GPS Accuracy: Part Two

This is a follow up to my previous post on GPS accuracy. Basically, I returned to the same location --the wading pool in the Roosevelt Baths Quad at Saratoga Spa State Park-- and recorded additional sets of GPS fixes using the Garmin GPSMap 64s and the Garmin eTrex. Image One is a screen capture from Google Earth showing the results. The green markers represent the fixes recorded using the 64s and the red markers were recorded using the eTrex. The red dots represent the actual locations.

Image One: Screen capture from Google Earth. The green markers represent locations recorded by the Garmin GPSMap 64s and the red markers are from the Garmin eTrex Venture HC. The red dots show the points where I stood to record the locations.

My intent, as described in detail in the previous post, is to understand the level of accuracy that can be obtained using inexpensive (less than $300) GPS devices and to determine the factors that affect that accuracy. From that perspective, the average accuracy of the fixes recorded on this visit to the Spa State Park site are similar to those obtained on the previous visit. Slightly better overall, but not substantially different.

The majority of the fixes recorded by both units where within ten feet of the actual and both recorded some fixes within five feet of the actual. Using the criteria discussed in the previous post these are excellent results. My methodology is to record a fix with each unit, walk to the next location and repeat the process. Starting at the upper left I proceeded to the lower left, lower right, and upper right corners of the pool. The green marker labeled 001 was the first fix recorded using the 64s and the red marker labeled 001 was obtained a few seconds later using the eTrex. I made three circuits so there are three markers for each unit at each corner.

On the third circuit I used the location averaging feature available on both devices. When using averaging the GPS device grabs a sequence of fixes at the location and averages those fixes to produce a single fix that should be more accurate. I have not seen a description of the algorithm these devices use to do the averaging, but an educated guess is that the units temporarily store fixes obtained using different sub-sets of the full set of satellites from which the unit is receiving signals. Comparing these trial fixes would allow the unit to drop signals that don't fit well with the others. See the previous post for a discussion of conditions that can reduce GPS accuracy.

To make it easier to see how these results compare I grabbed an additional screen capture showing a closer view of the lower left corner of the pool (the second stop on the circuit). And this brings me right back to the title of the first post; GPS accuracy is not a simple matter. As you can see, the distance from the Green marker 010 to the actual is 1.3 feet as measured using the Google Earth measurement tool. That fix, obtained on the 3rd circuit of the pool using the averaging feature of the 64s, was the most accurate fix obtained by either unit. But the 64s also recorded one of the worst fixes of the day at that same location. The green 002 marker, recorded by the 64s on the first circuit of the pool, is 16 feet away from the actual. That's not terrible but it is the 2nd worst result for either device on any of the three circuits. Given that the second time around the 64s recorded a fix about five feet away from the actual (green 006) it was probably the case that the 002 marker incorporated a signal from a satellite with corrections pending, and that that through off the result.

In summary, the accuracy you obtain using inexpensive GPS devices will almost always be better than the 30 foot level that the manufacturers claim for these devices. And it can be much much better with best case results under five feet. But that level of accuracy requires an understanding of how these devices work and what factors reduce accuracy. To obtain these 'best case' results you should turn your device on several minutes before recording the first fix -this allows your GPS device to download the satellite correction data it needs to make proper use of each satellite. Secondly, use the averaging feature of your GPS if it has one. Or, take several readings at the same location a few seconds apart and do the averaging yourself.

Most important, be skeptical. It may be that the one foot accuracy I got on this go round is a fluke. After all, I didn't see that on my first visit to the same site. Leaving me to wonder, what will the next visit show?

Image Two: Screen capture from Google Earth. The 1.3 feet distance from the actual location to the green marker 010 (third circuit) was most accurate fix by either unit. Confouding that, the green 002 marker, also recorded by the 64s, was one of the worst.

GPS Accuracy: Not a simple Matter

GPS accuracy is a tricky topic to discuss. There are a number of factors that limit GPS accuracy and the 'accuracy' of any GPS device varies almost continuously while in use. Even so, a few general rules do apply and I'm going to discuss what I've learned here.

You probably have GPS in your smartphone (and possibly your camera or other devices) but I'm going to focus on hand-held 'recreational' GPS units. This type of GPS receiver can be purchased for under $100 or you might spend as much as $400 (more than that and you are looking at a different class of device). I'm currently working with a Garmin GPSMap 64s that I bought for $230. Over the last 15 years I've purchased three similar devices:

• The GPSMap 64s - purchased in Jan. 2016, referred to throughout as the '64s'
• A Garmin eTrex Venture HC. Six or seven years old, the 'eTrex'. Around $130
• A Magellan eXplorist 210. Fifteen years old. I no longer use this device.

GPS receivers like these are typically described as being accurate to 10 meters (30 feet). But that is the kind of safe generalization that manufactures make to avoid legal disputes. Under favorable conditions these units common fix locations within 10 to 15 of the actual location. Under ideal conditions these units can provide coordinates that are within a few feet of the exact location. If an even higher level of accuracy is needed you can purchase GPS receivers that come with very sensitive external antennas and that make use of ground-based correction signals and post processing of the raw GPS data. At the highest end these unit achieve sub-centimeter accuracy (better than half an inch). These units currently cost thousands of dollars.

But how do you judge the accuracy of locations saved using your GPS receiver? One way is to upload the 'marks' or 'waypoints' captured by your GPS device to a computer for display on top of a map or geographically referenced imagery. I do this using Google Earth. To judge accuracy at the level of a few feet you'll need to record locations at a place that you can identify precisely on a map. The place that I'm using for these tests is seen in Image One. This satellite view from Google Earth shows a complex of buildings located in the Saratoga Spa State Park near my home. The square in the center of the image is a wading pool (it was empty when this satellite image was made). Image Two shows the wading pool with the map zoomed in for a closer look. In Image Two I added a marker place precisely on one corner of the wading pool. The properties dialog then shows the geographic coordinates for that location.

