RBailey

Portages and campsites alike were non obvious. Having paddled the Allagash a month earlier, which had yellow square plaques facing the river at every site, I expected signage on the MN lakes as well. There were no such markers. Most did have afireplace grate set near the shore or a natural landing area. Once you got in close, sites would appear and our ability to spot them improved. We also mentally calibrated our movement and locked into the map better over time. During the circuit on day-5, we could not find one portage and resorted to exploreing on-foot for over an hour. Apparently many others had done the same thereby creating the appearance of portage trail which just faded after a quarter mile. I am sure that paddlers have since followed my tracks thereby contributing to the illusion. We did eventually find the real path and we had just needed to slide through some grass into a slender marsh.

A quick description of this June paddle. On Friday June 29th, we launched out of Houghs Neck Maritime Center and paddled over to Grape. After setting camp we did a short spin around Grape and Slate islands and ended up on the south shore of Hull and Spinnaker island and ended with a 5-6 mile circuit. Upon return to camp we were please to learn that we could build a fire on the beach below the tidal line so we cooked beans and weenies while the sunset behind the Boston skyline. On Saturday we did a larger loop across Hingham Bay and through the Hull Gut (which I would not recommend doing on a Saturday) and the around Peddocks. We stopped at Portuguese cove and swam for a while...chill but doable. We completed the loop back to the Maritime Center for total of about 9 miles. Boston Harbor is such a great resource that NSPN made me more aware of. In 2019 I think I may paddle from my house near Mystic lake and camp on Lovells. That would be 15 miles one ways so will need to get fit again. https://www.flickr.com/gp/rrb-precat/J66pUg

Another late post from Sept 2018. Looking to generate enthusiasm for more multi-day trips in 2019. Canoe or Kayak its all good. This was a 5 night trip threading about 44 miles flat water. For those unfamiliar, BWAC is a huge expanse of lakes covering thousands of square miles in the Superior National Forest. It is part of the same geography as Quetico on the Canadian side which is even larger. With a few exceptions most of these lakes are for paddle craft only, you can't even hoist a sail. Overall this was a wonderful experience and I have an renewed interest similar areas such as Quetico, French River, Algonquin, and Killarney. If you choose to enter the BWCA be ready for primitive camping and you will need some navigation sense. Be certain talk to outfitters and plan accordingly because once your out there you are really on your own. For example we saw many paddlers in the lakes near entry points, but once we penetrated 2 portages inward, we saw nobody. We took up 2 campsites during our paddles and touched 7 or more lakes. For meals we packed provisions and also caught walleye. Several of these days included strenuous portages due to the load which included 3 Duluth packs and the Kevlar canoe.... about 140 pounds of gear (a micro-light load for 2 men for 6 days). My brother and I encountered significant winds on the several days which caused us to hug one shore or the other. By the third evening all was still and the lakes turned to glass. We did have rain on two mornings which we used as an excuse to sleep until we got hungry. We didn't' see any moose during the 6 days but water fowl, bald eagles, and hungry little critters are every where. We even had a mink come by and take a fish right in front of us. My brother saw a wolf on the last day. https://flic.kr/s/aHsmrZyivE

I failed to post my paddle excursion to Allagash ME in Aug 2018. Looking to generate enthusiasm for more multi-day trips in 2019. Canoe or Kayak its all good. This was a 3 night trip covering about 45 miles of the Allagash Wilderness Waterway (AWW). This was a low-skill paddle which almost anyone could complete if you scale your miles to match your fitness. This time of year the rapids were warm, shallow and short and it was easy to stay out of trouble, and since you're basically a bead on a string, you really can't get lost. Also the forest rangers monitor your progress which is good but occasionally this detracts from the wilderness feel. Due to low water below the falls the outfitter had proposed an upstream drop with a recovery at Michaud Farms. We also considered starting nearer Chase Rapids, but neither of us had been in whitewater recently (or paddled together) and we didn't want to dump in the first quarter mile. We chose to deal with the shallows and establish the St John as the exit, so our hosts dropped us on Umsaskis Lake near the road crossing. We explored the still water of Umsaskis for a couple of hours before aiming down stream. Umsaskis Lake, Long Lake, and Harvey comprise about 8 miles of flat water before the Long Lake Dam where you portage into moving water. We camped at Sweeny Brook about about 2 miles below LLD. Total of about 12 miles which included a few exploratory detours. We saw two moose that day, the first standing mid-stream at the camp. We paddled up on a Lynx just before lunch near the Hosea B campsite on the second day and then proceeded into Round Pond. Round Pond is a large and beautiful body of water and it would be a great place to spend a few nights. We ended up camping at Cunliffe Depot which was quit far beyond our goal because the original target(s) was occupied. It was about a 20 mile day but we had moving water much of that time. The third night was just past Allagash Falls at Big Brook South after a short 8 mile day. We did the standard 3 pass portage around the drop...there was really no hurry...and we enjoyed exploring the moonscape just below. In the morning we saw a cow and her calf until they spotted us and splash-off into the woods. The last part of the float included some wading due to low water which we had expected. In most cases the canoe floated-over once we stepped out of the boat. https://www.flickr.com/gp/rrb-precat/3V233B https://www.maine.gov/dacf/parksearch/PropertyGuides/PDF_GUIDE/aww-guide.pdf

Lunch spot on Saturday. Resting in a bed of sea weeds.