"You Can't Get There From Here"; A Definition - Mitch's North Maine Woods Trip Report

[XJlimitedx99]

Long time lurker, first time poster over here at Expedition Portal. I am cross posting this trip report here from my typical home forum at ExploringNH because I used several trip reports from EP to help plan our trip and its only fair that I give back to this community as well.

Original ENH Post

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After college, a group of my buddy's and I did an overland trip through NH and into Maine. We have never done anything like it before, but it's safe to say that we caught the bug as we just completed our third annual and are already talking about what we're doing next year.

Each year, one of us has assumed the position of trip leader, which involves doing most of the leg-work for route and itinerary planning. We haven't been electing, or even acknowledging, an official title of leader. Naturally someone has been enthusiastic about a specific trip they want to do and gotten everyone on-board to follow.

This year was my year.

I had been daydreaming about getting up to northern Maine ever since I heard about it. 3.5 million acres of mostly uninhabited gorgeous wilderness, with a bit of industrial history still clinging on. The northern Maine woods are unique in their level of remoteness on the eastern side of the US. Cell service is non-existent, there's more wildlife than people, and the land is ruled by OG Maine loggers who's heritage are these woods. It's no place to go play. Self-reliance is critical, and that's exactly what I was after.

I was chasing a feeling of true "out-there-ness". This trip, for me, was about more than just a camping trip. It was a chance to dive into the weeds of what creating a trip like this entailed, a chance to put my skills and gear to the test, and a chance to chase the feeling of doing something "real" that I'm always after. I never could just settle for run-of-the-mill.

So I got to planning.

I spent months with this trip consuming my thoughts. From the early stages of researching options on where we wanted to go, to acclimating myself with rules, regulations, and expectations, to really nailing down the who-what-when-where-why of our itinerary.

It started off, of all places, here; on the forums. The first trip report I ever saw was "The Map is Not the Territory: A Northern Maine Adventure," and that got me hooked. I’ve read through it several times over the years, and have recommended it many times in hopes of inspiring others to get out there and adventure. That’s my inspiration for writing this report. I hope this gets somebody’s gears turning about making it happen.

This wasn’t my first experience with the Moosehead area. I had been there once before two years ago. We camped at Seboomook Wilderness campground at the north end of Moosehead in the middle of June. Huge mistake. I now know why everyone mentions the flies when talking about coming to this area in the spring. It's because the flies are relentless. There is no escaping them. I remember wearing long sleeves and pants even though it was hot out for any hope of relief from the little biting buggers, but it made no difference. They were out for blood. Lesson learned. This time around we planned for later in the season.

However, the north woods are very popular during hunting seasons which typically start to open in mid September and go through the remainder of the fall season. With our goal of seclusion, and not wanting to deal with crowded campsites, we purposely chose to go before game seasons opened. Early September. The best time of year, in my opinion. We actually ended up starting our trip on Labor Day weekend, which proved to be problematic (shocker). The group consensus was we’d rather save a PTO day from work and deal with the crowds than go a different week. I’d recommend going a week earlier.

With our dates picked out, I had a hard deadline of when I needed to put a plan together. Many nights of scouring forums, blogs, Youtube, Reddit, and other media outlets where I could find any information on this diamond in the rough that is north Maine. There is not an abundance of information on the activities in this area. North Maine Woods is most popular for hunting, extended canoe trips, and snowmobiling, but not so much overlanding. Same goes for the Penobscot/Baxter area.

I eventually came up with this:

Ya, I know.

I had chosen a few points of interest that I wanted to hit, and had a handful more that I proposed to the group while we decided how we wanted the trip to go. The end-goal was the ghost trains of the Eagle Lake and West Branch railroad, but there were many other cool sights to see that made this a trip of a lifetime.

We decided we wanted to basecamp a few nights on this trip rather than move sites every night. After 7 nights on the move last year, we wanted to have some days where we didn’t need to stress about finding a campsite at the end of the night. Didn’t exactly work out like that, but it was a good thought.

