Weather: Pleasant, partly cloudy: Hit a dead calm around 10am while paddling, wind picked up after our visit to Round Barn where we faced a headwind all the way to the Hut.
Wildlife: Loons, eagle, a brood of Mergansers with 30-40 merganserlings (?)
Paddled from the Island campsite after a very quiet night, broken only by the occasional loon call, to Round Barn. We tried to spot the Historic Hurricane Rips, which are Dead River rapids on the original course of the Dead River that still courses under Flagstaff Lake, in the calmer morning, but don't think we quite saw them. Passed a parent loon and two very young looking chicks (for this time of the year) and a huge brood of mergansers. Both of us kept recounting how many chicks were following the mom. We hiked up to the Bigelow Lodge to look around (wasn't much to see) and saw that Round Barn had many campsites (7 or so), most of them filled for a Tuesday. Had lunch on the beach, then headed north to locate the Flagstaff Hut, arriving around 2:30 pm.
The hut is FABULOUS. (I neglected to take more photos.) And really, right on the NFCT trail--very, very convenient for paddlers. This should be on everyone's radar. The only problem as I could see would be how to plan a visit as a through-paddler. The Huts require, or at least prefer, reservations (lunch is also available without a reservation) and I had booked this night back in March. And the paddling distance from Stratton works out to be either two short days (like we did) or one very long day. Dinner is served at 6 or 6:30 p.m., so you want to be there by then. We had a private room (accommodated up to three), basic, but comfortable. You provide your own bedding. The next hut on the system is Grand Falls--which I decided to hit the next night without a reservation, even though that is one mile off the NFCT trail. More on that tomorrow.
There is a dock (with kayaks and canoes for visitor use) and we pulled our canoe up on the rack for the night. It is located north of One Mile Beach tucked back, almost to the end of the bay, around the SECOND point (sort of across from the Pond Stream outlet.) This is the second Hut that was built on the Maine Huts and Trails network. Cozy common rooms, a screened porch, sunny dining room. It was lovely. I appreciated incorporating the driftwood as part of the exterior architecture too. And the showers. And the wine, beer and cookies. The hut is completely off the grid using solar energy and Clivis, a composting toilet system. We took the energy tour after a scrumptious family-style gourmet dinner of shrimp jambalaya, black bean polenta, salad, broccoli and chocolate tarts for dessert. It really was a nice stop, even this soon into Kacia's leg. (I also wanted to butter her up for the upcoming Little Spencer Creek day.)
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| Flagstaff Hut entrance, a short walk up from the lake. |
One of the staff played some fiddle music in the evening and I was blissfully happy. Kacia says I like this place because "they are my people. Like NPR."
We shared the same night with several families who were hiking the trail, including a family with three creative girls who, ironically, attend the same school where Laurie Chandler (Paddle for Hope) works. Another "small world" link and goose-bump inducing trail coincidence.
Kacia had another insight this morning. She's my fifth paddler and by now, I've started collecting and sharing trip stories. Apparently repeatedly. Says my paddlers are like having different boyfriends at the same time: Among each other, I need to start keeping my paddlers and stories straight.
