Why would you do that?

I told my friend Tony that I had been way up north, paddling around on Long Pond (near Tupper Lake) and hiking and camping for 4 days.

"You did what?  You slept out in the woods when you could have been in a nice warm hotel, complete with a shower?  Why would you do that?"

This is why.

We put in on a sandy beach with a fine view.

Mama Loon and her chick swam by.

When you go camping in September, you generally have a good selection of campsites.  We explored a number of them before selecting #3 on Long Pond.  Why?  Jim, our chef, wanted use of the picnic table that we found only there, and you always want to keep the chef happy.

Always good to get your tarp set up when the sun is shining.

We got to engineer different versions of tarp support.
Doug is demonstrating V1.0 and V2.0.  V3.1 is doing the job for the moment.
We finally settled on V5.0

We got to set up our very own Home Sweet Home.

When you set up camp in the woods, it is all yours.  No one else to blame if you get wet when it rains, or if the wind disorganizes your belongings, or if the bears get your next dinner instead of you.

We got to paddle through this narrow channel into another little pond.

I got to use the GPS to determine where we were, pull weeds off my paddle,
saw logs with the folding saw, and admire my stubby legs.

We occasionally got blurry around the campfire.

Endless fun was to be had rearranging the burning logs.

We got to enjoy a nicely misty morning...

...from more than one vantage point.

We enjoyed warming up by the fire with our coffee.

Jim entertained us with his old "pull the string out of my chin" trick.

I got to add an element of adventure to the same old same old.

We got to paddle to the trailhead for climbing Long Pond Mountain.

We got to take pictures on a mountain top. 

Ate lunch on the mountain top, too.

We got to see for miles.
Peter Townshend must have been here years ago.

Pretty amazing view.
We looked across multiple ponds and lakes to small mountains
and the High Peaks beyond.

I always like to see what's around the next bend.  Jim is forever telling me that every "lost in the woods" story starts with "...and then I left the trail."  This time, I found a little bit of a path leading away from the ledge where we had spent the better part of an hour drinking in the view.  The second rocky outcropping I found was well worth the few minutes of exploring.

I returned to tell the others that I'd found something they didn't want to miss.  
I even let Jim come along.

And we got a nice second vantage from another rocky ledge.

We got to be mountain men.
I left a shiny penny for someone to find.

We got to walk this beautiful path through the forest on our way to Long Pond Mountain...

... got to see these toadstools along the way...

...and we got to walk the beautiful path again on the way back.

We paddled past numerous points and bays in Long Pond.

Looking around the lake, one can see that the cedars are all leafed out above a certain level.  It looks as if a gardener has gone around and trimmed them all about 4 feet off the water.  It is the same height all around the lake, and on other bodies of water as well.  Do the bears trim the trees when we're not there?

My guess is that cedars don't like being buried in snow.  The height of the snow on the frozen lake would account for the uniform height.  I'll have to come back in the dead of winter to confirm my theory.

We got to relax after a good hike.

A good reason to go camping is to get away from the never ending chatter of the wired world.  Unfortunately, we weren't really far enough away from what is loosely termed civilization to keep data feeds from arriving.  The day is coming when we'll never get away.  Oh well.  I suppose that as long as there is still a power button, there is hope.

In this case, it was probably a good thing, because there were family matters to stay on top of.

We saw that a big tree had uprooted, falling back into the woods.
I don't think the yellowing smaller tree is happy about the circumstance.
However, the birds nesting in the holes in the new high ground are very pleased.

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Never bring glassware into the woods.  Even if it only cost $1.98 for four stemless snifters.  They may break.  But if a glass meets with misfortune, there is always duct tape...if you brought it along.

It is really great to have your own monogramed glass in the woods.

We got to paddle out onto the lake to take in this sunset.
We went back out again to enjoy the Milky Way, satellites and shooting stars.
No shabbiness whatsoever.

I got to eat the smiley face pancake Jim made for me.

We enjoyed seeing this trio of loons paddle by.
Shortly after, they met with four others.
No shortage of loon views or loon music on Long Pond.

We paddled to the trailhead for Ledge Pond.

Doug and I went for an exploratory paddle to look for this trailhead.  It is completely unmarked, and not on the pond where Jim told us it was.  Of course, Jim will never admit his mistake.  Or maybe he initially told us that we had to paddle through the unmarked channel into the second pond to find the unmarked trail, and I'm the blockhead for not listening or understanding.  That's another benefit of going camping...you get to ponder, "What is reality?"

We had the privilege of traveling another beautiful trail to Ledge Pond.

We got to see an "Undesirable Fish Barrier."
Is being an undesirable a societal stigma?
Or is this a barrier to try to keep the carp and bass out of Ledge Pond?

The barrier clearly did not keep the beavers out, as shown by their dam.

We got to rock-hop this stream.

The little-used Ledge Pond campsite was a fine place for lunch.

Across the water, you can see the ledges if you look carefully.

Striding along a narrow path though the trees is always peaceful.

We got to see peeling "Barch Birk" above.

We saw twisted trees.

Peaceful.  No question.

We got to see interesting shrooms growing out of a dead tree.

We got to see the biggest pack in the whole world.

We realized it is good to have a sherpa!

And finally, we got to see a canoe-headed man.

What could be better?

P. S. - One more thing.  When I returned and took a drink of tap water, it tasted positively chemical.  UGH!