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Goonstroke: For what it is worth, maybe ten years ago when I first met the Surprenants who own Chesuncook Lake House, they told me that they would sometimes drop their sons off at the Pine Stream bridge you describe, along with a canoe (or was it a couple kayaks? I don't remember), and the boys...

As I started wading up a section of Spencer Stream in Maine, my canoe following me at the end of a short leash as I tracked it upstream, the horseflies and deerflies found me. The deerflies were more annoyance than anything, flying circular sorties around my Tilley, but not scoring any hits...

I know a couple of you mentioned aspects of the trip that I have some recent experience in, so I thought I would chime in here in the hopes it is helpful to anyone else doing the trip. The Road: We drove the road in September 2015 all the way into Chesuncook Village. It was rough, but...

It's not too difficult to stretch it out to 7 days at a Menacing Duckhead pace, lol! We are starting at Baker Lake. I think our general plan is late mornings and early afternoons, with a muckle or two during the day. If we get ambitious and bang out 50 or more miles over two days we can enjoy a...

I found a record indicating that Nolan Whitesell ran every rapid in an OC-1 in 1984. I believe he is still the only open boater to run the Niagara Gorge.

Representing north-central RI, we got about 5" after all was said and done, after which it promptly froze to the consistency of concrete. About 10 miles north of me in the NW corner, they got 13". -rs

A grim anniversary indeed, Doug, but a good message and a good reminder of what a fire means for insurance. Inventory, and having certain documents and records kept safe from fire are so important. For those of us with old houses, it is also good to confirm with your insurance companies as to...

On local waters, it is pretty common for me to run into someone I know, or for a stranger to know of me (and as is often the case with paddlers, we become fast friends). I've occasionally run into paddling friends and acquaintances on trips out of state...and even if I don't know them, we very...

Picture this: A small group of high school kids gets a hold of a case of beer, and brings it late in the night to a remote picnic area in a National Park to enjoy it. They're quiet, but not quiet enough. A couple cans into their night, a big white Dodge Ram pulls into the picnic area. It has...

I used to be a Ford guy. My first two vehicles were Ford Rangers. Then they no longer offered any extra-cab options with a 4-cylinder engine. I couldn't find anything in a 4 cylinder that suited my purpose. I was willing to look at a hybrid Escape, but no one would sell me one for anything less...

I usually don't wear a helmet when poling unless I'm unfamiliar with a river and want to be prepared for the unexpected, or I am familiar with the river and know that it's degree of difficulty or density of rock cover warrants a little extra protection in case my cat-like reflexes and...

Winter really hasn't gotten a solid grip here in Southern New England. We had one decent "blizzard" of about 12-18 inches of snow a couple weeks ago, and that is now well on its way to melting away. There is some thin ice on the ponds, but not on the rivers for the most part, and local paddlers...

I'll be with Doug D and another friend doing the St John from Baker Lake to St. Francis. It'll be my first upper St. John trip as well (I've been on it from the Allagash to Fort Kent). I've also got an Adirondack trip planned in the Long Lake area, and tentative plans for a Lobster Lake to...

Thanks, YC! Funny, though, it isn't listed on boat launch lists provided by the Bureau of Parks and Lands. Well, too late to make alternate plans anyhow. And I doubt they'll pay to have us towed, lol! -rs

I know I have read here that there is public access to Chesuncook Lake from Graveyard Point in the village, which I am aware of (and have paddled past a few times), but it is not clear to me whether it is OK to park vehicles on the point there overnight. We are hoping to use that as the starting...

I wanted to complain that none of them were wearing PFD's, but...I can't.

We have a stretch of river here in RI that presents some similarly marsh-intensive paddling during the late summer. Always fun, especially when it is not really clear where the clearest channel is. We do a lot of standing in our boats for that trip. -rs

Like others here, I use a filter for my drinking water, and boil cooking water. I also take along extra gas or iodine tablets as a back-up to the filter ever since my previous filter experienced a catastrophic failure on day 2 of a 7 day trip. On that trip, we were very fortunate to be able to...

How quickly things change! It looks like this will be the year I take care of Mud Pond Carry as part of the Allagash Lake Loop trip; starting and ending at Graveyard Point on Chesuncook Lake. And yes, I'm pretty stoked about it. -rs

I was thinking that exact thing in reading the trip report. Shallow water, and rock dodging? Sounds like the perfect poling trip! I may have to check that one out. Nice pics, thanks for sharing the report, Jamie!