Up and started the campfire at 5:30 to put water on to boil. We all agreed the water I boiled last night tasted like smoke and bug spray. So I filled a pot with lake water and used my tube and filter siphon system. It seemed to work very well. Although we tried to get an early start, we didn't get going until 9AM.
I had been fishing and only managed to catch one whitefish on a large lure. My youngest was trolling that lure while we paddled and managed to snag it and snap the line instantly. On a whim, we back paddled and easily found the lure floating on the mirror surface of the lake. There were no other fish caught the rest of the day.
We checked out Ellis Brook campsite which was in a nice secluded cove. Shady campsite was very remote. We ate our lunch at Donnely Point in the hot sun and contemplated a nice nap but the boys were bickering so we pushed on to Mud Brook. The sun turned to clouds and we quickly set up camp. Just as we finished setting up the tarp, the sun came back out. Gramp and my oldest son napped while my youngest and I looked for a "Jesus Rock" and swam in the warm channel.
While my oldest stayed to fish, my youngest son, Gramp, and I paddled up the channel into the Mud Pond carry. Mud Pond channel is quite a rise over rocks and we paddled up a chute made of rocks. It would have been very difficult in a freighted canoe. The pond was all grown in with thick lily pads and weeds which made paddling difficult. We had a hard time getting to the shore to the carry. It was much faster going back down the channel.
Back by 7PM, we cooked hotdogs and ate pistachio pudding. The cooler with ice on top and the cubes from Loon Lodge is the clear winner. After dinner, we rolled the canoes over, did the dishes with the boiled water, and played "UNO" with a modified deck of cards. Everyone went to bed and was instantly asleep while I wrote in the journal and watched an invasion of giant Bullfrogs. Just as I was getting ready to finally turn in about 10PM, it started to rain so I went through the camp making sure everyone's gear was under cover and then went to bed to the sound of raindrops on my hammock. Just as I was about to get to sleep, there was a violent thunderstorm and downpour. Despite being a little damp, I went right to sleep.
Sunday, February 3, 2019
July 10, 2015 Allagash Lake to Tramway to Lost Spring Campsite
I was up at 2AM and again at 4AM. I am convinced that salty camp food is directly related to how often I get up at night regardless of my state of hydration. Up again at 5:45 and started the coffee. I woke my youngest up so he could get in some early morning fishing. We came back for coffee and decided to try our luck in the canoe. We were back into camp by 7 to make egg and cheese and bacon sandwiches. As always we did our dishes and packed before cleaning the campsite. We hit were out on the water about 9:30. We bumped, dragged, and scraped our way down Allagash stream. My father and oldest son had to line their old fiberglass canoe at one point. My youngest and I were able to push and prod the Tripper. It was hot and sunny. We fished a bit in the pond before Little Allagash Falls. We portaged river left half of the way and stopped for lunch of PBJ and bananas. I managed to find the spring but it was pretty dirty. Many times on this trip I wished I had a pair of small binoculars so I could better see the wildlife. I resigned myself to just enjoy the peace of the river as we worked along about a quarter mile where we had to go over a ledge on river right after a small island. About .4 miles after the portage we had to line over a ledge. At the bridge, I poled the tripper down a quick drop and we lined the old fiberglass barge through the same. The kids found a massive fish skeleton here. With quick water and a tailwind we quickly made it down to the tramway. Rounding the point we headed for Tramway Carry. We changed course around gull rock to the right and saw a massive bull moose. The GPS coordinates from the NFCT map took us right to the tramway. It was very interesting to revisit the locomotives from this side. Gramp was able to find the geocache with the kids who climbed all over the locomotives again. The bugs were eating us alive so hurried back to the tramway and the canoes. We pulled out about 6pm and stopped into Crowes Nest at 6:30 and Lost Spring at 6:45 having a very good tailwind. I really wished my GPS had campsite waypoints loaded into it. My oldest son and father set up tents and hammocks while I got dinner cooking. We boiled lake water for 10 minutes and then cooked the noodles in it. By this point we're rationing our water and there is NO SPRING at Lost Spring site. I believe we found where it used to be. We plan to boil our water and then filter it in the morning. We made Boy Scout noodles and it was just delicious. It consisted of two beef patties, a can of cream of mushroom soup, a can of tomato soup, fat ribbon noodles, and a bunch of cheddar cheese on top. After dinner, the boys fished. They brought in some massive white fish (20+ inches was the biggest). We set up the tarp and did the dishes. It was getting really dark and everyone hit the sack. I tended the fire and boiled a bunch of water and wrote in the journal and checked out the guide books.
Monday, September 24, 2018
July 9, 2015 Loon Lodge to Allagash Lake via Johnson Pond
Woke up at 5:30 for my morning potty run. Can you call it roughing it when you can use a flush toilet? The cabin bed called me back and I slept in until 7AM.
I wandered down to the pond and caught an 8" Whitefish and released it. After oatmeal and coffee we sorted our gear and talked with the host. Once we were packed and loaded up, we started to leave but some forest rangers came and their truck blocked the road. The oldest child (the grandfather) and the youngest teenager managed to play smoke on the water perfectly on the tensioned canoe strap. Like most moments of pure genius, they were unable to repeat this feat. Although it took us a while to get going, we did manage to geocache at Round Pond Landing on the way to Johnson Pond.
We unloaded and carried down to the water's edge in order to load up the canoes. We shoved off around noon and were eating lunch on Johnson Pond Stream around 1. We ran out of water and pushed, pulled, tipped and shoved the canoes down the brook over beaver dams, logs, and sand bars. Once we made it to Allagash Stream, it was smooth cruising down to the ledge point campsite. We stopped to talk to a couple of long term campers there, and they told us about an undocumented spring at Ledge Point.
We stopped and checked out a campsite at Sandy Point which is one of the nicest we'd seen on the AWW. We'll have to come back someday and stay there. We canoed over to ice caves campsite which has two entrances and found it to be a very nice campsite too. The ice caves proved to be colder than expected but a nice break from the mosquitos. There were tons of bugs this year. We all put on headlamps and headed down into the cavern for a quick look around.
The couple at Ledge Point told the teenaged boys about a second cave with snow and this proved irresistible. Although you really should have a rope to enter it, the oldest teenaged boy managed to get down into it and climb out with enough snow and ice to throw a snowball at his brother. He saved other chunks of ice for dinner.
We loaded up and headed to Cove campsite which was secluded but not aa good site. We paddled to Outlet which was very nice. We arrived just after 5PM, unpacked, made dinner, and set up camp. Beef tacos hit the spot! We used the ice chunks and managed to make pudding for dessert.
We made a fire for the dishwater (conserve the propane). Once the dishes were washed we cleaned up ourselves a bit for bed. We were all ready for bed by 8:15 but it was still light out. The joy of early Summer! We decided to fish in the brook until it got so thick with mosquitos and dark enough for us to go to bed and then read aloud the descriptions of river rapids and portages for the next day before finally turning in.
I wandered down to the pond and caught an 8" Whitefish and released it. After oatmeal and coffee we sorted our gear and talked with the host. Once we were packed and loaded up, we started to leave but some forest rangers came and their truck blocked the road. The oldest child (the grandfather) and the youngest teenager managed to play smoke on the water perfectly on the tensioned canoe strap. Like most moments of pure genius, they were unable to repeat this feat. Although it took us a while to get going, we did manage to geocache at Round Pond Landing on the way to Johnson Pond.
