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Today, we completed the final stretch of our self-propelled thru-paddle of the NFCT. It was an uneventful float down to Fort Kent (aside from some quickwater and John needing some technical support with his phone), but the morning hours were filled with pensive reflection on the last several weeks on the trail together.
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It’s diner day! Without breakfast to eat at camp, we were quick to pack up, and after a short paddle down to Two Rivers Lunch in Allagash Village, we were rewarded with the biggest pancakes I’ve ever seen (along with coffee, an omelet, and a plate of home fries and corned beef hash). What a good day already.
We slept in until 7am (!) this morning and ate our final 5 packets of oatmeal, banking on making it to a site tonight within range of the Allagash diner for Thursday morning. The food barrel is LIGHT (though the bag of trash inside is surprisingly weighty).
Today’s paddling began in a sea of fog – but at least it was completely windless. We said goodbye to our campsite neighbors at 5am and thanked Steve for everything he had done for us.
We awoke this morning at 4am to the sound of… wind. Already?! At least it wasn’t accompanied by rain this time. Mildly enraged, we left the sweet splendor of the ranger station porch and walked across Lock Dam where we made the split-second decision to go down the dam channel toward Pillsbury Island rather than up Chamberlain Lake into an unknown wave situation toward the Tramway carry.
Today, we are wind-bound and icy-rain-bound. After re-assessing our food supply situation, we’ve reduced our rations from 3 packets of oatmeal per day per person to just 1. Spirits are lower than usual.
At last, today was the infamous Mud Pond Carry day. In the morning drizzle, we meandered to the unassuming start of the carry at the edge of Umbazooksus Lake where we duct-taped our shoes to our feet and ankles and began the first of 3 treks into the woods following Mud Stream.
We woke up at 5am to John informing us that “the river is like glass!” Instead of resuming what was planned to be a rest/rain wait-out day, we packed up with lightning speed and paddled out to where the W. Branch empties into Chesuncook Lake.
We woke up to a cloud of bugs that had settled down between our tent and fly, then ate our cold-soaked oatmeal and headed down the W. Branch of the Penobscot – a new river with some current, at least. We stopped for a snack at Thoreau’s Island, and I took the stern for ~5 miles after that, my first time doing so since Forked Lake.
Today was one of our longest days, and it sure felt like it. We made it across the Brassua Lakes with ease and just a breeze to contend with; where the Moose River empties into Moosehead was another story.
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