fitz's spring trip in latest issue

[F Harvey Bowley]

enjoyed the article on Fitz's trip up the Penobscot thru the Debsconeg lakes to the Pemadumcook Chain of lakes Perhaps the 1st time this has been done in reverse since Al Fowler quit bringing parties to the head of Pemadumcook lake in his steamboat to get to the Debsconeg lakes which was the only way to access before there was a road to the Upper West Branch of the Penobscot and you could access it better downriver. I believe we should present Fitz's 8 year old boy with the "LUKE SPENCER" Penobscot Ironman trophy and title for enduring the horrible conditions on this trip the only thing missing was the blackflies,no-see-ums and mosquito's that frequent the area.

 

[smallboatshop]

Also enjoyed the article. Both father and son are very fortunate to share these adventures; creating history to be visited often in years to come.

 

[Fitz]

Thanks

Thanks for the kind words, gentlemen.

Well, the story gets better with each telling! The conditions were not ideal, but the day spent on Pemadumcook was a beautiful warm spring day that allowed us to dry out. Also the ascent of the Penobscot was manageable, and broken up with portages around the short falls sections to stretch the legs. Before we left, I did find a story about members of the Penobscot Nation that ran a trip upstream, so we speculated that it could be done. If not, "Plan C" would have taken us the opposite, more frequented, way around.

I did miss not being able to run Nahmahkanta Stream as originally planned("Plan A"). It is described as a good spring run with lots of Class II whitewater broken up with occasional pools and deadwaters, that sounded manageable, but the weather and our time allotment didn't cooperate and running of Maine "Streams" always seems to create plenty of potential to bust up the boats some. Oh well, some other time.

Brendan is a real trooper. Never uttered a word of complaint (even in the wind driven rain returning to the vehicle on Pemadumcook) and I think he deals with all day, cold, rain better than Dad. We were well prepared with clothing and shelter and we all have a very, very, very healthy respect for cold water and cold wet conditions. He loves the fishing and camping part more than extended paddling sessions. I cherish these outings and I hope he doesn't lose interest as he gets older. His younger sister just figured out what she has been missing after her first trip involving a few days on Lobster Lake this summer, so maybe I will have additional company on upcoming trips (I might need more than one canoe soon hmmn.... ).

F. Harvey - Please elaborate on "Luke Spencer". Brendan wants to know who he has to live up to.

 

[hopkintoncedar]

Fitz, I fish the Namahkanta every spring, it is a beautiful river, and generally, the brook trout and salmon fishing is quite good, try to fit it in the next time, I have not run it yet, but was thinking of doing a "float" fly fishing run next year. With the exception of the first one-half mile coming out of the lake, the sections I have seen are definately navigable. Todd Alving