We unloaded and carried down to the water's edge in order to load up the canoes. We shoved off around noon and were eating lunch on Johnson Pond Stream around 1. We ran out of water and pushed, pulled, tipped and shoved the canoes down the brook over beaver dams, logs, and sand bars. Once we made it to Allagash Stream, it was smooth cruising down to the ledge point campsite. We stopped to talk to a couple of long term campers there, and they told us about an undocumented spring at Ledge Point.
We stopped and checked out a campsite at Sandy Point which is one of the nicest we'd seen on the AWW. We'll have to come back someday and stay there. We canoed over to ice caves campsite which has two entrances and found it to be a very nice campsite too. The ice caves proved to be colder than expected but a nice break from the mosquitos. There were tons of bugs this year. We all put on headlamps and headed down into the cavern for a quick look around.
The couple at Ledge Point told the teenaged boys about a second cave with snow and this proved irresistible. Although you really should have a rope to enter it, the oldest teenaged boy managed to get down into it and climb out with enough snow and ice to throw a snowball at his brother. He saved other chunks of ice for dinner.
We loaded up and headed to Cove campsite which was secluded but not aa good site. We paddled to Outlet which was very nice. We arrived just after 5PM, unpacked, made dinner, and set up camp. Beef tacos hit the spot! We used the ice chunks and managed to make pudding for dessert.
We made a fire for the dishwater (conserve the propane). Once the dishes were washed we cleaned up ourselves a bit for bed. We were all ready for bed by 8:15 but it was still light out. The joy of early Summer! We decided to fish in the brook until it got so thick with mosquitos and dark enough for us to go to bed and then read aloud the descriptions of river rapids and portages for the next day before finally turning in.
Saturday, October 10, 2015
July 8, 2015 Loon Lodge on Round Pond
We hit the road while the boys' eyes were still sleepy and made it to the Millinocket McDonald's before 9:30 for breakfast. The first rule of camping is you can never have enough bacon. We decided we needed more and ran across the street to Hannaford to buy more bacon, bagels, and a car charger adapter to keep the phone/GPS working.
Soon we headed into the woods on the Golden Road to the land of no Internet and no cell phone coverage. We were free of all modern inconveniences except Moxie which we managed to buy at the Northern Maine Woods checkpoint. The simple life has its simple pleasures.
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| Dottie Brook |
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| Mud Pond Carry |
We arrived at Loon Lodge at 2:30 in the afternoon. The owner's dog, a lab retriever, was immediately in love with the boys that would throw the ball for her over and over again. The boys spent pretty much the whole afternoon throwing the ball for that dog. Never mind that they could do that at home with their own dog, this was a vacation and we were unplugged. The poor dog was pretty close to exhaustion when my father, myself, and the lodge owner stopped catching up. In truth, I had barely spoken to the lodge owners on the phone, but it felt like we were family from away finally stopping in for an overdue visit.
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| Lounging on our cabin porch |
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| Allagash Lake Fire Tower View |
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| Cooking inside our cabin |
We cooked cheeseburgers on the propane stove in our cabin and then did dishes. We used the flush toilets and the running water in the bath house to get ready for bed. We wanted to play cards and tell stories but the boys and their grandfather were asleep and snoring by 9. I crashed before 10 after charging all the cameras and taking some notes in my journal.
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| Sunset over Round Pond |
2015 Allagash Trip Preparations
Corporate life has consumed me most of my adult life, so when my company recently moved my office two hours south of my house, I accepted a severance package which allowed me to take the summer off. My last six months at work were not stop, but I would often add ideas to the list for what I could do with all of my impending leisure time. At the top of the list was another trip to the Allagash with my 70+ year old father and my two boys 15 and 16.
Over the last few years, I had purchased The Northern Forest Canoe Trail Official Guidebook, Quiet Water Maine, Gil Gilpatrick's Allagash, and the AMC River Guide and I had read all about the southern routes we could use to canoe north into the Allagash Waterway. In reality, I probably just looked at the pretty pictures.
My dream trip was to start at the Northeast Carry and canoe up into Chesuncook, up Caucomgomoc Steam and Lake, to Round Pond, then carry to Allagash Lake, and canoe down to Chamberlain to the Thoroughfare bridge. This is probably the same dream where we caught massive fish and rescued the drowning Victoria's Secret models. It would have involved all sorts of logistics about shuttling multiple vehicles that I decided to avoid for cost, risk, and time reasons.
I began to look at circular routes so that we could start and end in the same place. The tricky spot seemed to be the Mud Pond Carry and my books didn't have a lot to say. This is the same mud pond carry Thoreau described in 1857. I found great information on a couple of blogs the Gill adventures, paddling.net, and even Yankee magazine online. I decided this trip was possible, we would just have to endure one day of pain.
My last day at work was July 6, 2015 and I managed to wait until the last minute to make reservations with Loon Lodge for two days later. The evening of July 6 and 7 were spent packing frantically and trying to figure out what I might have forgotten. The canoes and the gear and crate with camping stuff had been packed the previous weekend. I was literally up until 1 AM working on the trip plans and grabbing screen shots from books so I could print the pages and leave the books at home.
Last minute activities included cleaning off memory cards and charging camera batteries, cleaning drying laundry (camp clothes), paying bills, returning library books, and grocery shopping. I had let my boys finalize the menu which meant that they also waited until the absolute last minute to decide what we would eat right up until we were at the grocery store.
After grocery shopping we separated each meal into bags in the food crate and I printed guidebook pages. We added 3 more crates and paddles and life jackets to the truck. We had a ton of mac and cheese left from a surprise party so we froze it and took it on the trip too. I finally crashed into my bed at 1 AM. The hardest part of these trips is getting ready.
In the end, the plan was to start July 8 at Loon Lodge on Round Pond, climb the Allagash Lake tower, put in at Johnson Pond, paddle south to Allagash Lake and stay at the ice caves. We would paddle down Allagash Stream to Lock Dam, then paddle east across Lock Dam to Smith Brook Campsite. We would go west to the tramway and portage over to Chamberlain and paddle south to Lock Dam, then across Chamberlain to Mud Pond campsite. We would then paddle west into Mud Pond and do the Mud Pond Carry and stay at Umbazooksus. We would paddle south to Chesuncook and north past Canvas Dam to Horserace campsite on the Caucomgomoc Stream. Sometime around July 15 we would return northeast to Round Pond Loon Lodge and drive home.
Over the last few years, I had purchased The Northern Forest Canoe Trail Official Guidebook, Quiet Water Maine, Gil Gilpatrick's Allagash, and the AMC River Guide and I had read all about the southern routes we could use to canoe north into the Allagash Waterway. In reality, I probably just looked at the pretty pictures.
My dream trip was to start at the Northeast Carry and canoe up into Chesuncook, up Caucomgomoc Steam and Lake, to Round Pond, then carry to Allagash Lake, and canoe down to Chamberlain to the Thoroughfare bridge. This is probably the same dream where we caught massive fish and rescued the drowning Victoria's Secret models. It would have involved all sorts of logistics about shuttling multiple vehicles that I decided to avoid for cost, risk, and time reasons.
