Brasenia, our 14-foot cedar strip canoe, slipped quietly onto the dark surface of Lobster Stream just a little after 4 pm. We'd been traveling for about 7 hours to reach the put-in just above where Lobster Stream's largely slack current enters the West Branch of the Penobscot. We could have made the trip from Rockland in closer to 5 hours, but it was our first canoe camping trip in the Maine woods, as well as our first time on the Golden Road, so pit stops, last minute provisioning and a wrong turn all conspired to a later than desired start.
Before getting into the trip report itself, allow me a few words regarding Brasenia. Described by a WCHA forum member as being "in terrible condition and a lovely mixture of bad construction, delamination and old water damage," I want to acknowledge up-front what she is and what she isn't. She is not a museum piece, nor is she a restoration project. She is a boat we had not planned on acquiring, but then she suddenly she came into our life this spring. While my wife and I both used to do a fair bit of sea kayaking (I did my fair share of whitewater as well), we have not paddled much in the last decade, and I'd not spent time in a canoe on a Maine lake since I was a kid--my wife never. So when Brasenia somewhat unexpectedly entered our lives (I say "somewhat," as I'd been looking casually since moving back to New England in the fall of 2012), we were not thinking about much beyond an opportunity to get on the water--to fall in love again with silently slipping through liquidity. Brasenia has provided that opportunity on numerous day trips and evening paddles this summer, and we quickly felt the familiar urge to slip farther from the well-travelled world and head up north. For that we are immensely grateful to her--bad construction, delamination and old water damage aside.
WCHA Forums was one of several places we sought advice prior to choosing Lobster Lake, and we are thankful to those who took the time to give us advice and guidance on where we should let Brasenia takes us on her first (with us) canoe camping trip. I hope this trip report helps someone else. One of the big questions we had was about access, given that my wife has an old back issue that surged to life this summer and can be inflamed by a five+ hour drive in our truck--especially if a couple hours of that is over washboard or worse. Traveling in the Saab wagon, however, rarely means she's out of commission when we reach our destination, and our little wagon has taken us some pretty extraordinary places. Still, low clearance and some horror stories had us on the fence until Al at North Maine Woods assured us the road from Millinocket to the Lobster Stream put-in was indeed "Saabable".
Off we went...
While we dared not utter it to one another for fear of jinxing it, the Golden Road was better than either of us expected....by a lot. We made good time on alternating pavement and hardpack (the old surface has been broken up in the worst spots between Millinocket and Caribou Checkpoint and graded into a pretty good surface). The section leading up to and past Caribou Checkpoint was a pleasure to drive. I should mention here that heading up through Greenville and Kokadjo should be the faster routing, but we couldn't get any good info on the road from Kokadjo to the Golden Road--Saabable?! Soon the well sign-posted turn toward NE Carry and the Lobster Stream put-in appeared, and we were on the home stretch.
All told, it was roughly two hours on the Golden Road to the Lobster Stream put-in averaging roughly 30-35 MPH. We could have made it quicker, but there was really no need to push it, as we felt fairly confident we still had enough daylight to make the three-ish mile paddle to camp on Lobster Lake. Stepping out of the car was a joyous experience after the long drive, but the euphoria was short-lived as the mosquitos swarmed. I'm fairly impervious to the buggers (years of guiding in places where mosquitos are considered the state bird has somewhat immunized me), but my poor wife... Put 10 people on an elevator with one mosquito, and she'll walk off the elevator with ten welts. While she adorned the headnet, long-sleeves and bug dope, I quickly shuttled Brasenia and our gear to the waters edge. A fairly stiff breeze had been blowing most of the day, but the put in spot was nicely protected from the westerly wind.
As others have remarked, there is little if any current in Lobster Creek as it winds its way over the roughly two miles between the West Branch of the Penobscot and Lobster Lake itself. We saw a bald eagle almost at once, and with each paddle stroke, the stresses of life swept deeper into the gentle wake behind our boat. My wife turned and smiled, and even the mosquito headnet eventually came off.
Rounding the final bend in the stream, the lake opened up beyond a razor-thin isthmus of grasses and scrub. The view was jaw dropping as the sun slanted low painting the mountains in the distance a dark contrast against the cobalt blue. Rounding the point, the wind caught Brasenia broadside, and we turned east-northeast to follow the shoreline taking the wind over the bow and making sure to note the landmarks that would help us find the stream opening on our way out (several people mentioned that could be a challenge).
