Sunday, February 3, 2019

July 15, 2015 Loon Lodge to Home

Up at 4AM to a heavy downpour on the roof. We were snug, dry, and warm in our bunks in the cabin. That wind from the South yesterday was blowing in the storm. We made coffee and reluctantly packed up. We took hot showers and made another huge breakfast of banana pancakes and bacon.

We did our dishes and cleaned up the cabin. Once we got everything packed in the truck, we got a tour of the lodge and officially checked out. The boys threw a ball for the dog a few more times and we climbed into the truck and got rolling around 11. We all knew this would be an especially tough reentry. We stopped and picked off a few more geocaches on the way out of the North Maine Wilderness.

We met an SUV with some ladies in it at the Telos gate. Though they had left 2 hours before us, they had had a flat tire and had to stop and change it. They were being very careful and slow after that because they only had one spare tire. We followed them slowly to be sure they made it out. I was a bit worried because we hadn’t even checked our spare before we left. Fortunately we had 10 ply tires and didn’t need to find out if the spare was good or not. We stopped for a few geocaches along the way and ate lunch at McDonald's in Millinocket. Home by 7PM.

Though I made it back to Baxter State Park again, regretfully this was my last trip to the Allagash at least for a while. I got a new job that has taken me all over the world. My kids have grown up and headed off to college. I'm escaping a cold winter day 4 years later but typing this journal entry in so that hopefully our trip can help someone else plan an adventure this Summer.

I'm going to reach out to Loon Lodge and make sure they are still helping the adventurous canoe tripper on the Northern Forest Canoe Trail. I can't recommend them enough. Please go and visit them. They are a friendly oasis in the middle of the wilderness and not enough people visit anymore.

No comments: