Allagash Wilderness Waterway (2)

It was cold with a hard frost when we awoke, so we ate a hearty breakfast, broke camp and headed to the launch point, a few miles from the camp.

(as usual, click for larger images)



The air was very still and the sky clear and blue (the clear night had allowed for radiational cooling; hence the frost), but the Allagash was still carrying the last of the summer's warmth. It steamed gently in the cool air.




This guy--- a cormorant--- was fishing for his breakfast nearby.




This is the downstream view, towards Long Lake, our route for the day.



Three of us headed north in two vehicles to leave one car at a take-out point, leaving one of our group behind with the gear. As described in a previous post, there aren't many ways to get from point A to point B in the back woods and we had a choice of leaving the stay-behind guy alone for 3 hours or 5 hours. The latter seemed excessive, so after a brief discussion, we opted for the closer take-out.

The driving was more of what we encountered on the way in--- dirt roads, one-lane wooden bridges, and the occasional megaton logging truck doing Warp 9 through the forest.

When you could see the trucks coming, it wasn't bad: You'd pull way over, let the truck blast past (rocking the car and pinging it with sand and small stones), and then wait for the dust to settle enough so you could see the roads and resume driving.

When you couldn't see the trucks coming (eg on blind curves), it was somewhat more exciting.

The poor maps meant we also had to pick our way through the maze of roads with only an approximate idea of which one(s) were correct. A GPS was little help: It knew of many of the logging roads, but treated them all as equals. "Turn left," it would say, and you'd see an old overgrown road filled with man-high, finger-thick saplings. Nope; not gonna drive down that, thank you.

We got back to the put-in point in late morning and, at last, got out on the water.





The fog had burned off and although the air was still cool, the sun was gloriously warm. And yes, it really was this brilliantly clear!





After a while--- an hour or two (I didn't wear a watch)--- we pulled into a nice-looking spot for lunch.





It was a *very* nice spot.



Looking downriver from the lunch stop:



I had been prepared for very cold river water, but it was still surprisingly warm. Despite the frosty nights, critters like this hadn't yet bothered to burrow into the mud.



Our group had a minor bad moment at lunch when one of our members realized that we hadn't put the second vehicle at the further take-out point. Although we'd discussed it and thought it was a group decision (and the further point truly was impractically distant), he'd missed the decision to use the closer point and felt the long-awaited trip was being short changed. We each poked around separately for a bit until everyone was ready to be in each other's company again.

The minor tiff had its rewards. Nice views...



...and I found some moose prints along the river. The penny's for scale.



With everyone smiling again, we headed north through some wider sections of Long Lake. It was gorgeous.



Now that we were well away from even logging roads, we began to see more wildlife, including loons.





Shortly after the above, we saw a very large bull moose on the riverbank sunning himself in the marsh grass. Alas, I had my camera in a waterproof bag, and the moose lumbered off before I could get a shot.

More tomorrow!