A year ago last spring I spent 3 days on the Pleasant River in downeast Maine. I wrote this trip up in the old solotripping site, but what with the cold here and cabin fever setting in, I thought I'd share the trip here.
The Pleasant River starts at the Pleasant River Lake which is located on rt 9 in eastern Maine. It flows south to the ocean, I did a trip of about 25 miles and took out 14 miles above the mouth. The upper Pleasant is more a stream than river and lucky for me the water level was just right for a trip
I paddle a wood canvas canoe and I'm not worried about scratches and dings, I try to take it easy when the going gets shallow and rocky...here I'm lining through a shallow section to save on ribs and planks getting busted. Those waders came in handy.
For the first 5 miles I have swift water, it was a pleasure to glide silently through the forest without having to paddle much. I did encounter a few blow downs that I had to drag over, but it was a memorable trip on the upper river.
I spent the day fishing and enjoying the scenery, the brook trout where wild and hungry. The first night I found a small spit of land where I camped, here's the river out front.
I used a stick stove to cook up a quick meal of pasta and kielbassa, the stove is great. Not good for slow cooked meals, but light and fast for the stuff I eat.
It was cool that evening as I cooked my dinner, but no bugs to speak of.
Below my campsite was a section of rapids. The next moring I paddled and lined my way down to a section I would have to portage. It was a real pretty stretch. In the book, Rivers of Maine, there is a small write up about this river, they mention a large rock mid stream indicates the beginning of rapids and eventually a 1/2 mile or so portage. You can just see the rock at the top of the photo
So I was out of the canoe for the portage, 1/2 mile, maybe less, thru the woods.
After the portage I ran some more swift water, encounter some more blow downs and caught some more trout. Soon the river began to slow down in some areas and it became a series of switchbacks. Here is the river out front of my second nights site.
The rest of the river, maybe 10 miles was slow moving but loaded with trout producing beaver dams. I stopped at a few to drop a panter martin lure into the swift water flowing below the dam.
All in all, a fun trip on a river seldom paddled
The Pleasant River starts at the Pleasant River Lake which is located on rt 9 in eastern Maine. It flows south to the ocean, I did a trip of about 25 miles and took out 14 miles above the mouth. The upper Pleasant is more a stream than river and lucky for me the water level was just right for a trip
I paddle a wood canvas canoe and I'm not worried about scratches and dings, I try to take it easy when the going gets shallow and rocky...here I'm lining through a shallow section to save on ribs and planks getting busted. Those waders came in handy.
For the first 5 miles I have swift water, it was a pleasure to glide silently through the forest without having to paddle much. I did encounter a few blow downs that I had to drag over, but it was a memorable trip on the upper river.
I spent the day fishing and enjoying the scenery, the brook trout where wild and hungry. The first night I found a small spit of land where I camped, here's the river out front.
I used a stick stove to cook up a quick meal of pasta and kielbassa, the stove is great. Not good for slow cooked meals, but light and fast for the stuff I eat.
It was cool that evening as I cooked my dinner, but no bugs to speak of.
Below my campsite was a section of rapids. The next moring I paddled and lined my way down to a section I would have to portage. It was a real pretty stretch. In the book, Rivers of Maine, there is a small write up about this river, they mention a large rock mid stream indicates the beginning of rapids and eventually a 1/2 mile or so portage. You can just see the rock at the top of the photo
So I was out of the canoe for the portage, 1/2 mile, maybe less, thru the woods.
After the portage I ran some more swift water, encounter some more blow downs and caught some more trout. Soon the river began to slow down in some areas and it became a series of switchbacks. Here is the river out front of my second nights site.
The rest of the river, maybe 10 miles was slow moving but loaded with trout producing beaver dams. I stopped at a few to drop a panter martin lure into the swift water flowing below the dam.
All in all, a fun trip on a river seldom paddled
