Richardson Lake to Stratton, Maine

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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 Rangeley Lake, he had lunch and considered the next big challenge: the South Branch Dead River. It would be his next waterway, and local reports indicated that it had no water. This wasn’t surprising; even the Appalachian Mountain Club book, a “bible” of New England wilderness trippers, reported that the South Branch Dead rarely had water, and called it navigable only during spring snowmelt. Darrin arranged a shuttle and found his concerns validated as he watched the River from the highway. It was bone-dry.

His shuttle took him to Stratton, Maine, where he would spend several planned layover days. Stratton is along the Appalachian Trail, which Darrin through-hiked in 1998, so this layover would include plenty of mountain views and satisfying reminiscence. He checked in at the Stratton Motel’s Hiker Hostel and began to plan his days off.

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Comments

[KT]

You're almost done!
It was nice talking to you the other day. I hope you were able to get back on the water today. Good luck with the rest of your journey!

[Sasha]

Time on the water
Well Darrin, I have to say that your's is the best exit from Rutabaga that I know of so far. Keep enjoying the journey, thanks for the postcards, we're all really happy that you're able to do this trip. Be safe, Sasha

[Wanda Burns]

Progress is being made!
Glad to see that progress is being made, and that you are safe. Hope the weather holds out for the rest of your trip. You rock Darrin.

[jason]

Keep trucking
Hey Darrin! I have enjoyed reading your posts. Congrats on your trip and having made it so far. I finished up in Ft Kent back on 9/4/07 and missed, on purpose, the Dead Rvr, Spencer Strm and Flagstaff lake sections. I am heading SOBO on the AT now, heading back to DWG where I left off 7/6/07. I have talked to many friends (NOBOs) who mentioned meeting you in Stratton. Keep going man! I'd love to visit with you sometime. Ben and Jessee of the Wisconsin 2 finished when I was in NY and we actually met. They were driving back to Inlet to pick up gear and I was just portaging around a dam. They saw me from the road, stopped and we visited. They have some great stories and some awesome deer meet jerkey. Happy Trails, Jason Bivin aka Totally Different Subject. http://www.totallydifferentsubject.blogspot.com http://www.trailjournals.com/bivinat07

[Northern Soul]

Windbound
Hey Darrin, I was thinking of you and Eve when passed the Leon River yesterday, I just returned from a trip on the Bloodvein River and we had quite a bit of cold and rainy weather. Wind chill was a factor! Hope you are having a blast! Just thought I would check up on you. Cheers Dave