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.
Sunday, February 3, 2019
July 12, 2015 Mud Pond to Boy Scout to Thoroughfare Campsite
Last night I got a little damp but slept very well. Sometime in the middle of the night I went to the bathroom and something shifted in my hammock. I went right back to sleep. I woke up at 4AM with cold feet as they stuck out of the hole in the top of the upside down hammock.
Fortunately, I was dry. Unfortunately, no one was awake to help me out and I ripped the fly screen as I wallowed around trying to climb up and out of an upside down hammock because I desperately had to go to the bathroom. Since it was dark and I didn't want to further damage my hammock, I put on a head net and tried to sleep vertically at the picnic table. When that didn't work, I made coffee. The coffee bag broke and I got grounds in the cup. I decided to go fishing and the lure snapped off the line. I decided to go back to the campsite and count myself lucky to have seen the moon and sunrise and the lake was a mirror. Dad was already making berry pancakes. I would have suggested we leave early to cross the big bay while it was a mirror but he was already cooking.
We ate a ton of banana, strawberry, blueberry pancakes and bacon, had seconds, and then packed up camp while doing dishes while we dried tents and tarps in the sun. By the time we left, the wind picked up, and there were huge waves. We paddled over to gravel beach site and tied in all of our gear. We filtered a bunch of water while we waited for the wind and waves to die down. They didn't. My oldest son and Gramp passed rope through his ground cloth to make a sail. We pushed off in what we hoped was a lull and made progress down the shore with the wind.
The sail worked quite well and my oldest son quickly tired of holding it. He kept refining his design. While cruising along with the wind and waves, we met a couple from Washington paddling hard straight into the wind. It looked completely exhausting.
We pulled into Rocky Cove while Gramp and my oldest son literally sailed by. We pulled out to chase them. Fortunately, they pulled into the cove just beyond the cliff and we pulled into the shore and climbed up on the cliff. We could see North up the West Side of the lake and over toward the island with all the seagulls on it. We pulled out and headed South for a lunch place and I noticed a little island where I had lunch in 2006 (the GPS waypoint) but we decided to pull into Ledge Point for lunch. PBJ on English muffins and then we went for a swim. I jumped off the rocks and lost my hat.
We looked for my hat a bit and then sailed down the west shore to Boy Scout and Thoroughfare campsite. We liked Thoroughfare campsite best so we made camp there. We first set up the tarp and then the hammocks and then napped until 4:30. A fox kept pestering us at the campsite. We made a lot of noise and threw things at it. We assumed people had been feeding it. It left so we made dinner.
We fried the frozen mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, and cream corn. It was good enough that we all had seconds. After cleanup we sat by the campfire playing cards, wildlife trivia, and I sorted through gear trying to determine what could be left at the portage the next day. We freed up a crate and 2 coolers. while I wrote in the journal, the fox reappeared. This time we left it alone and it came right into camp near the fire.
It was after the giant pile of bear skat. One mouthful at a time it carried all of the bear skat away. We repaired the rips in the mosquito netting in my hammock with duct tape. Everyone went to bed at 9PM. I packed up a lot of gear in case animals came that night. I punched a bunch of estimated way points in my GPS from the map for tomorrow. We could hear the fox yipping in the distance in the middle of the night. I used a milk jug so didn't have to get up in the middle of the night.
Fortunately, I was dry. Unfortunately, no one was awake to help me out and I ripped the fly screen as I wallowed around trying to climb up and out of an upside down hammock because I desperately had to go to the bathroom. Since it was dark and I didn't want to further damage my hammock, I put on a head net and tried to sleep vertically at the picnic table. When that didn't work, I made coffee. The coffee bag broke and I got grounds in the cup. I decided to go fishing and the lure snapped off the line. I decided to go back to the campsite and count myself lucky to have seen the moon and sunrise and the lake was a mirror. Dad was already making berry pancakes. I would have suggested we leave early to cross the big bay while it was a mirror but he was already cooking.
We ate a ton of banana, strawberry, blueberry pancakes and bacon, had seconds, and then packed up camp while doing dishes while we dried tents and tarps in the sun. By the time we left, the wind picked up, and there were huge waves. We paddled over to gravel beach site and tied in all of our gear. We filtered a bunch of water while we waited for the wind and waves to die down. They didn't. My oldest son and Gramp passed rope through his ground cloth to make a sail. We pushed off in what we hoped was a lull and made progress down the shore with the wind.
The sail worked quite well and my oldest son quickly tired of holding it. He kept refining his design. While cruising along with the wind and waves, we met a couple from Washington paddling hard straight into the wind. It looked completely exhausting.
We pulled into Rocky Cove while Gramp and my oldest son literally sailed by. We pulled out to chase them. Fortunately, they pulled into the cove just beyond the cliff and we pulled into the shore and climbed up on the cliff. We could see North up the West Side of the lake and over toward the island with all the seagulls on it. We pulled out and headed South for a lunch place and I noticed a little island where I had lunch in 2006 (the GPS waypoint) but we decided to pull into Ledge Point for lunch. PBJ on English muffins and then we went for a swim. I jumped off the rocks and lost my hat.
We looked for my hat a bit and then sailed down the west shore to Boy Scout and Thoroughfare campsite. We liked Thoroughfare campsite best so we made camp there. We first set up the tarp and then the hammocks and then napped until 4:30. A fox kept pestering us at the campsite. We made a lot of noise and threw things at it. We assumed people had been feeding it. It left so we made dinner.
We fried the frozen mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, and cream corn. It was good enough that we all had seconds. After cleanup we sat by the campfire playing cards, wildlife trivia, and I sorted through gear trying to determine what could be left at the portage the next day. We freed up a crate and 2 coolers. while I wrote in the journal, the fox reappeared. This time we left it alone and it came right into camp near the fire.
It was after the giant pile of bear skat. One mouthful at a time it carried all of the bear skat away. We repaired the rips in the mosquito netting in my hammock with duct tape. Everyone went to bed at 9PM. I packed up a lot of gear in case animals came that night. I punched a bunch of estimated way points in my GPS from the map for tomorrow. We could hear the fox yipping in the distance in the middle of the night. I used a milk jug so didn't have to get up in the middle of the night.
July 11, 2015 Lost Spring to Donnely Point to Mud Pond Carry
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.
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.
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.
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