Heading into the trip, our plan was 8 nights. We would start at a grandparent’s cabin just outside Farmington, Maine and make our way through Greenville up to the Baxter area for two nights before backtracking to Greenville for a resupply. From there we headed up into the north woods for 3 nights of immersion in the wilderness, then another 2 nights to make our way back down towards where we call home.

Our group consisted of myself and 5 of my best friends from college. We were all engineering majors, 5 of which were mechanical and 1 ocean engineer. We’ve all since graduated and started the next phase of our lives, and have been fortunate enough to keep our bond alive and thriving with the tradition of these trips that started just after graduation.

The crew:

Name: Eric
From: Hartford, CT
Vehicle: 2017(?) Tacoma with lift, skids, RTT, etc.
Other: Has changed my opinion of him from mall crawler to worthy. Pretty experienced camper/outdoorsman and has the most well-outfitted setup.

Name: Zach
From: Long Island, NY
Vehicle: 2004(?) Jeep Grand Cherokee with lift
Other: Still a mall crawler LOL. Wouldn’t have it any other way. Zach has an unmatched passion for the outdoors. You’d never guess he was from Long Island if you talked to him.

Name: Jessi
From: Colebrook, NH
Vehicle: Normally BMW motorcycle. This year: 2020 Tacoma!
Other: Gotta give it to Jessi for going along with the trip this year. Jessi has become very passionate about adventure motorcycling, and unfortunately the bike had to stay at home this year per NMW rules. Jessi ponied up for some all terrain tires for his brand new Tacoma and sent it.

And, welcoming two new members this year! These guys saw how great our NEBDR trip was last year and wanted to join this year’s goose chase.

Name: Regan
From: Rhode Island
Vehicle: 2000(?) 4Runner with lift
Other: I used to think Regan was a smart guy but he bought an older rig and spent half the year working on it to get it ready for this trip. Takes after me! Regan is quite the character. Primal in nature, yet logical, relatable, and warm-hearted. Glad to have you bud.

Name: Phil
From: Nashua, NH
Vehicle: Regan’s shotgun seat
Other: Phil committed to this trip after being told about it less than a month prior. If there is anyone in the world who I think could spend 7 days in a vehicle with Regan, it’d be Phil. The level of antics is unparalleled.

Maybe Phil will buy a vehicle for next year if I keep sending him rigs on marketplace

And last, myself:

Name: Mitch
From: Currently Chester, VT. Originally Milford, NH
Vehicle: 1999 Jeep Cherokee XJ, 35’s, locked rear, more of a wheelin rig than overlander.
Other: Going into the trip, I was very skeptical about the reliability of my Jeep for a trip like this. I spent 9 months replacing the floor pans and building custom rock sliders, which didn’t leave a ton of time to work out the bugs before this trip. I kept telling myself it's all part of the adventure…




(I'm limited to 10 pics and 10k chars per post. Hang tight! This will take a bit.)

 

[XJlimitedx99]

Day 0: Friday September 3rd

Half day from work, got home to the Jeep already packed and ready to hit the road. Grocery store, gas, and I headed northbound destined for the cabin. About a 4 hour ride up. The Jeep was running good and I was feeling good. Felt like it took forever, and it started raining the moment I crossed into the Maine border. Felt like it was an omen for what was to come…

Day 1: Saturday September 4th. My birthday!

Woke up to bluebird skies feeling chipper and ready to get after it. We were treated to a hearty homemade breakfast and some stories from Regan’s grandparents, including the origin story of this massive stuffed lobster.





As we were packing up, a friend stopped by who is the most Maine person i have ever met. He was over the night before, but I didn’t appreciate his character as much as I did seeing him in the day. Timmy was born, raised, and lived just up the road from here. He arrived on the side-by-side behind him wearing the same tattered jacket he had on the night before. His accent was slightly more decipherable than the incoherent rambling we experienced the night before, but not by much. Funny Fellow.

We said our goodbyes and set out on our journey. The destination of this day was the Horserace Brook campground on Golden Rd right on the Penobscot river by Ripogenus Gorge. It was an ambitious goal for day 1. We wanted to get some miles behind us to get north quickly.