[MORE TO COME, AS I GUESS THERE ARE ONLY SIX PICTURES ALLOWED PER POST]
Before getting into the trip report itself, allow me a few words regarding Brasenia. Described by a WCHA forum member as being "in terrible condition and a lovely mixture of bad construction, delamination and old water damage," I want to acknowledge up-front what she is and what she isn't. She is not a museum piece, nor is she a restoration project. She is a boat we had not planned on acquiring, but then she suddenly she came into our life this spring. While my wife and I both used to do a fair bit of sea kayaking (I did my fair share of whitewater as well), we have not paddled much in the last decade, and I'd not spent time in a canoe on a Maine lake since I was a kid--my wife never. So when Brasenia somewhat unexpectedly entered our lives (I say "somewhat," as I'd been looking casually since moving back to New England in the fall of 2012), we were not thinking about much beyond an opportunity to get on the water--to fall in love again with silently slipping through liquidity. Brasenia has provided that opportunity on numerous day trips and evening paddles this summer, and we quickly felt the familiar urge to slip farther from the well-travelled world and head up north. For that we are immensely grateful to her--bad construction, delamination and old water damage aside.
WCHA Forums was one of several places we sought advice prior to choosing Lobster Lake, and we are thankful to those who took the time to give us advice and guidance on where we should let Brasenia takes us on her first (with us) canoe camping trip. I hope this trip report helps someone else. One of the big questions we had was about access, given that my wife has an old back issue that surged to life this summer and can be inflamed by a five+ hour drive in our truck--especially if a couple hours of that is over washboard or worse. Traveling in the Saab wagon, however, rarely means she's out of commission when we reach our destination, and our little wagon has taken us some pretty extraordinary places. Still, low clearance and some horror stories had us on the fence until Al at North Maine Woods assured us the road from Millinocket to the Lobster Stream put-in was indeed "Saabable".
Off we went...
While we dared not utter it to one another for fear of jinxing it, the Golden Road was better than either of us expected....by a lot. We made good time on alternating pavement and hardpack (the old surface has been broken up in the worst spots between Millinocket and Caribou Checkpoint and graded into a pretty good surface). The section leading up to and past Caribou Checkpoint was a pleasure to drive. I should mention here that heading up through Greenville and Kokadjo should be the faster routing, but we couldn't get any good info on the road from Kokadjo to the Golden Road--Saabable?! Soon the well sign-posted turn toward NE Carry and the Lobster Stream put-in appeared, and we were on the home stretch.
All told, it was roughly two hours on the Golden Road to the Lobster Stream put-in averaging roughly 30-35 MPH. We could have made it quicker, but there was really no need to push it, as we felt fairly confident we still had enough daylight to make the three-ish mile paddle to camp on Lobster Lake. Stepping out of the car was a joyous experience after the long drive, but the euphoria was short-lived as the mosquitos swarmed. I'm fairly impervious to the buggers (years of guiding in places where mosquitos are considered the state bird has somewhat immunized me), but my poor wife... Put 10 people on an elevator with one mosquito, and she'll walk off the elevator with ten welts. While she adorned the headnet, long-sleeves and bug dope, I quickly shuttled Brasenia and our gear to the waters edge. A fairly stiff breeze had been blowing most of the day, but the put in spot was nicely protected from the westerly wind.
As others have remarked, there is little if any current in Lobster Creek as it winds its way over the roughly two miles between the West Branch of the Penobscot and Lobster Lake itself. We saw a bald eagle almost at once, and with each paddle stroke, the stresses of life swept deeper into the gentle wake behind our boat. My wife turned and smiled, and even the mosquito headnet eventually came off.
Rounding the final bend in the stream, the lake opened up beyond a razor-thin isthmus of grasses and scrub. The view was jaw dropping as the sun slanted low painting the mountains in the distance a dark contrast against the cobalt blue. Rounding the point, the wind caught Brasenia broadside, and we turned east-northeast to follow the shoreline taking the wind over the bow and making sure to note the landmarks that would help us find the stream opening on our way out (several people mentioned that could be a challenge).
[MORE TO COME, AS I GUESS THERE ARE ONLY SIX PICTURES ALLOWED PER POST]
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