Trip Report - Stillwater Reservoir - Red Horse Trail

Stillwater Reservoir, Adirondack Park, New York

Date: July 1-4, 2006
Location: Stillwater Reservoir area, Western Adirondacks, New York Trail: Red Horse Trail,
Map: USGS Survey, Beaver River, NY
Mileage: 10+ miles RT
Trail condition: Flat and smooth; swamp & stream crossings
Note: buggy area - bring DEET, head net, long pants and shirt

Beaver's work at Clear Lake
A real Adirondack adventure! The north side of the stillwater Reservoir is one on the last untouched wilderness areas in the Adirondack Park. We hired a local water taxi for $40 and a twenty minute ride from the Stillwater Shop to Red Horse Trail trailhead at Trout Pond. This is a beautiful, remote trail with no
roads or other connecting trails. It continues north for 5 miles from Trout Pond through original old-growth forest, surrounded by beautiful swamps, lakes, ponds and streams and ending at Clear Lake with nothing but trailess wilderness for the next 30 miles. It felt a little like "Survivor Man" when the boat left us on Saturday and promised to pick us up on Tuesday at 12PM. We hoped the guy didn't party too much on the 4th of July and forget about us!

We have a small but die-hard group: Ron, a former professional Jazz guitarist and computer game sales person from Williamsburg, Brooklyn and Mark, an architect who has lived in Alabamba, Atlanta and just moved to Prospect Park Brooklyn and myself. Ron's enthusiasm for trees and things green is contagious. He is a walking encyclopaedia of trees and wilderness plants. He has inspired Mark and I to learn more. The old growth forest here is fascinating with huge Black Cherry, Maple, and Birch hardwoods mixed with towering Hemlocks, White Pines, Red Spruce, Firs. Some towering giants are 4 ft in diameter and over 150 ft tall! It's awesome!

We signed in at the trail register at the Trout Pond lean-to site. Since January, there were only 4 parties that ventures to Clear Lake. We stayed at the lean -to site on Saturday. There were thunderstorms and heavy rain during the night but I managed to stay pretty dry in my hammock. We lucked out - the weather cleared on Sunday morning and stayed sunny for the rest of the weekend.

On Sunday morning we took the trail north to Clear Lake at a very leisurely pace admiring the water views and studying the diversity of trees and flora. The trail is flat and smooth for most of the trip. There are a couple of easy log-bridge crossings on the way to Salmon Lake and Whitchhopple Lake.
Note: You can't always believe what's on the map. After Salmon Lake the next mile showed a small stream on the map. But, the beavers have been busy in this area and there is now a huge pond that's not on the map!
We stopped at a campsite at Witchhopple Lake and then the real fun began. The trail continued north and ascended for about 1/2 mile. When we descended the blue trail markers just stopped beside a river. This required removing boots and donning sandals ( don't forget sandalls for the many water crossings). We picked up the trail again and continued on to two more wet bog crossings. There are some boardwalks in place but many are brocken or submerged.

We reached the end of the trail at Clear Lake, a pristine, secluded lake surrounded by towering Spruce, Pine, Fir. There is a campsite on a small rise by the shore with room for 3 or 4 tents and a couple of leaky rowboats - we wondered how they got there. After a refreshing swim in the cool clear water I felt totally at home in the beauty of nature.

We spotted a pair of Loons on the Lake.There was a huge beaver lodge on the opposite shore. Othere wildlife sighting were a family of Merganser wood ducks, Downy Woodpecker, hawks, Grouse, green frogs. The Daks are known for Black Bear and a rare moose sighting but we did not encounter any large 4 legged creatures. Maybe next time.The sun set with airbrush hues of purple and pink and the cool night air was filled with the haunting sound of the Loons.

On Monday Ron and I decided to bushwack to the other side of the Lake which turned out to be an adventure. It was like a jungle with thick vegetation, no open areas, lots of blown down trees and wet areas so progress was slow. We did get to explore the beaver lodge and make it to a point on the other side. When we returned another swim felt great. We took the trail back to Whitchopple Lake and camped there on Monday night.
Dusk at Witchopple Lake

On Tuesday morning we said goodbye to our private wilderness and headed back down to Trout Pond to meet our boat ride back. While taking a cooling swim and floating on my back I looked up to see a Bald Eagle glide by overhead! First time I had seen one in the Daks and it really was the perfect ending to a fantastic weekend.
Thankfully the water taxi was right on time for our ride back to civilization,cold beers and cheeseburgers!

Check out the Stillwater Reservoir web site for info and to hear the sound of the Loons: http://stillwaterreservoir.com/