June i, igi2 
FOREST AND STREAM 
G 87 
Through North Woods by Canoe 
By JACK 
Fholographs by the Author. 
O N a Saturday afternoon about the middle of 
September Jack was walking up Broadway, 
New York, when he met a friend, Ansel 
by name. A few minutes’ conversation disclosed 
the fact that both were on the eve of taking a 
vacation for two weeks. One proclaimed loud 
praises of a “beautiful” trip up the Hudson River 
above Albany, then through the “magnificent” 
Delaware & Hudson Canal, but the other stood 
firm for a trip through the Adirondacks. After 
several minutes of arguing, Ansel said he would 
talk it over with his “buddy’’ Johnny. At a meet¬ 
ing next day all three agreed on a trip through 
the North Woods, starting that same night. 
Jack’s knowdedge of going light on trips where 
considerable portaging was necessary was de¬ 
pended upon in making up the outfit. We de¬ 
cided to take a seventeen-foot canoe, some six 
or seven years old. It was in use almost con¬ 
stantly, even going so far as sliding it over large 
cakes of ice. and pushing through floes during 
the month of- February to cross the Hudson 
River. . 
After packing the outfits in the duffle bags, 
Johnny and Jack paddled to the West 130th street 
station pier, where Ansel had already been wait¬ 
ing for them with an armful of cookies and 
crackers and a can of tongue, with some fruit, 
which we ate wdth relish. On reaching Albany 
the next morning we carried the canoe and out¬ 
fit across the railroad tracks to the station. The 
simple matter of finding the proper place to check 
our outfit for express shipment caused so much 
delay that we missed our connection, which meant 
we would arrive at Old Forge, where we were 
to begin our cruise into, the North Woods, four 
hours later than planned. To partly overcome 
thi.s delay, we purchase food stuffs and a few 
other small but useful articles at Utica, also 
satisfied the yearning of our digestive organs for 
work. 
This was the second day after the opening of 
the deer season, and we were a little dismayed to 
find from information obtained from the hunters 
and natives with whom we became acquainted 
on the train that our apparel was anything but 
correct for the protection we desired. Having- 
left New York in the clothes we intended to 
wear at our arrival at Old Forge, it was only 
necessary for us to shove off the boat and put 
aboard the duffle and be away. The first camp 
was made on P'ourth Lake, and not without a 
little confusion, as we had paddled until dark¬ 
ness had overtaken us. To make matters worse 
a fog made it difficult to find a suitable camp 
site. After a hurried meal we threw down our 
small paraffin lean-to on the wood-strewn beach 
and in a few minutes were asleep. 
By the next morning the fog had thickened, 
and the tent, with which we had protected our 
blankets, was covered with a very heavy mist. 
From later experience we found this condition 
to be characteristic of the Adirondack region at 
this period of the year. We were well on our 
way across the “carry’’ from Fourth to Seventh 
Lake, when we met a party of hunters hiking 
for the woods in search of game, and from the 
guns in their possession it was easily seen they 
were out for husiness. Being desirous of seeing 
as much of the country as possible, we immedi¬ 
ately launched our canoe into Seventh Lake, after 
making a purchase of homemade liiscuits. and in 
quick time passed through it and carried one 
mile into Eighth Lake, whose shore had barely 
received the wash from our canoe when we began 
the mile and a half carry into Brown’s Tract 
stream, a wind'ng brook about two miles in 
length, which flows into Raquette Lake. - 
At Raquette Lake railway station we each ate 
a refreshing plate of ice cream and Johnny 
showed his “speed” with the weaker sex by ex¬ 
hibiting a fist full of postal cards, the addresses 
for which were copied very carefully from a list 
that he had. At every stopping place Johnny 
would send his usual number of cards and let¬ 
ters, some of which contained as many as twen'y 
pages, although the first class matter always car¬ 
ried the same addresses. On account of the 
easy going up to this time we did not consider 
it necessary to consult any maps to find the out¬ 
let of Raquette Lake, which resulted in four 
miles of extra paddling. Sunset found us at 
Raauette Lake dam. where we made camn, and 
while Johnny was cooking the eveninsr meal. Jack 
and Ansel nushed off in the canoe and struck out 
for bass, .^t dusk thev returned successful their 
lure heine a brown palmer, cast alonsr the shore, 
and wherever these gamy creatures signffied their 
presence by splashes. 
After partaking of a breakfast of bacon and 
eggs, we crossed the half-mile portage to Forked 
Lake, over whose surface we paddled for a short 
time when the rapids of the Raquette River came 
into view. The compactness of our outfit made 
it possible for one man to carry it, and gave 
us two men to handle the boat. As the leaky 
craft was gradually becoming w'atersoaked, 
weighing about no pounds, the additional man 
helped to considerably increase our speed over 
the portages, and the one and a half mile carry 
beside the Raquette River was quickly covered. 
The low level of the water only enabled us to 
be afloat for about fifteen minutes, during which 
time w^e were kept busy dodging rocks and sandy 
ledges. Before reaching Buttermilk Falls we had 
a short, but rough, carry to maneuver. On this 
carry we saw fresh deer tracks. Here our canoe 
almost came to grief by being tossed from the 
shoulders of Ansel and Jack, who had slipped 
on some moss-covered cobbles, and lost their bal¬ 
ance wdiile crossing an e.xtremely muddy part of 
the trail. 
At Long Lake village we purchased a few sup¬ 
plies, and then continued to the end of Long 
Lake, where we entered the Raquette River once 
more and made camp in a beautiful birch grove 
highly situated on the bank of the river, from 
where we had a splendid view of the surround¬ 
ing country. The long night seemed to us like 
an hour, and ere the morning mist had cleared 
away, we were off, the steady current of the river 
helping us onward. Several times the shallow 
condition of the water left us hard aground on 
ledofes of sand and bark, but w'e escaped the 