I began to look at circular routes so that we could start and end in the same place. The tricky spot seemed to be the Mud Pond Carry and my books didn't have a lot to say. This is the same mud pond carry Thoreau described in 1857. I found great information on a couple of blogs the Gill adventures, paddling.net, and even Yankee magazine online. I decided this trip was possible, we would just have to endure one day of pain.
My last day at work was July 6, 2015 and I managed to wait until the last minute to make reservations with Loon Lodge for two days later. The evening of July 6 and 7 were spent packing frantically and trying to figure out what I might have forgotten. The canoes and the gear and crate with camping stuff had been packed the previous weekend. I was literally up until 1 AM working on the trip plans and grabbing screen shots from books so I could print the pages and leave the books at home.
Last minute activities included cleaning off memory cards and charging camera batteries, cleaning drying laundry (camp clothes), paying bills, returning library books, and grocery shopping. I had let my boys finalize the menu which meant that they also waited until the absolute last minute to decide what we would eat right up until we were at the grocery store.
After grocery shopping we separated each meal into bags in the food crate and I printed guidebook pages. We added 3 more crates and paddles and life jackets to the truck. We had a ton of mac and cheese left from a surprise party so we froze it and took it on the trip too. I finally crashed into my bed at 1 AM. The hardest part of these trips is getting ready.
In the end, the plan was to start July 8 at Loon Lodge on Round Pond, climb the Allagash Lake tower, put in at Johnson Pond, paddle south to Allagash Lake and stay at the ice caves. We would paddle down Allagash Stream to Lock Dam, then paddle east across Lock Dam to Smith Brook Campsite. We would go west to the tramway and portage over to Chamberlain and paddle south to Lock Dam, then across Chamberlain to Mud Pond campsite. We would then paddle west into Mud Pond and do the Mud Pond Carry and stay at Umbazooksus. We would paddle south to Chesuncook and north past Canvas Dam to Horserace campsite on the Caucomgomoc Stream. Sometime around July 15 we would return northeast to Round Pond Loon Lodge and drive home.
Thursday, July 30, 2015
2014 Presi Traverse with Teenaged Kids
Trip prep… I spent a lot of time
trying to make a trip to Baxter State Park work. I considered a lot
of combinations for 3 to 4 day wilderness loops trying to incorporate
available sites. Since I had waited until only several weeks before
the trip, there was just no good way to make this trip happen.
Perhaps I’ll get another shot at this next year. The Presi traverse
had a lot of things going for it. I had done the trip before and was
familiar with the route. In addition, food and water is plentiful
along the route so it is hardly a wilderness experience. It is also
widely recognized by many folks and definitely has wow factor.
Unfortunately, I had more time to plan the trip than I did to pack
for it.
8/18/2014
Rt 2 to Valley Way Campsite, 3.2
miles
We spent the day unpacking from the
Allagash trip and packing our backpacks. I had arranged for
transportation to the trail head later in the afternoon. A quick trip
to the grocery store was needed for taco shells, tomatoes, cheese, 2
cans of chicken, rice, snacks, bananas, and jerky. The rest of our
food was made up of leftovers from the Allagash trip.
We left Standish at 1PM and stopped in
Fryeburg at 2PM for lunch at Subway. We dropped my car at the Webster
Cliff trail head on Rt 302 at 3PM. We made it to the Valley Way trail
head on Rt 2 at 4PM. At the start our packs weighed: 32 lbs (my
pack), 25 lbs (15 year-old's pack) and 15 lbs (13 year-olds pack). It
felt like we were making good time up Valley Way but with our packs
it still took us until 6:12PM to make it into camp.
The tent site was almost full when we
arrived and we ended up on a hillside which really wasn’t a problem
for our hammocks. The tacos we made for dinner tasted amazing even
though the rice was a lot more like soup than rice. Dinner consisted
of tortilla shells, Knorr Spanish rice, a package of Mexican cheese,
a chopped fresh tomato, freshly shredded lettuce, and a can of
chicken. Not typical backpacking food, but we love the stuff! Once we
finished dinner, all food had to be put into a bear bag and hung up
in the trees. We crawled into our sleeping bags just after 8PM as we
wanted to get an early start. Alarm was set at 5:15.
8/19/2014
Valley Way Tentsite (Madison Spring
Hut) to Nauman Campsite (Mizpah Spring Hut) via Mount Washington and
Lake of the Clouds Hut, 14.3 miles
Up early and it was hard to crawl out
of the warm sleeping bags. My oldest son was hanging partially out of his
hammock already. We were ready for our oatmeal, coffee and cocoa as
we ate in our fleece clothing, hats, and gloves. We quickly broke
camp and headed up the hill to Madison Spring Hut and the summit of
Madison returning back to the hut before 8AM. We summited Adams just
after 9AM and the weather was still clear and beautiful.
However, my 13
year old fell and scraped his knee and morale declined as the weather
started to close in. We pushed on hard through heat and humidity as
the clouds surrounded us. We stayed on the AT and skipped the peak of
Jefferson and Clay. It seemed to take forever to get to the peak of
Washington. Then we saw the Cog Railway as the clouds parted. We were
very hungry and thirsty when we finally arrived at the peak of
Washington. I couldn't believe all the people there. We couldn't even
get near the actual summit sign because of the long line. We were
tired, exhausted, and dehydrated. Most of these folks had arrived via
car or train. I was beside myself.
When we couldn't find a seat in the
dining room I just dropped my pack and got in the line for food. In
retrospect, I must have been very dehydrated. I suddenly felt
extremely weak and had to sit on the floor. I made the boys hold our
place in the long line and sat on a bench for a minute. I had a
Gatorade, a slice of pizza, chowder, peanut M+Ms, and a whoopie pie.
I immediately felt better. As the group leader and the parent, I
should definitely have not let myself get dehydrated to that point.
The weather and the terrain can be very tricky in the mountains
particularly in the Presidentials.
My youngest ate 2 Hot Dogs and a
Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. My oldest ate pizza, chowder, Reese's,
Gatorade, and a danish. We finally felt like all was right with the
world again. That instant oatmeal had not been enough calories for
Breakfast!
We left the top at 1:45 and made it to
Lake of the Clouds about 2:30. My youngest was dancing with every
step by that point because he had to go to the bathroom so badly.
There is no privacy above treeline in that area.
Since we didn't have reservations, the
hut host told us we had to keep hiking to Nauman tentsite but that it
was only 3 ½ hours away. Dry River shelter was closed so we had to
keep going. We left at 3PM but in our haste we followed the AT and
skipped the peaks of Monroe, and Eisenhower but went over Pierce.
However, we made it to the Mizpah hut at around 6PM.
We had to pay $8 to camp there. It is a
great deal! You can get water and even have an outhouse. There are
tent platforms which we didn't use. We pitched our hammocks in the
trees. The ATT cell phone didn't work, but US Cellular/Verizon
allowed us to get a text out that we were safe and sound in camp.
Dinner was great. We cooked Cheesy
Noodles and added the rest of the bag of Mexican cheese from the
previous night. We put mashed potatoes right in the same pot and
mixed it up. We had Ritz crackers and cheese sticks for dessert.
There is a special place for dishwater waste. I had put crumbs in our
trash so our trash had to spend the night in the bear box with our
food. We were in bed and snoring by 9:15. Alarm was set for 5:30.