Image One: Building complex in Saratoga Spa State Park. The square shape in the center of the image is a wading pool. For scale, the wading pool is 93 feet on a side. Image captured from Google Earth.

Image Two: The wading pool again, this time zoomed in for a closer view. A marker was added and the properties dialog shows the geographic coordinates of the marker (in the Decimal Degrees format). Coordinates captured using GPS can be compared with a known location such as the corner of the pool to judge accuracy.  Image captured from Google Earth.

As mentioned, using GPS to record coordinates that are less than 5 feet from the actual location typically requires the use of some type of correction technology. Correction is needed because various factors, some of which vary locally, interact in ways that reduce GPS accuracy. GPS satellites reside in geo-synchronous orbits --the satellites orbit in a constant position relative to the surface of the earth-- and the accuracy of GPS hinges on knowing the precise orbital position of each satellite. But those orbits are constantly perturbed by outside forces and regular correction is needed to compensate for this. This type of correction is built into the system but it is not instantaneous. At any given point in time some satellites are not exactly where the system thinks they are and this reduces accuracy. Which is one reason why more is better when it comes to the number of satellites your GPS receiver can use. Signals from additional satellites can be used to average out some types of errors in the system.

To get really accurate locations your device needs to make use of signals from ground-based stations. These stations broadcast signals that your GPS receiver can incorporate into its' calculations and these stations don't move. The location of the ground based stations is known with great precision. Some consumer GPS receivers, including the Garmin GPSMap 64s, can use the WAAS ground correction network but I'm not clear on when this is used and the effect that it has on the accuracy of locations recorded using the 64s, The underlying problem with ground-based correction is that you need to be within the range and coverage area of a transmitter. Currently this is common in urban areas and uncommon away from cities. [Note: I've really over-simplified this, follow the link above for more detailed information]

Really good accuracy also requires the use of a highly sensitive antenna and this is probably the most significant factor in limiting best case accuracy in low cost GPS receivers. This is especially true when using GPS in the dense forests of the Adirondacks. Your GPS receiver must receive signals from at least four satellites (three provides a rudimentary fix) and these signals can be blocked by a dense tree canopy as well as by mountains or buildings. Intriguingly, the GPSMap 64s has a port that allows for the use of an external antenna. I have not yet begun to explore what that might mean in terms of the best accuracy level this receiver can achieve. 

But, without further ado, let's look at some comparisons. I recently did an informal comparison of the accuracy of locations recorded using a Garmin GPSMap 64s compared results obtained using the older Garmin eTrex. I marked the same locations using the GPS in my smartphone to provide an additional set of comparisons. Image 3 shows the results.

Image Three:

I recorded the location of each of the four corners of the wading pool shown in the images above using each device. Since the corners have indents I marked the exact locations with the red circles to show where I took the measurements. Locations recorded using the 64s are represented by the green markers (note that the marker points are the at the recorded location). The locations recorded using the eTrex are represented by the purple markers. And the locations recorded using my phone are represented by the pink markers. As you can see, the 64s and eTrex achieved similar levels of accuracy. The eTrex was actually the winner; the mark closest to the physical location was recorded by the eTrex and that mark is about five feet away from the map image location. However, the 64s was more consistent and that also could be used to decide which device is "more accurate." This was a bad day for the phone. I usually get decent results using the GPS in my phone but on this day at that place it was all over the map. One mark, labeled Phone-3, seen on the left side in the image, was off by almost 200 feet. It should have been around the corner of the wading pool at lower right.

The extra mark at the upper right, labeled "E4b" was recorded by the eTrex and I included it to support my contention that the 64s was more consistent. I actually recorded two marks on each device; standing in the same spot. These marks were generally very close to each other but in this one case the first mark recorded by the eTrex was 25 feet away. Inconsistent.

A few conclusions can be drawn from this test. For starters, while the place and conditions at the time I recorded the data were favorable, the results are not particularly impressive. Both of the Garmin receivers marked the locations at points within ten feet of the actual, but only a couple were with five feet. I plan to return at a different time of day to repeat the test to see how much the results vary. Different levels of accuracy are to be expected because at different times your receiver will obtain GPS signals from different satellites. That the eTrex unit produced the closest marks could actually be an accident. I've been comparing the fixes obtained using both devices informally for over a month and in nearly every case the 64s has performed better. As the title of this post says, GPS accuracy is not a simple matter.

Image Four

Recording fixed locations under controlled conditions is interesting, but my main use for these devices is to record tracks while hiking in the Adirondacks. Image four shows a portion of a track recorded by both devices on a recent outing. The light blue line represents the track recorded by the 64s and the purple line is from the eTrex. The 64s track is more accurate and more precise. This comparison is interesting because it removes bias from the comparison (More on that in a future post).

My contention that the the tracks recorded by the 64s are more accurate comes from knowing the details of this outing. In the lower part of the image, the four distinct lines should overlap almost perfectly because that portion of the route follows a path that I walked along on the inbound portion of the hike and then again, in the opposite direction, on my return. My actual route might have varied by a few feet in places but those lines should basically overlap. In places there could be differences of a few feet between the inbound and outbound tracks but the two tracks should nearly overlap.

Measuring the gap in Google Earth I find that the it averages about 15 feet for the track recorded by the 64s and by 40 feet for the track recorded by the eTrex. In this context the 64s was significantly more accurate.

  

Along the Hudson and a new GPS Receiver

In this post I'm going to touch on three regular topics for this blog:

• Hiking in Moreau Lake State Park (MLSP)
• Old Trees
• GPS Technologies

Looking across the Hudson towards the Palmertown ridge (and the main body of Moreau Lake State Park). Spier Falls Road is visible in the foreground on the far shore.

I got out yesterday (Jan. 18, 2016) for a hike on the east side of the Hudson River in Moreau Lake State Park (MLSP). Starting at an informal parking area on Call Street (between Queensbury and Corinth) this was a bushwhacking trip of just under six miles (round trip). Even so, it was a rather tough day. It was cold (mid-teens at best), the ground was covered with a layer of solid ice with an inch of snow on top and, and the route crossed a series of deep ravines cut by the streams that flow down from the surrounding hills into the Hudson. Only the last mile; from the point opposite the Sherman Island boat launch on Spier Falls Road to the Spier Falls dam itself was easy walking. Worth mentioning is that I could not have made this trip without the "micro-spikes" that I now carry on all Winter outings. These "boot chains" have exceeded my expectations at every use (available from many sources, here is one). 

