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Time for Maine, looking for ideas

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First, thank you for offering ideas.
Here is the idea(s)

Around late August
Solo (possibly tandem, read below)
4 nights
Want to take the Chestnut so no portages
Maybe a big loop with the little lakes and streams
I did read up on the Lobster lake and Jo Mary's
Willing to drive up to Baxter and a bit above it....I think.
Maybe a base camp for 2 nights, paddle somewhere else and basecamp 2 more nights.
Not looking for heavy miles, want to chill and see some wildlife, birds......

It's possible my friend might go, if so then we would tandem in a different boat and then we can portage..
I understand there is a fee for camping, no problem.

Not looking to go to the Western area, I have some bagels to deliver to a few fellow CT'ers that are on the East side.
I know it's such a large area....been putting off this thread trying to read up on my own....would appreciate the ideas..thanks
And yes, bagels will be offered if possible....thanks
 
They aren't little lakes, but if you haven't done them, the headwaters lakes to the AWW (Telos, Chamberlain, Eagle, Churchill) offer a lot of paddling and camping opportunities with no portages to speak of.
 
Lobster Lake. Put in at the parking lot where Lobster Stream joins the W Branch of the Penobscot. Three to eight mile paddle to a campsite on Lobster Lake. Camp two nights. Lobster is a big varied lake with hiking to Lobster Mt. the Lake is about 5x 8 miles Moose sometimes walk the many beaches on that lake. It is shallow so it can get rough. The scenery is outstanding.
Day three go back past the Parking lot and join the West Branch of the Penobscot. Over the next two days float the 27 miles to Chesuncook Village. There are ALWAYS moose around.

If you want to extend the trip you will be meeting my favorite b*tch lake.. Chesuncook. Outstanding scenery of Katahdin but 17 miles to the State take out or Allagash Gateway Campground. The Campground will shuttle your vehicle.. drop you off at Lobster and leave it either at the Campground or Graveyard Point in Chesumcook Village.

Ask alsg about the one caveat re the West Branch of the Penobscot in low water. Thoreaus Rapid. It only surfaces in times of low water.. This year may be one of those years.
 
Thank you aslg and YC (I was going to PM you but figured this was easier) I picked up a map of Maine but it was the NFCT section along Vermont. So the idea has taken seed and something to start thinking about. Always good to think plan ahead.

Any suggestions for good maps of the area?
 
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YC, I'm looking at the Penobscot River corridor map now....thanks....do you know who sells that water map with the campsites? Thanks, it's starting to come together...
 
Lobster Lake. Put in at the parking lot where Lobster Stream joins the W Branch of the Penobscot. Three to eight mile paddle to a campsite on Lobster Lake. Camp two nights. Lobster is a big varied lake with hiking to Lobster Mt. the Lake is about 5x 8 miles Moose sometimes walk the many beaches on that lake. It is shallow so it can get rough. The scenery is outstanding.
Day three go back past the Parking lot and join the West Branch of the Penobscot. Over the next two days float the 27 miles to Chesuncook Village. There are ALWAYS moose around.

If you want to extend the trip you will be meeting my favorite b*tch lake.. Chesuncook. Outstanding scenery of Katahdin but 17 miles to the State take out or Allagash Gateway Campground. The Campground will shuttle your vehicle.. drop you off at Lobster and leave it either at the Campground or Graveyard Point in Chesumcook Village.

Ask alsg about the one caveat re the West Branch of the Penobscot in low water. Thoreaus Rapid. It only surfaces in times of low water.. This year may be one of those years.

1. I agree with yellowcanoe that Lobster is fantastic. In fact I think you could spend 4 days there checking out different campsites, doing the hike, and just paddle back out to your car and skip the West Branch and Chesuncook. Don't get me wrong the West Branch and Chesuncook are great but this might not be the year for it because....
2. Allagash Gateway Campground (AGC) is out of the shuttle business (announced on their FB pages a few months ago). So you could have to find someone else to shuttle the car.
3. Those rapids just above Pine Stream got me big time in 2018 in very low water. In 2019, at normal water levels, they aren't there. Chesuncook is extremely low already per AGC's FB page. So I'd expect the rapids to be a problem again this year unless that part of Maine gets a whole lot of rain between now and August.
 
YC, I'm looking at the Penobscot River corridor map now....thanks....do you know who sells that water map with the campsites? Thanks, it's starting to come together...

In my opinion you really don't need to buy a detailed map for the Penobscot River Corridor between Lobster and Chesuncook. It would be almost impossible to get lost. This free map is adequate for understanding the layout and campsites: https://www.maine.gov/dacf/parksearc...mook-guide.pdf

If you buy something, buy the Delhorme Maine Atlas & Gazetteer Guide. It'll give you the roads and also has the campsites, if I recall correctly. You'll need it navigating up there since cell phone reception is non-existent.
 
If water: go north from East Machias town, put in Rocky Lake, explore, down Rock Stream to Round Lake, explore, south on East Machias River, through intervening lakes and a few rapids, back to East Machias town.