8/20/2014
Nauman Campsite (Mizpah Spring Hut)
to 302 (Crawford Notch) via Webster Cliff Trail, 6.4 miles
Someone had
rattled the chain on the bear box and it woke me up before the alarm
at 5:20 and I decided to let the boys sleep late. It was very
comfortable. I lazed in the hammock until 6 when I got up and made
coffee. I headed into the Mizpah hut and looked at maps and filled
our water bottles. When I got back I woke the boys up. The oldest
boiled the water for oatmeal.
We had shared the
tent platform with Santiago, a student from Columbia going to Tufts.
When he woke up, he started talking to the boys about being
multilingual and about his times mountain biking in New Zealand when
he took a semester abroad.
The boys told him
about our trip in the Allagash the previous week. He was very
interested and they traded tips back and forth. We were eating
breakfast while we were talking and a Canada Jay showed up. I fed him
a raisin right out of my hand. Soon we had a bunch of Jays dive
bombing us and eating out of our hands. Santiago and the boys enjoyed
the birds. We knew we had a tough hike ahead.
Santiago told us
about how he was hiking longer than he planned because stranger's
kept giving him food. Someone had given him a huge Hillshire Farms
sausage the day before. We gave him our extra oatmeal and snacks to
lighten our packs. We filled our water bottles to the top and said
goodbye to the hut.
When we stopped to
snack on Mt Jackson, the Jays were back to bum more food. They had
crossed the valley to visit us. We joked and half wondered if they
would follow us to the car. The views were amazing! We stopped at a
trail junction for a snack not realizing that just ahead were cliffs
that gave us even more stunning views. We could look straight down to
the rest area 2500 feet below. The next 3.1 miles took us much longer
than we expected as it was a bit technical to climb down with packs.
However, the boys were chatting about video game design and
Sim-EARTH, but even that faded to silence as we trudged on.
We finally arrived
at the car about 1PM. We stopped at Subway in Fryeburg and feasted on
sandwiches. Once we arrived home, we unpacked our gear, laid it in
the sunshine to dry, and napped.
Thursday, July 2, 2015
2014 Allagash Journal
I was fortunate to paddle the Allagash again in 2014 with my father and sons. This is the journal from that adventure.
8/8/14
Indian Stream to Thoreau Campsite
We left Portland about 6:15AM and headed North. Refueled in Bangor and went to McDs for Breakfast. Arrived in Ft Kent at 12:15 and went to subway. Took my last chance to reply to emails and say goodbyes on the phone. Pelletier’s Campground@1PM. We ran into Nate Smith (former Camp Hinds’ Councilor) who was just getting in off the river with his Chewonki crew- small world. He just walked right over and said “Do you remember me?” After a quick catch up, we headed South down Route 11 to Portage Lake. Stopped to buy nymph dry flies and grab a fishing regulations book at the town hall. Pulled onto Pinkham Road (A NMW Road) and arrived at Indian Stream at 5:30. Unloaded the gear and got the canoes loaded. Tipped Adrien $50 for great service! Headed downstream at 6PM. Guided the canoe and walked in the bow and stern until we got to Eagle Lake. It was very shallow at first. We tried to paddle straight for the narrows toward Pillsbury Island. It was tough going. The temp was perfect and the lake was like a mirror. We arrived at the first Thoreau campsite at 7:15PM. It was occupied. We went to the third campsite. Just as we landed, it started to rain. We quickly unloaded the gear and threw a tarp over it. We spent time in the rain setting up the other tarp over the ridge pole then moved our gear under it. The rain slowed down enough for us to set up our Hennessey hammocks. Mine went up quickly but the boys had a lot of trouble. Gramp set up his tent. Once camp was made, we had a snack. Gramp and My oldest son had granola bars. My youngest son had Ritz crackers. I boiled water and made hot cocoa. Then made beef stew (the dehydrated kind). My oldest son, Gramp and I ate the stew with some lemon cheesecake pudding for dessert. At 9PM I went over the plan with the group and the boys went to bed. The new mini propane lantern worked great and I wished we had a mini-propane stove to match. The clouds cleared and I looked at the almost full moon over the lake.
Travel Times:
Shuttle St Francis to Indian Stream, 2:30 to 5:30, 3 Hours
Indian Stream to Thoreau Campsite, 5:45 to 7:15, 1.5 Hours
8/9/14
Thoreau campsite to Tramway to Scofield Point
We woke at 5:30AM to the scolding of squirrels and made coffee while the boys snored in their hammocks. We made them cocoa and got them up at 7AM. My youngest son cooked bacon and eggs for breakfast. There aren’t really enough eggs for 4 in a 16oz carton but the liquid eggs are VERY tasty. Cleanup was tough because we didn’t heat up enough water and used too much soap.
We packed and left Thoreau toward the tramway. On the way we saw our first Loon. Gramp and My oldest son missed the landing so My youngest son and I arrived first. The boys loved scrambling all over the old locomotives and rail stuff. So many treasures so little time! The amateur archaeologists could have spent the day there and we only stayed an hour or so. My youngest son figured out he could fit in through the ash bin of the locomotive and come out down below. Gramp looked for the geocache for almost an hour but was unsuccessful.
We headed for Zeigler for lunch. The wind was straight into our face and progress was slow due to the hard going. We finally made it to Zeigler at exactly noon. Our one hour lunch break consisted of granola bars, an apple, and rice with broccoli. My youngest son had a big tub of plain white rice and couldn’t eat it all. Gramp let My youngest son use the Svea stove to heat the water. We mixed the rice and ate our “prison rations”. The rice tasted good but there just wasn’t enough of it. I found the spring behind Zeigler and there was a nice Spring house where we filled our water bottles. We left at 1PM and headed for Scofield point. The wind got very strong and it was very tough going. We still made it to the point at 3PM. We had to share the site with a couple that we had met at the Tramway in the morning.
We unpacked everything and laid all sorts of wet stuff on the rocks to dry in the hot sun. We set up our hammocks and tent and hung tarps on the table. There was a very friendly squirrel that was all over our stuff so we had to keep the trunks closed. We made iced tea and My youngest son fished. We argued about the menu because it had changed all by itself. There was not enough dessert. We made a fire to save propane and debated cooking muffins in the reflector oven. In the end, we ate 2 pounds of hamburgers- two each with lettuce and tomatoes. Cleanup with fire boiled wash water. We all decided My youngest son hadn’t had enough camp experience but he sure was getting it now. Everyone went to bed under the super moon just after 8 listening to the cries of the loons.
Travel Times:
Thoreau to Tramway, 8:45 to 9:30, 45 minutes
Tramway to Zeigler, 10:30-12:00, 1.5 Hours
Zeigler to Scofield Point, 1PM-3PM, 2 Hours
8/10/14
Scofield Point to Churchill Dam to Sam’s Campsite
We woke up early enough to see the setting orange moon and then went back to bed. No one was in a hurry to get up so I made the fire to heat up coffee water. My oldest son set out his instant oatmeal breakfast. I saved my raisins and granola bars for later. After cleanup, pack up, and a little exploration of the point, we still managed to leave at 9AM.
