Hiking and paddling near Piseco

Yesterday, Holly and were invited to the camp of friends John and Diane, near Piseco Lake.  They have a place on Evergreen Lake, formerly Big Marsh, just west of the main lake.  The plan was for lunch, hiking, paddling, and dinner, and they were wonderful hosts.

After lunch, we headed for the trailhead to Echo Cliffs, a short hike to a great view over southern Piseco Lake.  The trailhead was much more crowded than expected, but we met many descenders on the way up, and hoped the summit wasn't too crazy.  Many of those on top actually started leaving as we arrived, so we had much of our summit time to ourselves.

Piseco Lake, with Spy Lake in the left background

After descending back to the now-empty trailhead, we noticed some very black clouds in the northern sky, and as we pulled away, the rain and winds began.  After a drive around the north end of the lake, we scouted out a private right-of-way allowing access to a nice canoe put-in on Spy Lake, our next proposed destination.

Back at the camp, we waited a short time for the storms to pass, and then drove back to Spy Lake for some paddling.  This was a very nice lake, with 3 waterfront camps on one side, but mostly surrounded by state land, complete with designated campsites.

Spy Lake

A trio of loons showed a fair amount of interest as we paddled around the north end of the lake, and watched closely as Holly, John, and Diane went for a swim back at the put-in beach.  I'm not a big swimmer myself, so passed on that experience.

After a great dinner back at the camp, we headed home after a long pleasant day outdoors with friends.