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The Pigeon Lake Wilderness is somewhat unique among individual state land units of the Adirondack Park in that it has 4 lean-tos that can only be reached via a combination of a boat ride followed by a hike: Russian Lake, Upper Gull Lake, Andy's Creek, and Lower Sister Lake. That is, apart from a lengthy and complicated bushwhack.
Needless to say, the area has attracted my attention ever since I first laid eyes on a trail map covering this region of the Adirondack Park. I often wondered whether the complexities of accessing each of these lean-tos might in turn lend themselves well to fostering solitude. In 2013, I had the first oppotunity to visit the area when a friend and I spent a single night at Lower Sister Lake, the most remote of these 4 lean-tos by far. We did indeed find it to be a destination with no shortage of solitude, that clearly receives relatively little use.
My slow but steady progression on the lean-to challenge (as well as my desire to see as much of everything the Adirondack Park has to offer as possible) meant that I would inevitably return to camp at each of the remaining three lean-tos in turn. This past summer I finally found the time (and inclination) to make it happen in a single 4 day/3 night trip.
And so a late afternoon this past July saw me loading up my canoe at the Big Moose Lake hand launch at the end of Higby Road. A steady but light rain was falling as I set out across the lake.
I selected Russian Lake as my destination for the first night as it was already late once I'd set out, and that lean-to was the closest. Russian Lake is accessed via a trail that leads east from East Bay of Big Moose, and it didn't take long for me to paddle up the lake, find the dock at the trailhead, and set off on foot. Less than an hour after leaving the Higby Road hand launch, I was arriving at the lean-to as evening gloom settled into the backcountry.
Since it was late and I'd already eaten dinner prior to setting out, I was quick to set up my bug bivy inside the lean-to and turn in for the evening.
The morning dawned with mostly cloudy skies, but hear and there I could see gaps of blue sky between the clouds.
Once I was up and had breakfast in my belly, I took a few minutes to poke around and explore the vicinity of the lean-to. Russian Lake clearly defied my expectations of "little use" somewhat- the lean-to site was well impacted, there were a number of discarded odds and ends lying about, and it's very evidentially a place that is at least occasionally targeted by bigger groups looking for more of a social backcountry experience. I'd surmise this is probably due to this being the most accessible (least remote) of these 4 lean-tos, plus also the only one whose Big Moose Lake shoreline trailhead is readily accessible by motorboat. (Shallow waters on the way to the other two trailheads presumably are quite limiting to those attempting to approach via motorboat.)
In any case, it was still a beautifully situated lean-to on the shore of Russian Lake.
My next destination, the Upper Gull Lake Lean-to, was some fair distance away and I wanted to arrive early so that I could move on elsewhere if it were still occupied, so it wasn't long before I'd packed up, returned to Big Moose Lake, retrieved my canoe from where I'd hidden and locked it in the woods, and set out again across Big Moose.
The other three lean-tos are all accessed via trailheads off of the Inlet area of Big Moose Lake. Here, Andy's Creek and the outlet of Lower Sister Lake combine and flow into a broad, shallow bay that is connected to the main portion of Big Moose via a shallow channel. Motorboat traffic is permitted here, but the shallow waters keep it to a fairly minimal level. As I paddled up into the bay I was already experiencing solitude.
The trailhead for Upper Gull Lake is at the northwest end of the bay. I arrived to find no sign of any canoes stashed in the woods nearby, nor any entries in the register book at the trailhead, so I figured my chances of the lean-to being unoccupied were pretty good- it would be rough to hike the mile and change to get there only to find the lean-to full.
About two-thirds of the way to Upper Gull Lake, the trail crosses the outlet of Lower Gull Lake, where some nice views of that body of water can be found not far off the trail.
I'd heard horror stories bout the trail between Lower and Upper Gull Lakes being overgrown and disappearing into beaver swamps, but when I hiked through I found instead a nice, relatively new re-route that sticks to higher (and drier) ground. I'd been prepared for the worst but it turned out my fears were misplaced.
Just as the first glimpses of Upper Gull Lake were starting to come into view through the trees, I hiked through what appeared to have been the site of an old camp- possibly a lumber camp. A number of discarded metal odds and ends were lying about, including sled runners, barrel hoops, and more.
There was even an old horseshoe lying amidst the junk. So perhaps at least one horse has made the epic journey to Upper Gull Lake?
Not far beyond the site of the old camp was the lean-to, beautifully situated on the south shore of Upper Gull Lake.
After settling in and setting up camp, I cracked open the lean-to log book. I knew I'd picked a little used lean-to when I saw the date of the very first entry in the book- May of 2008! Over 13 years prior! At most lean-tos, the log book is either filled with entries- or destroyed- within a few seasons.
Scrolling through the log book I also observed numerous gaps consisting of many months between entries. The longest gap between consecutive entries was nearly a year- 11 months!
I also happened to notice that Leif Erikson had paid visit to that very same lean-to- in 1492 no less! Impressive than his inscription has survived the tests of time.
I spent a nice afternoon reading and enjoying the solitude. A few times throughout the day sprinkles passed by but for the most part it remained partly cloudy with some occasional patches of sunshine.
Just about as I was thinking about starting to cook dinner, I heard splashing and a whole lot of commotion coming from down by the shore. I got to to investigate, and discovered a family of weasels- mom and 2 or 3 kittens- emerging from an afternoon swim upon the lake. Upon seeing me, mom was quick to dive into the entrance to their den and attempt to coax her kittens to join her- unsuccessfully at first.
Rather than being afraid of me, her kittens clearly felt like they could take me on in a fair fight, judging from their screams and reluctance to give me a wide berth.
Eventually mom was finally able to coax her kittens down into the den with her. I wouldn't hear a peep out of them for the remainder of my stay.
The rest of the evening passed uneventfully. In the morning I awoke to more gloomy weather- low clouds were even teasing the tree tops on the hillside across the lake.
I figured that my last lean-to destination for the trip, Andy's Creek, was even less likely to be occupied so I took a leisurely morning packing up and hiking back to Big Moose Lake. I again retrieved my canoe from another hiding spot and set out upon the water once again.
Continued in next post...
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