Lake Lila
Where: Lake Lila, Adirondacks
When: 8/25/95-8/27/95
With: Bill, Tom
Back in the spring, Tom twisted his ankle while fishing, so when we started discussing plans for our annual Ritz Brothers camping trip, I suggested a canoe trip, to minimize the amount of hiking. I volunteered my Old Town 158 canoe and left it to Bill to choose a destination. He quickly came up with two possibilities. One was a trip he and Tom had done before, involving a paddle across one lake and then a 1/2-mile portage to another lake. The other was a new destination, Lake Lila. A short (0.3-mile) portage directly to the lake, but there were reports of extensive damage resulting from a severe windstorm in July. One person had been killed and trees were apparently down throughout the area, so it wasn't clear if we'd been able to either get in or find a spot to camp. Bill planned to contact the ranger for the area to get home details.
While Bill was gathering info on the area, I was thinking about the equipment. My Old Town 158 is a good-sized boat and could carry all three of us, along with our gear, but it would be tight. I'd been lusting after a small kayak for some time and it seemed the perfect thing for the trip. We'd be able to move one person and some gear out of the canoe and it would be nice for fishing too. Unfortunately, it was the end of the season and supplies of the boat I wanted - a Perception Keowee - were low. I went to REI to look and they were completely sold out. I'd pretty much resigned myself to Plan B - towing a rubber raft behind the canoe - when I found out that EMS was having a 20% off sale, starting the Friday I planned to head out to Albany.
In a stroke of luck, I happened to have a meeting at our Framingham office on Thursday morning and there was an EMS store nearby. After the meeting, during lunchtime, I ran over and found the exact Keowee I wanted. Green, with foot braces. I nabbed a salesman and explained that I wanted the boat, a paddle, a spray skirt, and a lifejacket, but I knew they had a sale starting the next day. I further explained that I was going to be on the road at 6AM the next day, so I wondered if they could give me the 20% discount a wee bit early. He talked with a manager and agreed to give me the discount. Whoopee!
After paying, the salesman helped me carry it out to the car. I'd hoped to be able to fit it inside but it was a few inches too long. I tried a number of things - and wound up cracking my windshield in the process - but no luck, so I lashed it on the roof, drove it home, dropped it off, and then returned to work. Now I had a problem. I'd planned to have the kayak in the car and the canoe up on top, but that wasn't going to work. I spent the afternoon trying to figure out how to attach both boats to the roof before I realized I could get the kayak inside. I just couldn't close the hatch! Not a problem.
Back home that night, I called Bill to tell him the news of the kayak. He told me that he'd managed to contact the Lake Lila ranger and the area was all clear for camping. The trip was a go! I packed the car after dinner and set out at 6:30 the next morning. Now, in the past, I'd attached the canoe to the car with just two lashing straps around the middle...no bow or stern lines...and it had worked fine. The time, there was a problem. Strong cross winds on the Turnpike kept hitting the car and I watched the canoe shifting. Suddenly, I noticed that the bow was way off center. Just then, a big gust hit and the whole thing started to really move. I braced it with my hand out the window while I pulled over to the breakdown lane. Luckily, I had a big hunk of rope tying down the hatch on the kayak, so I groped around inside the hatch area, got a filleting knife out of my backpack, cut off as much excess rope as I could, and then tied the canoe down, fore and aft. All on the side of the Turnpike, with cars and truck whizzing by. That did the trick and the rest of the ride to Bill's was uneventful.
After a short visit at Bill's, I followed him to Delmar, where we picked up Tom. Because my car was crammed full of kayak, we decided to take two cars - Bill's and mine. We briefly debated loading everything into Tom's truck, but he had doubts about its ability to make the trip, so we went with two cars. Besides, it would've taken 1/2 an hour to unpack my car and repack the truck. Leaving Delmar, we made a few brief stops for food, wine, film, and gas and then headed north.