After a far too long grocery store stop, we were on our way. We headed northeast on main roads for a while until we came close to our first turn into the unknown.

“We’re gonna be looking for a left here comin’ up soon.”

We dipped off the main road onto a route that I scouted solely from satellite images. To me, it looked like it was a more direct route through some dirt roads, but it ended up being much more.

Almost immediately this road turned rather rough. Some rocks and ruts with tree branches encroaching the edges of the roadway. This was exactly what I wanted to do. I pulled the Jeep down into 4 low and led the convoy up the road.

We poked our way through the woods at a typical wheeling pace. According to the map, we had about 10 miles to go before we were back on pavement and on track to Greenville. At the pace we were traveling, there was no way we’d be able to cover that distance and make it to our destination at a reasonable time. I got ahead of the group a bit and got to a part of the trail that I thought would be a bit more aggressive than the other guys would want to drive. I got myself turned around and started to head down as the other guys caught up. We talked about our time constraint, and asked whether we should continue on or head back to the road to take the long way around. The guys said no way are we turning back. We’re pressing on!

We aired down, disconnected sway bars, and continued up the road. Eric went first. To my surprise, he took the tough line! I was excited to see that, and apparently he was too based on the look on his face.

Regan and Phil came through next. Regan is completely new to the world of off-roading, but is not scared to just go for it. He headed up the rut, and his 4Runner made quick work of it.

Zach, Jessi, and myself then followed through, and we were on our way up the trail. We still had the concern of 10 miles of slow going though…

After a few minutes we came out of the trail at a junction with a wind tower access road. I knew the towers were in this area from the satellite imagery, but not that close. We were staring up at one. The map said go right, but there was a hillcrest just up to the left and I wanted to see what was on the other side. Boy, am I happy I did.

 

[XJlimitedx99]

Cresting the hill revealed an amazing view over the valley and of the Bingham Wind Farm. A total of 56 turbines, 51 of which I counted from where we were. Parked right at the base of a tower, ATV’s were zipping by, and some other people were stopped taking pictures at the same place. This destination was completely unplanned and unexpected. We really were off to a good start.

After we had our fill, we continued on following the line on the GPS. After a few minutes of driving the wind tower road, we came up on a gate that indicated the area beyond was a private hunting area. It clearly started “no wheeled vehicles”, so we backtracked to the nearest bailout spot and made tracks for the pavement to get us back on track.

We stopped at Indian Hill Trading Post in Greenville for fuel and groceries to support us for the next few days, then headed north up the eastern side of Moosehead lake. We passed through Kokadjo until it intersected with Golden Road, which we took east past Ripogenus Lake and Telos Road until we reached our prospective campsite at Horserace Brook on the Nesowadnehunk Deadwater.

Just as soon as we started to feel like we were in the woods, I encountered a surprise visitor while I was at the front of the pack doing about 40 mph.

 

[XJlimitedx99]

"MOOSE!" I shouted over the radio as I slammed on my brakes to avoid the Jeep-sized animal running across the road right in front of me. I felt like he was there to welcome us.

We arrived to find the campsite full. No surprise because it was Saturday on Labor Day weekend. We scouted a few other spots nearby that I had mapped out but found everything else to either be occupied or a bust. We opted to continue east a bit further to Abol Bridge Campground. The view from the bridge was impressive.

We weren’t thrilled about paying $30 per person per night, but it was getting late in the day and they had a site that could accommodate us. Our initial plan was to spend 2 nights at the same campsite, but we decided to work with this site for a night and find another spot the next night. It ended up working out better than we could’ve imagined.

With low expectations, we went down to the site and were pleasantly surprised. Decent amount of area, on the water, and a view of Katahdin. Score! We set up shop and had dinner rolling quickly. Pulled chicken sandwiches were on the menu tonight. A while later, the neighbors came over and gave us two soft-shelled lobsters that were pulled out of one of the bays down on the coast earlier that morning! I wish we got a picture of them. We tore them up pretty quickly! What a treat. We went over to hangout with them for a while to share stories and laughs over a few beers. Solid first day of our journey.

