Tuesday, May 24, 2011

NFCT - Long Pond to Attean Landing

Last Thursday, I headed about 300 miles north to Jackman, Maine with plans to explore another stretch of the Northern Forest Canoe Trail (NFCT).  Along with my boat and gear, I had promises of no bugs, no crowds, plenty of water and not a lot of sunshine.  All of those promises would be fulfilled.
The particular section of the NFCT traversed would be from the east end of Long Pond to Attean Landing on the Moose River and I would paddle it both ways, not utilizing any shuttles.  This was by choice as I wanted to spend more time than usual and thereby get to explore some of the tributaries as well as the river/pond itself.  By establishing a base camp, of sorts, in one location, I could spend more time on the water without worrying about setting up a new campsite each night.  Fortunately, the Last Resort is located at just about the mid-point of my route where Upper Churchill Stream enters the northwest end of Long Pond.  By car, it's about a 5-mile drive over dirt roads from Route 201 in Jackman.  They have 8 log cabins and 4 tent sites and their slogan is "The Place to Go to Leave it All Behind".  This is how it looks from the water...
It is nice, simple, and rustic.  Prices are reasonable and wildlife is plentiful!  I had the tent area all to myself.  Well, sort of, as I had frequent visits from this male yellow-bellied sapsucker...
He would fly into camp every hour or so and use the privy wall as his sounding board.  He didn't care whether it was in use or not.  He was compelled to send out his message!
Ruby-throated hummingbirds visited my car's red tailight lens, and were also plentiful around the lodge.
The forest floor was decorated with purple trilliums...
Seeing that I was now situated deep in the region known to Native Americans as Wabanaki or Dawn-Land, it was appropriate that I had a copy of Kerry Hardy's Notes on a Lost Flute, A Field Guide to the Wabanaki.  I enjoyed reading it while being serenaded by loons, late-night freight trains, and the on again off again pattering of rain on my tent.

On Friday morning I wheeled my boat to the launch and began heading east following the north shore of Long Pond.  One nice feature about this pond is that it's a naturally formed pond as opposed to the many man-made empoundments.  I passed through both the Upper and Lower Narrows and visited the point where Churchill Stream (the larger one) enters the pond from the north...
Like all the streams and brooks up this way, it was flowing well.  A little further to the east was this rock formation...
After this, the pond narrows again and there are several small islets just before it funnels into a river again and begins to drop in elevation.  This was the point where I turned around...
Anyone going past this point would soon encounter this scene about 2 miles downriver...
This would pin my 'Unmellow' meter and require skills I'll not possess in this lifetime.  The photo was taken from the Demo Road bridge when I drove there on Saturday.
On my return trip to Last Resort, I followed the southern shore of the pond and decided to explore Parlin Stream.  Heading towards its mouth I encountered this moose...
Leaving the moose to its feeding, I entered Parlin Stream and was struck by how easily navigable it was, and how beautiful the view was towards Parlin and Williams Mountains.  I paddled a little ways up the stream until I encountered the bridge carrying the rails of the Montreal, Maine, and Atlantic Railroad (M, M & A) over the stream.  This rail line, once known as the Canadian Pacific's International of Maine Division, was built in 1888 to connect the cities of Montreal, Quebec and St. John, New Brunswick. Today's  M, M & A Railroad combines remnants of the International of Maine and the Bangor and Aroostook Railroads.  The rails hug Long Pond's southern shore much as I would once resuming my journey west.  Along the way, we both passed the concrete ruins of what might have once, long ago, been a commercial enterprise.  Reaching the pond's southwest end, I found this pair of bald eagles watching over things...
By the time I landed back at Last Resort, I'd paddled 20 miles in traversing 8.5 miles of the NFCT.  A hot shower and supper were enjoyed before retiring for the night.

Saturday's weather forecast was for a day's worth of thunderstorms, regular rain and a raw easterly wind.  With that in mind, I decided to stay on land and check out other parts of the NFCT such as Jackman, Demo Rd., Rockwood, and Moosehead by car. 