The trip up was long, but relatively interesting. First along the Northway, where we passed a small forest fire near Lake George. Then we headed west on routes 28 and 30, passing through smaller and smaller towns. After that, a turnoff onto a small paved side road, which turned into a rough semi-paved road, and finally onto the all-dirt access road to the lake. A bumpy, dusty, 7-mile ride, but we finally arrived around 2PM at a parking lot full of cars. We quickly unloaded and soon were heading down the trail to the water. At first, we attempted to carry everything. I had both my backpack and the kayak and Bill/Tom filled the canoe with their stuff and tried to carry that. The trail was only 0.3 miles, so we figured we could suffer that long. Wrong! The better idea would have been: It's only 0.3 miles...make two trips. We all wound up dumping gear on the trail and coming back for it, but eventually we got everything down to the shore.
The lake was beautiful. Dotted with small islands and coves and surrounded by rolling hills. All of the land, with the exception of the lake itself and a small bit of shore was private land, owned by the Saratoga Whitneys. It had all once been the private estate of a Vanderbilt, who named the lake after his wife and built a house (and a private railroad station) here. After his death, the land went to his heirs, the house and the train station disappeared, and the state managed to get the lake.
While we were gearing up, we chatted with a man and a woman who were just leaving. The man showed a couple of huge bass he'd caught, so we had hope for luck with the fish. Finally, everything was packed in the boats and off we went. I paddled out a bit and cracked a beer in celebration, and then we started up the lake. We started with a long run to a small island. Both boats did well, though I found I couldn't keep up with the combined paddle power of Bill and Tom. From the island, we headed to one shore, followed it up the lake, and then crossed to Spruce Island. The map at the parking lot had indicated there was a lone campsite there and we were hoping to nab it.
There was no obvious sign of a landing (other sites along the shore had had sandy beaches), so we finally just pulled up to the island and Bill went exploring. After a bit, he appeared a bit further up the shoreline and announced he'd found the site. We pulled the boats in and claimed the spot. It was a very nice campsite, centered on a large stone fire ring with a metal grate. Logs formed a square around the fire ring, providing nice seating, and the surrounding area offered a number of spots to put up tents. On Tom's advice, we all looked up, scanning for "widow-makers" - large partially fallen trees caught in other trees that might fall on the tents. The place seemed to be safe we so we decided to stay.
The rest of the afternoon was spent exploring the island, gathering firewood, setting up tents, and generally relaxing. The damage from the storm was pretty amazing. The island had apparently been hit full force by the wind and huge trees were down all over the place. Most were simply uprooted and laid down, but some quite sizable trees (2-foot diameter) had been literally snapped in two. Our campsite - since it was the main one on the island - had been cleared already, but another secondary site nearby was still covered with fallen timbers. Very scary. The storm had come in without warning, early in the morning (5-6AM) on a Saturday, and the weather leading up to it had been very hot and humid, so the campsites in the area were all probably full, especially the prime island sites. We all agreed that it was quite possible that the fatality had occurred on our island.
At some point we all decided to go for a paddle around the island. Tom & I took the canoe while Bill went in the kayak. Tom had brought a battery-powered fish finder, which he attached to the canoe, so he provided depth and temperature readings. No fish spotted though. Back to the campsite for more relaxing. Bill managed to catch the first fish of the trip - a 10-inch small mouth - off a rock nearby. Eventually, we started dinner preparations and settled in for an evening of food, drink, campfire, and conversation. The evening was pretty chilly and we all wound up in thermal clothing, hats, and jackets. A rabbit came by at one point to check us out. A bold fellow, I caught him in my headlamp standing just a few feet away from where I sat. We went for a late-night boat ride to look at the stars - a little hazy but still quite nice - and then went to bed around 10:30.
Next morning, we were all up by 7, ate breakfast, and then went fishing around the island. We all headed for the near end, which had some nice rocks to cast from. I hauled in the first fish of the day, another 10-inch small mouth. It turned out to be the largest fish I would land during the trip. Unfortunately, I'd left my hook remover (surgical clamps) back at camp, so I had to run back to get them, leaving the fish in a shallow pool. After I let that fish go, I decided to try my luck from a small rock just off the shore. I didn't have my waders, so I stripped to my underwear and made the crossing barefoot and barelegged. Bill got a picture of me in my shirt, hat, and skivvies. Over the course of the next few hours, we all caught a couple of fish of various sizes, though nothing worth keeping. Mostly we fished from the shore, but Tom and I both went out in the boats at one point and tried our luck offshore.
