Black Pond at Paul Smiths

What college campus has several hiking trails and ponds open to the public? Paul Smith’s College in the Adirondack Mountains does. Black Pond is on an area of land controlled by Paul Smith’s College. The public is able to access the trails to hike and the ponds to kayak or canoe with no cost.

Black Pond’s parking lot can be accessed off Keese Mills Road in Paul Smiths, NY. It is a small lot that holds maybe 6 cars.

Close to the parking lot is the boat launch. It is more for canoes as the dock is higher off the water. It is a little tricky for kayaks. There is an area next to the dock you can step in the water with a depth of about 1 1/2 to 2 feet next to shore that is rocky on the bottom. When I say rocky some of the rocks are big, so be careful.

The area to paddle from the dock to the lean-to on the pond is narrow. I count this as a passageway and not the pond.


Above is the entrance to the larger portion of the pond. The lean- to will be on the left of the entrance.

This is at the end of the entrance to the pond.

Lean-to

There are two lean-tos along the trail/lake. This is the first one near the entrance. You have to reserve them. They provide the firewood and toilet paper. There is a nearby privy/ outhouse. I don’t think any other sites in the ADK along lakes provide toilet paper and firewood .

They leave firewood in the lean-to so it stays dry. Since it rains in a short thunderstorm almost daily, that is a good practice.
As you can see you get a good view of the pond from the lean-to. There is a fire-pit in front of it and the water is shallow in that area and you are able to get out of your boat there.
Contact information to reserve the lean-to.

Pond

The pond does get some wind, but I found it less windy than larger nearby ponds. This pond did not appear to have access to other bodies of water.

The water under this bridge appears to go to Little Black Pond. The bridge is too low to go under and too high to get on from a kayak. There was no access point on shore to the trail.
Lone tree on an island.

Due to downed trees I did not see an access point on the north side of the pond to Long Pond. I don’t know if it was normally able to be accessed via kayak.

Wildlife

Wildlife is always a bonus for me. This pond had loons. There were ducks on the narrow part near the boat launch that were camera shy. They may have been black ducks. Adult loons may have one main pond, but will travel to other nearby ponds and lakes to socialise with other loons and fish. I believe I also saw a kingfisher.

This is a pond I would return to. I would bring a picnic lunch and bug spray. I got bit by mosquitos on land when hiking the trail, but not while kayaking. The lean-to was unoccupied and the area has a picnic table. It is also in close proximity to other larger bodies of water if you are trying to go to more than one body of water in the same day. If you are in the area and are looking for a shorter paddle, kayak or canoe Black Pond.

Loons With Orange

I find it fun watching loons. This parent had babysitting duty while the other parent was at another section of the lake in the Adirondack Mountains.

The loon below is power napping. It ate a few fish in the middle of the lake and then it then swam to the side of the lake with the parent. The parent kept watch while the baby napped.

The parent needs to keep watch. After I started kayaking away, the parent started giving a distressed call. I looked up and the eagle circled and landed in a tree nearby. Then it decided to fly off to a tree on the opposite side of the lake. On my few trips to the lake I have now seen the eagle multiple times either chase an adult loon flying or circle and get close to the baby and parent causing the parent to go into alert mode. I hope these loons make it through their time at the lake without the eagles getting one of them.

Loons with Yellow

I made almost a week long trip to the Adirondack Mountains in New York. I am not kayaking as far as I did last year. Luckily I do not have to go far to see loons on the lakes I visited. All the pictures below are from one lake. These were over two days. Some were in the evening and others during the morning.

Parent cut off a piece to give the baby.
Spitting out water
Patiently waiting for someone to bring it a fish.
Riding the waves.

Slow down and enjoy nature. Sometimes you do not have to go as far as you think.

Assateague Heron

I saw an egret coexisting for a short while with a heron on a tree. Is this a little blue heron or a tricoloured heron?

These are not the best shots because of the direction of the light and cloud cover. I could not go elsewhere. It was facing land and I was in a kayak.

Looks like the heron is smaller than the Great Egret here.

Still looks smaller than the egret.

The great egret was not bothered by the heron sharing the tree.

In the above picture the heron appears to have a white underbelly. It looks like maybe a bit of a stripe down from its neck to its chest, but not the best angle to see. The eye seems reddish with yellow around it. The feathers around the head appear to be mostly grey with more purplish tones in the back of the head. The sun poked out from the clouds and we have a better view of its colours.

I am guessing this means this is a tricoloured heron. Correct me if I am wrong. What do you think? Either way it is the first time I have seen a tricoloured or a little blue.

Loons with Colours in Water

Sometimes you lucky out with sunlight, and sometimes you don’t. One this morning after the fog lifted you could witness some great colours on the water. These are just two of many I got that morning.

What is on or near the shore affects what colours you see reflected on the water’s surface. It could be boats, boat covers, kayaks, SUPs, etc. Also if the sun happens to be behind your back or at an angle can affect how you see the colours.

Articles on our near shore can add to the photo in ways you may not have originally expected. Get out and enjoy the summer between the rain. If your weather is like New York, we have downpours almost everyday.

Assateague Great Egret

There are a lot of great egrets at Assateague. You can many times see them just as you cross over the bridge onto the island. From the island side if you look on both sides of the road at the marsh areas you usually see a few on each side after the bridge.

This is in front of the building right next to the National Park boat launch on Ferry Landing Road.

These were all taken on the bay side of the island from a kayak.

Near one of the nature viewing areas.

I mostly saw egrets standing on trees, or standing next to the water in the grasses. They pose great for pictures!

The Hand Off

Not all bad light days make for bad shots. The morning I took these this past clouds were covering the sun and the lighting conditions were not optimal. I got some good feeding shots regardless and shots of the parents with fish.

Will the baby take it or not? Many times I see the baby not accept it and swim in another direction with the parent following.

These pictures were all taken at a distance with zoom lens.

The hand off
Trying to fit it in.
Going down the hatch.

A cloudy day does not always ruin your chance at getting good photos. Go out and enjoy nature even when it is not sunny.

I Can’t Believe It Ate the Whole Thing!

I have had loons swim under my kayak before. This time a mother loon called to her mate. The mate came swimming back to watch the baby loon. The mother promptly went under water and popped up above water on the other side of my kayak. In its mouth was a big fish.

She then went under the water and I could locate her by the light coloured fish she had in her mouth going under my kayak. She then popped up on the side she was originally on, but close to my kayak. I thought for sure she was going to share it with her mate. Nope! I can’t believe she ate the whole thing herself!

Was she showing up her mate by catching a big one so fast? Was she showing off to me? Nature is better than TV. Loons are pretty cool birds. As always keep your distance. If they approach you, let it be on their terms.

Body Surfing at Assateague

The kids were all away getting ice cream. My friend’s brother went body surfing before sunset. The waves were big all the days I was at Assateague this year. It seemed to make for good conditions.

Body surfing is just another activity you can do at Assateague Island.