Returning to the NPT

Trip Report: Cedar Lake Out & Back From Sled Harbor

July 25-26th, 2020

On July 25th, Jenn, Paul, Elena and I did an overnight out and back trip to Cedar Lake Lean-to #1. We were seeking solitude, nature, and an ease back into hiking after getting out of shape in quarantine. Jenn and I were a bit nervous going into this trip, as we had both been battling different injuries and had not hiked two days in a row or carried an overnight pack in a while.

We got to the Sled Harbor trailhead around 9AM, where we would start our hike since the last mile of the road was closed due to a washout. The first mile to the trailhead was a gradual uphill climb up the gravel road, so it passed by pretty quickly. Unfortunately, the bugs were definitely still out and the deer flies were obnoxious. Luckily, we had bug spray which helped a little.

The trail to Cedar Lake is pretty straightforward, passing a campsite at the dam before joining up with the NPT. It felt really nice to be back on the Northville-Placid Trail! This trail runs from Northville, NY all the way to Lake Placid (nearly 140 miles) and Paul and I had thru-hiked it with our friend Clarisse the previous summer.

The NPT is pretty scenic and before long we were taking in more views of the lake and even passed part of French Louie's hermitage.

Around noon, we made it to the leanto, happy to find it empty. We ate our lunches and explored a bit, checking out the lake and lean-to log entries. There were a bunch of little chipmunks running around (bad sign) and I spotted a snake in the grass and some hummingbirds near the flowers.

We went for a swim in the lake and even made it out to the island, though it was unplanned. The island was... not as we imaged. It was very pretty but marshy and full of Organic Matter™. When I got to the shore, I went to walk up onto the island and sunk at least ankle deep into the ground. We ended up basking on some rocks in the sun before swimming back to the lean-to. Paul challenged me to make the swim in less than five minutes (it probably took about ten on the way in, but we had been floating as well), so I did it in 4.5 minutes!

We made it back to the lean-to's shore and dried off before playing a card game called Skulls. Elena kept snaking us and winning and earned herself the trail name of Snakey.

After cards, we took a walk 0.7 miles around the lake to the bridge just before Cedar Lake Lean-to #2. We took in the view, shot some photos, and explored. There was a nice blueberry bush right on the side of the bridge where we ate a few berries from. Paul found some large frogs and even some little leeches in the water near the beaver dam under the bridge.

Once back at Cedar Lake #1, we cooked and ate our pasta dinner, went for a sunset swim, and built a fire. Before bed, we went out to watch the stars and I saw one of the longest and brightest meteors of my life, lasting for what felt like several seconds. The best part is that we all saw it– which is always exciting!

It was a really fun day and after, we settled into bed. Unfortunately, Jenn and I did not get a good night's sleep at all. Once night came and the deer flies finally went away, the mosquitos came out. This left us with the choice of burrowing into our sleeping bags (and overheating) or getting attacked... ew.

On our side of the lean-t0, a mouse kept running around, climbing on the walls to loudly eat insulation, and even climbing into Jenn's backpack (which had no food or smellables in it)! People must be so bad at proper food storage here because the rodents were way too comfortable with people.

This mouse would not go away and loved Jenn's side of the lean-to, eventually earning her her trail name... Mickey!

The next day, we eat breakfast (I still hate oatmeal) and hiked out. My sesamoids felt good! The deer flies were back, but the hike out didn't take too long and we kept moving, excited to get some Dunkin Donuts on the way home. It was a fun weekend with friends!