The area in question is across the Hudson River from the main body of MLSP and it is little known and little used. Probably the best access is from Hawk Road (previous post here), but parking at Hawk Road is a problem in the Winter and it's a lengthy walk from there to the section east of Spier Falls dam. This area is not wilderness by any stretch, but it is wild and in places the terrain is very rough. There are numerous old logging roads and places once cleared for agriculture throughout this section and the foundations of abandoned structures are seen in several places. 

Foundation of an abandoned structure. The area around this foundation is relatively level and large enough for a field or pasture. The stand of same size trees indicates that this was cleared land in the past. Judging from the size of the trees, that was not the distant past. The agricultural use of this land was likely abandoned only in the past 30 to 40 years.

An ancient Maple

On the fringe of a once cleared agricultural area I came across a tree that has got to be one of the oldest in Moreau Lake State Park. It's a Sugar Maple (I think, mid-winter ID), and this tree is clearly in its twilight years. I didn't have my tape measure with me, but it is easily four feet in diameter. 

Sugar Maples can live to be over 300 years old and a tree of this size, with bark weathered and aged in this way, could be in that category.

This tree was located at the edge of an area that was probably cleared for grazing. And that's a common scenario for witness trees in the northeast. When the land was initially cleared trees growing along the edges of fields and pastures, and along stone walls, were left in place and became part of the agricultural landscape.

GPS - Garmin GPSMap 64S

One of my purposes for this outing was to put my new GPS receiver to the test. I've just purchased a Garmin GPSMap 64S. I've been thinking about acquiring a new GPS receiver for a while, but nothing I was seeing justified the cost. Then the clever robots at Amazon dropped an ad for the 64S on a web page I was viewing. At $230 the deal was too good to pass up.

Initial testing at Spa State Park over the weekend looked very promising, but I really wanted to put the unit through its' paces on a longer hike through a forested area. Not surprisingly, the 64S produces superior results on every front. For one thing, it's easier to use; no small consideration when it's 15 degrees with a stiff breeze blowing in your face. And while it is slightly larger and heavier than the eTrex it has a much better antenna. This is important when operating in thick forests and steep terrain.

It's not trivial to compare the accuracy of GPS units, at least not in the under $1000 dollar category where you have limited control over which satellites the receiver makes use of, but 64S has several features that should provide better and more consistent accuracy. The GPSMap 64 series receivers can make use of both the US GPS system as well as the Russian GLONASS satellites. All other things being equal more satellites should produce better results. The 64S is also capable of using the WAAS/EGNOS ground correction system. That's a big topic in its' own right and I'll discuss that further in a future post.

There are also a number of feature improvements, the most significant of which is that the 64S allows you to control the frequency at which it stores new locations when recording a track. This particularly useful when recording hiking routes. I set the 64S to add a new point to the track at one meter intervals; meaning that as you move along it stores one point per meter of travel (it can also be set to use a time differential). Set in this way you get a lot of data but it produces a much more detailed route than I could previously capture. This also avoids the annoying problem that I encountered with my older Garmin unit. When I would stop for a break, or for lunch, the older unit would continue to add points to the route based on a time differential (every 15 seconds would be my guess). So you would end up with a large number of points clustered around the location where you stopped. These could be cleaned from the data, but it was one more step in the process of producing a clean representation of the route.

I'm working on a detailed comparison of the performance of the 64S with my older receivers but the summary is that I don't know how I was getting by before.

Moreau Lake State Park, east of the Hudson River. The light blue line is my route. The heavy red line is the boundary of the section of the park that lies east of the Hudson River. Call Street is represented by the yellow line. The main section of the Park is on the west side of the Hudson, and Moreau Lake is just out of the area of the image at the lower right corner.

• Marker A: Parking on Call Street
• Marker B: Stream Valley
• Marker C: Spier Falls Dam
• Marker D: Sherman Island boat launch site on the west side of the Hudson (for reference)
• Marker E: The Hawk Road Area

You might notice from the map that I wandered outside of the Park boundary at one point. That was inadvertent. At that point along this route you have to get over a steep-sided gully. Steep enough that given the icy conditions it was a challenge to find a place to get across. Most of the year it would be easier to stay in the park and get through this section.

A Section of the route showing each point captured by the GPS. Click the image to see it at full size. The GPSMap 64S, set to add a point to the track at one meter intervals captures a highly detailed representation of the route. Map Images from Google Earth.

Bushwhacking Rules One and Two - The Woods Don't Care

As a loyal reader of this blog you know that when I go hiking I sometimes go off trail and do a bit of bushwhacking. I like to drudge up old and forgotten Adirondack routes and trails, and this fits nicely with searching around for patches of old growth forest or finding Beech trees that have BBD resistance. I commonly plan my routes so that my path at some point intersects a formal trail that I can follow out of the woods. Occasionally, when the trail I am seeking does not appear as expected, an alarming thought crosses my mind; "What if I cross the trail without realizing it?" This is usually accompanied by the even more disturbing thought; "What if I already crossed the trail and I'm heading off into the un-tracked wilderness? Oh no..." (then I recall that it is the Adirondacks, it might be wild but it is hardly un-tracked)

This has happened a few times but the the outcome has always been the same. Within a few minutes I step onto the the trail I was looking for. And this inevitably brings a smile because when you are bushwhacking even a lightly-used marked trail looks like a four-lane highway through the woods. From this I've developed a rule of thumb (Rule Number One of Bushwhacking); "You won't miss the trail, you'll spot it when you come to it, keep going." This rule has served me well because doubt can be a serious problem in its' own right. And doubt --edging towards panic-- has been the undoing of many a "lost" hiker or hunter.