Have no idea whether there are prepared campsites on the route, maybe just primitive camping. I've only done Rocky Lake and part of Rocky Stream as a fast day trip, but always wanted to do the entire loop. Others, or books, may know more detail.
 
In my opinion you really don't need to buy a detailed map for the Penobscot River Corridor between Lobster and Chesuncook. It would be almost impossible to get lost. This free map is adequate for understanding the layout and campsites: https://www.maine.gov/dacf/parksearc...mook-guide.pdf

If you buy something, buy the Delhorme Maine Atlas & Gazetteer Guide. It'll give you the roads and also has the campsites, if I recall correctly. You'll need it navigating up there since cell phone reception is non-existent.

I never noticed that Allagsh Gateway Campground was not running the shuttle this year. I have to find out who if anyone can.. It may be that we do our own shuttle if we do that trip in July. For us its not a big deal. If you are driving far to get here it certainly is a big deal.

Glenns suggestion does have campsites but again the drought in Washington County is extreme. I have no direct experience with that route but suspect that a few rapids will be hiking paths

We are going to Flagstaff tomorrow for a few days.. yes there are campsites. And you don't really need a map. https://www.maine.gov/dacf/parksearch/PropertyGuides/PDF_GUIDE/bigelow-preserve-flagstaff-lake.pdf
 
Wow, just read how they suggest flying in there because of the poor road condition. I just picked up a Subaru Forester and thought it was ok. Maybe Lobster lake is the place to chill out. Decisions decisions.
 
Wow, just read how they suggest flying in there because of the poor road condition. I just picked up a Subaru Forester and thought it was ok. Maybe Lobster lake is the place to chill out. Decisions decisions.

That website hasn't been updated in a while (Chesuncook Lake House burnt down in 2018). In 2019 the roads to and from Graveyard Point at the top of Chesuncook was in excellent condition. We drove it in my paddling partner's 2wd Suburban with no issue. A Forester would be fine if the roads are in similar condition.

I just drove to and from Allagash Lake in my Subaru Outback at the beginning of May. Again, no issues.

Make sure you have a full size spare, a tire inflator (that runs off the battery not the cigarette lighter or power outlet -- those are all 12 amp) and a tire repair kit.
 
Gulp. I read about those items a few years back. Seems like this southerner might be paddling elsewhere. Tough to justify the cost. Ok, plan B,C,D..... thanks alsg
 
Gulp. I read about those items a few years back. Seems like this southerner might be paddling elsewhere. Tough to justify the cost. Ok, plan B,C,D..... thanks alsg

Don't get cold feet, coldfeet. ;-) The roads aren't THAT bad. If you do the AWW headwaters you will only need to drive the Golden Road (parts of which have pavement) and Telos Road. Both are well maintained.
 
If water: go north from East Machias town, put in Rocky Lake, explore, down Rock Stream to Round Lake, explore, south on East Machias River, through intervening lakes and a few rapids, back to East Machias town.

Have no idea whether there are prepared campsites on the route, maybe just primitive camping. I've only done Rocky Lake and part of Rocky Stream as a fast day trip, but always wanted to do the entire loop. Others, or books, may know more detail.

Rocky Lake has a few official campsites, and Second Lake has one (it's nice).
https://www.maine.gov/dacf/parksearch/PropertyGuides/PDF_GUIDE/rockylakeguide.pdf
(n.b., on the ground Rocky has more campsites than are on that map)

East Machias would also have less road drama than a PRC/Allagash/NMW trip -- the put-in for Rocky (on the inlet stream) is ~1mi from a paved state highway.
 
Wow, just read how they suggest flying in there because of the poor road condition. I just picked up a Subaru Forester and thought it was ok. Maybe Lobster lake is the place to chill out. Decisions decisions.

The road is fine as of last year for a Forester. We drove to the village in our 2009 Forester because we were curious about its condition once the Graveyard Point site was acquired as a State Boat launch. The road was quite nice( better than the road to Allagash Lake )and the Forester not challenged. However I have no idea what winter brought. i will go back on Facebook and ask the CLH if they are indeed running shuttles. They had food and fuel for snowmobilers this past winter. The Gazetteer helped navigate a lot.

We drove on a gray rainy day and met an incoming party of canoeists who had had a bit of trouble at alsg rapids also. !
 
In my opinion you really don't need to buy a detailed map for the Penobscot River Corridor between Lobster and Chesuncook. It would be almost impossible to get lost. This free map is adequate for understanding the layout and campsites: https://www.maine.gov/dacf/parksearc...mook-guide.pdf

If you buy something, buy the Delhorme Maine Atlas & Gazetteer Guide. It'll give you the roads and also has the campsites, if I recall correctly. You'll need it navigating up there since cell phone reception is non-existent.

It's easy to navigate on Chesuncook -- the place you want to go is behind those whitecaps :D

Seriously, I agree with alsg, but if you want an overview map of the area, this is a pretty good one:
https://www.natgeomaps.com/ti-401-allagash-wilderness-waterway-south
It's a good "why not" map, as in "why not head up Caucomgomic to Allagash Lake?"
 
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