The north Maine woods is a special place, especially for canoeists. My friend and I set off Friday afternoon and shuttled our vehicle to our take out at Chesuncook village, then got dropped off with our canoe, dog and supplies at Lobster lake (see last picture for map). We canoed to lobster lake and camped out on a pristine sandy beach and enjoyed dinner over the fire. No bugs this time of year!
The next day we canoed around lobster lake and hiked lobster mountain for some epic views. After lunch back at our first campsite we packed up and started heading down the upper west branch of the Penobscot river. It rained the whole time but it was warm so it didn’t bother us. We arrived at our second campsite, halfway house, around 6pm. It was still drizzling but fortunately we had planned an easy Good to Go dinner. We were exhausted after a long hike and about 10 miles paddling.
On our final day, we paddled 8 miles to our takeout at chesuncook village. This stretch was beautiful. So remote, no houses, no vehicles, just pure Maine wilderness. I don’t think there was another soul canoeing this stretch this weekend.
That sounds like an amazing trip! Do you have an outfitter rec for the shuttling?
Are campsites in that region first come first serve? If so, any insights into how busy the area gets come summer?