Long Lake Dam Campsite: Allagash Wilderness Waterway Canoe and Guide Training Trip Journal

September 17, 2006
I awoke tired, congested, and miserable but still glad to be in the Allagash. It was cloudy, hot, and windy. The group debated some interesting questions: “How many rings on a racoon's tail? We decided from five to seven. “How do you teach someone to use a compass?” Put the dog in the doghouse. Put the red in the shed. “Is the fog over a lake in the morning convective or advective?” We didn’t have a clue but further Internet research says possibly advective. see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FogWe had millet for breakfast again. I got the fire going and made coffee. We saw a moose while we were eating breakfast. There was a fog with heavy dew and everything was damp. We loaded the canoes and had a birch bark demonstration. Tim made a birch bark bowl that floated. We left about 10AM and were quiet but still didn't see any moose.
Almost immediately we hit headwinds, but I was in fine shape since it was my turn to be in a tandem with Dawa today. We made it across Umsaskis to a sheltered bay where we waited for the others not fortunate enough to be tandem. Once together again, we pressed on down Long Lake. Just before the ranger station, Meredith, the lady ranger, showed up with the lifejacket Devin had lost the day before. Devin was embarrassed because we made him go and get it from her.We pressed on past the ranger station, then on to Grey Brook where we wolfed down a 24 minute lunch so that we wouldn't miss the tailwind. Dawa held up a trash bag between two paddles in the bow and we sped northerly along at up to 4mph. A few of the others lashed 3 canoes together and made a square from a tarp. It looked like a pirate ship.We got to the Long Lake Dam campsite at about 4:30PM. It wasn’t a great site but would be good if it rains and it would be welcome after a hard paddle. We ate elbow macaroni, spaghetti sauce, onions, coleslaw, and sourdough biscuits. While waiting for dinner, I caught tons of small chub and one 14" chub which Dawa wanted to eat. I gave her the fish and she worked with Bud to clean and cook it. After dinner I took notes in my journal and swapped memory cards in my camera. It was early to bed for me, my head cold was really getting to me.