Today, I had the opportunity for a solo hike into the Siamese Ponds Wilderness Area. Square Falls of the East Branch of the Sacandaga River is an easy, but remote feeling destination. I pulled into the Rt. 8 parking area and quickly took the "driveway" into the woods. The driveway is about 100 yds long and can be driven by most vehicles. However, since it was such a nice day, the extra steps were hardly noticed. 1b Rt. 8 trailhead - Copy.jpg The "driveway" ends at a non-campsite/parking spot. The unmarked path sneaks downhill to cross Martha Brook and enter the Siamese Ponds Wilderness Area. 1f Martha Brook - Copy.jpg Climbing away from Martha Brook, the unmarked trail is very easy to follow as a lot of fishermen and swimmers make this short hike to the first swimming hole. 1h Path - Copy.jpg The first large pool on the East Branch is at the base of the gorge and is a popular destination. There's an old cable-way across the river here, but it currently doesn't look like it's used. There was a gentleman fishing here as I was coming back, but he was hooked up with a large boulder so I didn't stop to say hi. 1j East Branch - Copy.jpg After the cable crossing and swimming hole, there is a well placed campsite disk to point you in the right direction for the remaining .6 miles to the designated campsite at Square Falls. 2a path - Copy.jpg The next stretch of the path is spectacular as it climbs 100' above the gorge of the East Branch. It's well laid out and traverses several neat ledges. 2e path - Copy.jpg There are some nice views down into the gorge as well. 2h gorge - Copy.jpg The path gradually returns to the river level and leads to the designated campsite. It doesn't look like this has been used in a while, but the fire pit is in good shape and there is plenty of flat ground and hammock trees. This is a very remote campsite even though it's only a mile from Rt. 8. 11th Mountain blocks all the road noise and all you can hear is the river. 2n DCS - Copy.jpg The falls are 100 yds. from the campsite and easily accessible from the path. The falls drop about 8' into a huge pool that is great for swimming and maybe fishing? I was surprised not to find any poison ivy here today as most places on the East Branch are over run with the stuff. 3f SF - Copy.jpg I played around with the camera taking pictures of different parts of the falls with different exposures. It was a lot of fun to explore the angled rocks and gurgling water. I probably have close to 100 pictures of the water. 3t SF - Copy.jpg After an hour of exploring, I headed back down the path and made it to the Hamilton County Mosquito Preserve for some chores and a nice lunch. This was a great little hike this morning and I'm glad I can share it with everyone.