Chapter 24

Mud Pond to Chamberlain Bridge

I made it another night without being trampled by moose, thankfully. It was a restless night however as I was too sore to get comfortable, and tossed most of the night. The morning was clear but chilly, and I really dreaded getting out of my sleeping bag into damp clothes, but the lake was calm and wanted to start lest unfavorable winds kick up.

Thanks to my long day the night before, I was ahead of schedule, and had updated my family to meet me at Chamberlain Bridge at noon rather than 5 at night. I suspected I would be there before that too. I donned my wet muddy pants, ate leftover beef stew, and packed up camp. By the time I put into the water, the wind had picked up some. I noticed before leaving a couple different mud encrusted socks which had been left behind, victims of the portage.

I crossed Mud Pond for the third time using as little effort as I could. I was happy that I only had 8 miles or so to go for the day as I was pretty worn out. It wasn’t long before I made it to the stream leading the way to Chamberlain Lake. It was a good thing I had decided to turn back the night before, as the stream was rockier and shallower than I had anticipated. My memory could have been wrong, but I thought the guidebook said the stream was navigable. It was not.

I soon was shin deep in stumbling and slipping on rocks after crossing a beaver dam. One stretch I got back in the boat and water came over the gunwales. I wasn’t whistling let’s just say. But there was just enough water to rocket down the narrow stream before I decided to resume wading. It was more effort than I wanted on what I thought would be an easier day but soon I came to the cove of Chamberlain Lake.

I didn’t mention it in the previous post, but Mud Pond is officially a part of the Allagash Waterway, but making it to Chamberlain really felt like I’d made it to the AWW. Chamberlain is a big lake lined with evergreens. I only saw one building until I got to the bridge, it’s some depot for bush pilots I believe. Otherwise it was miles of unmolested forest.

I had to paddle into a headwind initially, which was a good thing as once I came out of the cove I would turn right and southeast and more or less have a tailwind all the way to the bridge. I passed Mud Pond campsite which I had considered reaching the night before, I’m glad I didn’t it would have been much too far.

Once I exited the cove, and rounded the first bend I was steadily pushed downwind to the bridge. It was mostly an uneventful trip from there: inconsistent and halfhearted paddling relying on the wind as I took frequent breaks. I did have one incident where I went between an island and the shore only to find a large driftwood jam and had to backtrack.

Before long I came to the bridge underlining Katahdin and the other mountains in Baxter State Park. It was just before 11. I shuffled my way to the ranger station only to find it empty, and shuffled back to my canoe to start unloading. It wasn’t 15 minutes before my family arrived. I guess they meant to get pictures and enjoy the day, I guess I spoiled their fun!

That finishes it for this leg. Huge thanks to my family for driving me all over creation, and feeding me too! It means the world to have folks there for you.

I have a couple long weekends I’d like to do this summer (and maybe string together my several disparate sections I’ve done so far), so keep an eye out for more this summer!