We paddled hard and arrived at Churchill Dam right after our site mates. The ranger ported all of our gear for $10 then came back for us in the other truck. While we waited, we visited the museum and saw the weather forecast was rain for Wednesday and Thursday. We decided to push past the planned Chisholm Brook (which we passed at 2PM) and headed for Long lake Dam. Even though Umsaskis and Long Lake were calm, we were getting tired. We ate our PB and Banana bagels at the Bissonette Bridge put in, then tackled the rest of Chase rapids. My youngest son banged a few rocks at first but quickly got the hang of it and maybe even had some fun.
We crossed Umsaskis and headed under the bridge only to discover our previous camp mates were in camp at Pine, a solo site… we laughed as we expected they wanted their privacy! At Grey Brook we took a half hour break. We were tired. We visited the outhouse, looked at the map and decided to push for Jalbert or Long Lake Dam. We made it past Jalbert but pulled into Sams at 5PM to cook the beef stew. We quickly decided to stay. My oldest son’s stew was fantastic. We started to fish after we made camp and caught a fish with every cast. Even My oldest son was successful! While My oldest son did the dishes, I hooked up the fly rod. My youngest son and I managed to catch our first fish on a fly rod. Then it got dark and was time for bed. We managed to see moose, eagles, and a rabbit today.
Travel Times:
Scofield Point to Churchill Dam, 9AM-10AM, 1 Hour
Portage, 2.5 hours as we had to wait for another group
Churchill Dam portage to Chisholm Brook, 1PM-2PM, to Thoroughfare Bridge, 2PM-3:30PM, to Grey Brook, 4PM, to Sam’s Campsite, 5PM, 4 Hours
8/11/14
Sam’s Campsite to Round Pond Tower Campsite
We listened to Sam the bunny hop around camp all night long…. I discovered that I didn’t have to leave the warmth of my hammock in the middle of the night just to pee. I just flopped around enough to pee out the slit in the bottom of the hammock. This was a fantastic plan and I was comfortable all night… however, I realized in the morning I had managed to soak my sandals in the process.
Imagine my surprise at slipping my feet into a cold and damp urine soaked sandal in the morning- so long dry feet. Gramp and I got a big fire going and made coffee and cocoa. My youngest son made some fantastic banana pancakes with the bananas that we had been carrying and not eating so far. The dish water was ready on time but we still didn’t meet our goal of being ready by 8AM and still managed to leave camp at 9AM. Up ahead on the lake we saw a red canoe leaving Lost Popple. When we arrived at Long lake Dam at 10AM it was chaos due to a huge group there bottlenecking the portage.
We portaged in 30 minutes and set off behind an older couple in a red canoe and the Schofield couple from Maryland in a green canoe that had stayed at Pine the night before. We scraped and bumped our way down the rips and got to the elm tree I remembered in the deadwater of Round Pond.
The wind turned into our faces. I thought I could see Squirrel Pocket across the lake but the map made it appear closer to the cabin. That error cost us the site. We canoed in a fight against the wind only to arrive moments after a couple of guys in a blue canoe that had stayed at Sweeny Brook the night before. I took a quick walk around the Squirrel Pocket site but wasn’t impressed anyway. It was quite a disappointment to work so hard to get to this site only to miss it by minutes. First come first served… oh well.
We headed up the shore line to Tower Trail campsite and arrived at 1:45 hungry and exhausted. We ate a snack while My youngest son made more pancakes. We made PB and fruit cream cheese sandwiches made with banana pancakes. These were the best food ever and we devoured them. Then we went for a swim and took a nap out of the hot sun. We were all a bit sunburned. My youngest son fished a little and got a leach between his toes that bled quite a bit.
At 5:30 we were ready to venture up to the tower. Just as we prepared to leave camp, the Maryland couple arrived to hike it too. At the top of the tower, I received a cell signal from Roger’s Canada and managed to get out some pictures to the home folks. The boys headed back down while I fiddled with the phone trying to get a good weather forecast. I headed down and managed to slip a sandal in the mud. I was completely ill prepared for the hike and the mud made the sandals difficult to hike in. I ended up stuffing leaves in the sandals to keep them on while I tried to hop jog as fast as possible to arrive back at camp just at the point where it became difficult to see in the woods.
The boys had made tacos that dripped down your arm when you ate them and they were delicious! Gramp had heated up the dishwater and we finished the dishes in the dark, brushed our teeth, and went to bed. It was a cacophony of loons all night long just like it was in 2006 here. I charged the cell phone a bit while I put down notes in my journal.
Travel Times:
Sam’s campsite to Long Lake Dam, 9AM-10AM, half hour portage, Long Lake Dam to Back Channel, 10:30AM-12:30PM, Back Channel to Squirrel Pocket to Tower Trail Campsite, 12:30PM to 1:45PM
8/12/14
Round Pond Tower Campsite to Cunliffe Campsite
Up at 5:30 only to realize we didn’t have enough water for breakfast. We packed everything up and left at 7AM to paddle to the spring by Outlet Campsite to fill up all of the water jugs. As we were getting to the rips, the Maryland couple left in the green canoe so we pulled into their campsite and made our breakfast.
We left at 8:45 as a Maine guide arrived with his crew. We listened to his training lessons to his group, and then made our way through getting better the further we got. We eventually caught up with the last canoe as it was hung up on some rocks. We then passed that group venturing on by ourselves. I think we did better without them. We made it to the dead water and could look back to the tower we had climbed the night before.
We wanted to go all the way to Dead water South for lunch but had stopped at 5 Fingers for a quick break and pushed on. We saw deer, moose, and bald eagles. We ate our ham and cheese sandwiches and visited the outhouse at Bass Brook. The cooler isn’t very cool anymore so I passed on the ham eating only cheese and lettuce. We reached Cunliffe at 1:30PM unpacked and decided to tent in the grassy meadow in the shade.
After a rest, we made the quick paddle over to see the Lombards all in one canoe. I didn’t remember the stream crossing in 2006 but there was a decent little bridge now. I also didn’t remember the fence around the Lombard’s due to the asbestos. We crossed back over around 4:45 and started to make dinner. My oldest son cooked the pasta mac and cheese while the dish water heated. Then he put the corn straight on the coals which we rotated every 3 minutes. The corn was super tasty but overcooked. The cheesy noodles were very tasty and we all ate seconds. I ate two cookies and cut a spruce pole so I could have a pole the rest of the trip.
I cleaned the pole and showed how you could ferry the canoe across the rapids and upstream from eddy to eddy. Then I brought the canoe back and eased into the shore. I had forgotten what a workout that was.
After the poling demo, I went back and helped the kids make muffins in the reflector oven with a muffin tin. My oldest son did dishes and My youngest son timed the muffins. We all threw branches on the fire to keep it hot. The muffins were super tasty! Around 8:30 it got dark and it was time for bed. The boys wanted to get an early start the next day.
Travel Times:
Tower Campsite to Spring, 7:00-7:30 to Breakfast at Round Pond Rips at 8AM. Rips campsite to Bass Brook Campsite 8:45-12:15. Bass Brook to Cunliffe Campsite 12:45-1:30.