On Sunday, with hopes of seeing some sunshine, I launched my boat and headed towards the Moose River and Jackman Landing.   Following a tip from Last Resort host, Ellen, I visited this eagle's nest...
I was told the nest wasn't used this year for its intended purpose.
Proceeding up the Moose River required overcoming its steady current.  About halfway to Jackman, I reached the appropriately named Halfway Brook and took a breather while heading up this pleasant stream.  After paddling about a half-mile, I reached a beaver dam and another bridge of the M, M & A Railroad.  Upon passing under the bridge, this bittern was startled by my arrival on  the scene...
Oddly enough, the night before, I'd been reading in Notes on a Lost Flute  Hardy's essay on what he referred to as the Cornmeal Bird (aka stake driver).  Just as he described, the bird resorted to its camouflage technique of looking skyward...
 I left the bittern and returned to a spot just above the beaver dam for my lunchbreak...
Photo taken from the railroad bridge.  While up on the tracks, I took in this view looking westward towards Jackman and ultimately Canada...
Judging from the signal orientation, this line is now operated as "dark" territory.  The switch stand for the passing siding is still equipped with a broom and shovel for cleaning away snow.

Resuming my trip up the Moose, I passed this distinguished group of fish catchers...

I suspect they're sharing some fish tales.
Just after noon the sun broke through the clouds and I encountered this bridge not shown on my NFCT # 10 map...
It's a snowmobile/atv bridge that is located about 1 mile below the Route 201 bridge in Jackman.  The view is looking downriver.
Finally, I paddled the swirling waters under the Route 201 bridge and reached Jackman Landing.  Upon landing, I noted 5 or 6 officials wearing green uniforms.  At first I thought they might be Fish & Game personnel but shortly thereafter, another craft landed and pulled up next to my boat...
The floatplane had entered the United States from Quebec and U.S. Customs/Border Patrol staff were on-hand to verify that all was in order.  I was impressed with just how thorough a job they did.

My day's destination having been attained, I relaunched and headed back to Last Resort.  On the way, I enjoyed the warm sun and views such as this...
At reaching Long Pond, this is the view...
Right in this area were numerous ring-necked ducks, mergansers, and 1 hooded merganser.

Back at camp things were dry for a change while supper was enjoyed.  However, sprinkles of rain resumed at around 10pm.

On Monday morning, after some early rain showers, I broke camp and drove to Jackman Landing.  Here I launched and headed south into a strong headwind towards Attean Landing.  As hard as it was paddling into the wind, I could look forward to having it help me on the way back.  A local fisherman experiencing motor problems had advised me to hug the left side before leaving Big Wood Pond and entering the Moose River where it passes under yet another M, M & A Railroad bridge.  He was putting his boat back on its trailer for a trip to the shop.
Attean Landing was flooded and deserted.  I paddled up a flooded dirt road to where I could land my boat...
Shortly, I headed back and entered Big Wood Pond...

The trip back to Jackman Landing was quick with a windswept following sea. At the north end of Big Wood Pond, the fetch had accumulated some fast moving and confused waves.  It took all of my attention to round the bend back into the sheltered river.  My GPS showed a top speed of 9 mph and I'm inclined to believe it!
Back at Jackman Landing, I found the fisherman (with earlier problems) returned with his motor now running and plans to head up Sandy Stream in search of brook trout and land-locked salmon.

During my visit to the Jackman region, I'd paddled 45 miles to cover 19 miles of the NFCT and enjoyed every mile.  Because I was travelling light, so to speak, I had room to store some of the trash I encountered.  For the record, here are the 3 modest hauls...
There were 20 pieces of trash in 19-miles of river.  Not bad, and the little cooler looked AOK once the mud was emptied out of it.  My YTD total stands at 2697.  The campground had a barrel for returnable bottles and I enjoyed the novelty of placing an empty but REDEEMABLE plastic water bottle, finally and for the first time, where it belongs.  Kudos to the State of Maine! 

That afternoon, I was driving down the "Old Canada Road" (Rt. 201) and passing through the Forks where the Kennebec and Dead Rivers converge.  A few more miles downriver there was a sign indicating a historic location.  This marker was there to show where Benedict Arnold's 1775 expedition to Quebec City diverged from the Kennebec River and headed across an old Native American shortcut to the Dead River above the worst of its rapids...
This provided a nice connection to last fall's NFCT trip, which followed part of Arnold's route across Flagstaff Lake and the Dead River.
 

1 comment:

Ellen Casey said...

Very interesting commentary! Looks like a very nice area! lol

Very nice to meet you.