This year I learned an interesting variation on my rule, which is; "you won't spot the trail if you are walking in the wrong direction." As you might imagine this corollary rule didn't appear out of the blue. I was attempting to reach Twin Ponds from the Thirteen Lake-Puffer Pond trail but tough conditions, and a late start, had caused me turn back short of the ponds. Heading back to rejoin the trail, which was less than a mile away, I decided to take an alternate route to avoid swampy terrain I had crossed on my way towards the ponds. After beating my way through rough terrain for nearly an hour I started to question my "rule number one of bushwhacking". The terrain didn't seem right and I really should have rejoined the trail by then.

I generally avoid using GPS for route finding but I had been recording my track using the GPS in my phone. So I pulled it out to have a look, and what I saw surprised me. If the GPS track was correct, I was going the wrong way. Only then did I pull the compass out of my pack and check my direction. Damn, I was traveling west when I wanted be going north. Correcting for this I came upon the trail after only a few minutes. I had been traveling parallel to it for some time.  And the first rule of bushwhacking was confirmed. No way I would have crossed that trail without knowing it. (smile)

There was a lesson learned from this. It wasn't just over confidence, heck I hadn't even considered the possibility that I might be walking in the wrong direction. It was really a combination of hubris and laziness; the source of so many disasters, big and small. It was heavy overcast that day so there was no sun in the sky to help stay me on course and I hadn't bothered to check my compass. So now I have a new rule --Rule Number Two of Bushwhacking-- check your compass even if you already know the direction you are traveling.

I almost always have a couple of GPS devices with me, so why not just use GPS for route finding and eliminate the guess work? For starters, all the experts say that you shouldn't do it. Guidebooks, DEC and ADK websites, articles in the newspapers about hiker rescues, etc, all warn against "relying on electronic devices" to find your way when hiking. But this advice runs counter to common experience. Most of the time any decent GPS device, either a dedicated unit or the GPS feature built into a smartphone, can provide your location within a few yards. So why not use them?

The problem is that there are a variety of ways for these devices to fail or to give you incorrect information. Usually at a most inopportune moment. Still, the warning should really be that you should not trust to GPS alone to avoid getting lost. If know how to use your GPS device, and how it can fail you, then your GPS device is another tool you can use for route finding. I was going to conclude this little tale by saying "here are all the ways that GPS can fail you in the field; I've learned them all first hand." But that would have been foolish, I'm sure there other failure modes that I have not yet discovered. So here are some of the ways in which GPS can fail you in the field.

1. Your phone probably has a useful GPS capability but you must enable the "Location" feature for it to work. Setting your phone to record your track is pretty easy these days but if location is off it won't work. A good App should warn you if Location is off but this warning is easily overlooked. A good practice is to check your track on the phone periodically to make sure that all is well. Otherwise you might find that (the electronic equivalent) of birds have been following you through the forest and eating the breadcrumbs you have dropped. 
2. Many people turn "Location" off because GPS puts a heavy load on your phone battery. My phone is over two years old and with "Location" turned on the battery lasts only six to eight hours; not enough for a full day of hiking. I carry a small auxiliary battery that I can use to recharge my phone in the field, but even this can go wrong. I recently returned from a trip to find that the track I thought I was recording ended 2/3rds of the way through the hike. At one point I had noted that phone battery was getting low and had plugged in the external battery. I had forgotten, however, that if the battery level in the phone falls below a certain level (10% I think) the phone disables the location feature to save itself (sort of HAL like). This had happened. The catch is that plugging in the external battery does not re-enable the GPS capabilities of the phone. So the later part of the track was not recorded.
3. The battery life of hand-held GPS units varies considerably and cold temperatures reduce the power output of all batteries. Lithium cells are much more effective in cold weather and should be used in GPS receivers. And, if you are using your GPS for anything more than amusement, you should carry spares (thanks Mom).
4. Anticipate that you will not have Cell service while hiking. The GPS in your phone will work because the GPS system does not rely on the cellular network. But this means that your phone will not be able to download maps while you are in the field. To see your location on a background map you must plan ahead and download the appropriate map imagery before you go. Otherwise you might find your phone showing your location as a dot on a blank background. It is surprisingly difficult to get the right maps onto many devices ahead of time so verify that you have the maps you need before you leave.
5. Beyond dead batteries and software failures any electronic device you take with you on a hike can fail. A common cause complete failures is having the device in your pocket when you wade into a lake or river and it's deeper than you thought. Oops.
6. Depending on where you are hiking you may find that your device cannot lock onto the GPS satellite network to give you an accurate location. Dedicated GPS units that can use both the US GPS network and the Russian GLONASS system are the best defense against this problem. The more satellites your receiver can use the better your chances of getting a signal.
7. Finally, there are a surprising number of ways for the compass feature of your GPS unit to be completely wrong. With practice and care you can get the correct heading from a GPS compass but I have learned to be skeptical of GPS-based compass readings.

The best hedge against all of these potential problems is to carry a standard compass, and the appropriate maps, and know how to put them to use.

Christmas 2015; The Weather Outside is Not Frightful; At Least So Far

Christmas in Long Lake is usually white or at least frozen. Even if there is no snow you expect ice, or an icy crust, especially in the forest. And, if all else fails, the mountain summits should be coated in white. But not this year. It's December 26th (2015) and there is no snow or ice to be seen -anywhere. Not in the shadows deep in the forest and not on distant summits. It looks like October before the first hard freeze.

The afternoon temperature passed 60 on Christmas eve and night time temperatures have dipped below 30 only a few times. There was a coating of snow on the summits in mid-November, (see my post on climbing Kempshall Mountain in early Nov.) but even that has completely disappeared.

It was under these unusual conditions that Elle and I set off on a walk to the historic Santanoni Preserve great camp complex. The ten mile round trip feeling like a walk on cool fall day.

Newcomb Lake with just a hint of ice. December 26th, 2015.

