Patrik Orcutt 10.17.25
Summer time in Maine is all the time a tough time of the 12 months. On one hand, it’s arguably probably the most stunning season with probably the most number of actions. There may be all the time a mountain to climb, a river to fish, and a few stars to stare upon within the night. Summer time is actually Maine at its peak. Then again, with Maine being situated up to now north, our Summer time is so quick in comparison with our lengthy and brutal winters. This brings up the purpose of time administration and planning your weekends right here within the Pine Tree State. Whereas summer season is the very best time to go to or be a neighborhood Maine’er, it’s the busiest time of the 12 months. This spring/summer season, it has been significantly difficult to search out free time to do all of the issues I got down to do. One factor I used to be not prepared to compromise on was a multi-day canoe journey. After spending the vast majority of the final 5 years exterior my dwelling state, a canoe journey up North on the West Department Penobscot River was precisely what I wanted to reconnect with my Maine roots.
This journey was not sponsored by anybody, however I want to thank Outdated City Canoe for getting me a Discovery 158 I used for this journey and Jetboil for hooking me up with Flash 1.0 Quick boil system to prepare dinner plenty of my meals and make my espresso.
Canoe Protection on AllOutdoor
The Plan
With time slipping away and summer season in full swing, the very best choices for a multi-day canoe journey have been slim resulting from an absence of flowing water on most of the standard rivers this summer season. We opted to move as much as the northern a part of the state and sort out the West Department Penobscot River route. This standard and well-traveled route could be an important start line for my good friend and I as we had little or no expertise on multi-day canoe journeys usually, and didn’t wish to begin out with something too loopy. Coming in at virtually precisely 2o miles from the place we deliberate to place our canoes in at Lobster Stream and experience the river all the way in which to Graveyard Level on the Village of Chesununcook.
With quite a few campsites alongside the river (camp websites are denoted with the triangle/tent icon) this might enable us to paddle nevertheless far we wished to on the primary day after which end up the journey the subsequent day. Whereas we might have preferred to get a great 3 – 5 day journey within the books this season, busy schedules and life occasions stored getting in the way in which. We’d ultimately land on the thought to take two automobiles on the journey and depart one on the finish of the route at Graveyard Level for use to shuttle us again to Lobster Stream, the place we may get the opposite automobile. We additionally wished to camp at Roll Rattling for the primary night time, and whereas most individuals prefer to put in at this level for his or her canoe journeys, we have been uncertain of the situation of the river and didn’t wish to threat something. Touring all the way in which from Bangor, Maine, we estimated it might take solely 3 – 4 hours to get to the campsite at Roll Rattling (boy, have been we flawed).
The Crew
Accompanying me on this journey could be one in every of my oldest and finest pals, Ridge Osgood. Ridge and I’ve identified one another for over a decade and met in faculty, and immediately grew to become nice pals. Ridge spent quite a lot of years within the Air Pressure in Safety Forces earlier than getting out to deal with a profession in fisheries ecology and conservation. I actually couldn’t consider a greater dude to be on this journey with, as Ridge is probably the most outdoorsy individual I do know. His day job as of late is working as a habitat restoration undertaking supervisor for Venture SHARE, a small non-profit that works to preserve and improve Atlantic salmon and wild brook trout habitat and populations within the Downeast rivers area (primarily Washington County) of Maine. Lengthy story quick, Ridge spends on daily basis within the woods and on the water, and I take into account him to be one thing of an skilled on the subject of being exterior within the Pine Tree State.
Whereas we wished to deliver one other one in every of our pals on this journey, scheduling made that subsequent to unimaginable, so sadly, it might solely be the 2 of us. I really feel as if I don’t want a lot of an introduction for anybody who has been studying AllOutdoor for some time now, however I’ll give somewhat little bit of a background on myself right here. I’m a printed photographer and journalist specializing in outside gear evaluations, landscapes, and outside occasions. Based mostly in america, I’m a a contributor to AllOutdoor.com and TheFirearmblog.com, the place I consider merchandise like backpacks, knives, and tenting gear via visible means. I’m additionally a member of the Maine Military Nationwide Guard, serving as a UH-60 Blackhawk Pilot and a Warrant Officer with the 126th Aviation Regiment, the place I additionally doc MEDEVAC coaching and search-and-rescue operations.
That can do it for Half Certainly one of this multi-part story. Be sure you try Half Two, the place I discuss our trials and tribulations moving into camp, and a few extra historical past of the Penobscot River to incorporate a well-known poet.
