Aug 10-15th North Maine Woods - Stock Friendly

Got a couple stops planned:

- Quill Hill
- Ghost Trains
- B52 Memorial

Plan: Meet up in Southern Maine on Friday the 11th around 7-8AM, there is a campground in southern Maine with availability if needed, otherwise we can just meet up near Old Orchard Beach/Exit 25 rest area around 8 on Friday AM. Woods for the weekend, see the ghost trains and the B52 sites included, among some other good bits too.

Sunday Night we'll be in a spot you CAN bail out if need be, if you can't stick around Monday the 14th. Have about 5-6 trucks already in, it could be a trip of about 8 or could balloon up to 25, we have no idea what's gonna happen.

The Nitty Gritty Bits:

Cost is just to the NMW for land use fees. I think we'll be in for 2 days 2 nights so it'll be about 50-60$ I think. More info on costs is on the North Maine Woods website. It's per person, not per vehicle, so you may have additional costs for a passenger(s)

Equipment needed

• minimum 1 spare tire, no exceptions (and any bits you need to get it off if you have wheel lock lugs, etc).
• If your cooler isn't bear rated, it goes into a cab for the night - it does not stay out.
• Radio - we use GMRS, trucks use CB, someone in our group has CB so if all you have is CB, whatever. Handhelds are cheap and easy to come by, highly recommend. I have a MURS radio, but that's just for industry, we won't use those channels for rag chew
• Chase lights are HIGHLY recommended, if not a requirement. It gets dusty, sometimes the lights are the only way to see the trucks in front of you
• Food + tent for you + however many you have with you

Otherwise it's kinda fair game. We've seen everything from super duties to miatas. Nothing is super organized. It IS family friendly, we have one child coming along already as of the plan now. Who knows if that'll change. Pet friendly - dogs are fun up there. We SHOULD be on water every night so they might get damp.

There will be kayak opportunities. We should be on water each night. ME does not need to register Kayaks, BUT if you want to fish, you'll need to sort that out yourself with fish and game/wildlife up there.








^^ That last picture is one of our intended campsites, right on the water, great view.

What to Expect
We won't be driving from sunup to sundown. We'll probably be hitting the road around 9-10, and camp by 3-4 ish each day. That time of year, overnights likely not going to drop down to freezing, but the black flies could be ... "fun".

Driving in NMW - it's (almost) all logging trails maintained by the logging company. Dirt, with shale. That's why spares are important - punctures happen frequently. It's not a "guarantee", and I've done several trips with no problems. But, they happen. It's all private land and logging trucks have right of way. If it's dry, it's dusty. There is very little "wheeling", and tight roads. Most of it is wide logging roads. We air down, but not to 8PSI/beadlock levels - 20-25 PSI usually.

Tires - as long as they have meat on them, anything should be fine. 6 ply and above is nicer to have, but I've done it on 4 ply several times with no issues. The biggest thing is meat on the bones - if you have bald tires, they can go right through. We've had a puncture on E load w/ solid tread life as well.

Gas - There is none available out there. A 5 gallon can is highly recommended, most times. THINGS HAPPEN, but this trip, we're unlikely to be going more than about 150-200 miles between civilization/reasonable fuel stops.

Here's a video - you can see the dust they kick up when it's dry.
https://youtu.be/7qnEmbIbYAY



Boats!

Kayaks and paddleboards do not count, they do not need a sticker. Kayaks must have a life jacket of type I II III or V per person on board. You can get an OUI for a kayak in Maine, motorized or not.


Fishing!




https://moses.informe.org/cgi-bin/online/moses_v3/index

 

IN:

MikefromCT
Toolndie7
TacoTuesday603
fish.taco.ma
risethewake
Fourwheeling02
MurderedTacoV2
Brownmatthall
Nuts4Modela
AllTacosFloat
Ferball (ISH, keeping in the loop!)
GarlicFarts

 

Tagging some people

@Arcticelf - already "RSVP"'d as a maybe
@Brownmatthall - already "RSVP"'d as a maybe
@emelianenkov
@TacoTuesday603
@JDSmith
@BadDNA
@Scott17818

@Ferball

 

that reminds me, i gotta try and finagle the lights I got off you into chase lights one of these days Definitely gonna try and make this happen though

 

I don't remember giving you lights.

I BELIEVE you I just don't remember it.

PS mount those high. I'm assuming they're white - even my ambers, bumper mounted gets washed out from the dust. Roof or bed rack is good.

 

It was probably last fall?? i showed up late afternoon after some side work and you gave em to me for like 10 bucks hahaha. I was thinking of trying to rig up a mount that would attach to the back holes on the roof rails, but I definitely have to think about it

 

$11 WnSEu MSCRP Aluminum Mounting Clamps for Pickup Truck Tool Box Mount Tie Downs J Hook Crossover Tool box Pickup 4pcs

https://www.amazon.com/Aluminum-Mou...75737&sprefix=tool+box+tie+down,aps,93&sr=8-5

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/diy-bed-rack-with-arb-tent.666782/#post-23384181



this was my plan - cross bar near the rear of the bed - then I got a roof rack for kayaks

 

Something else to think about for sure

 

I'll be a solid maybe, with the new house I dont know if I can swing it.

Are you bringing Kayaks? @GarlicFarts

 

I edited the post to add the kayaks thing already, yeah there will be at least some other kayaks. I am not sure if I'll have mine, but probably.

 

Kayaks are a must up there, nothing quite like kayaking on a lake with no houses or anything.

 

I'm a solid maybe,,,definitely would want to bring the kayaks

 

@BRUIN8124

 

Put me down as a hard maybe, I was trying to do something similar last year and couldn’t find friends to tag along and the thought of being up there with just a GMRS if you need help is a bit sketchy.

 

Gotta check the calendar and confirm with wifey but I am solid maybe. This is a trip I have been wanting to do for a while.

 

Looks like a great trip! I’ve ridden that entire area in your loop on a sled from Newport all the way up to and including the trains, KI, B52 and Rangeley down thru Rumford. Would love to see the Trains in the summer. I’d be all in but I’m leaving to ride the Dragon on the 13th of Aug. If you had the time and wanted to stay off road you could swing around Rangeley Lake to Mooslookmeguntic and take the Bemis track all the way down to Coos Canyon in Byron.

Maybe next year if you do it again.

 

Oooo thanks for the route advice! We're actually kinda going that way - we're heading north from Acton ish area up to Quill Hill Friday then toward the woods. We'll be outside of the official woods Friday night. I'll look at maps and see if that makes sense.

 

Following. Probably can't swing it, but looove the NMW. Done pretty much all of the points on the map on the ATV. Going back up to Maine in July for a long weekend.

 

I'll bring my canoe if we're bringing boats.

 

If you don't have a kayak you can borrow one of ours...thing is it's Karen's...so it's pink