Thursday, August 25, 2011
I did it! Just arrived at the Northern Door Inn in Fort Kent. Paddled 17 or so miles from Pelletier's Campground this morning with a one mile final (wheelable) portage through the town. It's been a fantastic trip and I feel GREAT!
More later!
Aug 25, 2011
Aug 13, 2011
Day 29, Aug. 1: The Carry Road
Mileage: 2.5 miles of portaging plus 1.2 miles paddling on Pond in the River
Weather: 70's, sunny
Wildlife: Heron, bald eagle, loons, mink, something poking around our tent at night
This day was about portaging. We left the beautiful, pine-studded Cedar Stump campsite after drinking our coffee on the newly reconstructed stairs as the morning mist burned away. Watch a heron fish across the river. Packed up and pumped water during our very short paddle to the base of the Rapid River rapids. (One could portage straight from the camp sites.) Took our time portaging.
The first part was a carry. Roots and rocks made up the trail to the "road." Carry Road is rocky. We did a variety of things to break up the mileage. Sometimes we were able to wheel the canoe, other times, we walked each carrying a bag and then returned to wheel the canoe with the third bag. Other times I carried the third bag and we lifted the canoe with the wheels strapped on over rough spots. During the morning, a group of kayakers on their way to Smooth Ledge passed us lugging their kayaks over their shoulders. We stopped at the ledge to check them out and stayed for almost two hours watching them surf the waves. We swam, had lunch, picked blueberries and finally left around 2:30 pm. We figured we were about halfway done at that point.
Arrived at Forest Home (location of Louise Dickinson Rich's memoir, "We Took To The Woods") around 4:30 pm. The current owner, Aldro French, wasn't around. Joyce and I peeked into the Winter Home (on the National Historic Registry), took a snack break and left a note on behalf of Team Moxie. Paddled on Pond in the River for the short 1.2 mile break from portaging. Beautiful!!! We got to the landing and were greeted by a mink as we heard some rumblings in the sky and the sun was beginning to set. We still had another .7 miles ahead of us before making it to Middle Dam on Lower Richardson. At that point, I suggested we do a little stealth camping. Found a perfect place where our tent fit, went for a quick swim and got dinner going as we watched lightning light up the horizon. Someone got a storm that night, but it passed us. Loons were calling on and off all evening and we had the lake entirely to ourselves.
Weather: 70's, sunny
Wildlife: Heron, bald eagle, loons, mink, something poking around our tent at night
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| Morning at the Cedar Stump campsite along the Rapid River |
This day was about portaging. We left the beautiful, pine-studded Cedar Stump campsite after drinking our coffee on the newly reconstructed stairs as the morning mist burned away. Watch a heron fish across the river. Packed up and pumped water during our very short paddle to the base of the Rapid River rapids. (One could portage straight from the camp sites.) Took our time portaging.
The first part was a carry. Roots and rocks made up the trail to the "road." Carry Road is rocky. We did a variety of things to break up the mileage. Sometimes we were able to wheel the canoe, other times, we walked each carrying a bag and then returned to wheel the canoe with the third bag. Other times I carried the third bag and we lifted the canoe with the wheels strapped on over rough spots. During the morning, a group of kayakers on their way to Smooth Ledge passed us lugging their kayaks over their shoulders. We stopped at the ledge to check them out and stayed for almost two hours watching them surf the waves. We swam, had lunch, picked blueberries and finally left around 2:30 pm. We figured we were about halfway done at that point.
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| The smooth ledge along the Carry Road, a playground for kayakers |
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| Along the Carry Road |
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| Portaging through the Forest Lodge area |
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| The Winter House of Louise Dickinson Rich's Forest Lodge |
Something was shuffling around our tent that night and I swear a little nose even pushed into the tent wall by my head. I've found that the best solution to make animals go away is to use ear plugs at night. If I can't hear them, they can't get me!
