| Summary | |
| Owner | MITOC Gallery Administrator |
| Creation Date | 2006-10-10 10:51:06 UTC-0400 |
| Description |
Fall Paddling Trip: Sysaladobsis, Pocumcus, Junior, and Bottle Lakes, Maine Rick Abbot, Chris Glazner, Martin Jaspan, Greg Wallace, Jenn Ellsworth, Mike Hohensee October 6-9, 2006 Location: Near Lee, Maine. (Map of route) Short Synopsis: Maine. Kayaks. Fall Colors. Perfect Weather. Isolated lake chain. Most awesome campsite ever. Campfires. Great food. Beavers. Sunsets. Bald eagles. Complete quiet. Moose season. What more could you ask for, really? Full Trip Report The idea for this trip was hatched while Greg, his parents and I were talking one evening at their cabin in New Hampshire. It turns out that three decades ago, Greg's grandfather had purchased some land in the middle of nowhere Maine right on a lake, and it's only been visited three times since. We opened up the Gazetteer, and lo and behold, it was right on a circuit of lakes allowing for a multiday trip with a single, 50 ft. portage of a dam. Tempting. So, we decided to go for it and recruited friends to join us. It was between this trip, Lake Umbagog, a whitewater canoe trip down the Androscoggin, or a Casco Bay trip. My inclination towards this trip, along with everyone else's indifference, won out. We were heading out for a 7 hour drive to damn near Canada. After cramming 3 kayaks, 5 people, and 5 people's multiday camping gear in my little CR-V, we met Rick in Freeport, spread out a bit, and then continued on to the put in down Maine backroads. We camped right at a public boat launch (we saw a no camping sign in the morning: in the future, find somewhere else!) We awoke to find frost, a crisp cool mist on the lake, and gorgeous colors peeking through. We loaded our vessels with three days of provisions, including luxuries such as chairs, hammocks and a double burner stove, and shoved off into the absolutely clear, calm waters of Lake Sysaladobsis. It was gorgeous and largely undeveloped. You'd see a camp cabin every half mile or more; most were empty for the season. The leaves were amazing, and it was just sooo quiet out there. Just the sound of our paddles dipping into the water ( and in my case the "clank clank" of the large stove on my deck :). We made our way down the long, glassy lake, weaving our way through islands and underwater boulders in the glacially carved lakes. The water was so clear the rocks looked much closer to the surface than they often were. The Great Circle route of airliners heading to Europe bisects this lake--it was amazing to see the high altitude superhighway of contrails sometimes 5 wide. They were the only clouds in the sky, and a pretty and useful reference when navigating. We arrived at our first camp at around 3:00. It was too good to be true: a large point next to a dam where a cabin once stood. The fireplace remained, next to a convenient picnic table. We also had a beautiful grassy field to pitch the tents. Yeah, it was the most perfect campsite any of us had ever encountered. We found it by looking at a Delorme Gazetteer, too! We pitched tents, played frisbee, and did a little exploring. The dam the campsite was next to was really neat-- hand winch floodgates, with a new fish ladder installed. Rick and I spotted 5 or 6 beavers at dusk. They slapped their tails when they spotted us, which was neat to hear. The sunset was very pretty, and we got a full view of it from our "kitchen." Jen made an awesome dinner for us, featuring a really tasty Brazilian black bean dish with bananas and oranges ( you eat really well on paddling trips--did I mention that?) We cozied up to the fire we built in the fireplace, and enjoyed playing with the analogy of a family watching TV. "Changing the channel" usually meant throwing on a new log. After several similar nerdy discussions, Rick bemoaned "whatever happened to campfire stories?" We awoke to a breakfast of pecan pancakes with maple syrup. We got off to a lazy start, and the second day on Pocumcus Lake was just a beautiful as the first day on Sysladobsis. We had lunch at another campsite at narrow inlet over to Junior Lake. This campsite requested that permission be obtained from the Passamaquoddy Tribe before camping. While sitting on the shore eating cheese, yard-o-beef and snickers, two huge bald eagles plopped right across the narrow channel from us and checked us out for a while. Those are some big birds. We continued through the shallow narrows, picking our way through the rocks and roots. We eventually made our way to Bottle Island, our next campsite. This was a great campsite, but not as amazing as the first. We went for a very brisk swim, and followed it up with a chicken and rice dish, applesauce from scratch with maple syrup, and chocolate pudding. After a little bit more time with the campfire, we headed to bed. No one really wanted to paddle back to the cars! We reluctantly loaded up and headed out for the short paddle up into Bottle Lake. The channel leading to Bottle was very shallow, and we once again had to pick out way through (Junior, Pocumcus and Bottle had been drawn down a few feet for the season). Upon entering Bottle Lake proper, we were greeted with a small, beautiful lake lined with cute little houses. With a little guidance from friendly neighbors, we found Greg's family's property--it was pretty much the last developed piece on the lake. After unloading, it became obvious--it was a swamp! While dreams of a lakehouse there might not be in the cards, we could probably clear off a nice little campsite higher up in the future. After a short walk to go get the cars, we loaded up and leaded back on the long drive back to Boston (with the obligatory stop in Freeport for dinner and bargain hunting, of course.) This definitely needs to become a regular trip for us--it's just too nice to pass up. This is definitely one of my top trips to remember. Stats:
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