http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Darrin-Kimbler/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Darrin Kimbler en-us Mon, 09 Nov 2009 05:26:56 +0000 Mon, 09 Nov 2009 05:26:56 +0000 Darrin is quite possibly the most extroverted introvert you may ever meet. In his extroverted life he is talkative and gregarious and will share snippets and snapshots of his life experience with everyone around him. In his introverted life he values solitude and all that it brings him. For me this blog has been a joy to compose and has allowed me to nearly paddle right along with Darrin http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Wisconsin/Madison/blog-224589.html Monday October 1st 2007. St. John River Maine. Only thirteen miles about 3 hours of paddling remained before Darrin would reach Fort Kent and complete the NFCT in its entirety. With the whole day ahead of him and relatively little paddling to do Darrin had to kill time. He took everything out of his portage packs. He hung things up. He dried things. He cleaned things. He went to http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Maine/blog-222215.html Sunday September 30th 2007. Allagash Falls Maine. Darrin left his campsite at Allagash Falls paddled over Allagash Rapids and then out of the Allagash Wilderness. He stopped and had lunch in Allagash Village a hamburger steak mashed potato green beans coleslaw and coffee all for just 6.40. From Allagash Village Darrin made his way onto the St. John River the last distinct wat http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Maine/blog-222211.html Saturday September 29th 2007. Darrin awoke to clear skies and mist over the water. Thanks to two days of steady rain water levels were now ideal for paddling having gone from 300 to 1300 cubic feet per second in just 48 hours Darrin set out onto Round Pond running some small rips while blanketed by a patch of isolated fog. ldquoRipsrdquo is a Northeastern word for mild whitewate http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Maine/blog-222209.html Friday September 28th 2007. Allagash River Maine. Darrin awoke around dawn and was instantly relieved to acknowledge the fact that both his tent and body were still in one piece. He groggily unzipped the tent fly to find moose number 14 a cow moose IN his campsite. After escaping the overnight trampling that could have been now he figured he might as well try to get a good closeup pic http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Maine/blog-222208.html Thursday September 27th 2007. Churchill Lake Maine. Darrin left camp in daylight but under cloudy skies. It started to rain just as he got on the water. He had left camp late the past couple of days because he was about to approach the Churchill Dam Portage. Water levels on the other side of the dam were dictated by dam releases and 8 a.m. was the first release of the day. As he paddle http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Maine/blog-222205.html Wednesday September 26th 2007. Eagle Lake Maine. Darrin rose before dawn to avoid paddling in heavy winds. With the exception of a 20minute downpour the paddle was uneventful. He made it the Jaws Campsite on Churchill Lake just before lunchtime. He had eaten his trail lunch as a quick predawn breakfast so now he prepared himself a hot breakfast before setting up camp. After this bru http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Maine/blog-222196.html Tuesday September 25th 2007. Chamberlain Lake Maine. To avoid paddling in heavy winds Darrin rose before dawn and began the dayrsquos paddle in the dark. He set out across Chamberlain Lake and felt fortunate to view a molten copper sunrise on the water before the sky became a continuous sheet of clouds. His first portage was Tram Portage and getting to it proved to be much like the Mu http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Maine/blog-216971.html Monday September 24th 2007. Umbazooksus Stream Maine. Darrinrsquos next section of Umbazooksus Stream was without water so he began his day by portaging to Umbazooksus Lake. He reached the Lake and then paddled across it to the twomilelong Mud Pond Portage. Interestingly Mud Pond was a particularly authentic portage dating back hundreds if not thousands of years having served a http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Maine/blog-216970.html Sunday September 23rd 2007. Penobscot River Maine. First day of autumn. Darrin broke camp and continued down the Penobscot River where he noted landscape changes indicative of the more northern landscape he had gradually transitioned to. The forests were increasingly boreal in composition with very few hardwoods. On the Penobscot Darrin paddled through some nice class one rapids and s http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Maine/blog-216968.html Saturday September 22nd 2007. Moosehead Lake Maine. Darrin awoke to cloudy windy weather. Three and fourfoot waves were raging and he couldnrsquot see across Moosehead Lake. He munched an energy bar and immediately broke camp in hopes of completing some miles before the alreadybrutal wind got any stronger. Once on the water his canoe was struck by waves lapping over the sides. Wh http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Maine/blog-216966.html Monday September 17th through Friday September 21st The Birches Resort Rockwood Maine. Darrin had a great week at the Birches Resort. Owned by John Willard a Maine guide pilot and member of the Board of the Northern Forest Canoe Trail organization The Birches dates back to the 1920rsquos at which time it was under different ownership and provides all the ambience one can imagine i http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Maine/blog-216962.html Sunday September 16th 2007. Along Demo Road Portage Maine. Darrin awoke to frost on his tent and boat. After a quick breakfast he broke camp and set out to complete the portage. It wasnrsquot more than a quarter mile before he was very glad hersquod left the second half for daylight. The remainder of the trail was freshly cut with sharp stumps and sections so narrow he could hardl http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Maine/blog-216960.html Saturday September 15th. Jackman Maine. It was raining early in the morning so it was late about 10am when Darrin left Jackman and headed down the Moose a slow meandering remote little river. A few miles from Jackman the Moose empties into Long Pond where Darrin found himself surrounded by wild rice and lowland banks of old eroded bedrock. The scene reminded him of a section of the http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Maine/blog-216958.html Thursday September 13th 2007. Flagstaff Lake Maine. By Thursday morning the wind had subsided enough for Darrin to complete his crossing of Flagstaff Lake. The Lake however wasnrsquot going to let him go without other challenges. Flagstaff is characterized by shallow water covering sections of wide rocky shoals. The shoals are hidden they can only be seen when one is about to beach u http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Maine/blog-216956.html ...but the blog is not. Darrin successfully completed the Northern Forest Canoe Trail at about 530 p.m. on Monday October 1 when he pulled into shore along the St. John River in Fort Kent Maine. He was still in one piece and looking better than ever with a deep tan and slimmer physique. If you're interested he will happily explain that although he still has a belly all of his back http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Maine/blog-212057.html September 29 2007. 1230 p.m. Monona Wisconsin. Greetings friends. Just thought I'd check in with a few words about life back at home in Madison. I'm a bit behind on Darrin's blog because while he's been off adventuring I did a little traveling of my own a week in the Grand Tetons of Wyoming with my good girlfriend Heather. It was grand Upon returning home I discovered that our dear http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Wisconsin/Madison/blog-206704.html Tuesday September 11th 2007. Darrin left Stratton on an ominous morning. It was cloudy with an intense 30mile per hour wind blowing from the northeast. Determined to get on the water Darrin headed out anyway. The wind produced huge waves waves so big that water constantly splashed over the bow of his canoe. After about seven miles he stopped on a tiny island in the middle of the Lake http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Maine/blog-205938.html September 611th 2007 Stratton Maine. Darrinrsquos stay in Stratton lasted five days. There he met many Appalachian Trail hikers all of whom he loved reminiscing with. His stay in Stratton was longer than initially planned due to the mysterious wanderings of a package I had sent him. Mailed on August 31st via priority mail it should certainly have been in Stratton by September 5th when http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Maine/blog-205935.html Wednesday September 5th 2007. Upper Richardson Lake Maine. Darrin got up before dawn skipped breakfast and crossed Richardson Lake before daylight intensified the winds. After Richardson Mooselookmeguntic Lake was next. Paddling was rigorous but he managed to fight the strong headwind and cross the Lake by paddling from one island and bay to the next to minimize his exposure to the wi http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Maine/blog-200454.html