8/13/14
Cunliffe Campsite to Michaud to Allagash Falls Portage to East Twin Brook Campsite
We woke at 5:30 to the sound of logging trucks which reminded us we must be coming to civilization. Things are down to a habit now, fire, coffee, dishwater, breakfast, pack. My oldest son cooked strawberry pancakes with warm strawberry mush from the cooler. We had coffee, cocoa, and a second batch of the pancakes with bananas trying to use them up. My youngest son decided to join us for the second batch of pancakes. By the time we got everything packed and were ready to go, it was 9AM. We can’t seem to beat that time. We headed through the rapids and were feeling pretty good about our navigation by the time we got to Michaud Farm to check out. There was a broken canoe there twisted right in half.
If it was there to convince us to carry around the falls, we didn’t need any more convincing. We saw geese, bald eagles, and a shy moose ran up the bank while we wound around through a lot of channels. I had pulled out at Michaud Farm in 2006 so had no idea what to expect. Right before the portage, we saw a huge bull moose. No one got a picture as we were in the rapids. When we got to the portage at 11:30, the guide told us it was the biggest moose he’d seen on the waterway in 10 years.
We carried the white canoe the length of the portage and then rested. My oldest son and I loaded all the remaining gear in the Tripper and lined it to the second landing so we could cut out a lot of the carrying. We carried the gear around. By the time we carried the canoe and we were ready to get gear, a big group and a guide had arrived. He gently poled each canoe to the second landing for his clients….. there’s one for experience. They all helped each other portage. In the end, we wished we had the wheels as it would have made the actual portage shorter. All in all, it was a two hour exhausting process. Our goal was the last possible campsite so we made sure no one passed us.
As we neared our goal, a canoe began to gain on us. We paddled like mad banging rocks and getting hung up, jumping out of the canoe and pushing. We didn’t want to get beaten to a site again. We arrived minutes before them. They passed in a Kevlar Racing canoe. No wonder it had been so hard to stay ahead! There was another couple sharing the site and they kept to themselves. We had seen them back at the entrance to Round Pond. They had stayed at Five Fingers and McKeen brook. We had paddled a lot of miles to catch them. I set up the hammock near the river and Gramp set up his tent. It started to sprinkle so we made the camp rain ready with the tarps while the boys set up and we all prepped firewood under the tarp to get ready for rain.
When it really started to rain, we had the dishwater in the cook pot over the fire and banana bread in the reflector oven. All we had to do was cook dinner and feed the fire. The banana bread took an hour to cook in the rain. We ate dinner and sat and watched while the rain pour onto the tarps. My oldest son had made yummy tacos with sour cream, old wilted lettuce, old tomatoes, Spanish rice, and canned chicken. We didn’t waste much of that old head of lettuce or the tomatoes even though it was pretty disgusting. The bananas were black and squashed after travelling 80 miles but the bread was just fine. We sat under the tarp listening to Gramp's stories and ate the entire loaf of bread with a stick of butter melted on it.
Travel Times:
Cunliffe Campsite to Michaud Farm 9AM-9:30, Michaud Farm to Allagash Falls 10AM-11:30AM, Portage and lunch 11:30AM-1:30PM, East Twin Brook Campsite 3:30PM.
8/14/14
We had tried to pack everything ahead of time for the next day because it was supposed to be cold and wet but it was a very cold night. I had pitched the hammock out over the riverbed and it finally meant I ended up with a wet sleeping bag. At 1AM I put on my rain gear and a warm shirt and pitched the LL Bean tent while I shivered. Once it was set up, I used my towel to dry off the tent floor and put on all my dry clothes and crawled into my wet sleeping bag to try to get some sleep. Up at 5:30 to make some hot coffee.
My youngest son made English muffin and bacon sandwiches. We packed up and got going around 7:45. We hoped to get all our paddling done in an hour but it took 90 minutes to make it to White Birch landing because of the head winds and pouring rain. We did well navigating the rapids and passed a bunch of houses before White Birch Landing. She wanted to charge us only $18 so we paid her $25 and she let us warm up in her house. On the way home we stopped to say hi to Norm L'Italien and tell him about the trip. He asked who we had seen and checked in on “his” folks out on the river.
Shortly after we left his place, the truck brake warning light came on. We went to subway and had a huge lunch. Once back in the truck, the dreaded light didn’t go away. We stopped at a garage and he told us the lines were just spewing brake fluid. We bought a huge bottle and tried not to use the brakes. We had to stop in Bangor and Gray to put a little fluid in the master cylinder but were all set for the ride home!
Things we wished for- larger dining fly, fishing knot reference, headlamps instead of flashlights, stories to read by the campfire, better ice because the milk spoiled, eat the bananas sooner,
Things we learned- roasted corn is good, reflector oven is fun, muffins are better than bread, apples keep well, cream cheese keeps well, two 9x10 tarps were the absolute minimum. 12x15 should be perfect or one 10x25, get canopy balls.
East Twin Brook to White Birch Landing, 8:30AM-10AM, Allagash Village, ME to Standish, ME 11AM-6:30PM.
8/8/14
Indian Stream to Thoreau Campsite
We left Portland about 6:15AM and headed North. Refueled in Bangor and went to McDs for Breakfast. Arrived in Ft Kent at 12:15 and went to subway. Took my last chance to reply to emails and say goodbyes on the phone. Pelletier’s Campground@1PM. We ran into Nate Smith (former Camp Hinds’ Councilor) who was just getting in off the river with his Chewonki crew- small world. He just walked right over and said “Do you remember me?” After a quick catch up, we headed South down Route 11 to Portage Lake. Stopped to buy nymph dry flies and grab a fishing regulations book at the town hall. Pulled onto Pinkham Road (A NMW Road) and arrived at Indian Stream at 5:30. Unloaded the gear and got the canoes loaded. Tipped Adrien $50 for great service! Headed downstream at 6PM. Guided the canoe and walked in the bow and stern until we got to Eagle Lake. It was very shallow at first. We tried to paddle straight for the narrows toward Pillsbury Island. It was tough going. The temp was perfect and the lake was like a mirror. We arrived at the first Thoreau campsite at 7:15PM. It was occupied. We went to the third campsite. Just as we landed, it started to rain. We quickly unloaded the gear and threw a tarp over it. We spent time in the rain setting up the other tarp over the ridge pole then moved our gear under it. The rain slowed down enough for us to set up our Hennessey hammocks. Mine went up quickly but the boys had a lot of trouble. Gramp set up his tent. Once camp was made, we had a snack. Gramp and My oldest son had granola bars. My youngest son had Ritz crackers. I boiled water and made hot cocoa. Then made beef stew (the dehydrated kind). My oldest son, Gramp and I ate the stew with some lemon cheesecake pudding for dessert. At 9PM I went over the plan with the group and the boys went to bed. The new mini propane lantern worked great and I wished we had a mini-propane stove to match. The clouds cleared and I looked at the almost full moon over the lake.
Travel Times:
Shuttle St Francis to Indian Stream, 2:30 to 5:30, 3 Hours
Indian Stream to Thoreau Campsite, 5:45 to 7:15, 1.5 Hours
8/9/14
Thoreau campsite to Tramway to Scofield Point
We woke at 5:30AM to the scolding of squirrels and made coffee while the boys snored in their hammocks. We made them cocoa and got them up at 7AM. My youngest son cooked bacon and eggs for breakfast. There aren’t really enough eggs for 4 in a 16oz carton but the liquid eggs are VERY tasty. Cleanup was tough because we didn’t heat up enough water and used too much soap.