Day 2: Sunday September 5th

Something to be said for staying at a campground with hot showers and a continental breakfast. We got our $30’s worth!

We got packed up and headed out to the first destination of the day: the Debsconeag Ice Caves, which were conveniently directly across the road from where we were camping.

Hiked a long mile-or-so out to the scenic outlook over 1st Debsconeag Lake in the Debsconeag Lakes Wilderness Area. Absolutely beautiful forest out in this area. It felt really good to be spending some time on foot on this trip. It was something we all agreed we wanted to do rather than hammer miles every day. We had a good chat with another small group of people, and looked across the lake over to a beach campsite I had mapped. We tried to make out if we were seeing people camping or brush on the beach, as we would be headed that way later in the day to look for a new place to camp. We couldn’t really tell, but it did look like a gorgeous site.

Left the overlook and took a short detour down to the ice caves. Super cool pile of rocks with a hole underneath! There are steel rungs driven into the rock with a rope to help climb in and out. I cannot imagine the first people who thought it was a good idea to climb down.

 

[XJlimitedx99]

This was a fun spot to check out. Plenty of room for all of us to be in the cave together. This was probably the least likely time of year to find ice in the cave, but it was cold down there. We searched around in many cracks and crevices. I was most impressed by Regan’s sandals which proved to be extremely durable and quite the sensation enhancer.

(gotta give some credit to those jeans too)

AND WE FOUND ICE!

We hiked back out to the trucks and continued on with our day. Next Stop: Pockwockamus Rock (these Maine names are pretty ridiculous). We had 2 options to get there from where we were: Golden Road, or Old State Road. I chose Old State Road for no reason other than making a loop instead of going out and back. Old State Road turned out being the remnants of a main road whose asphalt could now be mistaken for the site of a bombing. These roads with old pavement are quite brutal on the body and vehicle because you want to travel at a decent speed, but the potholes have such sharp edges that send violent jolts through your soul. They smooth out if you go faster

The only car we passed was a Maine Forest Ranger. After a few short miles we intersected with Baxter Park Road, which was a comically dramatic change in road conditions from worse than dirt to brand new pavement.

We pulled up to the mural to find a fair amount of other people there taking pictures. We (I) spent far too long waiting for everyone to get out of the way to get some pictures from the middle of the road. I’d say it was worth it.

Got moving from here with the goal of finding a new campsite for the evening, then driving the loop road in the Katahdin Woods and Water National Monument. I had some sites marked out nearby and it was early in the day. We headed several miles down a rough access road which put us at a gorgeous beach campsite. This was a state campsite along the Penobscot River Corridor. These sites are unmanned, first come first serve, with just a minimal fee dropped in the box.

There were several other groups set up along the beach stretched out over a few hundred feet. There was one great spot open, but one problem: The entrance to the beach was blocked to prevent vehicles from driving out onto it. No problem for 5 of us, but Eric couldn’t set up his roof top temp in the parking lot. Eric was willing to bunk with one of us to make this spot work, so we didn’t write it off, but we wanted to keep looking.

We continued up the road to find another smaller beach site, which looked like it would work better for us. Didn’t look like it worked as well for the person who left their Subaru on a jack in the parking area. I radioed to the other guys to make their way up the road to this new site.

We scouted around the site and decided we liked it. However, the road kept going…

I did not have any more campsites marked farther up the road. Satellite images didn’t show the road going much farther, but I had to explore. I drove up the rough road as far as it would go. It got tighter and rougher. I began to doubt I was allowed to be there. I considered turning around, but I pushed on. Farther, farther, and finally it opened up to something amazing…

“Uhh, I think you guys better get up here.”

Eric was not thrilled about having to break down his tent that he just set up, but in front of me was one of the most gorgeous campsites I’ve ever seen. This was a Maine state site right on the Debsconeag Deadwater with the most amazing view of Katahdin I’ve ever seen. All plans for the rest of the day were canceled. We hung out and enjoyed ourselves for the rest of the day.

