Day 39: Pelletier’s to Northern Door Inn (Fort Kent)

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. 

Our final morning on the river as we make our way to the end of the trail

Signing the log book one more time

Obligatory eastern terminus photo

Mostly quiet, calm moments marked the morning as we made our way to the eastern terminus at Riverside Park. Lori, John’s wife, welcomed us with a feast that will not be forgotten: a beautiful cobb salad, homemade chicken fajitas with all of the fixings, a cake, and 3 pints of ice cream (and a 6-pack of Allagash White beer, of course). 

After saying our goodbyes to John and Lori, who were headed back to Rhode Island in their van over the next few days, we began our final portage of the trip to the Northern Door Inn. It felt strange to be ending our trip today – in a way, it seemed that the end had come too soon, and we both agreed that we could probably keep paddling for longer if we had a route to follow. 

All smiles with 740 miles behind us! (+ a few more)

Watching the cooking of the world's biggest ploye

In the evening, we ventured up the street to the local ski hill where the town was having their annual ploye festival. We got to see the “world’s biggest ploye” being cooked, then managed to get some samples of the giant green crêpe-like pancake! 

What a wonderful way to celebrate the end of an epic journey. I feel so much gratitude for those whom we met along the way, to John as our paddling companion, to our families for supporting us in taking this leap, and to Ben – for seeing this dream become memories of a lifetime.

Paddle on, 
P B & J

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