Dinner: Tomato Sauce with Pasta, vanilla pudding with bakery cookies Joyce had bought in Vermont.
In Jackman, Maine
Quick update before I continue updating my daily blog. It's Sat., Aug. 13th, the Jackman library is open until 4 pm. Kay was waiting for us at the boat landing in Jackman as we paddled off Big Woods Pond. Her flight was on time on Thursday and she spent the day exploring Rangeley before driving here on Friday night. So cool to have a familiar face wave at us after a week on the trail. Also means my itinerary has been working and people are showing up as planned! Kay represents the last leg of the trip. Just repacked our food and cleared out the last box in the back of the truck.
Kacia had the first rain day of the trip on Wednesday. Light showers all day, but cleared up by night. I know Beckie (leg 2) and Linda (leg 3) will both think that they had the biggest "character-building" days with some tough upstream paddling, but I think Kacia may have taken the prize for back-to-back toughest days. More details on that later, but it did involve a 6 mile upstream canoe dragfest that took 10 hours followed by a 3 mile portage the next day. She also wins for latest camp set up. We ate dinner by headlamps on Day 39.
Still, having a great time. Bugs aren't too bad. Meeting interesting people and slowly seeing a nice part of the country.
Kacia had the first rain day of the trip on Wednesday. Light showers all day, but cleared up by night. I know Beckie (leg 2) and Linda (leg 3) will both think that they had the biggest "character-building" days with some tough upstream paddling, but I think Kacia may have taken the prize for back-to-back toughest days. More details on that later, but it did involve a 6 mile upstream canoe dragfest that took 10 hours followed by a 3 mile portage the next day. She also wins for latest camp set up. We ate dinner by headlamps on Day 39.
Still, having a great time. Bugs aren't too bad. Meeting interesting people and slowly seeing a nice part of the country.
Aug 5, 2011
Day 28, July 31: Errol to Cedar Stump Campsite
Mileage: 8 miles
Weather: Sunny, warm
Portages: 0 (Our shuttle service dropped us off at the put-in) Would have been wheelable, but not loving walking along the highways with little or no shoulders (Hwys 16 and/or 26 in Maine) and a dirt road.
Wildlife: Loons, eagles and the biggest (think cow pie size) bullfrog I have even seen
Repacked Joyce's clothes, loaded this week's food and said goodbye to Linda and the boys (THANKS Linda, for being my leg 3 paddling partner.) From here on, the trip should be more through-paddling and less of this shuttling to paddle downstream. But first, one final shuttle service with the Stratton Motel/Maine Roadhouse. Dropped off the canoe and gear at the Lake Umbagog put-it (where we ultimately left if for several hours) and drove the car to Rangeley to which Joyce and I will now be paddling. Stopped for a lobster roll at a roadside stand and then Susan, from the Stratton Motel, gave us a ride back to Errol and our gear. Didn't get on the water until 3 pm and paddled on very calm Lake Umbagog water to Cedar Stump campsite #1. Lake Umbagog is shallow and can have waves. The only problem we had was finding the east side of Pine Point. It seemed bigger than the map suggested and I underestimated if we were rounding the right spot. I like to depend on topographic features like points and islands, but not all of the islands are represented on the NFCT maps (vs. BWCA Fisher maps). We weren't that confused and found the outlet to the rapid river and our campsite without needing to retrace anything.
We outlasted the mosquitos sitting on the newly reconstructed Cedar Stump campsite #1 stairway and watched the stars come out. Our headlamps caught two eyes reflecting along the river bank below and that's when the monster bullfrog was discovered. Maybe that IS the average size of a bullfrog and I've just never have seen one or else everything, like the lakes and open spaces, is just bigger here in Maine.
Dinner: Lentil curry with rice, dried apricots and Vermont bakery goods
Weather: Sunny, warm
Portages: 0 (Our shuttle service dropped us off at the put-in) Would have been wheelable, but not loving walking along the highways with little or no shoulders (Hwys 16 and/or 26 in Maine) and a dirt road.
