I've spent 3 days on it over 2 years and all three were quiet and flat.
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Time for Maine, looking for ideas
- Thread starter coldfeet
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I've spent 3 days on it over 2 years and all three were quiet and flat.
With a fetch of 27 miles its a crapshoot. Most aren't so lucky! I have been on it five times for nine days and one was nice. But the huge mare's tails in the sky were ominous for the next day. We paddled all the way down from the river to AGC that day. 18 miles. One trip from Burbank put in to AGC we did as an overnight the water was so high and had a tail wind.. We were on the water 9am one day and 47 miles later off the water at noon.
For sure.
Wow, so grateful for your ideas....funny trying to not get "coldfeet" on the roads......will relax, get my atlas in the mail and sit back and look at ideas....some trips might be better off waiting for because of the water levels and conditions....going to slow it down and chill.....but as of now Maine is my choice in late August...I'll be back...
Thankfully the timber operation removed the pavement beyond Abol Bridge.. West of there it is now all dirt. It was horrid when it was paved just to past Allagash Gateway. Much much better last year! No more huge potholes!
Coldfeet when you get your atlas in the mail look at the Grand Lake area. Many trips there! and no gnarly roads. The campsites are marked in the Gazeteer! Say Sysladobsis three times fast.
We are camping at the west end of Flagstaff so no Grand Falls this trip. It is a nice paddle down the Dead from the launch downstream of Long Falls Dam. The Dead really is slow moving there so upstream travel isn't hard
Got the atlas today it huge. Couldn’t post Earlier. Checking out ideas. Thanks.
To add.. I just heard from Chesuncook Lake House that they indeed will run a shuttle from Lobster to Graveyard Point on Chesuncook Lake.. A very nice multi day trip. Contact for them is CLH1864@gmail.com
Having been partially raised in Maine and since this topic is being covered, I don't go to Maine in the spring or during black fly season. I go south until early May. Maine is for summer, which is never that warm on average anyway, and early fall. Hence, I have DeLorme Gazeteers from Maine to Florida.
O poo. This week would have made a liar out of you. Natives become immune to the black fly.
Can you drive these roads in a regular sedan, like a Ford Fusion or is a vehicle with more clearance needed?
Could you? It sort of depends on how recently the roads have been graded. Should you? Even when graded, these roads are kind of famous for causing flats on tires a lot more robust than any thing you are likely to have or be able to put on a Fusion.
That said, I have seen some regular sedans flying up and down the primary road (Golden Road) and even one of the secondary roads (like Telos Road). But I personally think that's asking for a lot of trouble. For sure you wouldn't have made it on Ledge Pit road or the Allagash Lake access road in a Fusion in May. And if you have a mechanical break down, I have to imagine the cost of a tow would be absolutely brutal.
If a Fusion is your vehicle, my advice would be see if you can hire someone to both drive you to the put in and pick you up at the takeout. Or see about renting something much more robust. I don't think most rental agencies let you take cars off pavement, but maybe some do.
Thanks for your reply. I am going to have to change vehicles to support my paddling habit, so this is just another reason to do so. Thanks again.
I did that last July when it became clear that if I wanted to go canoe camping during COVID my Audi A4 was not going to cut it if I was going to go canoeing camping and just generally getting to canoeing put ins. Replaced with a Subaru Outback which is a good combination of a comfy daily driver with adequate clearance and AWD to handle the roads to the put ins. Also nice that it doesn't have a super high roof. Makes getting a canoe on and off a one person job. I knew I was going to
My daughter got an Outback in January. I must admit I was jealous and like you, immediately saw that it was perfect for what I want to do. I am just trying to figure out how to convince the budget director (wife) to go along with it. I could trade in my Kia and get a good penny for it, but it would still mean a payment to make up the difference and that is probably a no-go with my being a year away from retirement. The Fusion has high mileage and won't last too much longer, so when it goes, it will force the issue. I guess I will just have to wait and see what happens.
Ahhh . . . trip and budget inflation.
Coldfeet wants to take a trip "around late August" according to the first sentence of his OP's specifications. To Maine, which isn't a bad idea in general.
So, now we've got him going there in black fly season, on third world roads, to paddle in finicky weather, on Maine's infamous monsoon wind lakes with freezing water, in in a brand new four-wheel drive vehicle to boot, which he'll probably never otherwise need living on Long Island.
There is a plethora of places to paddle in Maine and all over North America that don't require four wheel drive vehicles. Some require forking over some money for a shuttle, but that's a lot cheaper than buying a new car or, usually, even one tire. Some of Maine's big windswept northern lakes are are overrated as places peacefully to paddle. To the contrary, they can be more like war paddling, a nerve-wracking war of nerves if not of life.
I like using DeLorme Gazetteers and state guidebooks to find places I can base camp and then take endorphin-not-adrenelin day trips from that base camp, or where I can daily drive to other nearby base camps, or where I can canoe around a well-islanded or well-encoved waterbody to different camping places on it. There are places like that in Maine and many other places in the eastern USA.
Coldfeet wants to take a trip "around late August" according to the first sentence of his OP's specifications. To Maine, which isn't a bad idea in general.
So, now we've got him going there in black fly season, on third world roads, to paddle in finicky weather, on Maine's infamous monsoon wind lakes with freezing water, in in a brand new four-wheel drive vehicle to boot, which he'll probably never otherwise need living on Long Island.
There is a plethora of places to paddle in Maine and all over North America that don't require four wheel drive vehicles. Some require forking over some money for a shuttle, but that's a lot cheaper than buying a new car or, usually, even one tire. Some of Maine's big windswept northern lakes are are overrated as places peacefully to paddle. To the contrary, they can be more like war paddling, a nerve-wracking war of nerves if not of life.
I like using DeLorme Gazetteers and state guidebooks to find places I can base camp and then take endorphin-not-adrenelin day trips from that base camp, or where I can daily drive to other nearby base camps, or where I can canoe around a well-islanded or well-encoved waterbody to different camping places on it. There are places like that in Maine and many other places in the eastern USA.
hahha, your right Glenn, throw in the "solo" which Mrs.coldfeet isn't thrilled about even after me buying one of those spot transmitters. But I've had fun looking up all of those places and reading TR's. Probably will hit that #35 section on the map. But still have 2 weeks of remote teaching to do and that is tougher than some of those windy lakes! best wishes to all. Will keep ypu updated as August gets closer.
Off on a weenie trip! Base Camping in a ( horror of horrors) RV at Lily Bay State Park and day tripping with Gazeteer in hand to some lakes remote or no.. First Roach Pond is a destination as well as upper and lower Wilson Pond. Both near Greenville. Robin also has some TR of car camping on some North Maine Woods primitive sites and day paddling..
The biggest risk is tire failure. If you have a flat that can't be field repaired, then you put on a doughnut and it takes you about five miles before it gives up, then you're hitchhiking to Millinocket to recruit a long distance tow guy. When I bought the first set of replacement tires for my Crosstrek I replaced the doughnut with the best of the old ones to get a full sized spare at minimal cost (plain steel rim and mounting). I also carry the usual plug type patch kit (also sold at some North Maine Woods checkpoints!), a pump and that awful green goop as a last resort. And a lithium battery with cables to jump start the car. I've spent probably ~$200 on woods driving prep, not much over the life of the vehicle. With good rubber I'd be comfortable taking a sedan up there, not a Prius or Fit but a moderate clearance car, driving carefully.
I've learned the hard way not to rejoice at freshly graded North ME Woods roads. Grading seems to reset all the shale razorblades. Driving SLOW helps a lot, and I always carry 2 full size spares.
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