spider solo
New member
Oct 3-7, 2008
So that would be Chesuncook Lake Maine with a beautiful view of Mt Katahdin.
This is Maine's third largest lake, with the Northern Forest Canoe Trail coming along from the West Branch of the Penobscot into the northern reaches of the lake.
Folks I'll be telling you now That is one windy Lake !!
Many a time that refrain kept running through my head..."if not for the courage of the fearless crew the Minow would be lost..." course travelling alone I would have to stretch the imagination to include the rest of the "crew" but after a few days any number of reluctant multiple personalities would come forth to proudly volunteer.
Traveling by kayak I put in at the southern end of the lake at the Ranger Station off the Golden Road. My partly cloudy day turned to downright rain as I packed the boat but biding my time between showers I got a nice window of opportunity and shoved off into the wind. My hands touched the water and it was warm as could be. A great treat and a nice vote for paddling the big lakes.
Sometimes rainy weather makes for flat water and I made my way to Mouser Island for my 1st night. The waves were just starting to get a little rowdy as I ducked into the lee of the island glad to be off the water.
At least I don't have to worry about the tide coming in I told myself. Sure enough the wind built and howled so much that 1st night I did get up, drag the boat further on shore and tied it to whatever shrubs I could. (Each and every day from then on I tied the boat up for the evenings)
Next morning the wind seemed to die down between 7-8:30 am. Unfortunatley I didn't get on the water to 9am. I had the choice of making a big crossing to what may have been the protected shore, or a smaller crossing and take the brunt of the wind coming down from the North West.
I talked it over with the rest of the "crew" and voted for the shorter crossing, thinking that I would take my lunch break at Red Brook campsite about half way up the Lake and out of the wind.
For 20 minutes I screwed up my courage with a little warm up practice before heading off into the wind.
It was a wild ride, no doubt about it !!
I thought that I would be taking the waves pretty much head on so the big surprise were the waves coming from the side as well as the front. I have seen this before but I must admit I was surprised to see it on a lake.
Try as I might I looked for a rhythm to it all, but it was more like paddling in a cauldron. Fours hrs later I pull in to my destination and call it a day. I was wiped and knew I was in about the only protected spot along the shore plus it had good "Moosie" potential.
Next day I was up and out at 1st light, no breakfast and made the crossing to the west shore. There was no way I wanted to run the risk of being on the windy side of the lake. ( As I later learned it didn't much matter where you were when the wind kicked up.) As it was the wind stayed down.
I stopped at Graveyard Point at Chesuncook Village a very seculded village. I had thought of walking into town where rumor has it you could by some fudge. Though the picnic table and trail looked warm and inviting it was tempered by the two.. No Trespassng... signs facing you. It was like "Welcome, now go away". It might be a friendlier place but with an eye to the weather I pushed off .
I wanted to see as much of the West Branch that I could before running out of time and energy and made my way to the Little Ragmuff campsite.
Very nice. The preferred way would have been to get dropped off further upstream near Lobster Lake, but I didn't know how many days I would have needed and thought it best to just go up and make a preliminary trip to see as much as I could for future reference. ( I think 3 or 4 days would do the trick)
It was a pretty big commitment to make camp at Ragmuff...the next day, rain or shine, I had to make my return from there all the way back south.
That equalled 3 days out and one to return all the length of the lake.
Up again in the dark and on the water at 1st light paddling through the fog was very ethereal. Quite nice and mysterious in it's feeling.
Nice half day of sunshine and calm weather till 12ish just when I had to make my 1st big crossing.
It didn't look like much on the map but the bay at Sandy Point built some big waves and try as I might I had to ride them where they wanted to push me . Funny when the wind and water are travelling the same direction you don't always get the overwhelming view of white caps but they can build some big water and wind chop. The boat is often a bit "lively " for me when empty but solid as can be when loaded.
The last crossing was the mouth of Caribou Lake. It was a wild ride once again. When sitting in the boat I can only judge if the waves are taller than I am or not. Taller than I am I put at 3 ft plus with wind they come randomly spaced ...to close for comfort.
I call it more like getting "Smeared" you kind of sit on top of the wave while it smears you around a bit then down into the trough. I tell the crew it's not the 1st one that gets you its his big brother right behind to watch for.
....but not to worry I knew I could count on the Skipper, or professor, or Mary-Ann....