It's tempting to point a finger at climate change as the cause of this unusual weather but climate and weather operate on different scales; different time scales and different geographic scales. A point seemingly lost on those who consider the area occupied by the United States to be the entire world.

For example, when U.S. Senator Jimmy Inhofe brought a snowball into the Senate chamber (February, 2015) to make the point that it was cold outside so therefore climate change must be a hoax, he personally damaged our national standing around the globe (except apparently in Oklahoma). People around the world could only laugh and shake their heads at how silly the Americans have become. But they also had to wonder; is someone paying him to be stupid? Or, is he really unable to understand the distinction between weather and climate?

So now, looking at the reverse side of the coin, let's be clear, a single warm month in one small region does not mean much. If the current Octoberish weather becomes the norm for December then climate change might be the cause. And, as the argument that I commonly hear goes, so what if it does? The climate has always changed. We just have to adapt.

Ok, but it's still a question of scale. Based on our current knowledge of climate changes in the past, it's the pace of change that is the problem. An five degree increase in the average global temperature over a period of a thousand years would represent an extremely rapid rate of change. But even so, we would expect that thousand years to provide time for natural systems to adapt. It would be a disruptive event but ecosystems could adapt rather than collapse. That same change over a time span measured in decades it might very well be an event unprecedented in the history of the earth. We can only guess at what that scenario might bring but it is unlikely to be a good thing for a human population of eight to ten billion people. And it seems pretty foolish to give it a try to see what happens.

Still, gene preservation aside, we humans are selfish creatures and if the world is going to have a melt down those of us who live in the north can take advantage of it for a while. So let's get back to the hiking.

Elle, on the bridge that crosses Sucker Brook on the northeast corner of Newcomb Lake. This spot is a half mile past the camp complex. The trail passes through a beautiful forest with notable old cedars present.

By Adirondack standards, for December, this is a sunny day.

The bathhouse and beach. This spot is quarter mile from the main lodge site. It doesn't look like much at this time of year but there is a nice sand beach and this is a great spot for a swim on a hot day.

Ripples are visible in the sandy bottom of the lake. That's Moose Mountain near Moose Pond visible in the distance.

A lovely spot along the trail around Newcomb Lake. The trail around the lake is rugged and strikingly beautiful.

Kempshall Moutain: Forgotten but not Lost

Kempshall Mountain, elevation 3380, lies just east of Long Lake in the southwest corner of the High Peaks Wilderness. The mountain's only real claim to fame is that a fire tower previously stood on the summit. The tower was closed in 1971 and removed from the mountain in 1977. By 1990 the trail to the top was officially abandoned. The old trail can be reached on foot by hiking north on the Northville Lake Placid Trail (NLPT) from the Tarbell Hill Road trailhead just east of Long Lake village. It's 4.5 miles From the parking area to the trail junction. Old guidebooks to the NLPT listed Kempshall as a two mile side trip with good views of the high peaks. But, without the tower, there are no views and recent editions have noted that the trip up Kempshall is "not recommended".

Wow, an abandoned trail listed as "not recommended". For me that's an irresistible combination. Views are not everything and these routes are often times fascinating for other reasons. That was certainly the case for the climb up Kempshall. Hopefully you can get a sense of it from the pictures.

Snow had fallen two nights before but as I hiked the temperature rose to above freezing. I was fascinated by the changing conditions as I climbed from the notch at 2300 to the top of the mountain at just under 3400 feet. At the lower elevations the snow plastered on every tree was transitioning directly to water and every gust of wind produced a shower of cold water. 

Most of the day was heavily overcast, but occasionally the sun burst through.

A few of the old State trail markers can still be seen along the trail. 

Setting off I didn't know what to expect. This trail is mostly forgotten but would it be hard to find or follow? The answer to that question is a definate no. The junction where the Kempshall Mountain trail leaves the NLPT is not marked, but it would be hard to miss. And the first mile of the route follows an old tote road to a notch between Kempshall and Blueberry mountains. On top of that, it soon became evident that the trail has recently been brushed out. Someone has cut back the small trees that quickly obscure abandoned paths in this neck of the woods. In a few cases larger blow down had been cut as well, up to the size that you might tackle with a hand saw.

After about a mile of moderate uphill hiking the path crosses a pretty little brook and steepens. At that point, at about 2300 feet, the trail enters a particularly dense spruce-fir thicket. The trail narrows and the trees close in. The route then alternates between moderately steep and very steep as it climbs 1000 feet in less than a mile. It was in this stretch that the recent work on the trail became highly evident and much appreciated. Blow down blocking the trail had been cut and, in places where rerouting was necessary, marker ribbons had been added to show the way.

The fire tower site is completely hemmed in by the forest. The tower foundations are evident, so I know that this was the spot, but there no openings for views. Even so, the trees, the snow and the light produced some appealing images. 

Despite the recent work it's safe to say that the Kempshall summit does not get a lot of visitors. The climb up from the notch, and the summit itself, have a distinctly wild and forgotten feel. Totaling 13 miles for the round trip, with a steep climb for the last mile, the hike demands endurance even in summer. Doing the hike in mid-November it was an adventure. I was prepared for early winter but I had not anticipated the large amounts of water coming off the trees. I was pretty wet when I got to the top and my slow pace on the steep and icy descent meant that it was dark when I got back to the car.

A perfect day.

Santanoni Preserve - Newcomb Lake to Moose Pond

By the time I finished my hike to Moose Pond I had, according to my GPS, covered over 17 miles. That's a long walk, but it's not as difficult as it might sound because much of the way was over trails that follow what were once well-built woods roads. That makes for relatively fast and easy walking. It also didn't hurt that it was a nearly perfect day for hiking; early fall, cool, and mosquito free. I walked the Newcomb Lake road to the Moose Pond crossover trail. Then over the crossover trial to the Moose Pond Horse trail and out the Moose Pond trail to the pond. I returned following the Moose Pond trail back to the Newcomb Lake road and out.

The route as recorded by my GPS and viewed in Google Earth. That's Newcomb lake on the right and Moose Pond at the upper left.

