Day 14: The Storm Winds Down

Upper Richardson (where is the portage?):  To get to Mooselookmeguntic Lake, one has to portage along a short (250 yard) trail from Upper Richardson.  This trail is nowhere near the dam. Although Mike and I reviewed the map together, I failed to emphasize this fact.  This is how, after breaking down camp in (finally) dry weather and fighting a headwind for 2 miles, I started to stress out somewhat when he, Al, Jim and Bill, who were way out ahead, totally passed the trail.  Blew right by it.  Tommy and I had little choice but to follow.  A quarter mile later, we caught up with them at a private dock, where they were searching for a portage trail that didn’t exist.  None of us was about to turn around though, so we took advantage of the late time of year and the lack of residents to use the dock and portage across the yards, to Mooselookmeguntic.  We suffered only a minor scolding from the dam keeper.

 

 

Canoe Parking Only at Stony Batter Point

Mooselookmeguntic (Look! No Moose!): 

Despite its fearsome reputation, we found this enormous lake to be pretty easy to deal with.  The hurricane was headed to Canada and occasionally the sun would peek out.  The winds we encountered on Upper Richardson didn’t follow us to Mooselookmeguntic. We had set what we had thought was an unrealistic goal to paddle all the way to Stony Batter Point at the upper end of the lake, and were pleasantly surprised that a couple hours of rain-free paddling into a light wind got us the entire way by 3:00 in the afternoon!

Firewood + Canoeists= Good Times

It was so nice to not rush our camp set up.  We didn’t have sun, but there was no rain or breeze or bugs to speak of. We could set up clotheslines and tents at leisure, and gather up a nice mess of unguarded firewood.  We enjoyed a fine campfire and a good amount of rowdiness.  Another two bottles of Sailor disappeared.  Mike, Tommy and I tried to explain that since all of the others had just completed two days of canoeing and camping with at least three Duckheads (i.e. members of an infectious society dedicated to Camping, Canoeing and Carousing), they could now all consider themselves Menacing Duckheads.  Three duckheads go out, six come back! So Bill started killing us with an impression of a Don Corleone fretting about duckheads muscling into his territories. “I don’t know about these duckheads.  No rules, just right.  That’s not right.” Etc.  I also added to the entertainment by doing a reasonably good impression of James Brown.  We burned all the wood.  With absolutely no idea whether it was even possible, we all agreed to stop somewhere on the road to Rangeley Lake to have a real breakfast.

Total mileage for the day, including portage: 10.7 miles.

Read Full Post »

Day 13: Of Pouring, Portages, and Porches

Lake Umbagog (paddling into the fog): We awoke after a night of rain to more rain, and enjoyed our powerbars and freeze-dried Styrofoam eggs in our rainjackets, looking fruitlessly around for the sun to show up.  The far shore was shrouded in fog and low clouds.  But there was no wind whatsoever.  Willing to take whatever gifts the hurricane was going to give us, we quickly broke camp and started our first long day of paddling, headed across the lake to the Rapid River. 

Clouds guarding the way, but retreating before Tom's Hat.

The world was silent but for the pittering and plopping of the rain on our rain gear, boats and the water.  Tommy was a beacon in a world of gray in his hunter-orange hat.  Cheerful banter was kept to a minimum as we glided our way across this immense lake, looking for the outlet of the Rapid River.  Occasionally, Mike would call out, “Hey, G.P.S. Boy, is this the cove we need to paddle up?”  After about an hour, we found the river and paddled up it, up clear channels and be-pined islands.

Rapid River (the long walk):  The Rapid River is…full of rapids, and there is no way to even pole up it.  So one has to portage up along side of it to reach Middle Dam, which forms Upper and Lower Richardson Lakes.  After some searching, we discovered the beginning of the portage trail right at the foot of the last rapid right where all the guidebooks said it would be.  Further scouting confirmed previous reports that the first

The last boat up last of the path to the beginning of the road.

quarter mile or so of this 3 mile portage is not remotely cartable.  So we started walking back and forth, hoofing our gear and boats up the narrow path, in the continuous rain.  Sweat and rain…the water has nowhere to go.  Yuck. At the end of this path we set up our boats on the wheels for the rest of the 3-mile hike.

The rest of the portage is along a seasonally used access road that leads to Lower Richardson Lake.  The Rapid River can be heard, but seldom is seen, to the side.  This road IS cartable, provided one is careful with the load and always watches where the wheels go, to avoid rocks and ruts that may shift the load. 

One wanked wheel.