Around noon, we decided to go exploring around the lake. After a quick lunch, I mixed up a 24-ounce margarita and we headed off in the boats for a sandy beach we'd seen in the distance. We passed by one beach with a campsite where a large family group appeared to have set up a long-term camp. They even had a couple of sailboards (we'd watched them out on the water the night before). From there, we headed into some shoals and did some fishing among the grasses poking from the water, while a loon watched us from the middle of the lake. Tom got a monster hit that immediately snapped his line, so we knew the fish were there. Eventually, we headed for shore and explored the beach. It seemed odd to have a sandy beach in the middle of the mountains, but there it was. If you didn't know better, you'd swear you were on an island in the Pacific. The hot midday sun only enhanced the illusion. We walked up the beach a bit and checked out a campsite there. Another beautiful spot, though smaller than ours, with a path right on to the beach. Perhaps another time we'll stay there. It too had been cleared of trees felled by the storm and we noted that two huge trees had fallen and crossed directly on the best spot for a tent. Another good candidate for a haunted campsite.
Leaving the beach, we got back in the boats and headed for the inlet to the lake. According to the guidebook, it was navigable for quite a ways upstream. Heading toward the mouth, we fished in some more shoals and I hooked a very sizable fish, using a bass popper fly on my spin cast rod. Unfortunately, in my excitement, I neglected to play the fish at all and just tried to reel him in. My 2-lb. test line was no match for a strong fish and he parted the line and swam off with my lure. Drat! Needless to say, I was pretty pissed off, but eventually I tied a new lure on my line and we kept on fishing.
Rounding the tip of the inlet, we paddled into the stream and headed up the winding waterway. We disturbed a great blue heron, which lifted itself into the air and flew further upstream. Beautiful bird. Up and up we went, finally turning back when we just all got too tired. The sun and the margaritas didn't help either and I replaced the remainder of my drink with water. Bill & Tom took a detour up a side stream, hoping for a shortcut, but they wound up having to turn back, having been blocked by a beaver dam. Back out on the lake, we rested a bit and debated our plan of action. We'd thought of checking out the former site of the estate lodge and climbing a small mountain on trails leading from the lodge, but we were all exhausted so we decided to just paddle back to camp. We put our heads down and commenced a long, non-stop Zen paddle across the lake.
Back in camp, we all just fell down on the ground, completely worn out. After a bit, we started to regain our energy. Bill and I both went swimming (VERY refreshing), and then the three of us headed off in different directions to explore the island some more. Tom and I headed for the far end while Bill went the other way.
Eventually, we all drifted back to camp, had dinner, and settled in for another evening around the campfire. The loons were in full throat, so they provided a musical accompaniment for us. The night was warmer, but there were no stars to see so we amused ourselves with marshmallow sacrifices before heading to sleep.
Overnight a rainstorm came through, so the woods were wet when we awoke. Fog covered the lake as we prepared our breakfast and packed up. There was a heavy mist falling when we loaded up the boats and headed back towards the landing beach. We followed one shoreline on our way back, taking our time and fishing everywhere that seemed likely. Finally, 100 yards from the landing, we found the fish, near some rocks just offshore a small island. We all caught a few, with Tom getting the biggest of the trip.
At last we called it quits and headed to shore. This time we had the sense to make two trips to the cars, first with the gear and then the boats. Bill & Tom managed to get the canoe on their heads so they carried it back in a single effort. We made short work of loading up the cars and then parted company, heading for home. I made a single stop for gas just before getting on the Northway, but otherwise it was a straight, 6-hour drive from the lake to Hopkinton.
In hindsight: Actually, I don't think I'd change a thing. Well, maybe I'd cut out the wracking cough and the diarrhea I had, though I did learn that blown-down trees make great backwoods toilet seats! But still, I wore all the clothes I brought and didn't feel I needed more. The food I had was great. The location was near perfect. The only thing missing was more time. This is truly a place worth revisiting and spending more time at. On Saturday, we tried to fit island fishing, beach exploring, river exploring, lodge-site exploring, and mountain climbing all into a single day. No wonder we were exhausted! It would be very possible to spend a week at Lake Lila and find plenty of things to do.
Actually, I did learn a few things. Mostly, I learned I could bring more fun things. Canoe camping definitely has advantages. Food, drink, camping gear, skin diving gear... Next time I bring more toys!