 

[XJlimitedx99]

Just past the site was the end of the road. It ended at an old camp which didn’t look overly decrepit, but didn’t look all that frequently used. The yard of the camp had a pair of Adirondack chairs perched on the edge of the water overlooking the mountain. This was a really special place. I feel very blessed that we were able to stumble upon this gem.

Great dinner, great tunes, great beer, great times. It rained hard that night. There’s something very calming about being warm and dry in a tent while the weather outside is frightful.









Day 3: Monday September 7th

Awoke the next morning to cloud cover, but thankfully the rain had passed. It was funny knowing there was a mountain looming in the distance while the cloud cover obscured our view to the river running by.

We made a quick breakfast and headed out with a lofty goal for the day: Make it to Greenville for a resupply, then head up into North Maine Woods from there, with several stops planned along the way.

Had to get some good shots at the camp before leaving

And we had a blast splashing through the puddles on our way out of our campsite after the rain.

We made our way back west to our first point of interest at Ripogenus Gorge. We unknowingly stopped at the wrong pull off and made our way down the trail. The trail led down to the river with a nice view of a large rocky outcrop jutting high out of the river.

The rest of the guys spent a few minutes by the water. Zach ran up to his rig to get his rod and ended up pulling some salmon out of the river. I made my way up a herd path that followed the river along the top of a steep embankment down to the roaring river. I had looked at the map and saw we were just south of the typical viewing area, so I pushed up the trail for 5 minutes or so looking for the gorge.

It felt like forever as I wandered farther off from the group without having told anyone where I was going. Eventually I got to a viewing area which looked up the river at the gorge a little ways off in the distance, right at the head of the rocky island outcrop seen before. I was looking straight down into a roaring eddy 20 feet below me. I was hanging onto the tree next to me real tight because it looked like a great spot to fall off the cliff and never be seen again.

 

[XJlimitedx99]

Made our way a few minutes up the road to Ripo Dam. This place was quite impressive. I didn’t know we could drive across it. That was fun. We spent some time talking about how powerful the water must be on the big dam releases. This was a fun stop.

Continued on our way southbound, even though our ultimate goal was north. We spent a fair amount of time deliberating our agenda on this part of the trip to figure out how we wanted to resupply before heading into NMW. Ideally we would’ve gone from Ripo through Telos or Caribou checkpoints, but there is a serious lack of stores in that area. The only option is Raymond’s Country Store in Northeast Carry. We also looked at options in Millinocket, both heading north to enter NMW from the eastern side, and also heading back to Greenville through the Jo-Mary/Katahdin Ironworks area. We ultimately decided to backtrack because it seemed like the safest bet.

Part of the reason for going back to Greenville was incorporating some more points of interest in the area. First stop was Kokadjo Trading Post. We had originally considered using this as our resupply and heading north. I’m glad we didn’t because they only had the basics for food, but it was a fun stop regardless. I bought a stuffed moose as a souvenir for my girlfriend and stuck him up on my dash for the remainder of the trip.

Our next point of interest was an interesting one. Known only to me as “Mount DRAM”, I was chasing the views found by another group of adventurers who have written other trip reports on Expedition Portal under the name “Dirt Roads Across Maine”, aka, “DRAM”. This was a total crap-shoot because they did a good job of concealing the location of their journey. Using context clues and inferences, I scouted what I believed to be the elusive Mt DRAM.

We headed out of Kokadjo and towards what I hoped was Mt DRAM. We pulled off at a random dirt road that I had mapped out. The road wandered up into the woods, and quickly gained elevation. I put the Jeep into 4 low and crept up the windy loose shale road. We passed a group of older people in a new Wrangler out bird spotting or something. They gave us a wave that said “what in the world are you guys doing here?”

We waved back and pressed on, likely making a scene as 5 vehicles with out-of-state plates headed up a supposedly dead end wood road. At some point during the ascent, my Jeep hiccupped a bit, just cut out for a moment before continuing to chug along. I didn’t think much of it at the time.