Jim and Bill, unfortunately, were not careful enough, resulting in a rather dramatic catastrophic failure of one wheel of Jim’s cart.  This of course happened with about 2 miles still left to walk.  We divvied up some gear, and left the boat and cart behind, with the plan to return with another cart once we all reached the lake.  That we did, and while Mike and Al and I stayed behind, the other three returned to retrieve the boat.  During the wait, the rain stopped. We figured this to be about a 2-3 hour venture or more, so we were happy when Tommy returned to report that Bill and Jim had found someone back at a group of cabins we had passed earlier to retrieve the boat and gear for them with an ATV and a trailer.  They soon showed up with the boat on a GMC Suburban (the ATV-trailer combo was a bit too much for two old men to ride on), and we were on our way again!    Well, on our way once Jim put on some bug repellant…the black flies ate him alive!  Red welts covered his legs.

Stormy Weather on Lower Richardson

Lower Richardson Lake (paddling to the end of the world):   It had already been a long day once we started actually paddling again, and the rain started again.  Not steady, though…we could see each rain squall approach across the water as we proceeded north towards The Narrows.  From a distance, The Narrows looks like the end of the world, especially when the clouds and fog and rain are centered right over it like a linebacker guarding the end zone.  As we were gazing upon this, Jim piped up:  “I think we have a problem here…my boat is leaking.”  (We?)  Evidently the boat cracked when the wheel failed earlier.  Fortunately, the leak was slow, and Tommy lent him a bailer.  We continued through the narrows, and then headed towards the east side of Upper Richardson, eventually landing on Metallak Island to camp.  This time, the rain didn’t take a break to let us set up, so we all had some water in our tents by the time we were done.  We had a joyless dinner of freeze dried meat products and pasta-like substances, and then changed into dry clothes and headed for the promised land.  Fortunately, our camp was near an empty cabin that, while locked, still offered the refuge of a dry screened porch.  This is where we gathered after dinner to dry out, drink up, and bleed off some of the stress of the day.  A bottle of Sailor Jerry was sacrificed to the cause.  The wind finally showed up, and we listened to growing waves crashing.  Al decided he would crash for the night right there.

Total miles for the day: 13.9 (including the 3.1 mile portage)

 

Read Full Post »

Day 12: The Crew gets Bigger

The Crew and Equipment:  Well, the original “Three Amigo’s”, Mike, Billy, and I, have somehow talked three other intrepid canoeists to join us for our latest NFCT adventure. I have decided to paddle solo on this trip, using my new Hemlock Canoe Works SRT; Mike has been joined in his Mad River Explorer by his brother-in-law, Al.  Billy is paddling tandem with an old friend, Jim, who brought along his kevlar Rockwood Outfitters Prospector.  And finally, Tommy, a friend from the local paddling message board, has joined us in his own solo boat, a Swift Osprey.

The Androscoggin (let the rains begin):  We all spent our travel time to Errol enjoying the fine weather.  Most of us left from RI, and we met Tommy up in Errol with plenty of time to do the shuttle.  After checking in with the ranger for camping on Umbagog, and checking the weather forecast (80% chance of grimness), we dropped off our gear at the put in just above the dam in Errol on the Androscoggin River. 

Boats lined up at the Androscoggin put-in

There, Mike & Bill & I waited while the others shuttled two of the vehicles over to our planned take-out in Rangeley.  And waited, and waited, watching the clouds grow thicker and “staying hydrated”.  A couple hours or so later, the crew arrived, and we started to get underway.  That is precisely when the rain started.  Fortunately it stayed light, and did not dampen our spirits as we paddled 3.5 miles up-river to Lake Umbagog and our campsite on Moll’s Rock.  The lake greeted us with a bald eagle and a temporary reprieve from the rain.

Umbagog Lake (Hello Hurricane Kyle):  The rain held off while we set up camp and cooked dinner, and even for a little while after we got a fire going, but then it came back in earnest. 

A hurricane was coming up the coast, due to hit Maine the next day, and it was pushing moisture well inland despite our best efforts to convince ourselves the forecast called for starry skies and fair winds.  An hour after it started, Jim found that he had left his tent door wide open, and was greeted with a wet sleeping bag and the need to move the tent under a large tarp.  This would be the first of a string of unfortunate events for Jim who, while he has been canoeing for decades, was experiencing his first canoe camping on this trip. The tarp soon had a population of other canoeists chased away from the fire by the rain.  Someone made a motion for an early bedtime, it was seconded, and the motion passed.  It poured all night.  Total mileage for the day (incl. shuttle-portage to put-in): 5.2 miles

Read Full Post »