Dead River Canoe - Day Trip

Yesterday was an awesome day.  A few of my friends and I canoed a short section of the Northern Forest Canoe Trail (which is on my bucket list) from Long Falls Dam to Spencer Stream, about 6-7 miles and then attended the grand opening of the newest hut in the Maine Huts and Trails trail system, the Grand Falls Hut.

I love being on the river, any river.  I grew up on the Kennebec River, so that river is closest to my heart, but I could sit and watch a river flow for hours and be content, more so if I am at a rapid or waterfall.  I find it ironic that the only place I am able to be still and "relax" as most other people do is if I am by moving water. So I guess that means my life is defined by movement. 

We had a small group, which was awesome.  We got up and headed to the Long Falls Dam put-in.  It is about an hour and a half drive through Highland Plantation, one of the prettiest areas of Maine (I think their population is lower than Caratunk's). 

Shameless advertising of my man's company on the shuttle vehicle...

Long Falls Dam, I am bad at following direction.

We tooled around Long Falls Dam for a while, and decided that we are definitely doing a multi-day trip here next fall.  The town of Flagstaff used to exist where the lake is now.  When the dam was built in 1948 the town was dis-incorporated and the people were all forced to move.  The same thing happened around here to part of the town of Pleasant Ridge when the Wyman Dam was put in.  Anyway, when the water is low you can see the old foundations, cellar holes, and roads under water.

That is kind of creepy.

Anyway, back to that canoe trip.  I wore my sexy rubber boots.

Sexy boots, right?

The crew...why is my mouth ALWAYS open?

The put-in below the dam.

So I wanted to take all kinds of pictures of the canoe from the dam to the falls, but first, I was kind of busy paddling, but second, there was this headwind from hell that was blowing upstream and creating pretty good whitecaps.  So, I didn't get any pictures besides this one.  But trust me, it was a really pretty paddle, and my arms are tired today.

As we neared Grand Falls, we stopped and checked out the water above the falls to see if we could do the lower water portage.  At high water, you don't really want to take a chance, but at lower water, there is a fun little rapid above the falls and a nice beach type area that you can take out a few hundred yards above the falls.  Just don't miss that eddy.

John and I in the rapids above Grand Falls

Grand Falls

We got the portage done, it was about a half mile or so to get around the falls, and then we put in and paddled back upstream to get a better look at the falls. 

We took the boats out and loaded them into the truck.  We talked about the shuttle back to get the truck at put-in and then walked along the river on a Maine Huts and Trails trail.  It was gorgeous, an awesome walk.  In about a mile we got to the hut itself.

Grand Falls Hut

It was really neat being at the grand opening of a new hut (this is the third of six to be built, all connected by a trail system).  I hope to do some cross country skiing on the trails that the Huts maintain, they have a pretty good network of trails not too far from my house.

We headed out and John and our buddy Scot (yes, 1 t) took care of the shuttle after dropping us off at home.  I am looking forward to the full trip next year!