The morning was wonderful today. Everything after that went a bit downhill. We woke to a bug free campsite and could enjoy breakfast. The sun was out and wind was minimal. We were on our way to Saranac Lake for a night in a hotel.
We portaged the lock that was closed on Lower Lake and headed into Oseetah Lake which led into Lake Flower and we made our way into town. The weather was gorgeous. At the kiosk in Saranac, we made a game plan to hit the outfitter (that confirmed they could ship our stuff since the post office was closed), get a hotel and food, and grocery shop.
The outfitters were nice and helped us select a new set of wheels. We decided to keep our foam covered support extensions which were part of our current wheel set up because the length of our canoe is so long and the support on the new wheels is minimal. We sort of reluctantly bought the wheels because there was a lot we didn’t like about them, but they’re known to make it the whole trip. So the other wheels went in a box to ship home along with the dumb kick stand and extra parts for the new wheels.
St. Regis Canoe Outfitters kindly let us spread our gear out and sort which items were to go home. Anything extraneous was shipped, including our tablet, our second camera lens, camera cleaning kit, our cash batter, flip flops, some clothes, the base tarp of our shelter, a small lantern, small tripod, and paddling gloves that weren’t warm. That was most of it. Overall, we bought a new cart (wheels), a dry bag for the camera so we could keep it out in the boat for use, and warm paddling gloves.
We left our gear there while we lunched and looked for a place to stay for the night. Everything was booked or was $150 for the night and out of town the wrong direction. So we grocery speed shopped, and planned to keep paddling which we would have done sooner had we known. We felt like we had wasted the day. Suddenly our day was flipped and all the things we had looked forward to were gone.
We paddled 6 more miles out of town and here we are at a nice lean-to site. It is, however, exceedingly buggy. We just want to relax without bugs. Plattsburgh will be our next rest time which is 3 days from now. The blood smears on the tent reflect our mood tonight.
