July 13, 2015 Thoroughfare to Chesuncook to Canvas Dam Campsite

Woke up at 6 and got the fire going from a coal that was left from last night with birch bark, twigs, and some well placed bad breath. Pancakes, eggs, and bacon for breakfast this morning. We are all set with food for 2 more days. We cooked and ate all of a 1qt container of eggs, half a box of pancake mix, and a whole box of precooked bacon. As were were almost all packed up, a couple of guys showed up from Winterport eager to move into the site. We helped them unpack. In return, they gave my youngest a bunch of flies while we were down to Chamberlain Bridge. My boys discussed the best way to catch a salmon on Chesuncook with Bernie Thibedeau. We unloaded at the bridge and waited for our shuttle. Gramp headed for a geocache a couple miles away inland, the boys napped on the lawn, and I connected to wireless at the ranger station and checked in on the homefront to let them know we were safe.

The guide from Loon Lodge arrived at 11:30 and shuttled us to Umbazooksus West campsite.In addition, he brought us a couple bottles of fresh ice for the cooler. We managed to hit the water again at 1:30 and paddled down to Longley site at 2. It was further down that the map led us to believe and we could actually see Chesuncook from there. It was the messiest campsite we saw on the whole trip and full of trash. After lunch, we decided it would be worth the trip to Chesuncook Lake House for fudge at root beer, even though there was a head wind. We landed at the cemetery point boat launch and walked past the "Freedom Bus" only to find the Chesuncook House store closed. Next time I will call ahead and make sure they know we are coming.

We paddled out with a nice tail wind and wound our way through a dead water. It was hard to find the right channel. One guide book described it as hugging the right shore- which is correct. It is the only shore that doesn't change year to year. There were many dead end deep channels. We arrived at Canas Dam site a little after 5pm. We set up the hammocks and the tarp and I made chicken tacos. We cooked blueberry muffins in the reflector oven for dessert. My youngest son fished a bit and I wrote in the journal. My oldest son did dishes and I calculated distances. We have less than 13 miles back to the lodge. We were all in bed by 9. I had pitched my hammock on a point with a beautiful view of the sunset looking straight down towards Chesuncook. I woke up to a strong wind blowing up from the lake straight to the North. I made sure all the flaps on the hammocks were tight and headed back to bed.