So many times I have driven by Church Pond and the boat launch site, even gotten out of the car for a photograph or two, but never actually used it for its primary purpose. This day would be different. I wasn’t too optimistic about how the day was going to go after I dropped the kayak on the ground unloading it from the top of the car. Then I did a half flip loading myself into the cockpit. I must have looked like an amateur or circus clown. Lucky for me no one was looking.

I spent a bit of time on Church Pond; it’s just such a placed body of water that I just had to stay for a while. After a bit of doddling around, I made a course to the narrow waterway that leads back to an unnamed body of water with an attractive shore of grass and cattails. This narrow waterway was quite shallow, and I had to do a bit of pushing off and butt scooting to get through in a couple of those areas. But such a short distance I was quickly out in the wider area of the grassy pond.

A second shallow waterway would get me into Osgood Pond, with similar motions and acts of kayak dancing, I made it under the bridge of the Red Dot Trail and out into the massive waters of Osgood Pond. My plan wasn’t to play around too long on Osgood but to revisit Jones Pond outlet for bit and maybe the Osgood River for a short distance. I never made it to the river.

I slowly made my way across the open water, and to my surprise there weren’t many people on the water and not a single boat with a motor. There were only two other kayakers that I saw off on the horizon and a couple canoeists who looked like they were wrestling with the wind. Once I fought the current to get into the outlet, the wind and the current was of no issue and the paddling was quiet and secluded, which could be good or bad, considering my start to the day. I went about 0.25 miles past the bridge just to check out the colors and decided I should get back to the car before it got much later. The trip out was uneventful, but it’s always tough getting out of the outlet when the wind hits you straight on and pushes you back, stroke for stroke. There wasn’t a soul to be seen on the return trip aside from a couple people on the bridge watching me paddle beneath them. This was and is a great day on the water. I highly recommend this trip to anyone who is seeking seclusions, some fun navigation and a perfect fall outing.

(Spencer Morrissey is a licensed outdoor guide and author of a few Adirondack adventure books.)