Corenne and I made decent time along the mostly flat trail which gently eventually made its way over some undulating hills. Aside from the abundance of Indian pipes along the trail the hike was quite uneventful. Finally, we reached the steady but moderate descent to the shore of Black Pond. A lovely pond this is, one worthy of a visit alone, maybe for a picnic, a dog walk, or just to escape the conundrum of daily existence.

We continued along the red marked trail that continued east around the pond. The trail in all reality and compared to many other Adirondack trails is not that old. There was still deep duff and ferns covering the trails course through the wild forest. The trail passed above Black Pond and swung away on occasion for easier walking. It eventually dropped a bit and crossed a wet area near a beaver flow and climbed again, quickly above it on the other side.

When I was first here I did not realize that this portion of the trail kept going, and the trail sign at the time made no mention. I remember it seemed like there were no signs of it stopping, and I assumed that it would end at a campsite on the east side.

Then I got thinking, maybe it would end at Black Bay on Tupper Lake, that destination wasn’t too far away, but without my GPS I was still unsure. My map and compass still had me thinking Black Bay until the trail swept hard around the NE side at the main outlet of the pond. This outlet leads into Bridge Brook Pond and since the trail crossed the outlet, below a rather sizable beaver dam, it must mean one thing; this trail leads to Bridge Brook Pond.

Two freshly prepared logs sat at the outlet for a future bridge and the trail started too moved north through tall ferns. The trail today isn’t all that much different.

Once back in the woods it wasn’t long before we would be at the Shore of Bridge Brook Pond, as my memory served. The anticipation of the trail still to this day kept us excited; making a rather moderate hike seem longer, as time sorta… stood still. The trail slowly descended through an open forest, welcoming it seemed as a pileated woodpecker rapped us a welcome song. Now we dropped a bit steeper to a campsite, on and eskar on the south side of Bridge Brook Pond. A camping disk is located on the shore to notify paddlers coming from Tupper Lake of its location. A canoe carry from Tupper Lake is also an option to get here, just not one we chose for this adventure.

After a half hour or so of relaxing on shore and watching a lone fisherman in a beast of a canoe get skunked, we started our “stroll” back out. The trail seemed to pass by a bit quicker on the way out, now that it was fresh in our mind. The wetlands seemed like the perfect place to see a moose but it would not be so. Even with that we did have the pleasure of sharing some acreage with a pileated woodpecker, a great blue heron, dozens of song birds, and what I believe was the butt end of a fox as it scurried into the unknown, just like us.