Wildlife: Loons, eagles and the biggest (think cow pie size) bullfrog I have even seen
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| Linda hands off the baton to Joyce for Leg 4 |
Repacked Joyce's clothes, loaded this week's food and said goodbye to Linda and the boys (THANKS Linda, for being my leg 3 paddling partner.) From here on, the trip should be more through-paddling and less of this shuttling to paddle downstream. But first, one final shuttle service with the Stratton Motel/Maine Roadhouse. Dropped off the canoe and gear at the Lake Umbagog put-it (where we ultimately left if for several hours) and drove the car to Rangeley to which Joyce and I will now be paddling. Stopped for a lobster roll at a roadside stand and then Susan, from the Stratton Motel, gave us a ride back to Errol and our gear. Didn't get on the water until 3 pm and paddled on very calm Lake Umbagog water to Cedar Stump campsite #1. Lake Umbagog is shallow and can have waves. The only problem we had was finding the east side of Pine Point. It seemed bigger than the map suggested and I underestimated if we were rounding the right spot. I like to depend on topographic features like points and islands, but not all of the islands are represented on the NFCT maps (vs. BWCA Fisher maps). We weren't that confused and found the outlet to the rapid river and our campsite without needing to retrace anything.
We outlasted the mosquitos sitting on the newly reconstructed Cedar Stump campsite #1 stairway and watched the stars come out. Our headlamps caught two eyes reflecting along the river bank below and that's when the monster bullfrog was discovered. Maybe that IS the average size of a bullfrog and I've just never have seen one or else everything, like the lakes and open spaces, is just bigger here in Maine.
Dinner: Lentil curry with rice, dried apricots and Vermont bakery goods
Day 27, July 30: The Androscoggin
Mileage: 15ish
Weather: Sunny, hot
Portages: 0
Wildlife: Loons, herons, two roadside moose seen at a distance when we went out for dinner.
If its going to rain, its really great when it happens at night and you wake up to blue skies. Although Linda and I both were awake counting the seconds (3-4) between the lightning and thunder, neither of us knew the other was awake until we talked about it in the morning. Spent two hours first thing in the morning in the Errol library while Linda, Paul and Jake went out moose hunting again. Took our time leaving Errol as it was Errol Heritage Day and there was food, a quilt show and keystone cops, among other events. Got a canoe rented for the boys and we set off down the Andro around 1 pm.
The Androscoggin has large areas of flat water that would have been fine to paddle upstream, but there were also many sections of Class 1-2 rapids that require tracking or portaging. Let's say I'm a happy camper paddling Class 1, especially when there aren't rocky obstacles (e.g. Saranac River) or scratchy bottoms (e.g. Ammonoosac). The Andro had much more water so the ride was pretty fun. However, there was at least one Class 2 that the outfitter said included a boulder called the "Canoe Eater." So naturally, I had visions of a Volkswagen-sized boulder with water shooting around it and no place to go. (In addition to hearing noises in the dark that I assume are bears, I also envision every rapid as a canoe killer. Of course, having recently punctured the canoe I've been very leary of almost every rock in my path, but I digress...)
We really had no problem paddling the Androscoggin, even with my Kevlar canoe which the guys at Northern Waters had assured me shouldn't be a problem. But I swear at every turn, where I saw even the smallest sign of white water, my palms instantly got sweaty. I kept thinking its just like downhill skiing, I need only relax, but honestly, just like my preference to ski those nice, long, green circle vs. steep black diamond runs, give me a lake anytime. (And I write this after just completing several clear, big, beautiful Maine lakes.) Paul and Jake haven't been canoeing all that much either and so worried about them too. We all made it. Now that I know what the Andro was like, I probably would have had more fun. But Linda and I had seriously tipped over in the canoe and pinned it under a strainer tree back in May in Wisconsin and some of those waves seemed very similar, even though the temperature was in the 80s not 40s, the river was five times as wide and three times as shallow. The gunwale dent I've been seeing on the whole trip is a reminder of that early May "practice paddle" we took on the Manitowoc River.