So that would be Chesuncook Lake Maine with a beautiful view of Mt Katahdin.
This is Maine's third largest lake, with the Northern Forest Canoe Trail coming along from the West Branch of the Penobscot into the northern reaches of the lake.
Folks I'll be telling you now That is one windy Lake !!
Many a time that refrain kept running through my head..."if not for the courage of the fearless crew the Minow would be lost..." course travelling alone I would have to stretch the imagination to include the rest of the "crew" but after a few days any number of reluctant multiple personalities would come forth to proudly volunteer.
Traveling by kayak I put in at the southern end of the lake at the Ranger Station off the Golden Road. My partly cloudy day turned to downright rain as I packed the boat but biding my time between showers I got a nice window of opportunity and shoved off into the wind. My hands touched the water and it was warm as could be. A great treat and a nice vote for paddling the big lakes.
Sometimes rainy weather makes for flat water and I made my way to Mouser Island for my 1st night. The waves were just starting to get a little rowdy as I ducked into the lee of the island glad to be off the water.
At least I don't have to worry about the tide coming in I told myself. Sure enough the wind built and howled so much that 1st night I did get up, drag the boat further on shore and tied it to whatever shrubs I could. (Each and every day from then on I tied the boat up for the evenings)
Next morning the wind seemed to die down between 7-8:30 am. Unfortunatley I didn't get on the water to 9am. I had the choice of making a big crossing to what may have been the protected shore, or a smaller crossing and take the brunt of the wind coming down from the North West.
I talked it over with the rest of the "crew" and voted for the shorter crossing, thinking that I would take my lunch break at Red Brook campsite about half way up the Lake and out of the wind.
For 20 minutes I screwed up my courage with a little warm up practice before heading off into the wind.
It was a wild ride, no doubt about it !!
I thought that I would be taking the waves pretty much head on so the big surprise were the waves coming from the side as well as the front. I have seen this before but I must admit I was surprised to see it on a lake.
Try as I might I looked for a rhythm to it all, but it was more like paddling in a cauldron. Fours hrs later I pull in to my destination and call it a day. I was wiped and knew I was in about the only protected spot along the shore plus it had good "Moosie" potential.
Next day I was up and out at 1st light, no breakfast and made the crossing to the west shore. There was no way I wanted to run the risk of being on the windy side of the lake. ( As I later learned it didn't much matter where you were when the wind kicked up.) As it was the wind stayed down.
I stopped at Graveyard Point at Chesuncook Village a very seculded village. I had thought of walking into town where rumor has it you could by some fudge. Though the picnic table and trail looked warm and inviting it was tempered by the two.. No Trespassng... signs facing you. It was like "Welcome, now go away". It might be a friendlier place but with an eye to the weather I pushed off .
I wanted to see as much of the West Branch that I could before running out of time and energy and made my way to the Little Ragmuff campsite.
Very nice. The preferred way would have been to get dropped off further upstream near Lobster Lake, but I didn't know how many days I would have needed and thought it best to just go up and make a preliminary trip to see as much as I could for future reference. ( I think 3 or 4 days would do the trick)
It was a pretty big commitment to make camp at Ragmuff...the next day, rain or shine, I had to make my return from there all the way back south.
That equalled 3 days out and one to return all the length of the lake.
Up again in the dark and on the water at 1st light paddling through the fog was very ethereal. Quite nice and mysterious in it's feeling.
Nice half day of sunshine and calm weather till 12ish just when I had to make my 1st big crossing.
It didn't look like much on the map but the bay at Sandy Point built some big waves and try as I might I had to ride them where they wanted to push me . Funny when the wind and water are travelling the same direction you don't always get the overwhelming view of white caps but they can build some big water and wind chop. The boat is often a bit "lively " for me when empty but solid as can be when loaded.
The last crossing was the mouth of Caribou Lake. It was a wild ride once again. When sitting in the boat I can only judge if the waves are taller than I am or not. Taller than I am I put at 3 ft plus with wind they come randomly spaced ...to close for comfort.
I call it more like getting "Smeared" you kind of sit on top of the wave while it smears you around a bit then down into the trough. I tell the crew it's not the 1st one that gets you its his big brother right behind to watch for.
....but not to worry I knew I could count on the Skipper, or professor, or Mary-Ann....
Last edited:
