A long trip on the Northern Forest Canoe Trail?

[Tramper Al]

Well,

I post now at great risk to my rapidly falling reputation, and expecting to continue to be sent red squares by the bitter and disenfranchised.

I am working on some of the details to put together a nice multiday trip on the Northern Forest Canoe Trail in Maine. A fellow has written up a really excellent trip report, with maps and photos of this rather remote canoe route, from Stratton to Rockwood. I am using this to help with my planning, and thought that some of you on VFTT would appreciate seeing it.

This trip starts in the shadows of the Bigelows, then heads north well away from areas known to peakbaggers. I thought that these "views from the water" might be of interest to some of you, just for a change of pace. I might even be persuaded to carry my digital camera and post my own canoe trail trip reports.

If this too is in some way offensive to you, by all means keep sending me red squares.

 

[el-bagr]

Since I too am likely "unpopular" -- possibly because I enjoy wilderness canoeing and kayaking -- here's a TR of what I did over Memorial Day weekend: 3-day backcountry paddle down the Seboeis and East Branch Penobscot rivers.

Tramper Al, here's my tip on avoiding slings and arrows: just don't check your rep!

 

[ALGonquin Bob]

I'm very interested in this. You can HIKE part of it, right? That would make this a thread about "hiking in the NorthEast"! But this will probably be deleted or closed, like the "reputation" threads.

I know that the Northern Forest Canoe Trail involves a lot of carries/portages (HIKING with a canoe). If this thread is closed, please PM me with more info. Thanks, ALGonquin Bob

 

[el-bagr]

Tramper, if you're going all the way to Attean Pond, a hike up Sally Mountain (2 miles) gives good views. I'm very interested in finding a way to Number 5 Mountain south of Attean Pond -- a much bigger mountain with a standing tower on it. Should have great views from the top down over the Moose River Bow and No 5 bog, a national wild landmark.

 

[Chip]

I found info on the canoe trail yesterday while searching "Northern Forest".
I got home last night and found there's a feature article on this in the current "Outdoor Life", and now this thread !
I think it would be a great thing to do. I'll read the article tonight and recommend if it's worth reading.

 

[Tramper Al]

I'm very interested in this. You can HIKE part of it, right? That would make this a thread about "hiking in the NorthEast"! But this will probably be deleted or closed, like the "reputation" threads.

I know that the Northern Forest Canoe Trail involves a lot of carries/portages (HIKING with a canoe). If this thread is closed, please PM me with more info. Thanks, ALGonquin Bob

Hi,

I'm not exactly sure what you are asking, but I'll give it a try.

I'm not sure I'd say the NFCT involves a lot of carries/portages, really. It is inevitable when crossing from one drainage to another that the tributaries will get smaller, then unnavigable, then you'll walk over a height of land of some kind, and continue until the tributary in the next drainage is navigable. Other, shorter carries might be around dams, falls or rapids. And the decision of if you need to carry may depend on whether you are travelng upstream or down. Out of the NFCT's 740 miles, they are saying there are 55 miles of carries.

The carry trails would not typically be of the hiking type. In remote areas, both ends of the portage trails might inaccessible except by boat. In towns, where the portage might be around some falls or a dam, roads might be used.

Some of these carry/portage routes are truely ancient. The next time you have your Maine Delorme in hand, for instance, look up the "village" of Northeast Carry, or the Dallas Carry, or the Carry Ponds and Great Carrying Place. Interesting, huh?

 

[Stan]

I know that the Northern Forest Canoe Trail involves a lot of carries/portages (HIKING with a canoe). If this thread is closed, please PM me with more info. Thanks, ALGonquin Bob

I doubt this thread will be closed but it raises a perennial question, how about a northeast paddling forum and paddling conditions? Lots of us hike and paddle and I know that Darren is a paddling enthusiast but he's quite busy and does plenty for us already. Maybe someone familiar with the software can contact him to volunteer to set it up.

 

[ALGonquin Bob]

Thanks, Tramper Al. I first read about that route several years ago. I guess it was the 55 miles of carries that I remembered, but as a part of a 740 mile trip, it's not a big deal.

 

[el-bagr]

how about a northeast paddling forum and paddling conditions?

As an additive or alternative, there is also the NPMB.com "Northeast Paddlers' Message Board".

edit: link fixed

 

[spider solo]

I Had good luck with just the 1st part of the address
www.npmb.com
looks like I nice link
thanks

 

[Tramper Al]

. . .how about a northeast paddling forum and paddling conditions?

Sure, that would be nice. There are some boards out there. In addition to the mentioned npmb.com, also check out pnet.

As for relevance of paddling stories here, well first off I try to warm you "view from the top" people that there are views to be had along the way too - like at the waterfall, in the meadow, even the flowers along the trail.

Sometimes even a fresh opinion or hearing from a poster with a different perspective can offer you a new viewpoint. With a broader definition of what constitutes a "view", then I think paddling fits right it.

It helps too, I find , if you get out of the boat and take a picture of a mountain, or better yet climb it. That's the best way to get these VFTT folks to read your paddling stories, I think.

 

[RoySwkr]

I know that the Northern Forest Canoe Trail involves a lot of carries/portages (HIKING with a canoe).

My mother did part of it in NH/VT some 20 years ago and wore out a couple sets of portage wheels. Most of the group had worse trouble with tracking upstream (using ropes to move the canoe in shallow or rocky water) on the Nulhegan.

 

[Tramper Al]

Roy, your mother's book is one of my favorite sources for paddling and camping in these parts.

My quest to section paddle the NFCT direction has me going DOWNstream on the Nulhegan, just as Rogers Rangers did. But I am getting plenty of practice tracking elsewhere.

 

[RoySwkr]

I'm very interested in finding a way to Number 5 Mountain south of Attean Pond -- a much bigger mountain with a standing tower on it.

Just take the snowmobile trail shown on the map
http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?z=19&n=5038717.00015232&e=391944.999998343&datum=nad83

While you are there, you can also climb the 3011 peak on the lower left, named Crispo Peak after the first ascender

 

[Fitz]

Nfct

Here's a view of a favorite peak just off the NFCT last week.

 

[Tramper Al]

Nice peak, nice gunwales.

 

[twigeater]

el-bagr, I just looked at your Memorial Day trip report and pictures - nice trip!
no Shin Falls?

 

[el-bagr]

No Shin Falls. Uncertainty about the first section of whitewater to Grand Pitch made us launch as soon as we got to the put-in, Shin Brook was too powerful to pole up to the falls, and we chose to swim, relax and explore locally rather than bushwhack up Shin Brook. We'll be back!