Paddling the North Branch of the Saranac River

A group of us put in on Kushaqua-Mud Pond Road and paddled three miles up the North Branch of the Saranac River.  Because of the high water, we were able to pull over most of the beaver dams we encountered.  We finally stopped just 0.1 mile from where the road crosses the stream, due to a large beaver dam.  But three miles was still much farther than we had been able to paddle upstream before.  The swamp laurel was everywhere

and there are lots of bullhead-lily in bloom, the yellow water lily Nuphar variegatum.

I wasn't ready to get off the water yet when we got back to the cars so some of us paddled into the narrows going into Lake Kushaqua for a total paddle of nine miles.