50 Miles of Hammock Camping in 3 Days - Backpacking on Cranberry Lake

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3 days of Backpacking & Hammock Camping along Cranberry Lake in the Adirondacks.

For this adventure, I decided to do a fall backpacking trip with some higher trail mileage than I’ve been doing lately. Nestled in New York’s Five Pond Wilderness, the Cranberry Lake 50 is a fifty mile loop hike that circumnavigates it’s namesake, and passes by many smaller ponds along the way as well. Most of these smaller ponds have campsites or even a lean-to shelter nearby, which is quite nice.

The CL50 is not really an individual trail, but a collection of trail sections from 12 other trails is the area. The route is well blazed with blue CL50 plastic discs nailed to trees along the way. The trails used to make up the CL50 are blazed with similar yellow trail discs, so you will often see both blazes simultaneously.

The Cranberry Lake 50 goes through two towns – Wanakena, where I started, and the town of Cranberry Lake. There’s only about 10 trail miles between them, so neither really poses much logistical value for resupplying, but they are nice towns to stroll through.

I chose to hike counter clockwise because the last 10 miles traverse some muddy wet sections due to beaver dams, so I figured it would be best to save that for last.

I typically like to do my backpacking trips on a 3 day, 2 night timeline, so that meant my daily trail mileage had to be around 17 miles or so during the shortened daylight hours of October. On the upside, this hike is primarily along the perimeter of a lake, with minimal elevation changes, but did I mention that I hadn’t done a high mileage trip in a while? Yeah, the headlamp got a good amount of usage on this one. Let the night hiking begin…

For an easier read, gps data & more info:
https://www.sintax77.com/50-miles-of-hammock-camping-3-days-backpacking-cranberry-lake-50/

Trailhead:
44°07’54.7"N 74°55’19.0"W
20 South Shore Rd, Wanakena, NY

The mileage listed below is actual trail mileage. My mileage in the video was slightly higher due to my meanderings and a wrong turn.

Trails Used, Day 1

Cross footbridge on opposite side of road
Follow the CL50 markers through town of Wanakena for 2 miles
Peavine Swamp Trail
West Connector Trail
Follow CL50 markers through the town of Cranberry Lake for 2 miles
East Connector Trail
Campground Trail
Bandy Brook Flow Trail
Setup camp along Bandy Brook Flow Tr
This was a nice clear area right at the intersection with Burntbridge Pond Trail with room for multiple tents or hammocks. I didn’t notice any firepits, but water is available nearby at Bandy Brook Flow.

Day 1 Mileage: 14.5 miles
Day 1 Gross Elevation Gain: 1,236’
Day 1 Gross Descent: 1,232’

Trails Used, Day 2

Bandy Brook Flow Trail
Dog Pond Trail
Otter Brook Trail
South Bay Trail
Six Mile Creek Trail
Camp along SMC Trrail
I left the CL50 at the intersection with Olmstead Pond trail and camped on SMC trail near West Flow with a firepit and piped spring. I didn’t notice while setting up in the dark, but there was another spot farther down the trail that was right on the water.

Day 2 Mileage: 15.5 miles
Day 2 Gross Elevation Gain: 2,327’
Day 2 Gross Descent: 2,317’

Trails Used, Day 3

Backtrack on SMC Trail
Olmstead Pond Trail
Six Mile Creek Trail
Cowhorn Junction Trail
New Plains Trail
High Falls Loop Trail

Day 3 Mileage: 19.2 miles
Day 3 Gross Elevation Gain: 1,394’
Day 3 Gross Descent: 1,408’

Total Mileage: 49.2 miles
Total Gross Elevation Gain: 4,957’

My base weight for this trip was a little over 7 pounds. It was similar to this list, but I swapped the rain parka for a heavier button-up shirt.
https://lighterpack.com/r/zfmmbd

Notable Backpacking Gear

ULA Ohm 2.0 Backpack https://www.ula-equipment.com/product/ohm-2-0/
Dutchware Pack Cover https://dutchwaregear.com
Dutchware Gear Half-Wit Hammock
Dutchware Whoopie Hook hammock suspension w/ kevlar tree straps
Hammock Gear Burrow 40 Top Quilt https://www.hammockgear.com
Hammock Gear Phoenix 30 Underquilt
Hammock Gear Dyneema Hex Tarp
DIY Cat Can Alcohol Stove
Vargo Windscreen https://amzn.to/2M3uRuG
Light My Fire Mini Fire Steel https://amzn.to/30S3rxm
Toaks 750ml Titanium Pot https://amzn.to/2GR7AJX
Sea to Summit Long Handled Spork https://go.magik.ly/ml/v9xv/
Potable Aqua Water Purification Tablets https://amzn.to/3uYZ1TP
RevolutionRace Men’s GP Pants https://amzn.to/3Daldz8
RevolutionRace Campfire Shirt https://bit.ly/RRPLAYGROUND
La Sportiva Wildcat Trail Running Shoes https://amzn.to/3hyKrMi
Nitecore NU25 Headlamp https://amzn.to/2YVsp0A
Benchmade Bugout Folding Knife https://amzn.to/2JVfBS5
Casio ProTrek F-30 Smartwatch https://amzn.to/3dtY7Xj
Packit Gourmet Backpacking Meals https://www.packitgourmet.com/
Spot X Satellite Messenger https://amzn.to/3adSjBr

GoPro Hero 8 Black https://amzn.to/2D8n6lL
Tripod Grip https://amzn.to/2MPhGOM