The highlight of the route is the five mile trail that connects the Newcomb Lake road with the Moose Pond Horse Trail. The Newcomb Lake road is the five mile long gravel road leading to Camp Santanoni on Newcomb Lake. This area is managed by DEC as a historical site and the road (closed to public vehicle traffic) is a great walk in its' own right. The road also delineates a section of the High Peaks Wilderness boundary so, when you leave the road (after four miles) you immediately enter the High Peaks Wilderness. The five mile long trail that connects the road with the Moose Pond Horse trail is a beautiful and invigorating walk.

Fall in the Adirondacks. Even the swamps look good.

The first section of the connecting trail stays south of Newcomb Lake until you reach the unnamed inlet stream at the west end of the lake. This stream flows through an extensive wetland which is crossed without difficulty over a solid bridge and then a long split-log boardwalk.

Bridge over the inlet stream.

The boardwalk crossing the Newcomb Lake Inlet. 

Just past the end of the boardwalk you reach a trail junction. Turning right the trail leads along the north shore of the lake and loops back to the great camp area and the road. The trail to Moose Pond turns left (west) and enters a spruce/cedar forest.

For someone interested in forest communities, and succession in forest communities, this section of the trail is fascinating. The terrain is flat, and wet, and the forest mix is typical for that type of terrain; dominated by Spruce and Balsam Fir. The interesting part is that the Spruce here are larger than is commonly seen. Probably not virgin timber large, but old second-growth large. Added into the mix are large Cedars that appear to be quite old. On a clear fall morning this section of trail felt like a trip back through time.

Large cedars are mixed in with Spruce, Balsam Fir and other tree species.

And this trail is little used. From the bridge the trail stays close to the stream for a mile or so and this section of trail is overgrown with some blowdown to work over and around. There are a few places where if it weren't for the trail markers you might have to search around a bit to find the path.

Eventually the route gains enough elevation that you enter a mixed hardwood forest. This section of the route covers roughly two miles before joining up with the Moose Pond Horse Trail. It's not a particularly interesting section and much of the route follows what I took to be old logging roads. The larger trees are Sugar Maple and Yellow Birch so there may have been selective logging in this area. None of the trees are particularly large and my guess is that logging took place here 50-75 years ago.

A highlight of this section is the beaver pond/swamp/meadow that you reach about half way between Newcomb Lake and the Moose Pond trail. It's an attractive spot and from the beaver dam you get an interesting view of a sharp little pinnacle on a ridge of Moose Mountain.

Fall in the Adirondacks.

Past the beaver pond the trail trends to the northwest as it contours around a couple low ridges. About a half mile before the junction with the Moose Pond trail the route veers to the south, travels in that direction for a couple hundred yards, turns west, and then back to the north.. Much of the crossover trail is faint, but at this point the route-finding becomes a significant challenge.

I knew that the Moose Pond trail was a quarter mile away to the west and I could have simply headed in that direction until I hit it. That option was unattractive, however, because a swampy wetland lies between the two trails. That quarter mile would have undoubtedly been wet and muddy so finding the path was still the best bet.

Reaching a place where I could no longer pick up any hint of a path I suspected that the trail had been re-routed and that I missed a detour. So I doubled back to see if I had missed a turn. I back-tracked for over a quarter mile and, if there was a detour, I couldn't find it. In any case, continuing on where I thought the trail should be, I soon spotted a trail marker and an arrow sign nailed to a tree. From there it was just a couple hundred yards to the junction with the Moose Pond trail. If you go this way you should be comfortable finding your way through the woods.

There it is! Back on the trail.

It's hard to keep up the pace when hiking on a day such as this. Every turn of the trail brings another photo opportunity.

From the junction it's 1.3 miles to Moose Pond with a decent little hill in between. Given the the round trip from the junction to the lake would add 2.5 miles to an already long day, I thought about just turning towards home. But I'm glad that I didn't. The view across Moose Pond to Santanoni Mountain, and its' prominent slide, was a delight. And, the forest around the pond is older. Most of the old trees are hardwoods with some large Maple and Yellow Birch present. But, best of all, close to the edge of the pond I spotted a White Pine in that rare category of "trees with diameter over 48 inches". Trees of that size are rare in the Adirondacks today.

Moose Pond with Santanoni Peak in the background. The slide is well know to residents of the Long Lake/Newcomb area. You see it as you drive east towards Newcomb on Rte. 28N.

Whitehouse to Canary Pond; Quiet and Remote

The last time I stood on the suspension bridge that carries the Northville Lake-Placid Trail over the West Branch of the Sacandaga at Whitehouse I was around 10 years old. That was close to 50 years ago.

Image 1: Bridge over the Sacandaga West Branch. The bridge crosses over a rock outcrop in the center of the river (now covered with trees). The total length of the two spans is close to 300 feet. 

That visit took place during a family camping trip to the State Campground on the Sacandaga River just south of Wells. My family was one of a half dozen families who regularly camped together at various campgrounds around the State. My childhood was punctuated by those trips. If I remember correctly, on this particular outing, a couple of the Dads decided to take a bunch of the kids on a hike. The bridge at Whitehouse was new at that time and a 300 foot long suspension bridge over a major river was well worth a look; especially since several of the Dads worked for what was then called the New York State Conservation Department. I don't actually remember the bridge but I know we stood on it because there's a family photo to prove it. What I do recall is that we hiked to a place where a USGS benchmark was set into a boulder alongside the trail. There is a benchmark noted on current maps about a mile north of the bridge on the NLPT so we probably went that way.

On my more recent visit (September, 2015) I did cross the bridge. I was headed for Canary Pond and I thought I might try to go the extra couple of miles to reach Silver Lake from the north. But I turned back at Canary Pond and the nearly 14 mile round trip was plenty of hiking for one day. It took me nine hours to walk that route and a big reason for that was that it was an absolutely gorgeous early fall day with the leaves just starting to turn. I took lots of picture and that takes time.

Image 2: West Branch Sacandaga looking south from the bridge at Whitehouse. 

