Whitney Wilderness Area

Despite the forecast for scattered thunderstorms that has plagued the Adirondacks for weeks now I decided it was time to get out into the woods anyway this past weekend. I had a friend visiting the Adirondacks for the first time so I needed a place that would showcase just how beautiful and amazing this place can be, a place that feels like true wilderness. For that I chose to spend the weekend on Lake Lila, in the William C. Whitney wilderness area between Tupper Lake and Long Lake, and it turned out to be a perfect choice.

Lake Lila in the Whitney wilderness area

The Whitney wilderness area encompasses a number of lakes and ponds that allow non-motorized boats only and provide access to some of the most remote areas of the park. The three main bodies of water that paddlers use are Round Lake, Little Tupper Lake, and Lake Lila, each of which has a number of first-come first-serve backcountry campsites along their shores. Adventurous paddlers could paddle all three lakes via connecting streams or portages, as well as a few smaller ponds. Each of the three lakes is accessed by Sabattis Road, which happens to be an excellent birding spot. Sabattis Road passes through boreal habitat and stopping along the road can produce Black-backed woodpeckers, Palm Warblers, and Lincoln's Sparrows. The outlet of Little Tupper Lake has an excellent diversity of wetland birds and can also be a good spot to see otters. The first parking area one approaches is the put in for Round Lake, which is accessed by paddling a mile up a wide, slow-moving river that connects Round Lake and Little Tupper. This short paddle also goes through lovely boreal habitat and can be a good place for uncommon wetland species and is one of the few places I've seen breeding Ring-necked Ducks. Round Lake is a small lake with a few islands, about a dozen campsites, and at least one pair of nesting loons, making it perfect for a day long paddle or a short camping trip.

Dawn on Lake Lila

Little Tupper is a much larger lake, 6 miles long, with minimal development along the shores. The boat launch is located next to a cluster of DEC buildings which are inhabited by Americorps trail crews each summer. A few private residences owned by the Whitney family are also located on Little Tupper. I haven't had the chance to explore this lake much beyond the boat launch area, but by its size it seems like the perfect place for an extended camping trip. Those seeking a sense of true wilderness usually continue further down Sabattis Road to the access road for Lake Lila, which is a 4.5 mile slow-going drive to the parking area. When I arrived at the parking area on Saturday morning I was shocked to find the lot almost completely full--there was barely enough space to park my little hatchback. This of course led me to fear that there wouldn't be any open campsites on the lake, but fortunately a ranger was present to inform us that there were plenty of sites left. The small lot provides parking not only for Lake Lila, but also for hiking Mt. Frederica, or paddling on to other connected lakes, so a full lot does not necessarily mean all sites are full. Relieved to hear there were sites we carried our much-too-heavy-for-portaging canoe and then all of our gear down the .25 mile path to the lake. As challenging as such a short portage can be I do appreciate when a small portage is required, as it forces people to bring only what they need and I like to think it weeds out some of the rowdier people that tend to camp where there is easy access. We paddled out onto the lake in search of a site, trying our hardest to travel quickly against the wind that was tossing rain clouds around the sky, knowing that the sky could break at any moment. I said a small prayer to the rain gods asking them to allow us to reach our site before unleashing rain and thunder upon us, and it seemed to work. We paddled along the left shore with the hope of finding a site near the outlet for Shingle Shanty Brook, which I wanted to paddle the next day. We rounded the bend to find that the first four sites were taken, which wasn't surprising since they are prime sites with nice beaches and are near the brook. We paddled around the shore of the bay and just when we decided that there were no open sites on that side of the lake I caught a glimpse of a yellow campsite marker which turned out to be a nicely secluded wooded site on the edge of the bay. It didn't have a beach, but with the increasing threat of rain we decided we couldn't be picky, which turned out to be a good decision because about 10 minutes after we got the tent up the rain began to fall.

Sunset rainbow

Sunset over Lake Lila

Being resigned to your tent for three hours while wilderness camping isn't most people's idea of fun, but it provided a good opportunity for an afternoon nap and fortunately the rain stopped in time for us to make dinner and enjoy the last hours of daylight. While making dinner we came to the realization that we may have chosen the buggiest site on the entire lake, as there were so many mosquitoes that bug repellent was futile. So to avoid being bombarded by bugs all evening we decided to paddle out onto the lake for sunset, which was a gorgeous display of colors with the scattering rain clouds. An added bonus was the beginnings of a rainbow that shone right over our site. A perfect end to the day. The next morning we awoke to a mix of sun and clouds and decided to get an early start paddling Shingle Shanty Brook, which runs through some of the most remote boreal habitat in the Adirondacks. I had paddled this stream on a day trip a few years ago in search of Rusty Blackbirds, which have disappeared from all but the most remote areas of the park, and was anxious to return to this beautiful area. We only paddled for about an hour upstream, but in that short time I saw Gray Jays, Olive-sided Flycatchers, and even a Rusty Blackbird. The alder-lined banks of the stream were full of Red-winged Blackbirds, Yellow Warblers, and Swamp Sparrows. When I paddled this stream years ago I had to cross over numerous beaver dams, but the exceptionally high water of this year carried us over them making for a very pleasant paddle. Blue Flag Iris and Sheep Laurel were in full bloom along the banks that were lush with ferns. When we started paddling the sky was overcast and threatening to rain, but as we floated back downstream the clouds began to give way to sun and blue sky, which reflected beautifully off of the calm waters of the lake. We never saw another person while paddling, and it truly felt like wilderness.

Blue Flag Iris along the brook

I wish we could have stayed more than one night and explored more of the lake, climbed Frederica Mtn., and maybe camped at a less buggy site, but we only had one day to enjoy the lake. Fortunately Sunday
turned out to be a perfect sunny day, so after our paddle we moved to a site with a beach and fewer bugs and spent the day lounging on the shore with our feet splashing in the water, listening to the songs of wrens and thrushes and the haunting call of the loon. Most of the campers that were in that bay left early that morning, so we didn't see another person all afternoon until we returned to the parking area. Even though there is no such thing as "true wilderness" in the Adirondacks, I think that the state has done an excellent job maintaining places that feel like wilderness by balancing recreation and solitude. Even though there were at least a few dozen people on that same lake it felt like we were all alone, and that's what wilderness should be. Even our campsite looked like wilderness, it was only a small clearing tucked into the forest that, if unused, would revegetate itself within a few years. The site was surrounded by remnants of old growth forest, trees that were left intact to preserve the shoreline when everything else was logged in the last century, making it look like true wilderness. Few places like the Whitney Wilderness still exist in this world, so I highly recommend exploring it sometime. Just don't forget the bug spray.