Tuesday, September 4th, 2007. Metallik Island, Richardson Lake, Maine. Darrin awoke to a strong north wind, which never bodes well before a day of paddling on a narrow, finger-shaped lake with a north-south orientation. He set out anyway, determined to at least see what was possible. As he’d feared, the Lake’s shape funneled the wind directly at him. After three miles of fighting three-foot waves, he pulled into Red Pine Point campsite on upper Richardson Lake. There he took a short break before trying to sight a passage with calmer air. Then he set out again for another a [View Full Entry]

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Monday, September 3rd, 2007. Darrin got up early and had breakfast before paddling the Androscoggin into Umbagog Lake. The previous day’s luck was still with him, for he sailed across the Umbagog on a tailwind. From there, he reached the Rapid River. As its name implies, it is nearly all rapids, most of them unrunnable, with little flatwater between them. To avoid the Rapid, Darrin portaged 3.5 miles along a dirt road to Lower Richardson Lake. He paddled Lower Richardson through its narrows to Upper Richardson and ended his day at a campsite on Metallik Island. The evening ended [View Full Entry]

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Sunday, September 2nd, 2007. Darrin’s elation continued into Sunday, when he paddled the marvelous Androscoggin River. The Androscoggin is characterized by big, deep, high-volume rapids with few rocky obstacles. These rapids are a joy to paddle - it’s a lot like flying - one can ride the wave trains without much maneuvering around obstacles. This is the kind of whitewater that most paddlers crave. Not surprisingly, Darrin loved every moment of it. Darrin camped that night in an outfitters campground beside a class three rapid on the Androscoggin. He had a nice dinner i [View Full Entry]

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Saturday, September 1st, 2007, Continued. The gentleman was named Larry, and Darrin learned all about him and his family on the ride to Larry’s farm. Larry’s wife, a nurse, was named Janet, and his grandson was named Liam. Larry had three chocolate labs, one black lab, and two cats. Darrin didn’t catch all the pets’ names, but Shamus, Murphy, and Mariah stood out in his memory. Together with his son-in-law, Larry was restoring an 1850’s barn with timber framing. Larry had just recently read about the NFCT, so when he saw Darrin, he was inspired to stop and [View Full Entry]

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Saturday, September 1st, 2007. Along the Nulhegan River, New Hampshire. After Friday’s exhausting riverbed dragging, Darrin started the day with a new resolve. He left his campsite on the Nulhegan, portaged back to the East Fork of the Nulhegan, and then portaged over to the Connecticut River. The Connecticut was most likely to have a runnable water level. His decision was clearly validated when he reached the Connecticut. The river was big with a fast, strong current. Thanks to a steady tailwind, he zoomed along, accomplishing a solid 20 miles by noon. For the first time in a [View Full Entry]

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Friday, August 31st, 2007, Island Pond, Vermont. Darrin awoke to wind and a cloudy sky. He began the day by crossing Island Pond, and portaging three miles over a height of land to Nulhegan Pond. From there, he paddled into the Nulhegan River, where he would start an eagerly anticipated stint of downriver paddling. It was immediately apparent that “River” was an overstatement. That particular stretch of the Nulhegan turned out to be little more than a canoe-width wide. The River also passed through long stretches of alder thickets, which gave Darrin the chance to meet hundr [View Full Entry]

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Thursday, August 30, 2007, Charleston Pond, Vermont. Darrin began his day by leaving his Charleston Pond campsite, portaging into Pensioner Pond, and making his way back to the Clyde River. It would be a long day because the Clyde offered no public campsites. The next decent site would be along Island Pond, 22 miles up the water trail. On the Clyde, his upstream efforts continued, with this particular section being swampy with lushly vegetated banks. Darrin enjoys live animal sightings, but he was no less intrigued to see some fiberglass wildlife - big fiberglass wildlife. On a small [View Full Entry]

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Wednesday, August 29th, 2007. After a layover day in Newport, Darrin headed back to the water trail. His day started with a portage to Salem Pond to avoid three near-continuous miles of upstream whitewater. He crossed Salem and Little Salem Ponds and ended up in a set of meanders that funneled him into the Clyde River, another upstream leg of his journey. The Clyde was shallow and swift, requiring lots of lining and pulling, plus a haul over the West Charleston Dam Portage. After the dam, Darrin put in on little Charleston Pond, and paddled to its headwaters. His day ended [View Full Entry]

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Saturday, August 25th, 2007. Richford, Vermont. Darrin awoke to find that it was STILL raining, and the river was STILL rising. He set out for the day, and after just a 1/2 mile of difficult upstream paddling, he decided to leave the Missisquoi River to itself. From there, he turned around and paddled right back to his put in. Next he prepped his gear for portaging, added a second layer of duct tape to his feet, and continued, still in the rain, to walk, and walk, for a long time. Before we proceed with the story, let’s discuss duct tape. “Duct [View Full Entry]

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Friday, August 24th, 2007. Missisquoi River, Vermont. Darrin awoke to the same steady rain that had lulled him to sleep the night before. When he emerged from his tent, he found it and his canoe covered with “eight billion” slugs. Slimy as they were, Darrin preferred them over the previous day’s skunk. After breakfast with the slugs, Darrin set out to navigate another upstream day, only this time with much more water. His route up the Missisquoi was lined by acre after acre of agricultural fields - fields that drain run-off into the river. After a night of steady [View Full Entry]

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