Day 33: Umbazooksus West to Lock Dam

At last, today was the infamous Mud Pond Carry day. In the morning drizzle, we meandered to the unassuming start of the carry at the edge of Umbazooksus Lake where we duct-taped our shoes to our feet and ankles and began the first of 3 treks into the woods following Mud Stream. 

Let's do this

Mud Stream: more of a concept than a trail

All in all, after about 3 hours of trucking back and forth through the icy water interspersed with deep muddy pools, we agreed that while it was a suck fest (especially with the cold rain), we joked that it was basically your average trail in the Adirondacks in wet conditions. 

I actually found it to be quite beautiful at times, with misty tree outlines and carpets of ferns extending outward from the narrow path. On our return trip after leg 1 of 3, we even saw a cow moose – she was too swift for us to get more than a quick glance, though. Mud Pond was larger than we expected, and it was completely socked in with fog, dampening any sounds around us other than our paddles entering the water with each stroke. 

The final section where Mud Stream emptied into Chamberlain Lake was a sick joke following what we had just portaged through – we were wading in the knife-sharp rock-laden channel the ENTIRE time. Katina was right when she said that it’s a chance to wash off the mud…

Slow down! You're going so fast you might miss something!

Ben in the thick of it

We stopped for a very quick lunch and hot chocolate at the Mud Brook campsite; any longer, and we might have started to get hypothermia since we were drenched from the morning’s slog. Continuing on, we paddled across a drizzly but shockingly calm Chamberlain Lake and made it to Lock Dam just as it started to downpour. We were wet and it was getting dangerously cold (<50º), but someone must be looking out for us: the unstaffed ranger station at Lock Dam had an unlocked, screened-in porch. A lean-to for us to take shelter at? You bet. 

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