An Englishman in New York. Upstate Adirondack Wilderness Kayak Camping New York USA 2015. Solo Kayak Camping Vlog Adirondack Mountains, 11 days Wild Camping
- 4 years ago
If you have some time to kill tonight please indulge yourself vicariously in my latest movie that i've called 'An Englishman in Yew York' it's about this happy Geordie bloke from Northern England 6000 km from home, alone traversing around some truly stunning nature in a tiny borrowed kayak that he just met for the first time a week earlier.
Its an hour long and covers 11 days alone in the Adirondack wilderness with nothing that I can't squeeze onto a 10ft kayak after squeezing myself in it too, i've no access to firearms or support unless I can call them on my cell phone, after dropping me off I was told if i give a call someone will come back to get me within a couple of days at a pre-arranged meeting point as it was a 6 hr drive each way, crazy?
Maybe.
It was a brilliant trip.
Day 01 Solo
Well day 6 arrived quickly and I was packed up in 15 minutes and ready for my solo venture, I was keen to help everyone pack but my father said it made better sense to drop me off so I can get my first days paddling started and that they can all deal with removing tent-town without me, so I loaded my gear into the kayak and paddled to the dock near the car park where my father was waiting with his van to ferry me down to Blue Mountain Lake.
Before I knew it i was paddling out onto Blue Mountain Lake and when I looked back my father was gone, I was finally alone in the Adirondacks, the lake seemed huge and was a little choppy so I cut across at a steady pace and headed for the first of a series of islands which had 4 primitive campsites allocated on it, an Adirondack primitive campsite is a designated clearing for camping in with a stone fire circle nearby and marked with a little symbol on a tree, the 4 sites on the island were not to my liking for various reasons but mostly because it was so early in the day I did not feel like setting up camp yet, I knew that approx 14 mile away to the west at the end of Utowana Lake there was a lean-to shelter so I got my head around the idea that this is where I was heading and going to sleep on day 1
I kept a steady pace stopping now and then to rest and take pictures or shoot a little video, drink plenty of water or top up on sunblock as it was easily 90f by midday, it wasn't long before I was entering the much smaller and glass-like Eagle Lake on the South West corner of Blue Mountain Lake. This lake was impressively shallow, it was amazing to think that huge paddle steamers filled with tourists ferried in and out of here back in the late 1800's when at times I was worried I was going to ground my kayak. The water was crystal clear and if i was not on such a mission to get to my desired location it would have been a great spot for some attempted bass fishing due to the amount of large fallen trees in the water creating the perfect cover for them.
It was blistering hot by now and my pace slowed but I kept at it slow and steady and before long i was entering the beautiful Utowana Lake.
I kept heading west ....
Its an hour long and covers 11 days alone in the Adirondack wilderness with nothing that I can't squeeze onto a 10ft kayak after squeezing myself in it too, i've no access to firearms or support unless I can call them on my cell phone, after dropping me off I was told if i give a call someone will come back to get me within a couple of days at a pre-arranged meeting point as it was a 6 hr drive each way, crazy?
Maybe.
It was a brilliant trip.
Day 01 Solo
Well day 6 arrived quickly and I was packed up in 15 minutes and ready for my solo venture, I was keen to help everyone pack but my father said it made better sense to drop me off so I can get my first days paddling started and that they can all deal with removing tent-town without me, so I loaded my gear into the kayak and paddled to the dock near the car park where my father was waiting with his van to ferry me down to Blue Mountain Lake.
Before I knew it i was paddling out onto Blue Mountain Lake and when I looked back my father was gone, I was finally alone in the Adirondacks, the lake seemed huge and was a little choppy so I cut across at a steady pace and headed for the first of a series of islands which had 4 primitive campsites allocated on it, an Adirondack primitive campsite is a designated clearing for camping in with a stone fire circle nearby and marked with a little symbol on a tree, the 4 sites on the island were not to my liking for various reasons but mostly because it was so early in the day I did not feel like setting up camp yet, I knew that approx 14 mile away to the west at the end of Utowana Lake there was a lean-to shelter so I got my head around the idea that this is where I was heading and going to sleep on day 1
I kept a steady pace stopping now and then to rest and take pictures or shoot a little video, drink plenty of water or top up on sunblock as it was easily 90f by midday, it wasn't long before I was entering the much smaller and glass-like Eagle Lake on the South West corner of Blue Mountain Lake. This lake was impressively shallow, it was amazing to think that huge paddle steamers filled with tourists ferried in and out of here back in the late 1800's when at times I was worried I was going to ground my kayak. The water was crystal clear and if i was not on such a mission to get to my desired location it would have been a great spot for some attempted bass fishing due to the amount of large fallen trees in the water creating the perfect cover for them.
It was blistering hot by now and my pace slowed but I kept at it slow and steady and before long i was entering the beautiful Utowana Lake.
I kept heading west ....