Paul and Jake paddled 8.5 miles and got picked up by the outfitter and returned to their car back at the campground. Linda and I paddled another 6 or 7 miles that afternoon and the boys met us further downstream. We met them close to the Great Northern Moose Lodge where we had booked two rooms, were warmly welcomed and awaited Leg 4, Joyce's arrival.
Joyce arrived around 6:30 p.m. Flight was on time in Burlington where she was to pick up the car. I had forgotten her flight itinerary which was still in my car, so we weren't sure exactly when to expect her. Good thing. She arrived in Vermont at noon and had we known, we would have started paddling earlier expecting to see here by mid-afternoon. Except my car battery had died. She spent several hours with AAA obtaining a new one for me. When she finally got on the road, she was famished and found her way to the Rainbow Sweets Bakery in Marshfield, VT which not only satisfied her hunger, but also was a source of some excellent treats she brought back for us.
Richard, at the Great Northern Moose Lodge, set Joyce and I up in the Moose Room and the Stolz family in the Wolf's Den (no relation to a similar, but notorious establishment in Green Bay) and suggested the Northland Restaurant and Dairy Bar in Berlin, NH for dinner. On the way, we saw cars pulled over along the side of the road near Pontook Reservoir and sure enough, saw our first moose family.
Weather: Sunny, hot
Portages: 0
Wildlife: Loons, herons, two roadside moose seen at a distance when we went out for dinner.
If its going to rain, its really great when it happens at night and you wake up to blue skies. Although Linda and I both were awake counting the seconds (3-4) between the lightning and thunder, neither of us knew the other was awake until we talked about it in the morning. Spent two hours first thing in the morning in the Errol library while Linda, Paul and Jake went out moose hunting again. Took our time leaving Errol as it was Errol Heritage Day and there was food, a quilt show and keystone cops, among other events. Got a canoe rented for the boys and we set off down the Andro around 1 pm.
The Androscoggin has large areas of flat water that would have been fine to paddle upstream, but there were also many sections of Class 1-2 rapids that require tracking or portaging. Let's say I'm a happy camper paddling Class 1, especially when there aren't rocky obstacles (e.g. Saranac River) or scratchy bottoms (e.g. Ammonoosac). The Andro had much more water so the ride was pretty fun. However, there was at least one Class 2 that the outfitter said included a boulder called the "Canoe Eater." So naturally, I had visions of a Volkswagen-sized boulder with water shooting around it and no place to go. (In addition to hearing noises in the dark that I assume are bears, I also envision every rapid as a canoe killer. Of course, having recently punctured the canoe I've been very leary of almost every rock in my path, but I digress...)
We really had no problem paddling the Androscoggin, even with my Kevlar canoe which the guys at Northern Waters had assured me shouldn't be a problem. But I swear at every turn, where I saw even the smallest sign of white water, my palms instantly got sweaty. I kept thinking its just like downhill skiing, I need only relax, but honestly, just like my preference to ski those nice, long, green circle vs. steep black diamond runs, give me a lake anytime. (And I write this after just completing several clear, big, beautiful Maine lakes.) Paul and Jake haven't been canoeing all that much either and so worried about them too. We all made it. Now that I know what the Andro was like, I probably would have had more fun. But Linda and I had seriously tipped over in the canoe and pinned it under a strainer tree back in May in Wisconsin and some of those waves seemed very similar, even though the temperature was in the 80s not 40s, the river was five times as wide and three times as shallow. The gunwale dent I've been seeing on the whole trip is a reminder of that early May "practice paddle" we took on the Manitowoc River.
