Receiving SPOT locations

[Paddlinhal]

I'm enjoying following my friend Carp in the Allagash region right now. I get a daily email once they're in camp with a map location. The first one was at the drive-in campsite on Umbazooksus Stream, then Day 1 they went down through Chesuncook Lake and up to the Horse Races Campsite. Next was a portage up to Caucomgomac and they camped at the east end of Round Pound. Day 3 they were on Allagash Lake, a couple miles along the south shore to a camp I remember well from my first trip in there. I did not get one last night after that ferocious wind we had around here. This morning, however, I got another one at 7:30 AM and they had backtracked to the campsite at the west end of the lake by the portage trail. Today is supposed to be another fairly strong north headwind. Curious whether they'll spend a wind day or retreat back through Round Pond. It's fun to follow a trip vicariously, especially when you can picture each campsite, the wind & the waves, and remember the old trips.

 

[sweeper]

Nice,
I have plans to do that trip later this year.

 

[yknpdlr]

Just last month I followed my paddling partner friends on the Devizes to Westminster canoe race in the UK. During our races in the Yukon, friends, coworkers, and family back home said it was addicting to follow us on SPOT. [h=3][/h]

 

[yellowcanoe]

I'm confused. Horserace Brook is below Rip Dam.
Yet the remainder of the trip goes north. Its about 35 miles from that campsite to Round Pond.

 

[alsg]

I'm confused. Horserace Brook is below Rip Dam.
Yet the remainder of the trip goes north. Its about 35 miles from that campsite to Round Pond.

I've not been there, but isn't the set of rapids just below Caucomgomoc Lake on the outlet to Black Pond known as the Horserace? Is there a campsite there?

 

[goonstroke]

I've not been there, but isn't the set of rapids just below Caucomgomoc Lake on the outlet to Black Pond known as the Horserace? Is there a campsite there?

There is. The campsite is river right below most of the rapids as the stream levels out. On the Natl Geograhpic Allagash WW South map it's labelled just "Horserace".

As YC says, it would be a bit of a haul from Umbazooksus to Horserace Brook and back up to Round Pond! Chesuncook is so much fun, why not do it twice?

 

[Fitz]

Next was a portage up to Caucomgomac and they camped at the east end of Round Pound.

How long is this portage of which you speak?

 

[yellowcanoe]

Looking at the NMW Maine Woods map https://www.northmainewoods.org/maps/guide.html

Horserace isn't listed.. I don't have the Nat Geo Allagash Map..
I have canoed on the southern half of BlackPond but not to the rapids.. I too would be interested in how long the portage is.. But I am quite happy with leaving a vehicle at the gate toAllagash Lake and carting in for a mile..And playing for several days on that beautiful lake.

Just curious.. I have driven to Caucomgomac Dam and there are always a pile of people camped there.

 

[Paddlinhal]

I believe it really is Caucomgomac Stream, with a nasty feature called the horserace. It's a wall of rock, the current piles against it and takes a 90 degree turn to the left, then around the end of the wall and back to the original course. If you are headed upstream, you enjoy a pleasant paddle through relatively slack water. Just about where that ends and the stream narrows, steepens and becomes rapids, there is a campsite on the left. It is shown on some maps, but not all. It's just beyond the reach of motorboats so is pretty clean. I have only poled up the stream but this is where the portage trail starts. It goes through an old gravel pit then hits Caucomgomac Dam Road and heads up to the dam to the west of the stream. All told I'd guess it was a little over a mile with 80% on a boat cart. You can see the road on google maps.

 

[paddler123]

How long is this portage of which you speak?

The portage is about a kilometer - you can line up the stream for a while, and then you take out below some ledges and portage the rest of the way to the dam on the road. The one time I've done it I was thirteen years old and rather green to the ways of portaging, so it was a very long kilometer.

 

[paddler123]

I think the "little over a mile" that Paddlinhal is referring to is if you take out at the beginning of quickwater, and don't line the first part. Probably depends on the water level and personal preference which option is better.

 

[Paddlinhal]

Also, as a progress update, I got another email at 2:30 in the afternoon. They had crossed Allagash lake and gone down Allagash Stream to the falls at the pond outlet. Yet another favorite campsite. Dang! I'm jealous now.

 

[sweeper]

From the what I think you're calling Horserace campsite there's a 1/4 mile carry thru the woods up to an old gravel pit, then it's around a mile +/- by road to the Dam.

Edit: According to "The NFCT Guide" it's a total of 3/4 of a mile.