We made our way up to a sand pit which blocked the road ahead. We weren’t at the point that I had marked on the map, and my eyes were set on forward. At the opposite end of the clearing was a narrow goat path of a trail that had once existed. I bumped up over the embankment and crept my way down the path, curious of how deep it went.

I was on this trail alone. I drove the trail farther up than I should have. After the better part of a half mile up this trail, I searched out any spot I could to turn around and bail out. I finally found somewhere to spin the Jeep around, but the trail kept going. I walked a bit farther up for another few minutes, and the desolate trail being consumed by nature continued to meander up the mountain side. I wish I hiked further up, but I was out of range on the radio and, once again, found myself in a position where I could disappear and not be found.

I made my way back down out of the woods and was awarded with this phenomenal view of Moosehead Lake looking down from the mountain.

 

[XJlimitedx99]

We found ourselves a nice spot for lunch up on the mountain with a great view looking north. The sun was shining and we were really feeling like we were out there on an adventure. Next stop was supposed to be the B-52 crash site, but we opted to bypass because we were running short on time to meet our goal of the day, and most of us had seen it before.

The ominous clouds rolling in from the West prompted us to get moving. Shortly after leaving the area of the sandpit, I noticed we had taken a wrong turn off my GPS track on the way up the mountain. The route I had planned to scout would’ve taken us up and over the mountain, following what I believed to be track from the DRAM adventures. The particular fork was easy to miss, as the road the GPS wanted us to take was overgrown and blocked by a large pile of brush. Too bad, the backside of the mountain looked like a fun track.

Further down the road, we came across the birdwatchers standing outside their Jeep looking down at a flat tire. We pulled over and assisted them getting their spare put on while chatting about how we ended up in the area. The gentleman told us he never sees people up there and it's not very well known. He thanked us for the help and wished us good luck on the rest of our trip.

We headed into town and resupplied on food and drinks enough to support ourselves for the next 3 days. We were actually fairly well stocked on food, as each of us brought some good meals to make for everyone. We ran into the birdwatchers again in the parking lot, who joked about how we should be able to make it through anything with the amount of beer we bought.

Our plan at the beginning of the day was to make it into North Maine Woods. At this point it was getting late in the afternoon and the clouds were overhead with a storm imminent. We opted to change our plans to search for a campsite at some of the points I had mapped on the Seboomook Lake Public Reserve Land.

We set out northbound, up the west side of the lake. It was dark, windy, and the rain had just started to fall. We made decent time to Rockwood, past the impressive Mt Kineo. After we made the turn onto Northern Rd, the skies opened up. We were driving through a torrential downpour up a dirt road which was quickly turning into a river. Wipers on full were barely helping. Our pace slowed to 15 mph at some points for lack of visibility. It was actually pretty fun, minus the fact that we were headed to look for a campsite which was also getting this aggressive watering.

I wish these pictures did justice to how aggressive this rain was. Zach’s journal has the descriptor “advanced darkness”, which I find appropriate. It's like the weather was giving us a warning to keep out…

The rain let up as we got closer to our destination. We pulled into the first site I had listed to find two sites next to each other with a lean-to and a pavilion over a picnic table, just up the road from Pittston farm to top off fuel the next morning before heading into the woods. It was exactly what we needed.

We quickly got set up and started cooking, anticipating the window of clear skies would not last. This night we had some food that had needed to be cooked as it had been in coolers for multiple days, so we ate like kings. I whipped out some chili and cornbread, and I think Phil, if I remember correctly, made some very spicy shrimp and rice that really hit the spot. Camping in the rain can suck. Warm food and good beer makes sure it doesn’t.

While preparing dinner, we experienced a really special moment. After all the rain, the rushing to get set up, and the overall feeling of falling behind schedule from not getting to NMW, the clouds parted and we were gifted a gorgeous sunset. It was like we broke through the thick-skin of Maine and were welcomed inside its home after demonstrating our belonging.

 

[XJlimitedx99]

Day 4: Tuesday September 8th

Woke up this morning feeling like we survived a battering, and the rigs showed for it.

