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The Adirondack Canoe Classic: Affectionately Known as “The 90-Miler”

By Kim Greiner

I had the wonderful opportunity to paddle this three-day race this year, my 9^th finish, with another Club member, Beverly Blinn-Knapp, her 3^rd finish. We trained very hard throughout the season, including practicing putting the wheels on and off in a timely manner, as well as carrying the boat. We both had very good fitness levels and made sure our nutrition was correct. We raced together most of the season and did several long paddles (4-6 hours). All of this hard work paid off.

Day one is a long one starting in Old Forge and paddling about 35 miles to Blue Mountain Lake. As you can see from the map, paddlers travel the historic route of the Fulton Chain of Lakes. Day one offers four carries, one of which is about a mile through the Eighth Lake campground. The weather was perfect on this first day. A hot shower, a nap, and a good meal (maybe a little BioFreeze and Ibuprophen also) soothed most of the aches.

Day two starts south of the beach in Long Lake. Canoes, kayaks, guideboats, and SUPs (stand up paddle boards) make their way to the end of the Lake into the Raquette River for a total of about 30 miles. Even though there is only one carry on this day, it is a brutal one over the Raquette Falls. Of course, it was pouring the whole day making the climb up the rocks, over fissures and roots, very tricky. The put-in was also a challenge as the water levels this year were very low. 

Day three starts in Fish Creek Pond from the Fish Creek Campground. The course makes its way through Upper, Middle, and Lower Saranac Lakes and River into the village of Saranac Lake in Lake Flower, approximately 25 miles. There are three carries on this day, but they are fairly short and not too treacherous. There is no greater feeling than rounding the last bend, seeing those orange buoys, and hearing the cheers of the crowd!

Because Bev and I were the only C2 stock women in our age group, we were put into the class of younger women, many of whom were college students. We finished 5^th out of 6 the first day, 3^rd the second day, and first the third day (we were on a mission!). Overall, our cumulative ranking was 3^rd, putting us “on the podium”. The winning team came to hug us after we received our trophy and said that if the race had only been on the water, Bev and I would have smoked them! Not too shabby for the team of “2 Spunky Old Hens”.

"Schenectady Wintersports Club Inc." is a 501(c)4 non-profit organization. P.O. Box 2072, Wilton New York 12831