Lake Richardson etc..

[spider solo]

Well I'm home for a couple of weeks before heading up to Lake Richardson and
Mooselookmeguntic Lake.
This area is covered with the Northern Forest Canoe Trail ..map8... "Umbagog to Rangeley Lake".
Figured I would set asided 5 to 7 days to explore Upper and Lower Richardson then over to Moose-----guntic lake.

Any advice ? Is that too much time for that area ? Figured I could do some on Rangley Lake if I had to much time on my hands...?
Looks to me though you could spend several weeks poking around up there.

I see the maps are marked with campsites and the appropriate places to make reservations... as I don't want to lock into a particular itinerey I"m thinking the Lakes are big enough that I should blend in well enough as long as I avoid the designated campsites ??
Heading up Sept 14th 2007
Thanks for any info...

Are people still gathering for an occasional paddle down in Mass area...?

 

[DougPaul]

Are people still gathering for an occasional paddle down in Mass area...?

Nothing has happened since Lake Chochituate in late June.

Doug

 

[MarshallM]

Should be a fine trip!

Spider Solo, 5 to 7 days to explore the Richardson Lakes, Mooselookmeguntic and Rangeley Lakes is not too much time, IMHO. In fact, last October (2006) I did a similar trip, where I started in Errol, NH (Androscoggin River) and paddled to Rangeley, ME (northeastern corner of Rangeley Lake) on the NFCT partly following the route that you are contemplating. Because I was doing a solo trip, and wasn't able to secure a shuttle ride, I had to retrace the route to return back to my vehicle to Errol. Total trip mileage was about 90 miles and took 9 1/2 days.

Like you, in terms of campsites, I very much didn't want to be locked into a fixed itinerary. With the shorter October daylight hours and concerns about being windbound on the lakes, I was motivated to have a flexible schedule. As it turned out, with the exception of Umbagog Lake, there was nobody around on any of the other lakes to collect any campsite fees (would gladly have paid). In addition, pretty much all of the campsites where generally very good.

Not entirely sure if you are considering beginning your trip on the South Arm of Lower Richardson Lake, but starting above Umbagog Lake will certainly save you a fair bit of time as you will obviously avoid the portage between the two lakes. Given that you don't have a tremendous amount of time, your odds of making it up to Rangeley Lake and back should be much better.

At any rate, ff interested, you can view my pictures from the trip at:
http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/555451598xnfSuI

marshall

 

[spider solo]

Thanks for the info..nice pictures as well. The carry road, down by Rapid River, looked better than I thought it would (unless that was just the nice section). I was on Umbagog last fall for the 1st snow of the season so thought I might broaded my horizons a bit on this trip.
I probably will put in at South Arm,though I need to firm up my plans and make sure the road is open etc..`
Figure I can resupply up at Oquossoc if I need be.

Joined at www.NorthernForestCanoeTrail.org this A.M. so may pick up some additional info from them.
thanks spdr

 

[MarshallM]

Carry "Road"

Good comment on your part about the condition of Carry Road! You are correct in that the road was actually rougher than the pictures suggested. The combination of net elevation gain (about 200 feet) coupled with some large rocks on a number of the hills resulted in the portage taking about twice as long as planned.

Not sure if you use a portage cart or not with your kayak (I do if on a road), but Carry Road was at about the upper limit of what my cart could handle. It has a fairly narrow wheel base which caused a number of tip-overs on the portage up to Lower Richardson Lake, which got old fairly quickly. The other consideration is ground clearance (my cart does pretty well here), as many of the rocks in places were close to basketball size and would likely be a problem for some of the carts with smaller wheels and/or lower riding axles.

Surprisingly, I only covered about one mile per hour both going into and returning from Lower Richardson Lake over Carry Road, although that rate was impacted by a section above the Cedar Stump campsite (on the Lake Umbagog end) that had to be shoulder portaged.

marshall

 

[spider solo]

heading out

Heading on up Fri the 14th. Will probabby put in at Upper Richardson ...Mill Brook Boat Access. Though that was not 1st choice.
I was thinking in terms of parking at South arm Campground but saw they had a Marina and what not which kind of scared me off.
Anybody ever check them out ?

 

[spider solo]

started "trip report" about the lakes. it was a nice trip !