More pictures
When: 8/25/95-8/27/95
With: Bill, Tom
Back in the spring, Tom twisted his ankle while fishing, so when we started discussing plans for our annual Ritz Brothers camping trip, I suggested a canoe trip, to minimize the amount of hiking. I volunteered my Old Town 158 canoe and left it to Bill to choose a destination. He quickly came up with two possibilities. One was a trip he and Tom had done before, involving a paddle across one lake and then a 1/2-mile portage to another lake. The other was a new destination, Lake Lila. A short (0.3-mile) portage directly to the lake, but there were reports of extensive damage resulting from a severe windstorm in July. One person had been killed and trees were apparently down throughout the area, so it wasn't clear if we'd been able to either get in or find a spot to camp. Bill planned to contact the ranger for the area to get home details.
While Bill was gathering info on the area, I was thinking about the equipment. My Old Town 158 is a good-sized boat and could carry all three of us, along with our gear, but it would be tight. I'd been lusting after a small kayak for some time and it seemed the perfect thing for the trip. We'd be able to move one person and some gear out of the canoe and it would be nice for fishing too. Unfortunately, it was the end of the season and supplies of the boat I wanted - a Perception Keowee - were low. I went to REI to look and they were completely sold out. I'd pretty much resigned myself to Plan B - towing a rubber raft behind the canoe - when I found out that EMS was having a 20% off sale, starting the Friday I planned to head out to Albany.
In a stroke of luck, I happened to have a meeting at our Framingham office on Thursday morning and there was an EMS store nearby. After the meeting, during lunchtime, I ran over and found the exact Keowee I wanted. Green, with foot braces. I nabbed a salesman and explained that I wanted the boat, a paddle, a spray skirt, and a lifejacket, but I knew they had a sale starting the next day. I further explained that I was going to be on the road at 6AM the next day, so I wondered if they could give me the 20% discount a wee bit early. He talked with a manager and agreed to give me the discount. Whoopee!
After paying, the salesman helped me carry it out to the car. I'd hoped to be able to fit it inside but it was a few inches too long. I tried a number of things - and wound up cracking my windshield in the process - but no luck, so I lashed it on the roof, drove it home, dropped it off, and then returned to work. Now I had a problem. I'd planned to have the kayak in the car and the canoe up on top, but that wasn't going to work. I spent the afternoon trying to figure out how to attach both boats to the roof before I realized I could get the kayak inside. I just couldn't close the hatch! Not a problem.
Back home that night, I called Bill to tell him the news of the kayak. He told me that he'd managed to contact the Lake Lila ranger and the area was all clear for camping. The trip was a go! I packed the car after dinner and set out at 6:30 the next morning. Now, in the past, I'd attached the canoe to the car with just two lashing straps around the middle...no bow or stern lines...and it had worked fine. The time, there was a problem. Strong cross winds on the Turnpike kept hitting the car and I watched the canoe shifting. Suddenly, I noticed that the bow was way off center. Just then, a big gust hit and the whole thing started to really move. I braced it with my hand out the window while I pulled over to the breakdown lane. Luckily, I had a big hunk of rope tying down the hatch on the kayak, so I groped around inside the hatch area, got a filleting knife out of my backpack, cut off as much excess rope as I could, and then tied the canoe down, fore and aft. All on the side of the Turnpike, with cars and truck whizzing by. That did the trick and the rest of the ride to Bill's was uneventful.
After a short visit at Bill's, I followed him to Delmar, where we picked up Tom. Because my car was crammed full of kayak, we decided to take two cars - Bill's and mine. We briefly debated loading everything into Tom's truck, but he had doubts about its ability to make the trip, so we went with two cars. Besides, it would've taken 1/2 an hour to unpack my car and repack the truck. Leaving Delmar, we made a few brief stops for food, wine, film, and gas and then headed north.
The trip up was long, but relatively interesting. First along the Northway, where we passed a small forest fire near Lake George. Then we headed west on routes 28 and 30, passing through smaller and smaller towns. After that, a turnoff onto a small paved side road, which turned into a rough semi-paved road, and finally onto the all-dirt access road to the lake. A bumpy, dusty, 7-mile ride, but we finally arrived around 2PM at a parking lot full of cars. We quickly unloaded and soon were heading down the trail to the water. At first, we attempted to carry everything. I had both my backpack and the kayak and Bill/Tom filled the canoe with their stuff and tried to carry that. The trail was only 0.3 miles, so we figured we could suffer that long. Wrong! The better idea would have been: It's only 0.3 miles...make two trips. We all wound up dumping gear on the trail and coming back for it, but eventually we got everything down to the shore.
The lake was beautiful. Dotted with small islands and coves and surrounded by rolling hills. All of the land, with the exception of the lake itself and a small bit of shore was private land, owned by the Saratoga Whitneys. It had all once been the private estate of a Vanderbilt, who named the lake after his wife and built a house (and a private railroad station) here. After his death, the land went to his heirs, the house and the train station disappeared, and the state managed to get the lake.
While we were gearing up, we chatted with a man and a woman who were just leaving. The man showed a couple of huge bass he'd caught, so we had hope for luck with the fish. Finally, everything was packed in the boats and off we went. I paddled out a bit and cracked a beer in celebration, and then we started up the lake. We started with a long run to a small island. Both boats did well, though I found I couldn't keep up with the combined paddle power of Bill and Tom. From the island, we headed to one shore, followed it up the lake, and then crossed to Spruce Island. The map at the parking lot had indicated there was a lone campsite there and we were hoping to nab it.
There was no obvious sign of a landing (other sites along the shore had had sandy beaches), so we finally just pulled up to the island and Bill went exploring. After a bit, he appeared a bit further up the shoreline and announced he'd found the site. We pulled the boats in and claimed the spot. It was a very nice campsite, centered on a large stone fire ring with a metal grate. Logs formed a square around the fire ring, providing nice seating, and the surrounding area offered a number of spots to put up tents. On Tom's advice, we all looked up, scanning for "widow-makers" - large partially fallen trees caught in other trees that might fall on the tents. The place seemed to be safe we so we decided to stay.
The rest of the afternoon was spent exploring the island, gathering firewood, setting up tents, and generally relaxing. The damage from the storm was pretty amazing. The island had apparently been hit full force by the wind and huge trees were down all over the place. Most were simply uprooted and laid down, but some quite sizable trees (2-foot diameter) had been literally snapped in two. Our campsite - since it was the main one on the island - had been cleared already, but another secondary site nearby was still covered with fallen timbers. Very scary. The storm had come in without warning, early in the morning (5-6AM) on a Saturday, and the weather leading up to it had been very hot and humid, so the campsites in the area were all probably full, especially the prime island sites. We all agreed that it was quite possible that the fatality had occurred on our island.
At some point we all decided to go for a paddle around the island. Tom & I took the canoe while Bill went in the kayak. Tom had brought a battery-powered fish finder, which he attached to the canoe, so he provided depth and temperature readings. No fish spotted though. Back to the campsite for more relaxing. Bill managed to catch the first fish of the trip - a 10-inch small mouth - off a rock nearby. Eventually, we started dinner preparations and settled in for an evening of food, drink, campfire, and conversation. The evening was pretty chilly and we all wound up in thermal clothing, hats, and jackets. A rabbit came by at one point to check us out. A bold fellow, I caught him in my headlamp standing just a few feet away from where I sat. We went for a late-night boat ride to look at the stars - a little hazy but still quite nice - and then went to bed around 10:30.
Next morning, we were all up by 7, ate breakfast, and then went fishing around the island. We all headed for the near end, which had some nice rocks to cast from. I hauled in the first fish of the day, another 10-inch small mouth. It turned out to be the largest fish I would land during the trip. Unfortunately, I'd left my hook remover (surgical clamps) back at camp, so I had to run back to get them, leaving the fish in a shallow pool. After I let that fish go, I decided to try my luck from a small rock just off the shore. I didn't have my waders, so I stripped to my underwear and made the crossing barefoot and barelegged. Bill got a picture of me in my shirt, hat, and skivvies. Over the course of the next few hours, we all caught a couple of fish of various sizes, though nothing worth keeping. Mostly we fished from the shore, but Tom and I both went out in the boats at one point and tried our luck offshore.
Around noon, we decided to go exploring around the lake. After a quick lunch, I mixed up a 24-ounce margarita and we headed off in the boats for a sandy beach we'd seen in the distance. We passed by one beach with a campsite where a large family group appeared to have set up a long-term camp. They even had a couple of sailboards (we'd watched them out on the water the night before). From there, we headed into some shoals and did some fishing among the grasses poking from the water, while a loon watched us from the middle of the lake. Tom got a monster hit that immediately snapped his line, so we knew the fish were there. Eventually, we headed for shore and explored the beach. It seemed odd to have a sandy beach in the middle of the mountains, but there it was. If you didn't know better, you'd swear you were on an island in the Pacific. The hot midday sun only enhanced the illusion. We walked up the beach a bit and checked out a campsite there. Another beautiful spot, though smaller than ours, with a path right on to the beach. Perhaps another time we'll stay there. It too had been cleared of trees felled by the storm and we noted that two huge trees had fallen and crossed directly on the best spot for a tent. Another good candidate for a haunted campsite.
Leaving the beach, we got back in the boats and headed for the inlet to the lake. According to the guidebook, it was navigable for quite a ways upstream. Heading toward the mouth, we fished in some more shoals and I hooked a very sizable fish, using a bass popper fly on my spin cast rod. Unfortunately, in my excitement, I neglected to play the fish at all and just tried to reel him in. My 2-lb. test line was no match for a strong fish and he parted the line and swam off with my lure. Drat! Needless to say, I was pretty pissed off, but eventually I tied a new lure on my line and we kept on fishing.
Rounding the tip of the inlet, we paddled into the stream and headed up the winding waterway. We disturbed a great blue heron, which lifted itself into the air and flew further upstream. Beautiful bird. Up and up we went, finally turning back when we just all got too tired. The sun and the margaritas didn't help either and I replaced the remainder of my drink with water. Bill & Tom took a detour up a side stream, hoping for a shortcut, but they wound up having to turn back, having been blocked by a beaver dam. Back out on the lake, we rested a bit and debated our plan of action. We'd thought of checking out the former site of the estate lodge and climbing a small mountain on trails leading from the lodge, but we were all exhausted so we decided to just paddle back to camp. We put our heads down and commenced a long, non-stop Zen paddle across the lake.
Back in camp, we all just fell down on the ground, completely worn out. After a bit, we started to regain our energy. Bill and I both went swimming (VERY refreshing), and then the three of us headed off in different directions to explore the island some more. Tom and I headed for the far end while Bill went the other way.
Eventually, we all drifted back to camp, had dinner, and settled in for another evening around the campfire. The loons were in full throat, so they provided a musical accompaniment for us. The night was warmer, but there were no stars to see so we amused ourselves with marshmallow sacrifices before heading to sleep.
Overnight a rainstorm came through, so the woods were wet when we awoke. Fog covered the lake as we prepared our breakfast and packed up. There was a heavy mist falling when we loaded up the boats and headed back towards the landing beach. We followed one shoreline on our way back, taking our time and fishing everywhere that seemed likely. Finally, 100 yards from the landing, we found the fish, near some rocks just offshore a small island. We all caught a few, with Tom getting the biggest of the trip.
At last we called it quits and headed to shore. This time we had the sense to make two trips to the cars, first with the gear and then the boats. Bill & Tom managed to get the canoe on their heads so they carried it back in a single effort. We made short work of loading up the cars and then parted company, heading for home. I made a single stop for gas just before getting on the Northway, but otherwise it was a straight, 6-hour drive from the lake to Hopkinton.
In hindsight: Actually, I don't think I'd change a thing. Well, maybe I'd cut out the wracking cough and the diarrhea I had, though I did learn that blown-down trees make great backwoods toilet seats! But still, I wore all the clothes I brought and didn't feel I needed more. The food I had was great. The location was near perfect. The only thing missing was more time. This is truly a place worth revisiting and spending more time at. On Saturday, we tried to fit island fishing, beach exploring, river exploring, lodge-site exploring, and mountain climbing all into a single day. No wonder we were exhausted! It would be very possible to spend a week at Lake Lila and find plenty of things to do.
Actually, I did learn a few things. Mostly, I learned I could bring more fun things. Canoe camping definitely has advantages. Food, drink, camping gear, skin diving gear... Next time I bring more toys!
More pictures
