Fulton Chain

[rotty749r]

I'm not planning on doing this, at least not in the near future, but does anyone paddle the Fulton Chain from start to finish anymore? My father paddled it twice back in the '50s, but I haven't heard anyone else speak of paddling it.

[paddlewheel]

I paddled it once in the late 70's & although I enjoyed myself I remember being dissappointed that it wasn't more remote. I didn't expect the motorboats, steamboats and the large groups of boy scouts where ever i went. I did the Old Forge to Tupper trip & I remember I was a long time into that trip before I found some solitude and that semi-wilderness feeling...I think I started feeling better at Forked Lake...A mother bear and her cub nailed a bunch of campsites that night & scared the b'jesus out of me & my Belgian shepard...Wouldn't recommend it for a summer trip..I saw on that pbs special about the adk's there's a race on the fulton chain once a year..

[Wldrns]

..I saw on that pbs special about the adk's there's a race on the fulton chain once a year..

250 boats of all descriptions paddling the "90 Miler". The time is getting short, soon... ready to go.

[Swamp Booger]

I paddled the Fulton Chain a few years ago with my son and friends (from Old Forge to Rollins Pond). I agree with paddlewheel and found that the section from Long Lake to Upper Saranac was the most enjoyable. I also paddled from Blue Mountain Lake to Axton landing earlier this summer and the Blue Mtn Lake to Racquette Lake has a more "remote" feel than from Old Forge.

[stripperguy]

I did the long diagonal in '76 with a buddy of mine in a Radisson, of all things. Old Forge to Moody's on Tupper in 6 days. We had a great time. That was before you could camp at Low's, or even step foot on the shores of Lila, Little Tupper or Round Lake. But, other than a couple times on Eighth, I haven't paddled any of the chain since. Too busy for me, and too many big, motorized boats.
I'm looking ahead to paddling the other chain...soon I hope!

[cgill]

I paddled from Old Forge to Long Lake two weekends ago. The Fulton
Chain was moderately busy on a Friday but Raquette and Forked Lake were very quiet on a rainy Saturday. Long Lake was quiet on Sunday also probably because of rain.

http://gilltrips.blogspot.com/2008/08/nfct-old-forge-to-long-lake.html

I camped on 7th Lake and there were some noisy partyers/campers Just out of curiosity what officially constitutes the Fulton Chain?

[paddlewheel]

I believe The Fulton Chain actually constitutes the lakes in secession from Old Forge (1st. Lake) up to Eighth Lake....

[Connecticut Yankee]

Fulton Chain = Old Forge to the end of 8'th lake. Then you portage out of the Moose river watershed, running into Lake Ontario, over to Brown's Track and the Racquette River watershed, flowing to the St Lawrence river. The Fulton Chain is mostly to bussy in the summer with moterboats etc.
I've only done this section during the "90 Miler" in September. The summer people are gone by then and the race starts in the early morning so it is actually pretty nice. One of the things I like about the race is seeing so much of the park in a short period of time, all the great arcitecture along the shorelines of these lakes etc. I actually paddled most of the Fulton chain Tuesday and jogged the portages to check out the route before the race. Ran in to 2 groups of these Boy Scouts some of you diss-like , nice bunch of kids, and without them who will appreciate the wild country and work to protect it in the future. Some of us are activists for wilderness, but many more of us complain in places like adkforum,com but never contact our politicians or go to hearings and do anything about it.
I do most of my canoe trips solo, or with my now 16 year old son (he's on a 2 week backpacking trip in New Mexico right now), but I put together a week long trip each summer with our local Scout troop. By about the 3'rd day out you see there kids transform, it's a great experiance for the kids and rewarding for me as well.
John M. - A Connecticut Yankee

[MDL23]

My brother and I paddled from Old Forge to Plattsburgh in early May. The weather was cold and rainy...perfect weather for having the route all to ourselves. We only saw one power boat (on Long Lake). Two other canoes (also on Long Lake). Other than that we had the Lakes and Rivers to ourselves. Given the amount of camps we saw on the Fulton Chain, I have to image that from Old Forge to 8th Lake is very busy during the summer.