North we headed, up to the land of the lakes, away from the traffic and crowds of summer. To QUIET! An awesome starlit night in the van Friday. Then Saturday morning we put the canoe into Upper Richardson lake and I watched the boat launch disappear as we glided across the glass flat lake, the surrounding mountains, just stunning!
The usual gang of local loons greeted us as the folks paddled and I played scout on the front of the canoe. Mom took pictures of Upper dam. She gave me a bit of Maine history lesson. Story goes...this whole series of lakes were dammed and flooded to connect for the great log drives of Maine years ago. Mooseloookmeguntic, Upper and Lower Richardsons, Pond in the river, to rapid river then down to Umbagog. We've canoed most of them already. We even got a pic of huge iron rings on rocks.Old anchor rings for the boom chains that kept the logs directed down the lakes.
We watched as a sea plane took off and another flew over us, I think they're cool! We made our way to the portage trail over to Upper dam. We met a group of young adventurers as they portaged their gear. They were from Stowe. I posed for a picture with them. One (middle with straw hat) was a 1999 Appalachian Trail thru hiker. Just like my Mom & Dad, AT trail veterans of 2004 in case you hadn't heard! ha! ha!
Afternoon winds picked up so we found an awesome beach to walk and sunbathe on. Then after a great dinner on the beach we paddled back across the once again smooth water to an incredible campsite. A red squirrel was keeping watch over our site, giving us a good scolding for setting up camp. I give him a bark or two and sent him on his way....for a bit anyway, he kept coming back all night. Whoa is me!
The morning brought a fantastic sunrise over our tent, we packed up early and got in a mystic morning paddle through Cranberry Cove. Did I mention picture perfect weather all weekend......This adventure dog loves canoeing!
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