As you already know I’m the planner of the group, always doing research before trips to find fun and exciting things to do. Since we enjoy canoeing and are always looking for an adventure I was excited after I read about the various paddling trips you can do in that area of the Adirondacks. One of them was the Rollins Loop. Since we were camping at Rollins Pond this one seemed like a no-brainer. The idea is that you depart your campsite and paddle in a loop, canoeing through other bodies of water before returning to your campsite. The one caveat is that you have to “portage” or carry the canoes twice in order to complete the loop. Since we knew this ahead of time we purchased two C-TUG canoe carts in an attempt to make the portages easier. Okay, hold on while I attempt to stop laughing. I’m laughing now, but I wasn’t during the portage from hell. Here’s where our story begins.
From our campsite we made a clockwise loop which took us to the north end of Rollins Pond, not far from our campsite. Apparently there is a portage there, but I admit I never saw a sign for it. There is an outlet that may be paddled in high water. This outlet takes you into Floodwood Pond but there is a pretty decent current running through it and large rocks in spots. I was the first to go through and managed to get stuck, literally between a rock and a hard place. Since I was blocking the outlet, Kris got stuck behind me. This is the part where I decide to get out of the canoe and up to my thighs in cold, rushing water. Thank goodness for my Patagonia baggies. They dried quickly so I wasn’t forced to sit in wet shorts the remainder of the trip. I was able to pull the canoe back and get us going straight through the outlet. Okay, mishap #1…check.
Floodwood Pond is peaceful. I mean, really peaceful. You are surrounded by fragrant pine trees and the water looks like glass. It’s beautiful and perfectly captures what we love about the area. You’re going to continue in a clockwise direction through Floodwood Pond until you reach a lazy stream at the end. This was definitely our favorite part. It’s an easy paddle and takes you through various flora and fauna. As you exit the stream you’ll head across Little Square Pond, into Fish Creek before reaching Copperas Pond. This area was full of lily pads and white water lilies.
The first of our two portages was from Copperas Pond to Whey Pond. I can’t stress enough to bring a map and pay attention to the trail blazes for the canoe carry. We somehow managed to make a wrong turn, essentially hiking a good distance off the canoe carry with our two 86-pound canoes and three kids through thick muck in spots. I’m telling you. The girls are troopers. No amount of bug spray could have saved us but they didn’t complain once. They truly love an adventure! If it wasn’t for the couple with the two dogs that we passed on the trail, who knows how much longer the trip would have taken. He had a trail map and got us turned in the right direction and even helped Kris carry the canoes back up a hill. If they ever find this blog post somewhere on the web…thank you again! We found the trail for the canoe carry and were back in business. Mishap #2…check. Don’t be confused by the picture below. This was taken before we got lost! That’s why they’re still smiling. Haha!
There is a small, sandy beach at that end of Whey pond to stop for a snack and let the kids literally jump for joy at surviving the portage. This is also where Kris and I looked at each other and said, “What in the damn hell were we thinking!” We sighed and thought the worst was over. Haha. That’s funny. Here is where mishap #3 begins.
Whey Pond was windy that day. The fatigue from the portage from hell coupled with wind proved to make this a challenging paddle. The fortunate thing is that it’s a straight shot from the beach to the other end. You can faintly see the sign for the canoe carry ahead so you just need to remain extremely focused on keeping the canoe straight. While we got turned around a couple of times in the wind, we made it fairly easily to the other side.
The portage from Whey Pond to Rollins Pond is a breeze in comparison. The C-TUG worked as it should and allowed me to easily pull one of the canoes across the trail and campground road to the Rollins Pond boat launch while Kris was close behind with the other canoe.
Rollins Pond is large. Rollins Pond can also be very difficult to paddle when it’s windy. At this point I’m starting to feel like an idiot. This was my idea and I obviously didn’t take wind into consideration when I deemed Sunday the best weather day to attempt the canoe loop. Like I mentioned at the beginning of this post. We were camping at a site close to the north end of Rollins Pond. The boat launch starts at the first campsite. That’s a lot of campsites to paddle past, considering 80% of them have direct shore access. I remember struggling to paddle what felt like an eternity only to ask a teenager fishing at the shore which site he was at. “49!” he yelled. That’s when I mumbled a bunch of profanities to myself. Kris was having just as much trouble as I was but he’s the kind of guy that won’t make you feel bad if an idea you had doesn’t work out. He just kept paddling.
Just keep paddling…just keep padding.
At one point the wind knocked me into the vegetation near the shore. A nice, older woman came down thinking the kids were out there alone. “Oh…you have an adult. You’re fine.” she said. Well, I don’t know about that. We sat there for a few minutes while I contemplated throwing in the towel and pulling the canoe into her campsite until I could bring the car back to pick it up. She was very friendly and kept offering for us to do that. I’m stubborn and hate quitting so I kept going. At points I was hanging on to vegetation for respite from the wind. No, seriously. We were pulling at vegetation in an effort to continue moving forward without having to paddle.
I eventually made it back to the campsite. Kris got there before me, probably by 10 minutes. He and Paige were getting ready to hop in the car and start looking for us when they heard me holler for help pulling the canoe in. We all stopped to reflect on our almost 8 hour adventure. I know…8 freaking hours! What was I thinking! The great canoe loop of 2017 was in the books. As you may have noticed the pictures stopped mid-post. Like I had time to take pictures while I was fighting the wind across Whey Pond and Rollins Pond!
What to Remember:
- Canoes and paddles can be rented at the Rollins Pond Boat Livery.
- Everyone needs a life jacket!
- Bring plenty of water and snacks. We were well equipped and had a nice picnic in the canoes half-way into the trip.
- Pay attention to the weather. Take the wind into consideration. Learn from my mistake.
- Bring sunscreen, bug spray and wear a hat. Those mosquitoes dined on us like they were at an all-you-can eat buffet, and that was with bug spray.
- Know your family’s ability. We had been canoeing as a family ever since the girls were small. We knew we could attempt a trip like this, but start out with small trips if your family is new to canoeing.
- Do you have a plan for the portages? Determine whether you can carry your canoe(s) or if you need to purchase a cart.
- Don’t let one crazy experience deter you. We love canoeing and plan to do the “Route of the Seven Carries” in the Adirondacks. Yeah…we’re nuts!
“Anyone who says they like portaging is either a liar or crazy.”
– Bill Mason (Canadian naturalist, author, artist, filmmaker, and conservationist)
You are brace souls and I would have been crying! My arms would be so sore and I probably would have been swearing out loud…campsite #49, what???
My arms were definitely sore. Looking back it would have been so easy without the wind. I’d definitely do the trip again!
Thanks for posting this. We’re going to camp at Rollins next summer and I was thinking of kayaking that loop. I am now convinced that such an attempt would end in divorce.
Haha. You’ll be fine. If it weren’t for the mishap with the canoe carry and the wind, we would have been fine. We just didn’t have a good trail map with us. We have one now 🙂 We all agree that’s still one of the most fun things we’ve done, mishaps and all. Let me know how it goes.