Paul and Jake paddled 8.5 miles and got picked up by the outfitter and returned to their car back at the campground. Linda and I paddled another 6 or 7 miles that afternoon and the boys met us further downstream. We met them close to the Great Northern Moose Lodge where we had booked two rooms, were warmly welcomed and awaited Leg 4, Joyce's arrival.
Joyce arrived around 6:30 p.m. Flight was on time in Burlington where she was to pick up the car. I had forgotten her flight itinerary which was still in my car, so we weren't sure exactly when to expect her. Good thing. She arrived in Vermont at noon and had we known, we would have started paddling earlier expecting to see here by mid-afternoon. Except my car battery had died. She spent several hours with AAA obtaining a new one for me. When she finally got on the road, she was famished and found her way to the Rainbow Sweets Bakery in Marshfield, VT which not only satisfied her hunger, but also was a source of some excellent treats she brought back for us.
Richard, at the Great Northern Moose Lodge, set Joyce and I up in the Moose Room and the Stolz family in the Wolf's Den (no relation to a similar, but notorious establishment in Green Bay) and suggested the Northland Restaurant and Dairy Bar in Berlin, NH for dinner. On the way, we saw cars pulled over along the side of the road near Pontook Reservoir and sure enough, saw our first moose family.
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| The sun shone after a night of big t-storms |
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| Jake and Paul join Linda and I for a day trip (NFCT's 740-mile challenge on July 30) |
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| Paddling the Androscoggin...downstream... |
Day 26, July 29: Rest Day in Errol, Maine
We left the Stark Village Inn at 9 a.m. and headed to Errol getting shuttled by one of Nancy's neighbors. Will be paddling the Androscoggin downstream along with Linda's two boys.
Checked in at Northern Waters (more great people: Todd, Doug, Eric) for our riverside campsite, checked out the town (library was only open from 8 am to noon) and spent the afternoon watching the kayakers and tubers go by. The weather looked iffy and thunderstorms were expected in the early evening.
Paul and Jake arrived around 5:30 pm and we got some sausages, onions and asparagus to cook over the fire, and beer. Took the canoe out on the lake around dusk in search of moose, but no luck. Started sprinkling, but nothing too bad. Overnight we had a thunderstorm that poured enough rain to make the tarp sag down to the picnic table. But we stayed dry.
Tip for library users: Most of the towns that I passed through have libraries and internet access, however the hours of operation vary wildly. Sometimes the libraries are only open certain days of the week, others certain hours. Totally missed out the on more than one because the day I was in town was the day it was closed.
Checked in at Northern Waters (more great people: Todd, Doug, Eric) for our riverside campsite, checked out the town (library was only open from 8 am to noon) and spent the afternoon watching the kayakers and tubers go by. The weather looked iffy and thunderstorms were expected in the early evening.
Paul and Jake arrived around 5:30 pm and we got some sausages, onions and asparagus to cook over the fire, and beer. Took the canoe out on the lake around dusk in search of moose, but no luck. Started sprinkling, but nothing too bad. Overnight we had a thunderstorm that poured enough rain to make the tarp sag down to the picnic table. But we stayed dry.
Tip for library users: Most of the towns that I passed through have libraries and internet access, however the hours of operation vary wildly. Sometimes the libraries are only open certain days of the week, others certain hours. Totally missed out the on more than one because the day I was in town was the day it was closed.
Map 8 done; In Rangeley, Maine
Joyce and I just completed Map 8 and are enjoying the town of Rangeley very much. It's a gorgeous sunny day after two days of on and off showers. Got a ride to my car and drove back to pick up Joyce with some older Moby blasting from the speakers as my 2004 Rav4 just rolled over to a mere 70,000 miles. Percentage-wise, I think I've put more miles on the canoe this year than the car.
Had some wonderful Thai food for lunch and will be eyeing up a laundromat yet today after I enter a few blog updates.
Still having a great time. It's going by much too fast.
Had some wonderful Thai food for lunch and will be eyeing up a laundromat yet today after I enter a few blog updates.
Still having a great time. It's going by much too fast.
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