Chris here, we are back! We finished on Saturday, 7\26 and drove back Sunday. The last week was a slow week for us, as we were trying to keep time and meet our rides in Fort Kent Saturday. We could have easily finished Wednesday, 7\23. We got into campsites at 12, 2,3, most days and had a zero day at Pelletiers campground. Slow week, but a very enjoyable week!
But, enough of that for now. We will save the "final post" and such things for later. Now, I will fill in the large gap from after we left Jackman ME (more picture intensive now), and had no cell service or contact (yes, it was nice).
I would also like to clarify a few things from my Dad's (Earle) last post, when we called him in Jackman. Something must have gotten lost in translation.
He said "Monday: Up Spencer Stream. A rainy day, wet from above and wet feet. Most of this waterway has to be lined, walking in the stream, slippery rocks, poor footing, but no choice as there is no portage trail and insufficient water to paddle. Many places, they even had to take gear out of the boat and carry it, so as not to damage the canoe dragging it over the rocks. Took six hours to cover only 10 miles. Reached Spencer Lake, the planned campsite and decided to keep going. Paddled across the lake and across Fish Pond. Than onto Spencer Road for the 7 mile portage to Spencer Rips. Familiar territory now as they have both been on the Moose River here on a previous trip. Stayed at the Spencer Rips site where they reached the Moose River."
The general overview here is correct. We had to track (pull the canoe upstream) for 10 miles on Spencer stream and Little Spencer stream. It only took us 5 hours however. This is a notorious section for through-paddlers, known for having low water and being a difficult ascent. However, we did not have that bad of a time with it, I actually enjoyed that part of the day. The stream was wild in appearance, a burbling brook, and the weather was far from rainy. It was a gorgeous day, and this certainly helped our outlook on the task ahead, along with a dry night at the Grand Falls Hut. The water was crystal clear, the day was warm (hot actually) and walking through the stream felt good. The footing was not the best, slippery cobblestones in places, but gravelly in areas also. I think I only slipped and fell in once. We reached Spencer lake and looked forward to some paddling. We made good time up Spencer lake and to Fish pond, and then we decided to push on. A 7.25 mile portage to the Moose river. It was a long walk, but all on gravel logging roads. Still took us some time, and we got into camp at Spencer rips on the Moose river around 8:00PM.
When we reached Jackman ME, we stopped at Pomerleau park,
and walked into town. Bishops convenience store was our destination, and we
ordered a small pizza for lunch and split that, and it was delicious and filling, much better than our standard fare lunch of peanut butter on a sandwich flat. Then, it
was to the other end of town, to the post office where we picked up our final
food package. The Moose river out of Jackman was lazy, meandering along, and we
took a page out of the rivers book and did the same, with our stomach’s full of
pizza and a cold refreshing beverage each. Long pond was windy (headwind) so we
crossed the bay and stayed at Last Resort campground. Mostly a rustic cabin
campground, the tent sites were cheap so we took one of those. The owner
graciously let us use the porch of an un-reserved cabin, and we read, wrote in
our journals, and ate dinner on the screened in porch, away from the bugs and
out of the rain.
The next morning found us packing up the tent in the rain, wet, and that was to be the story of the day. Once we got onto the water, it only rained harder. Up Long pond, back onto the Moose river. This part of the river has some whitewater, class 1 and 2 rapids. For sure we would have enjoyed this stretch more if the weather was fair, but as it was, we were cold and soaked and just plodding along.
We did spot a moose on the Moose river, and this brightened
our day a bit, as the weather had no intentions of doing so. We were both
soaked through, our rain-jackets wet, but we kept them on as they at least kept
some warmth.
Take out at the Demo bridge, to begin the Demo road portage which loops far
away from the river and avoids some class 3-4 rapids that can be dangerous and
we had no intentions of running. The gravel logging roads were muddy, and we
turned off the main track to an overgrown road, followed that for awhile,
splashing through the puddles.
Finally put back onto the Moose river, and
followed that into Little Brassua lake, which led us onto Brassua lake. By this
time the downpour had stopped, and it was only sprinkling rain on us, a welcome
change. We stopped on the shore of Brassua lake and ate lunch. As we headed
down the lake towards the dam, we followed a pair of Bald Eagles along the
shore for a stretch, 2 of 6 we would see on the day.
We found the Brassua dam, did a short portage around it, and
back onto the Moose river. This stretch of the river would lead us right into
Moosehead lake, Maine’s largest lake at 75,471 acres, and a perimeter of 280.8
miles. We only had to cross the top 1\3
of the lake, but still a daunting task for a 16 foot canoe. As the river
approached the lake, we saw boats tied up that would look more at home on the
ocean than a lake, further reinforcing how large this body of water really is.
As we get paddle along, Mount Kineo looms ahead.
We cross straight over to the
shore of this point, often called an island. Our campsite for the night will be at Hardscrabble point, on the isthmus of land that Mount Kineo sits on. The weather has cleared up for the moment, thankfully, and we are able to dry things out. In the distance, on a far shore, lies the Northeast carry, a goal for tomorrow morning. It is barely visible at 12 miles, straight away.
As we look around, admiring the scenery after dinner, we
spot some bad weather heading towards us again. We begin to put stuff away, get
ready to shelter in the tent. We look again, and the shore is no longer
visible, there is a wall of rain heading across the lake, and fast! Scramble to
get everything under cover now, and dive into the tent just in time. Wow, that
came on fast! It rained hard too, but didn’t get us wet this time.
Next post will detail the crossing of Moosehead, the West
branch Penobscot river, and the infamous Mud pond carry. After that, we will be
on the Allagash Wilderness waterway, and the final leg of our trip!
~Chris
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