Pancakes for breakfast! Check out this monster:

Headed over to Pittston Farm to top off on fuel. We got there to find they were actually closed, but they were kind enough to turn the pumps on enough for us.

Gas was our largest constraint on this trip. We figured my Jeep would have the worst mileage, and assumed it would be even lower than usual while driving in the north woods. I assumed 10 mpg with my 20 gallon tank, plus 10 extra gallons in jerry cans. That netted me a range of 300 miles, give or take. The other guys all brought 5-10 gallons of extra fuel with them each, and the two Tacomas have significantly better range per tank than I did, so we figured we could go a bit farther. The route we had planned would total 300 miles between fill-ups.

After spending a few minutes at Pittston farm asking questions about road conditions, radio communications, and water springs, and also playing with a corgi named Michael that was ecstatic to play fetch with rocks, we were off.

Pulled out of the farm’s driveway and were quickly at the 20 Mile Checkpoint. A very nice lady named Mim got us squared away with registration, and also gave us further updates on road conditions. I asked if she could mark up my gazetteer with the locations of some bridges that are out that are not mapped. She flipped through the pages like she wrote them. It was obvious she was very familiar with the territory, and also how it is the norm for road conditions to change frequently. It ended up really paying off that I asked her to mark the locations.

Jumped back into the rigs, and we were officially in North Maine Woods territory. Not 5 minutes in, we were already looking at a pile of dirt blocking our way, forcing us to turn around and back track. Felt very fitting, and a good indication of what was to come.

Got back on track, and quickly found ourselves on Golden Road again, headed eastbound looking for our next turn onto 490 road.

 

[XJlimitedx99]

“Hey, how do you guys feel about taking a little detour?”

My map showed a road that cut the corner between Golden and 490. We hung a left, and headed down Elm Stream Rd. This was still a popular road for the woods. Well traveled. The roads are categorized in the gazetteer in 3 groups. This was a secondary road. It was much narrower, a bit rutted, and subject to potholes. We traveled quite quickly down this narrow windy road. Up and down hills with varying terrain from hardpack soil, loose rock, muddy puddles, and everything else. We were having a blast. This was a great feeling.

After a few minutes we called to stop for a bio break over the radio, which resulted in one of my favorite pictures from the entire trip, completely unplanned…

A few minutes further up the road, we ran into an obstruction. A crew working on a bridge with equipment. They had the whole road consumed, and a pile of dirt in the way. Looked like we were gonna get turned around again. The guys told us they would have the road cleared and ready to travel in 15 minutes, so we decided to wait. I talked with a couple of them for a few minutes while the guy in the excavator leveled the pile. The other guys thought that 10 AM on a Tuesday was a good time for Twisted Teas. I’d have to agree!

Just a few short minutes later, and we were traveling over the soft soil they had just leveled and over the bridge that just opened up. Back to covering miles.

“LOG TRUCK”, was exclaimed over our radios. It would be a common alert over the next few days.

Our first encounter was on 490 road. These things are huge. They use extra-wide trailers and load them significantly more than any public road traveling truck ever could legally be. Pulled way off, and watched this rig come by.

It was about this time that the music downloaded on my phone via Spotify stopped working. Flipped through the available radio stations to find everything in French. Canadian radio it was! It felt very fitting. They had some great radio stations. We all tuned in and had a great time.

We made our way to our tentative site at Wadleigh Pond. We found the site to not be what we thought it would be, as we couldn’t get the rigs to the site. A quick look at the map showed some other sites not too far up the road, so we went to check them out. Came up behind another log truck on the way, and followed him for a little while. It was interesting to watch this behemoth lumber down the road, with the engine roaring and jake brake singing up and down every hill like a dinosaur meandering through the woods.

The next campsite we found was on Saint Francis Lake, and it was absolutely a winner. A very private site nestled on the side of a pristine lake without a soul around. Paradise.

These NMW authorized campsites are great. They’re very well taken care of, typically with a picnic table and privy. We got set up, cracked some beers, and basked in the glory that we were immersed in. This place felt great.

