How do you follow up a run on the Allagash, it's moose, it's diversity, it's natural beauty? More Maine river! Only this time we bring enough beer.
I'm thinking two nights on the remote Lobster lake fishing, cooking and talking rivers, nature and art. We roll in with a canoe full of fresh vegetables, fine cuts of game and beer on ice along with passages from Thoreau's "Maine Woods" to prepare us for days of river alone with the moose. From Lobster lake we head up upstream to the Penobscot, the upper west branch. We make camp the first night at Thoreau Island, where the author himself camped along with his Penobscot Indian guides. Im thinking fresh grilled trout pulled from the very river we dine near on a bed of pea and pancetta faroah. Food snobbery seems fitting for such priceless ambiance.
I'm thinking two nights on the remote Lobster lake fishing, cooking and talking rivers, nature and art. We roll in with a canoe full of fresh vegetables, fine cuts of game and beer on ice along with passages from Thoreau's "Maine Woods" to prepare us for days of river alone with the moose. From Lobster lake we head up upstream to the Penobscot, the upper west branch. We make camp the first night at Thoreau Island, where the author himself camped along with his Penobscot Indian guides. Im thinking fresh grilled trout pulled from the very river we dine near on a bed of pea and pancetta faroah. Food snobbery seems fitting for such priceless ambiance. Our days never require a hard paddle, moving a mere 6-10 miles a day. "Lazy" is the pace I imagine. We have five nights to do what could be done in 3. Yes, we have time to chill, time for long drawn out chess games and ideas for collaberative installations that'll never come to fruition.
From Thoreau Island we paddle to the one of the numerous campsites near or on Big Island. Big Island isn't really that, it's a small island in the middle of the West Branch offering the river a road block that creates our only quickwater and class I rips. After fish tacos and many cans of coors we continue on toward Chesuncook Lake. The winds at Chesuncook lake might make crossing to Gero Island, where we camp our final night or two, difficult. A little planning and an early start should put us on the island with no problems. From here we wind down the trip, begin having the conversations of how little time we have in life and what our next trip might be before we head into Umbazooksus Stream and our take out in the North Maine Woods.For now, we have only the featureless map, a few google image searches and a month of desire.
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