Monday, September 24th, 2007. Umbazooksus Stream, Maine. Darrin’s 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 two-mile-long Mud Pond Portage. Interestingly, Mud Pond was a particularly authentic portage, dating back hundreds, if not thousands, of years, having served as a trail for Native Americans, and then decade’s worth of loggers, enduring the footsteps of both men and oxen. The trail was so trodden and worn that it sunk a good three feet below the f [View Full Entry]

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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 saw lots of fly fishermen and moose hunters. Soon he paddled onto Chesuncook Lake, where the wind was so strong that he could see dust devils on exposed beaches where the Lake was drawn down. On Ch [View Full Entry]

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Saturday, September 22nd, 2007. Moosehead Lake, Maine. Darrin awoke to cloudy, windy weather. Three and four-foot waves were raging, and he couldn’t see across Moosehead Lake. He munched an energy bar, and immediately broke camp in hopes of completing some miles before the already-brutal wind got any stronger. Once on the water, his canoe was struck by waves lapping over the sides. When he headed to land for the Northeast Carry portage, the wind shoved him securely onto shore. He portaged the Northeast Carry on a dirt road, along which he stopped at a country store for breakf [View Full Entry]

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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 1920’s (at which time it was under different ownership), and provides all the ambience one can imagine in the remote Maine Woods. Situated on the shores of Moosehead Lake, The Birches offers a variety of rustic cabins, plus a classic log-sided main lodge with an old stone fireplace, a dining room with [View Full Entry]

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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 wasn’t more than a quarter mile before he was very glad he’d left the second half for daylight. The remainder of the trail was freshly cut, with sharp stumps and sections so narrow he could hardly fit his canoe. The trail was lined by thick stands of fir, fir so dense that there was no way he would have seen his way through in dimming light. After finally [View Full Entry]

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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 Sasaginnigak, a river we’d paddled together in Manitoba. (The river, in fact, where’d we’d gotten our canoe inextricably wedged in a rapid, and subsequently used a signal mirro [View Full Entry]

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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, wasn’t 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 upon them. While usually not dangerous, beaching on shoals is annoyingly disruptive to one’s paddling rhythm. Flagstaff’s water level was particularly low, leaving the shoals more ex [View Full Entry]

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Tuesday, September 11th, 2007. Darrin left Stratton on an ominous morning. It was cloudy, with an intense 30-mile 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. There he took shelter within a stand of white pines and set up camp for the night. It was early, but he was tired of fighting the wind. Flagstaff Lake is not [View Full Entry]

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September 6-11th, 2007, Stratton, Maine. Darrin’s 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 he arrived. The package contained a few grocery items, as well as two maps of upcoming sections of water trail. When the package hadn’t appeared by September 9th, we figured it was mi [View Full Entry]

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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 wind. He completed Mooselookmeguntic by 12:30 p.m., and then portaged to Rangeley Lake. On Rangeley, he was thrilled to find that what had been a headwind was suddenly a phenomenal tailwind. On R [View Full Entry]

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