We packed and left Thoreau toward the tramway. On the way we saw our first Loon. Gramp and My oldest son missed the landing so My youngest son and I arrived first. The boys loved scrambling all over the old locomotives and rail stuff. So many treasures so little time! The amateur archaeologists could have spent the day there and we only stayed an hour or so. My youngest son figured out he could fit in through the ash bin of the locomotive and come out down below. Gramp looked for the geocache for almost an hour but was unsuccessful.
We headed for Zeigler for lunch. The wind was straight into our face and progress was slow due to the hard going. We finally made it to Zeigler at exactly noon. Our one hour lunch break consisted of granola bars, an apple, and rice with broccoli. My youngest son had a big tub of plain white rice and couldn’t eat it all. Gramp let My youngest son use the Svea stove to heat the water. We mixed the rice and ate our “prison rations”. The rice tasted good but there just wasn’t enough of it. I found the spring behind Zeigler and there was a nice Spring house where we filled our water bottles. We left at 1PM and headed for Scofield point. The wind got very strong and it was very tough going. We still made it to the point at 3PM. We had to share the site with a couple that we had met at the Tramway in the morning.
We unpacked everything and laid all sorts of wet stuff on the rocks to dry in the hot sun. We set up our hammocks and tent and hung tarps on the table. There was a very friendly squirrel that was all over our stuff so we had to keep the trunks closed. We made iced tea and My youngest son fished. We argued about the menu because it had changed all by itself. There was not enough dessert. We made a fire to save propane and debated cooking muffins in the reflector oven. In the end, we ate 2 pounds of hamburgers- two each with lettuce and tomatoes. Cleanup with fire boiled wash water. We all decided My youngest son hadn’t had enough camp experience but he sure was getting it now. Everyone went to bed under the super moon just after 8 listening to the cries of the loons.
Travel Times:
Thoreau to Tramway, 8:45 to 9:30, 45 minutes
Tramway to Zeigler, 10:30-12:00, 1.5 Hours
Zeigler to Scofield Point, 1PM-3PM, 2 Hours
8/10/14
Scofield Point to Churchill Dam to Sam’s Campsite
We woke up early enough to see the setting orange moon and then went back to bed. No one was in a hurry to get up so I made the fire to heat up coffee water. My oldest son set out his instant oatmeal breakfast. I saved my raisins and granola bars for later. After cleanup, pack up, and a little exploration of the point, we still managed to leave at 9AM.
We paddled hard and arrived at Churchill Dam right after our site mates. The ranger ported all of our gear for $10 then came back for us in the other truck. While we waited, we visited the museum and saw the weather forecast was rain for Wednesday and Thursday. We decided to push past the planned Chisholm Brook (which we passed at 2PM) and headed for Long lake Dam. Even though Umsaskis and Long Lake were calm, we were getting tired. We ate our PB and Banana bagels at the Bissonette Bridge put in, then tackled the rest of Chase rapids. My youngest son banged a few rocks at first but quickly got the hang of it and maybe even had some fun.
We crossed Umsaskis and headed under the bridge only to discover our previous camp mates were in camp at Pine, a solo site… we laughed as we expected they wanted their privacy! At Grey Brook we took a half hour break. We were tired. We visited the outhouse, looked at the map and decided to push for Jalbert or Long Lake Dam. We made it past Jalbert but pulled into Sams at 5PM to cook the beef stew. We quickly decided to stay. My oldest son’s stew was fantastic. We started to fish after we made camp and caught a fish with every cast. Even My oldest son was successful! While My oldest son did the dishes, I hooked up the fly rod. My youngest son and I managed to catch our first fish on a fly rod. Then it got dark and was time for bed. We managed to see moose, eagles, and a rabbit today.
Travel Times:
Scofield Point to Churchill Dam, 9AM-10AM, 1 Hour
Portage, 2.5 hours as we had to wait for another group
Churchill Dam portage to Chisholm Brook, 1PM-2PM, to Thoroughfare Bridge, 2PM-3:30PM, to Grey Brook, 4PM, to Sam’s Campsite, 5PM, 4 Hours
8/11/14
Sam’s Campsite to Round Pond Tower Campsite
We listened to Sam the bunny hop around camp all night long…. I discovered that I didn’t have to leave the warmth of my hammock in the middle of the night just to pee. I just flopped around enough to pee out the slit in the bottom of the hammock. This was a fantastic plan and I was comfortable all night… however, I realized in the morning I had managed to soak my sandals in the process.
Imagine my surprise at slipping my feet into a cold and damp urine soaked sandal in the morning- so long dry feet. Gramp and I got a big fire going and made coffee and cocoa. My youngest son made some fantastic banana pancakes with the bananas that we had been carrying and not eating so far. The dish water was ready on time but we still didn’t meet our goal of being ready by 8AM and still managed to leave camp at 9AM. Up ahead on the lake we saw a red canoe leaving Lost Popple. When we arrived at Long lake Dam at 10AM it was chaos due to a huge group there bottlenecking the portage.
We portaged in 30 minutes and set off behind an older couple in a red canoe and the Schofield couple from Maryland in a green canoe that had stayed at Pine the night before. We scraped and bumped our way down the rips and got to the elm tree I remembered in the deadwater of Round Pond.
The wind turned into our faces. I thought I could see Squirrel Pocket across the lake but the map made it appear closer to the cabin. That error cost us the site. We canoed in a fight against the wind only to arrive moments after a couple of guys in a blue canoe that had stayed at Sweeny Brook the night before. I took a quick walk around the Squirrel Pocket site but wasn’t impressed anyway. It was quite a disappointment to work so hard to get to this site only to miss it by minutes. First come first served… oh well.
We headed up the shore line to Tower Trail campsite and arrived at 1:45 hungry and exhausted. We ate a snack while My youngest son made more pancakes. We made PB and fruit cream cheese sandwiches made with banana pancakes. These were the best food ever and we devoured them. Then we went for a swim and took a nap out of the hot sun. We were all a bit sunburned. My youngest son fished a little and got a leach between his toes that bled quite a bit.
At 5:30 we were ready to venture up to the tower. Just as we prepared to leave camp, the Maryland couple arrived to hike it too. At the top of the tower, I received a cell signal from Roger’s Canada and managed to get out some pictures to the home folks. The boys headed back down while I fiddled with the phone trying to get a good weather forecast. I headed down and managed to slip a sandal in the mud. I was completely ill prepared for the hike and the mud made the sandals difficult to hike in. I ended up stuffing leaves in the sandals to keep them on while I tried to hop jog as fast as possible to arrive back at camp just at the point where it became difficult to see in the woods.
The boys had made tacos that dripped down your arm when you ate them and they were delicious! Gramp had heated up the dishwater and we finished the dishes in the dark, brushed our teeth, and went to bed. It was a cacophony of loons all night long just like it was in 2006 here. I charged the cell phone a bit while I put down notes in my journal.
Travel Times:
Sam’s campsite to Long Lake Dam, 9AM-10AM, half hour portage, Long Lake Dam to Back Channel, 10:30AM-12:30PM, Back Channel to Squirrel Pocket to Tower Trail Campsite, 12:30PM to 1:45PM
8/12/14
Round Pond Tower Campsite to Cunliffe Campsite
Up at 5:30 only to realize we didn’t have enough water for breakfast. We packed everything up and left at 7AM to paddle to the spring by Outlet Campsite to fill up all of the water jugs. As we were getting to the rips, the Maryland couple left in the green canoe so we pulled into their campsite and made our breakfast.
