Distance
Observed Wildlifeto
The North Maine Woods is the most wild place in New England and paddling through it was an unforgettable experience. Three friends and myself enjoyed four nights paddling through the remote Penobscot in hopes of spotting a moose, finding solitude, and adventure. We ended up accomplishing two out of the three.
Day 1 - 10.5 miles
Our Northern Adventures driver brought us on an hour drive out of Greenville down some pretty narly roads to our launch at Roll Dam. Once we paddled away from our start it felt like nothing else other than this river existed. We took a right turn under a bridge and up Lobster Stream to reach Lobster Lake. This was my favorite place of the entire hike. We found a campsite on the shore and had a huge beach entirely to ourselves. The sunset and moonrise provided spectacular color.
Day 2 - 10.8 miles (+2.3 miles hiking)
Our second day started with a short paddle further into the lake. We got out of our canoes and made quick work of the big hill to a lookout over Lobster Lake and beyond to Katahdin. We got back on our canoes, paddled back to our camp, loaded up, and were on our way. We returned to the Penobscot and enjoyed a lovely day of paddlin downstream. We eventually reached a series of occupied sites and found a vacant one I believe was named "Two Pines."
Day 3 - 15 miles
Sorry, no pictures from this day. It was more of the same from the day before, paddling downstream and loving the Northen Maine Woods. We eventually reached Chesuncook Lake and, if we had the energy, we could have explored a little "town" on the west shore. Instead we paddled into the wind and accross the lake to Gero Island. I'm not sure why my friend had shanty songs available but they paired perfectly with the moment as we "crashed" through the whitecaps. We had the entire island to ourselves with lots of space to roam around. Skipping rocks, snorkling, and barbequeing filled the rest of our evening.
Day 4 - 10.8 miles
Again, no pictures, but I don't regret it. This was a tough day of paddling. We crossed the length of Chesuncook Lake with wind and whitecaps opposing us. We moved at the blistering pace of one mile per hour and only took a couple short breaks. Shanty songs did not have the same effect as the day before. We eventually reached an island that was occupied by a retreat of at least a dozen women. Luckily there was still space for us and we did our best to reinforce our spirits.
Day 5 - 3.3 miles
It was a fairly short paddle out and we took our time. We were a little frustrated with not seeing any moose during the entirety of our paddle and desperately explored marshy inlets to steal a sighting. We were releived to reach our destination where our friendly driver was waiting to return us to civilization.
