrete is eroding, but the remaining structure still raises the water level of Round Lake and of Little Tupper Lake. Looks like it raises the water level by only a couple of feet but, given the size of these two lakes, that's still a lot of water.

The Round Lake dam in an image captured from Google Earth. This view from downstream shows the remnant dam clearly coming into the flow from the left and you can see that the dam has been breached (intentionally???). The block of concrete seen in this image is the same one that you just make out in my photo (above). This image is from May of 2013 (according to the Google Earth metadata) at a time when the water level was well below the top of the concrete. My photo from July 6, 2015 was taken following a month of heavy rains and the water level in Round Lake was just an inch or so below the top of the concrete dam; a couple of feet higher than when this satellite image was made. That fits with what we had seen elsewhere on the lake. We already knew that Round Lake was just an inch or two below the high water marks visible on exposed rocks.  

Another image of the dam from Google Earth. 

A Busy Summer of Hikes and Water Trips - Kayaderosseras Creek and Cedar River Flow

One of the worst things you can do with a blog is to allow months to go by without posting anything new. That, unfortunately, is exactly what I've done. It's not that I've lost interest in the projects described in earlier posts. It's that summers are short in this neck of the woods and I've been getting out a lot. Many of those outings have been related to the project (at least that's what I tell myself) but some have been just for fun. This leaves less time for writing then I have in the winter (winter is coming!). But setting this aside, I'll return with a a recap of a couple of recent outings.

For starters I purchased a small kayak. Elle and I have a canoe but it's a two person boat and I often end up going solo. It's an inexpensive kayak -a Perception Sport- great for noodling around. I've been out on Cedar River Flow, the Hudson River and the Kayaderosseras Creek. It's not a boat I'd use for whitewater or on a big lake if the wind was blowing but it's great for low-key day trips.

A point worth noting is the need to clean your boat before moving it among different bodies of water. My first outings in the kayak were on the Kayaderosseras Creek -a lowland creek in Saratoga County. I then put the boat on the Cedar River Flow in the central Adirondacks. To prevent the inadvertent spread of aquatic invasive species I cleaned the kayak thoroughly between those outings. New York State now requires that boats be cleaned before entry into many bodies of water and the State has created an enforcement and education program. You can learn more about it here. Take this seriously. There are several aquatic invasives that, once they gain a foothold, cause immense damage and are nearly impossible to get rid. Keeping them out is the only real solution.

A family of Common Mergansers on the Kayaderosseras Creek near Grey's Crossing (early July 2014). Severe bank erosion is common along the lower Kayaderosseras. Also common are invasive plants such as Japanese Knotweed. A local group --Friends of the Kayaderosseras-- are attempting to control the spread of Knotweed. A couple of methods have been tried but Knotweed is really really hard to kill. A recent post to the group's website details plans to simply cut the Knotweed down repeatedly until its' root energy stores are exhausted (or they are).

Issues aside, the Kayaderosseras from Grey's Crossing to Saratoga Lake has a surprisingly wild feel. Bird life is abundant and at appropriate water levels it's a fun, easy, paddle.  

The Driscoll Road launch site. The water level pictured here is ideal for a relaxed float downstream with enough flow that you don't have to get out and pull through shallow sections. Care is needed during wet weather. The Kayaderossas drains a large watershed and it can rise quickly to levels that are much less relaxed. For several miles below Grey's Crossing the route pass through Saratoga Spa State Park (on one or both sides). The site pictured here is an official launch site on state land with Parking on Driscoll Road. This site requires some effort to get down to the water and a carry of a couple of hundred yards from the parking lot but otherwise this is a good put in or take out point.  

Japanese Knotweed (Fallopia japonica) on the bank of the Kayaderosseras Creek.  

Cedar River Flow

Cedar River Flow is large lake formed by a dam on the Cedar River. The main body of the flow is over three miles long with numerous  bays and extensive wild marshes. Boats with motors are allowed but the launch is suitable only for boats you can carry or wheel to the water by hand (limiting the size of both the boats and their motors). Mostly it's a canoe and kayak paradise. The far end (the south end) of the Flow features extensive marshes where the Cedar River flow into the lake. You can paddle up the Cedar River for several miles (or many miles for the more determined) and the hardest part is finding the actual river channel through the marsh.

In late June (2014) I watched two Osprey pull fish out of the lake. Osprey are pretty common in the Adirondacks and when you see them they are a large and impressive bird. On this day a Bald Eagle flew in to check out the fishing and I was able to see the Osprey and the Eagle in flight within a couple of hundred yards of each other. From this I learned from that Bald Eagles are really big birds. The Eagle's wingspan is only a little larger than an Osprey but the Eagle is a much larger and heavier bird. In general, Cedar River Flow is a great place to view Adirondack birds. Along with the Osprey and the Eagle there were Loons, Waxwings, an American Bittern, Great Blue Herons, Canada Geese (nesting), Turkey's (on the road in) and many other common birds.

An absolutely gorgeous day. Late June 2014.

Beaver Dam on Payne Brook. A second source of inflow into Cedar River Flow

At the upper end of the lake I navigated up a narrow channel thinking it was the Cedar River. It was a dead end but worth the trip anyway.

The view from a well used (and probably illegal) camping spot that sits on a small knoll above the Cedar River.  

Leanto on the Cedar River. About 1.5 miles upstream from where the river flows into the lake. 

The river past the leanto leads deeper into the Moose River Plains. The "plains" are a glacial out wash zone characterized by sandy soils and relatively raw glacial features. The Cedar River has a mostly sandy bottom and it cuts through small ridges where only a foot or two of top soil overlay extensive deposits of sand and gravel.