We left at 8:45 as a Maine guide arrived with his crew. We listened to his training lessons to his group, and then made our way through getting better the further we got. We eventually caught up with the last canoe as it was hung up on some rocks. We then passed that group venturing on by ourselves. I think we did better without them. We made it to the dead water and could look back to the tower we had climbed the night before.
We wanted to go all the way to Dead water South for lunch but had stopped at 5 Fingers for a quick break and pushed on. We saw deer, moose, and bald eagles. We ate our ham and cheese sandwiches and visited the outhouse at Bass Brook. The cooler isn’t very cool anymore so I passed on the ham eating only cheese and lettuce. We reached Cunliffe at 1:30PM unpacked and decided to tent in the grassy meadow in the shade.
After a rest, we made the quick paddle over to see the Lombards all in one canoe. I didn’t remember the stream crossing in 2006 but there was a decent little bridge now. I also didn’t remember the fence around the Lombard’s due to the asbestos. We crossed back over around 4:45 and started to make dinner. My oldest son cooked the pasta mac and cheese while the dish water heated. Then he put the corn straight on the coals which we rotated every 3 minutes. The corn was super tasty but overcooked. The cheesy noodles were very tasty and we all ate seconds. I ate two cookies and cut a spruce pole so I could have a pole the rest of the trip.
I cleaned the pole and showed how you could ferry the canoe across the rapids and upstream from eddy to eddy. Then I brought the canoe back and eased into the shore. I had forgotten what a workout that was.
After the poling demo, I went back and helped the kids make muffins in the reflector oven with a muffin tin. My oldest son did dishes and My youngest son timed the muffins. We all threw branches on the fire to keep it hot. The muffins were super tasty! Around 8:30 it got dark and it was time for bed. The boys wanted to get an early start the next day.
Travel Times:
Tower Campsite to Spring, 7:00-7:30 to Breakfast at Round Pond Rips at 8AM. Rips campsite to Bass Brook Campsite 8:45-12:15. Bass Brook to Cunliffe Campsite 12:45-1:30.
8/13/14
Cunliffe Campsite to Michaud to Allagash Falls Portage to East Twin Brook Campsite
We woke at 5:30 to the sound of logging trucks which reminded us we must be coming to civilization. Things are down to a habit now, fire, coffee, dishwater, breakfast, pack. My oldest son cooked strawberry pancakes with warm strawberry mush from the cooler. We had coffee, cocoa, and a second batch of the pancakes with bananas trying to use them up. My youngest son decided to join us for the second batch of pancakes. By the time we got everything packed and were ready to go, it was 9AM. We can’t seem to beat that time. We headed through the rapids and were feeling pretty good about our navigation by the time we got to Michaud Farm to check out. There was a broken canoe there twisted right in half.
If it was there to convince us to carry around the falls, we didn’t need any more convincing. We saw geese, bald eagles, and a shy moose ran up the bank while we wound around through a lot of channels. I had pulled out at Michaud Farm in 2006 so had no idea what to expect. Right before the portage, we saw a huge bull moose. No one got a picture as we were in the rapids. When we got to the portage at 11:30, the guide told us it was the biggest moose he’d seen on the waterway in 10 years.
We carried the white canoe the length of the portage and then rested. My oldest son and I loaded all the remaining gear in the Tripper and lined it to the second landing so we could cut out a lot of the carrying. We carried the gear around. By the time we carried the canoe and we were ready to get gear, a big group and a guide had arrived. He gently poled each canoe to the second landing for his clients….. there’s one for experience. They all helped each other portage. In the end, we wished we had the wheels as it would have made the actual portage shorter. All in all, it was a two hour exhausting process. Our goal was the last possible campsite so we made sure no one passed us.
As we neared our goal, a canoe began to gain on us. We paddled like mad banging rocks and getting hung up, jumping out of the canoe and pushing. We didn’t want to get beaten to a site again. We arrived minutes before them. They passed in a Kevlar Racing canoe. No wonder it had been so hard to stay ahead! There was another couple sharing the site and they kept to themselves. We had seen them back at the entrance to Round Pond. They had stayed at Five Fingers and McKeen brook. We had paddled a lot of miles to catch them. I set up the hammock near the river and Gramp set up his tent. It started to sprinkle so we made the camp rain ready with the tarps while the boys set up and we all prepped firewood under the tarp to get ready for rain.
When it really started to rain, we had the dishwater in the cook pot over the fire and banana bread in the reflector oven. All we had to do was cook dinner and feed the fire. The banana bread took an hour to cook in the rain. We ate dinner and sat and watched while the rain pour onto the tarps. My oldest son had made yummy tacos with sour cream, old wilted lettuce, old tomatoes, Spanish rice, and canned chicken. We didn’t waste much of that old head of lettuce or the tomatoes even though it was pretty disgusting. The bananas were black and squashed after travelling 80 miles but the bread was just fine. We sat under the tarp listening to Gramp's stories and ate the entire loaf of bread with a stick of butter melted on it.
Travel Times:
Cunliffe Campsite to Michaud Farm 9AM-9:30, Michaud Farm to Allagash Falls 10AM-11:30AM, Portage and lunch 11:30AM-1:30PM, East Twin Brook Campsite 3:30PM.
8/14/14
We had tried to pack everything ahead of time for the next day because it was supposed to be cold and wet but it was a very cold night. I had pitched the hammock out over the riverbed and it finally meant I ended up with a wet sleeping bag. At 1AM I put on my rain gear and a warm shirt and pitched the LL Bean tent while I shivered. Once it was set up, I used my towel to dry off the tent floor and put on all my dry clothes and crawled into my wet sleeping bag to try to get some sleep. Up at 5:30 to make some hot coffee.
My youngest son made English muffin and bacon sandwiches. We packed up and got going around 7:45. We hoped to get all our paddling done in an hour but it took 90 minutes to make it to White Birch landing because of the head winds and pouring rain. We did well navigating the rapids and passed a bunch of houses before White Birch Landing. She wanted to charge us only $18 so we paid her $25 and she let us warm up in her house. On the way home we stopped to say hi to Norm L'Italien and tell him about the trip. He asked who we had seen and checked in on “his” folks out on the river.
Shortly after we left his place, the truck brake warning light came on. We went to subway and had a huge lunch. Once back in the truck, the dreaded light didn’t go away. We stopped at a garage and he told us the lines were just spewing brake fluid. We bought a huge bottle and tried not to use the brakes. We had to stop in Bangor and Gray to put a little fluid in the master cylinder but were all set for the ride home!
Things we wished for- larger dining fly, fishing knot reference, headlamps instead of flashlights, stories to read by the campfire, better ice because the milk spoiled, eat the bananas sooner,
Things we learned- roasted corn is good, reflector oven is fun, muffins are better than bread, apples keep well, cream cheese keeps well, two 9x10 tarps were the absolute minimum. 12x15 should be perfect or one 10x25, get canopy balls.
East Twin Brook to White Birch Landing, 8:30AM-10AM, Allagash Village, ME to Standish, ME 11AM-6:30PM.
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