The human history of the area is described in fascinating detail by Bill Ingersoll in Discover the Southern Adirondacks. As Ingersoll notes, the first settlers to the area arrived in the 1850s and over the roughly 100 year period between settlement and acquisition by the State the land served many uses. The first settlers may have attempted to farm the land but the long winters and thin soil would have discouraged that idea, and from 1900 onward a succession of hotels, hunting lodges and finally a boys summer camp occupied the site. The surrounding wilderness has been owned by the state going back to the late 19th century and the 350 acres where the bridge is now located were acquired in 1962.

The hike south to Canary Pond passes through a rapidly maturing 2nd growth hardwood forest. The Silver Lake Wilderness lies in what was once part of the great northern hardwood forests that covered most of New York State. Sugar Maple, Yellow Birch, and American Beech were the dominant tree species and, today, stands of Birch and Maples are rapidly approaching maturity. The Beech are mostly gone; killed off by Beech Bark Disease. This route passes through forests where many trees are approaching 36 inches in diameter with a few larger ones mixed in. There are also stands of Hemlock and I measured one Hemlock on the slope leading up to Mud Pond Notch at 47 inches in diameter.

One of the more interesting sights along the way to Canary Pond was the beaver dam on a small stream between Mud Pond and Canary Pond. This dam is (or was) an engineering marvel. On the day I hiked the route (Sept. 27, 2015), it was very dry; northern New York State had received below average moisture for the year and August and September were notably dry. The beaver had managed to completely block the stream and the outflow below the dam amounted to barely a trickle. As seen in images 3 through 6, the beaver pond was quite large -over 6 acres as measured in Google Earth- and water was backed up to the very top of the dam. Unfortunately for the beaver shortly after my visit the area would receive between three and four inches of rain in a 24 hour period. I have to wonder if the dam stood up to that deluge.

Image 3: Beaver Dam along the trail between Mud Pond and Canary Pond

Image 4: The pond the beaver build.

Image 5: Looking up at the dam from the stream bed. The water in the foreground was standing water in the stream bed. Almost no water was getting through the dam.

Image 6: Looking back across the pond from the far side. The dam,, and the vantage point for the three pictures, is in the farthest distant corner of this shot. On the far shore left of the beaver house. 

I'd be interested to know if the the dam stood up to the heavy rain but I'm sure the beaver will manage, they have been damming this stream for centuries if not longer. Using our ability to view historical imagery in Google Earth we can see that over just the past 15 years the pond pictured above has filled and drained several times. The sequence of images that follows comes from Google Earth showing imagery from 2013, 2011, 2009, and 2006. From this we see that the current large pond was created since the date of the most recent satellite imagery for this area dated from August 2013.

The yellow lines in image seven are the tracks capture by my GPS. There are two lines because one is the track on the way to Canary Pond and the other is the track from my return trip. As you can see, the lines don't overlap, and the difference averages around 30 feet. I keep promising to write more about GPS accuracy, and explain why the tracks differ by that amount, so maybe I'll get around to that soon.

Image 7: The beaver pond/meadow as seen in Google Earth imagery from August 2013.

Image 8: The beaver pond/meadow as seen in Google Earth Imagery from May 2011. You might also wonder why this image is "fuzzy" when compared with the one from 2013. The most recent round of imagery used in Google Earth (as seen in image 7) is at a higher resolution than was previously available.

Image 9: The beaver pond as seen in imagery from May 2009. The beaver had dammed the stream and filled the pond.

Image 10: The beaver pond/meadow as seen in Google Earth Imagery from June 2006. The dam was out and the pond was a grass-filled meadow.

I did eventually make it to Canary Pond, a lovely and remote body of water (Image 11). Along the way you pass Mud Pond, site of a lean-to that is in particularly good shape. Ingersoll says that the appreciation of Mud Pond requires a special aesthetic (images 12 and 13) and for tired through hikers on the NLPT the difficulty of getting to the pond to get water probably does lead to a bit of cursing. But I thought it was pretty enough and marshes look to me like an exceptionally good place for bird watching. By the way, the stream that Ingersoll mentions as a source of water for campers staying at the leanto, was completely dry on the day I was there.

Image 11: Canary Pond

Image 12: Mud Pond

Image 13: The path over the outlet of Mud Pond. A split log bridge passes through and should keep feet dry most of the time.

Image 14: Fall foliage along the Sacandaga West Branch.

Five Ponds Wilderness - The High Falls Loop

The people of the State of New York claim ownership but make no mistake, the Five Ponds Wilderness is the kingdom of the Beaver. That's what makes Five Ponds so great. It's real wilderness: wet, muddy, buggy, overgrown and generally inconvenient.

I recently (Sept 2015) hiked the route known as the "High Falls Loop". With a couple of short side jaunts that hike covered 17.1 miles; very close to my limit for hiking miles in one day. There are challenges, and the general messiness that defines the place, but Five Ponds is also an uncommonly flat area. The elevation differential between Cranberry Lake and High Falls is just 100 feet and the area's defining feature, the Oswegatchie River, follows a meandering path through a broad valley. Long stretches of the trail follow a track originally built to support a logging railroad and that solid base makes for fast and easy walking.

High Falls Loop showing my GPS track (blue). The complete loop includes a half mile of road walking between the two trail heads near the village of Wanakena. The yellow line shows the trail south to the five small ponds after which this area is named. The gray lines show the routes of historic trails abandoned following the 1995 storm that caused extensive blowdown throughout this area. (Image capture from Google Earth)

The Five Ponds Wilderness is all about the water. There are lakes, ponds, streams and the Oswegatchie River. Then there are swamps, bogs, and marshes of every size, shape and variety. And if that's not enough there are Beaver ponds at every possible stage of succession. 

A wet meadow. The Five Ponds area is noted for its' open meadows including the large open area known as "the plains." The plains is classified by the New York Natural Heritage project as a boreal heath barrens; an uncommon ecological community type. The area pictured is a wet meadow just north of the plains. 

High Falls on the Oswegatchie River. This is the falls at a time of very low water. August and early September 2015 have been unusually dry.

