This was a nice surprise for a short afternoon paddle on Follensby Clear Pond. It seems as though I have half day offs to go play, so I find myself on small excursions. For some reason I chose Follensby Clear Pond as my destination on this day. I typically stay away from larger ponds where motorboats are allowed to power through, but I had never been on this pond before and wanted to check out a few of the islands and just paddle the shores.

I put in at the northern boat launch site off Route 30 and started a leisurely paddle along the shore. I headed south for a bit and swung out to check out the shore of two islands and made my way back up near the narrows and along the shore. The paddle to this point was uneventful, but scenic.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a tree with a bright colored sign on it so I investigated a bit. Looking a bit closer I saw a path near the tree and decided to get out and check it out. The path I noticed was simply a shoreline path that led between the campsites and no more than a fisherman’s trail. However, upon closer examination of the area, posted as “no camping,” I found a path leading north, which I figured would end up going to an outhouse, but did not. The path was quite short and come time find out it led to an unnamed pond to the north. Hence the informal name “Round Pond” was born, due to its nearly uniform shape. 

At that point I decided I needed to paddle on it a bit to better see its features. I quickly returned to my boat, pulled it ashore and hiked it up on one shoulder. I moved back along the path to Round Pond quite quickly to save some time as it was getting much later in the afternoon. It possibly took me about 5-minutes to paddle all the way around it; it is small, but interesting in its secluded location. After playing around on a pond whose portage took me longer to achieve I returned the short distance down to my car. Out of curiosity I looked around the launch area and found the foot trail through the campsite that would essentially lead to the portage to Round Pond that I was on earlier. So if one was not inclined to paddle, but wanted a nice short hike, this could be good.  

Interested in paddling the Upper Saranac Lakes or taking a hike in the region but want assistance look into hiring a local guide? Need Boat rentals? Paddling lessons? A place to stay? Saranac Lake is a great place to start.