 

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Eric and Zach went for a paddle while Jessi dug the fire pit out to get dinner going. Tonight was going to be a roast done under a bed of coals. One of Jessi’s many superpowers is being able to cook a mouthwatering meal in the most primitive means imaginable.

Regan and Phil goofed around for a bit, and I strung my hammock up on the edge of the water to take it all in.

As the sun set, we all settled in to enjoy each other’s company while listening to the sweet sounds of Jake brakes echoing through the forest.

One by one everyone trailed off to bed. Eventually just Regan and I were awake, and we got to see one of the best starscapes I’ve ever witnessed. I’ve never taken astrophotography shots before, but have always wanted to. Regan helped me get things set up properly, and we got some pretty stellar results.

Day 5: Wednesday September 5th

Today was the day. This was the big one for the trip where we would get to see all the places I had pinned on the map. First stop was the place that first got my gears turning about North Maine Woods when I saw it in “The Map is Not the Territory”, the ghost trains of the Eagle Lake & West Branch Railroad.

The trail to the trains was not far from the campsite, and the hike itself was very easy to find and follow. There has been a lot of maintenance on this area in recent years. It's no longer a scavenger hunt of a bushwhack.

A mile or so into the trail, we found the first evidence of the life this land once lived. A pair of tracks emerged from the undergrowth, concealed from view until you pretty much trip over them.

Regan continued to push his sandals to the limit. Still holding strong.

 

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As we continued down the trail, the artifacts became more and more prevalent.

In this picture you can see the group reflecting on their decision to spend days getting into the woods to look at this old junk.

 

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Not long after we arrived at the two rows of cars rotting away next to each other. These two sets of parallel tracks have 20-30 cars lined up. The wooden frames are twisted and mangled from almost a century of nature taking its toll.

Finally, I made my way down the embankment and out into the clearing. Standing before me were two steam locomotives sitting where they were parked 88 years ago. These machines are massive, yet they seemed so dwarfed by the landscape around them. It was cool to think that somebody pulled these into the engine shed that once stood over them, likely not knowing it would be the last time they would ever be operated.

 

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We spent some time climbing all over them and taking plenty of photos. The cab on one is completely gone, with the other not far behind. The floor is not far from getting somebody’s foot put right through it. Covered in silly graffiti (thankfully not covered in spray paint) and stripped of anything worth taking as a souvenir, these two have seen better days. It’s nice to see the site is taken care of, and the locomotives have been stabilized (one had almost toppled over from the soil eroding under it).

 

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One of my favorite aspects of this area is the two layers of history that are present. The first being the EL&WB RR, which has sat abandoned since 1933, and the second being the Eagle Lake Tramway which operated from 1902 to 1907.

The short lifespan of these two operations is indicative of northern Maine’s fierceness. The tramway operated for just 5 years, and the railroad for just 6, between 1927 and 1933. The forest cares not if we thrive or suffer. It took real men to find their place out there. We didn’t make the hike over to the Eagle Lake side to see the tramway monument (another half-mile or more hike), but I wish we had. There are remnants of the tramway mingled in with the railway junk.

After spending quite a long time taking pictures and exploring about, we made the hike out and scarfed down some lunch in the parking lot before pressing on. The ultimate goal for the day was the most remote location planned for the trip: Red Pine Grove landing strip, an abandoned air strip on the banks of the St. John River in the heart of NMW. We weren’t headed directly there though. I had a couple other points of interest on the way.

One of my biggest desires on this trip was to find ourselves on some long forgotten roads. Coming into the trip, that had a little bit of a different feeling to me after driving NH Class VI’s for years. Class VI’s have legacies. They have history. Each one can tell a story 300 years old. The wood roads in the forest don’t carry the same weight. The NMW roads change like the weather. What is shown as a secondary road in the most recent edition of the gazetteer turns out to be this:

Getting rejected and spit back out onto the main road again, we looked elsewhere for a detour off the main road to take us in the direction we wanted to go. Ended up finding a fun little section that cut a corner of the main road and brought some excitement for 30 minutes or so. This road was grown in with grass, but not yet trees. It likely had only fallen out of use in the last couple years.