Weather: Predicted all day rain didn't start until around noon
Wildlife: Bald eagle intent on getting a baby merganser, kingfishers, herons, a group of eight or more loons
Portages: (1)
3 mile Demo Road: Wheelable for all but the .3 mile section at the end through the woods to Little Braussau Lake. We followed the updated, detailed instructions that corrects the errors on the map, even though we screwed up at the end.
It had rained overnight. The forecast was for an all day rain, but we thought it might have been off. Woke up early and got packed up staying dry under overcast skies. The eastern outlet of Long Pond is pretty -- studded with rocky points and islands -- unlike it's western, reedier inlet (which is pretty in a different way.)
The Moose River was low, but we were able to run all, but the last rip (rapid), which was too bony when we scouted it. Were entertained watching an eagle make several passes over a group of mergansers--not certain of whom we were rooting for more. We could see the railroad track parallel the river, but don't recall hearing or seeing any trains yesterday or today.
The painted gauge on the boulder by the take-out was obvious--and obvious that the river was very low --- WAY under 1'. A little higher would have been nice, but I'm not complaining. Still navigational compared to the Nulhegan and S. Branch of the Dead River.
 |
| Gauge rock |
Had printed out the corrected instructions from the NFCT Trail Update section. It's CRITICAL until the maps are reprinted to know this. The portage route shown on the map (first version) is wrong. Once on the road, we rigged up a pretty good system of tying the front painter rope to the food barrel I was carrying (threading it through the handles on each side) so that the canoe could be wheeled using my shoulders and core vs. pulling it with one arm. Kacia and I had just kept switching sides on the Spencer Rips Road trek when one arm got tired. This system was less tiring--or would have been...
 |
| Getting ready for the long haul |
About .75 miles into the walk, a retired couple approached in a pick-up truck. With a canoe rack. They stopped to ask where we were going. Charlie had seen two canoeists portaging this section last year and had wondered then, what was up. Even though the new portaging system was working out well, we still accepted a ride from them to get off Demo Road.
 |
| Trail Angels: Charlie and Sally and their canoe-racked truck |
Side note: The scariest thing(s) were the big logging trucks. Two came roaring down the roads, slowing down as they saw us, but still. The road's not that wide. The updated directions I had downloaded were very detailed and we were having no problems following them along the road. The only instances where I felt any fear was wheeling along roads--highways with no shoulders and now logging roads that are clearly being used for exactly that purpose.
Charlie and Sally gave us a ride to the NFCT-marked logging trail turn off of Demo Road, saving us 1.5 - 2 miles walking along the gravel road. They had a Maine Gazetteer that detailed all the logging roads. It might be a good idea for the NFCT maps to include the logging road numbers as part of the portage instructions. Our local trail angels, both Charlie and Sally and the fishermen who helped out Kacia and I, referenced and knew the logging road numbers--almost more than the names of the roads.
Kay and I took the first two gear bags and started walking. And walking. And walking. It started raining. Apparently with our heads down and covered by hoods, both of us missed the NFCT blaze that indicated the .3 mile path through the woods. I'm going to sound completely clueless now when I write to say that we kept continuing from an obviously cleaned up trail (brush had been nicely removed) on to an increasingly narrowing and overgrown trail. The instructions say that the last leg through the woods is rough. So, yeah...this trail was becoming rougher. And it still cut through a woods. When the trail appeared to turn into a moose trail, but still uncertain if we were in error, we dumped the bags (just in case we were right), retraced our steps to bring the canoe and third bag up to at least another halfway point, and -- voila! There was the blaze right where the brush clearing had ended. To the NFCT's credit, the trail HAD been well-marked up until the point we started ignoring the obvious signs. (There are also blue/yellow painted blazes along this and the Spencer Rips Road. Seem to be suggestive of following the NFCT trail, but I haven't seen any literature that says these were painted/planted by the NFCT.) Still, there were there along this section and had disappeared when we kept bushwacking our way away from the portage.
Ultimately we saved no time or distance by getting a ride. We are sure we walked even farther! (Karma bites...) Brought the canoe to the TURN OFF (it's on the right), through the rough, but marked woods trail (a dark trek) to Little Brassau Lake, then headed back to pick up the first two bags we had left farther up the non-trail. To pass the time, I counted steps again, something I hadn't done since the first week along the road from Forked Lake to the Raquette River in the Adirondacks. Counted 1,150 steps. Or about a half of a mile. One way. By the time we got everything to the Little Brassau Lake put-in, we were completely soaked.
 |
| Little Brassau put-in back on the Moose River |
 |
| Getting dry again |
Took the first site we saw only a short distance from the put-in. Not sure if it was an official site, it didn't seem to be on the right point on the map, but clearly it had been used as a site-- and there was a firepit. The tell-tale green and red blazed rocks told us other canoes had pulled up here too. Water was REALLY low here--those blazed rocks were out quite far from the site itself. Set up the tarp first, then the tent and got into dry clothes. Made some instant pea soup (thanks Sara for that last minute gift!) which helped warm us up. Read for a while, then made dinner and enjoyed the dinner show of a large group of socializing loons. Still raining, but we're staying dry.
Dinner: Lentil noodle soup (pretty heavy and needed more of something--like flavor.)
