This was a long awaited five day/four night trip, 9/10 to 9/14 2018 taken in my home built cedar strip canoe (A Slow Boat to Nowhere) and testing out my homemade reflector oven and homemade cooler (NYETI).
My paddling buddy and I drove to Allagash Gateway Campgrounds arriving around 12:30 PM on 9/10. Transferred the canoe and gear to their truck and were shuttled to the put in on Lobster Stream. It was immediately obvious that we had seriously over-packed for two people.
We moved down Lobster Stream, noting with some trepidation the small waves pushing up the stream. Isn't this supposed to be current free? Arriving into Lobster Lake, we were greeted by a steady headwind and waves from 12-15 inches high coming straight at us. A few came over the bow. White knuckles, we headed straight into them and made a dash for the protected Sandy Cove. The weather broke and we were treated to a nice sunset over Lobster Lake.
We had a small campfire.
The next morning (Tuesday) it was time to test out the reflector oven. It worked!
After breakfast, we paddled around Ogden Point and down to Jackson Cove where we picked up the trail to the top of Lobster Mountain where we ate lunch overlooking the lake.
The next morning (Wednesday), we paddled back up Lobster Stream to the West Branch. The water level was low. We had to walk the canoe for a few hundred feet around Big Island. While we saw some fly fisherman around the island, we saw nobody as we headed down stream. This is supposed to be placid at regular water levels, but the water is very low -- "November level" per the folks at Allagash Gateway. There were some riffles and rapids. Nothing that would cause you any trouble. Until we got about 2 miles upstream of Pine Stream. There was a rapid there. It looked quite passable but we hit something, hard, and capsized instantly. I kept a death grip on my paddle and the stern rope. My partner just went for the swim. About a half mile later, things calmed down and we began to retrieve our gear, which was spread out over another half mile or so of river. Never found the tent. But we pulled up at Pine Stream, which was high and dry.
I was bummed that my tent was gone but thankful we recovered everything else. NYETI bounced off a few rocks but had no visible damage and only a couple of tablespoons of water in it despite its long float. We had tarps, so we set up a trap shelter. Luckily there were no bugs. And we were treated to an incredible sunset!
The next morning (Thursday) we worked our way down Chesuncook's western shore. I was prepared for big waves, but there was no appreciable wind and the lake was like a mirror. We camped at Sandy Point and I took a photo of Katahdin.
The next morning (Friday) we had heavy fog but an incredible sunrise!
It honestly looked like a hydrogen bomb going off (which I guess it basically is).
That was it. We crossed in dense fog using a compass bearing, something I would not have tried except for the dead calm conditions. We took out at Allagash Gateway, loaded up the vehicle and headed home with a boatload of memories (and one less tent).
My paddling buddy and I drove to Allagash Gateway Campgrounds arriving around 12:30 PM on 9/10. Transferred the canoe and gear to their truck and were shuttled to the put in on Lobster Stream. It was immediately obvious that we had seriously over-packed for two people.
We moved down Lobster Stream, noting with some trepidation the small waves pushing up the stream. Isn't this supposed to be current free? Arriving into Lobster Lake, we were greeted by a steady headwind and waves from 12-15 inches high coming straight at us. A few came over the bow. White knuckles, we headed straight into them and made a dash for the protected Sandy Cove. The weather broke and we were treated to a nice sunset over Lobster Lake. We had a small campfire.The next morning (Tuesday) it was time to test out the reflector oven. It worked!After breakfast, we paddled around Ogden Point and down to Jackson Cove where we picked up the trail to the top of Lobster Mountain where we ate lunch overlooking the lake.
The next morning (Wednesday), we paddled back up Lobster Stream to the West Branch. The water level was low. We had to walk the canoe for a few hundred feet around Big Island. While we saw some fly fisherman around the island, we saw nobody as we headed down stream. This is supposed to be placid at regular water levels, but the water is very low -- "November level" per the folks at Allagash Gateway. There were some riffles and rapids. Nothing that would cause you any trouble. Until we got about 2 miles upstream of Pine Stream. There was a rapid there. It looked quite passable but we hit something, hard, and capsized instantly. I kept a death grip on my paddle and the stern rope. My partner just went for the swim. About a half mile later, things calmed down and we began to retrieve our gear, which was spread out over another half mile or so of river. Never found the tent. But we pulled up at Pine Stream, which was high and dry.I was bummed that my tent was gone but thankful we recovered everything else. NYETI bounced off a few rocks but had no visible damage and only a couple of tablespoons of water in it despite its long float. We had tarps, so we set up a trap shelter. Luckily there were no bugs. And we were treated to an incredible sunset!The next morning (Thursday) we worked our way down Chesuncook's western shore. I was prepared for big waves, but there was no appreciable wind and the lake was like a mirror. We camped at Sandy Point and I took a photo of Katahdin.
The next morning (Friday) we had heavy fog but an incredible sunrise!It honestly looked like a hydrogen bomb going off (which I guess it basically is).That was it. We crossed in dense fog using a compass bearing, something I would not have tried except for the dead calm conditions. We took out at Allagash Gateway, loaded up the vehicle and headed home with a boatload of memories (and one less tent).