I started the day heading south on the High Falls Loop East Trail. This popular trail connects Wanakena with Janacks Landing on Cranberry Lake and it provides access to various trails and destinations in the northeastern quadrant of the Five Ponds Wilderness. It is also the shortest formal trail to High Falls. The route covers 6.1 miles to a trail junction where you follow a half mile side trail to the falls. A sign near the falls reads "Wanakena 9 Miles". That's the distance if you return by continuing around the loop on the west side trail. Which is what I did. The two trailheads are less than a half mile apart on South Shore Road in the Hamlet of Wanakena so the loop hike is easy to manage without the need for two cars.

The Oswegatchie River from High Rock

As mentioned, a good part of the route follows a grade originally built to support a railway. The rail lines were laid just after the turn of the 19th century by the Rich Lumber Company to enable timber harvesting on the 16,000 acres the company owned south of Wanakena. I haven't seen references to exactly when the rails were removed but the state acquired the land in 1916 and it's likely that the company took the rails with them when they departed. By that time the forest had been heavily logged and intense fires had swept the area. Much of the High Falls Loop trail passes through a second growth forest that is roughly 100 old. After the state took ownership of the land the railway grade was converted to a truck trail. That woods road was abandoned when the Five Ponds Wilderness was created and and the route became the west side trail.

Along with the falls, a highlight of the trip is the unique ecological area known as "The Plains"; a large open area that was present before the logging started. The Plains is classified by the New York State Natural Heritage project as a Boreal Heath Barrens.

Looking into the "plains" from the south. An uncommon combination of environmental and ecological factors has apparently kept this area from being reclaimed by forest. At least at the rate that might be expected,. However, it seems likely that over a longer period the trees will recolonize much of the area and the plains will fade into the surrounding forest.

As mentioned, much of the route is on a relatively smooth and level trail that makes for fast walking.
But there is one recurring challenge. The route has recently been flooded --or currently is flooded-- by beaver activity at more that a dozen locations. The wetter terrain lies mostly in the southern half of the route but the one place where I was not able to avoid wet feet is less than a half mile from where the west side trail joins the road in Wanakena. The trail crosses over a slightly raised causeway between a swampy area and a made-made pond and Beaver have damned the culvert that allows a small stream to flow through. The result being that the causeway itself was completely flooded (Image 4). Short of backtracking and bushwhacking around the entire mess there was no way to avoid walking through the water. Given that I had already walked over sixteen miles, and that I was ready to be done hiking, I just plowed on through. Had I started the loop on this trail the story would have been different. Getting wet feet at the start of a long day presents a significant problem. Looking back I realized how many places I had just barely made it through while staying dry. If you hike this route expect to do some wading and plan accordingly.

It looks like you could stay dry by walking in the grass on either side so you'll have to take my word for it; there was no way through this section without getting wet feet. A man-made pond is just out of the photo on the right and the water visible in the trail is the edge of pond backed up by the Beaver. That water is coming in from the left and the grass there stands in several inches of water.

One of the many places where the path crosses a beaver dam.

One of the reasons I really wanted to hike this route was to finally get a first-hand look at the havoc wrought by the infamous Derecho storm of 1995. That storm, on July 15th 1995, caused extensive blowdown throughout the Adirondacks and the forests of the Five Ponds Wilderness were particularly hard hit. Just over 20 years have passed since the storm and evidence of the event is starting to fade. The route passes through several areas where nearly every large tree was knocked down; evidenced by the lack of large trees and by the tangle of large decaying logs lying everywhere. Equally striking is the bright sunlight that reaches the forest floor in these places. Areas where the canopy was knocked down are now filled with saplings of the pioneer tree species that fill in whenever an opening appears in the forest.

Following the 1995 storm trail crews cut through hundreds of downed trees to reopen the trails.

The trail crosses a mud hole on this log. The log sways a bit and you need to be sure footed. It was dry on this day but this crossing could be quite daunting when it is wet.

That 1995 storm figures in my family history as well. The storm passed through just after sunrise on a Saturday and we were planning on attending a family reunion in Long Lake on Sunday. We live in Saratoga Springs and we experienced the storm as a notably severe thunderstorm. During the day on Saturday we heard reports that the storm had been much more severe in the mountains and that several campers had been killed by falling trees. Driving up on Sunday morning we could hardly help but notice the many trees down along the roads but, it was not until we got to Long Lake, and heard my Dad's story that the uniqueness of the event came into focus. Dad was then a member of a hunting and fishing club that leased the area around Rock Pond (south of Little Tupper Lake, now part of the Whitney Wilderness). He had arrived at the cabin the club maintained near the pond on Friday and planned to drive out to Long Lake on Sunday morning to attend the reunion. Shortly after the storm passed it became clear to him that that was not going to happen. The cabin where he was staying, and, his pickup parked nearby, were both unharmed, but several miles of woods roads lay between him and pavement and large downed trees lay across the entire route. I don't recall exactly what he did on that Saturday but probably got into his canoe and went fishing thinking that other club members (some of whom are also members of our family) would eventually arrive.

Instead, the silence of Sunday morning was broken by a float plane coming in for a landing on Rock Pond. Another club member had flown in to make sure he was OK and he hitched a ride back to Long Lake by plane. Hearing his tale of experiencing the storm in the forest was harrowing enough but the human tragedy was brought home when we reached the Lake Eaton campground for the reunion. A camper trailer crushed down to the axles sat forlornly in the parking area.. No one was killed at Lake Eaton but a camper did die at Lake Lila; a place where we have camped several times.

Following the storm much dismay was expressed over the loss of old-growth timber in the Five Ponds region; many large, old, trees were toppled. But storms like this have blown through the Adirondacks many times before and will continue to do so in the future. From the perspective of a human lifetime this is significant forest event and, for a few families, a deep tragedy. But in 100 years direct evidence of the event will have vanished and unless we do something really stupid the forests will go on. And the beaver won't care.

Adirondack Life: Lowdown on the Blowdown