Cold Night at St. Regis Pond

Jack, Jan and Tom camped at St. Regis Pond in February 2010, heading there from the clubhouse on Kimpton Road. The way in was via the hiking trail to Fish Pond rather than the easier route, which takes one across Little Clear Pond to the portage leading to St. Regis Pond. At least Jack chose to ski in rather than walk in a snowshoes, which Tom and Jan elected to do and which took way more time.
Jack secured the nice lean-to on the pond and the three campers settled in and had a good dinner of Bertolli frozen meals, which is highly recommended as a dinner staple for winter trips, as preparation is easy and the food is tasty.
The overnight low was about 2 degrees and a decision was made not to stay a second night. There was a great deal of uncertainty about the whereabouts of Bill Webster and whether he was going to join the group on the second night of the camping trip, as the trip was originally planned for two nights. Only Jack had spoken to Bill, so it was impossible to discern the likelihood of Bill showing up. In any event, they packed up and slogged back to the road, where they encountered Bill driving by in his car. Bill had indeed planned to join them and had actually traveled to the lean-to, arriving after they had left. He had come in via Little Clear Pond, so there was no chance of his running into his NCMC comrades. Finding the lean-to empty, he had gone back out the way he had come in. There was a spirited discussion between Jack and Bill as to who was at fault for the confusion. The editor has reflected and believes that Bill’s story was somewhat more plausible, but it will always be difficult to get to the bottom of it, as one only has hearsay to go on.

After a night at the clubhouse, the four NCMCers had a great day ski along a section of the Jackrabbit Trail, ending up at the state Visitor Interpretive Center near Paul Smiths. There was the typical confusion as to how to leave a car at either end of the planned ski, and who would have which keys in their possession, etc., but it all worked out with minimal inconvenience. After the day ski, Bill and Jack headed home to Buffalo, while Jan and Tom drove back to Connecticut. Incidentally, the day ski occurred soon before the Super Bowl, and the skiers’ predictions are included on the trip video.

Gallery: St. Regis Pond 2010