North Maine Woods - July 25-31

I'm taking a week and getting way, way, away from civilization. Wifey asked me not to go alone, and no, taking a dog doesn't count, so I'm hoping there's another intrepid soul or two interested in getting out there with me for a bit. Who's interested?

See post #19 for my itinerary. North Maine Woods - July 25-31

In:
@.Q.
@deanosaurus

@AllTacosFloat (maybe)
@Sig45 (maybe)

Edit: pilfering some info and recommendations from @Arcticelf

General guidelines:
This will be a family friendly and well behaved pet friendly trip. I'll have one of my dogs with me. I don't mind if you want to have a drink or a smoke at camp, however getting wasted and acting like a fool will not be tolerated. Mosquitos will be brutal this time of year, make sure you have plenty of bug spray.

Mandatory equipment:
-full size spare and jack
-extra fuel (5 gallons or more)
-food/water
-bug spray
-shelter for camping
-warm clothes
-rain gear
-sense of adventure

Strongly recommend:
-fire extinguisher
-radio (GMRS preferred, CB will do)
-basic recovery gear

Food/water:
You're On You're Own. This is not a catered trip! Plan on bringing enough food and water for 9 days (7 days of planned camping and 2 days of emergency rations). Don't forget about your pets.

Medical needs:
If you have medical needs or medicine that is apart of your daily life, write them down on a medical card so that if there is an emergency or considerations that need to be addressed, you have the best chance for success 40+ miles into the woods.

 

Count me as 20% tentative.

NMW you need to pay to get in and each night. You'll need a plan for which campsites you're going to (they'll ask at the gates), and when. "I'll find one" is not a good response. Bring checkbook, easiest way to pay.

With that much time you'll be able to check out the ironworks, B52 site, the trains, and head out toward the Caribou side too. Highly recommend. There's a little town up there called Ashland, they have a grocery store and a gas station.

Know your MPG and what you expect to burn. I am stock so was pulling 20mpg up there, but we had a tundra towing a trailer getting about 12. Millinocket to the trains there's a village out there somewhere with gas, but if you head out to Ashland, we didn't see anything from the gate all the way to the village near the trains.

 

Know what you are getting in to before you go, there is a great deal of nothing up there! Many of the roads are company owned and you haven't lived till you come across a fully loaded logging truck doing 70 on a dirt road. It is a beautiful area we snow mobile up there every once in a while. I live in southwestern Maine, Caribou is over 300 miles from me. It's worth a trip but be prepared.

 

There are interesting people at the checkpoints. I can't remember exactly what my route was, but I was heading back to Millinocket and I could either go back through the NMW to get there, or go around which was much much longer.

The old lady at the gatehouse where I went back in spent probably a half hour telling me stories. Then she looked at the clock and told me the guy at the gate on the other end leaves early sometimes and her recommendation was to hustle because if he left, she'd also be gone before I could make it back to that side and I'd have no way out for the night without going to a much further gate. I did make it, fortunately.

 

Oh shit don't tell my wife! We did this trip a few years ago and she loved it.

 

8====D~~

 

I do really want to do this trip but this is on the start of a family camping trip we do every year at the start of august. Two weeks off in the summer working the medical field is difficult to say the least. I’m going to sub and follow along closely.

 

This won't be my first trip up through the area, but good reminders and great advice in general when heading out there. Thanks guys!

 

This trip sounds amazing.
Depending on logistics I am solid maybe for sure.

-Justin-

 

Isn't it more fun to be unprepared with a general feeling of hopelessness and despair the whole time?

 

That's how I roll!

 

You weren't on my Sucker Pond run were you? I'm great at that.

 

Messed up the dates in the thread title. I just corrected it: July 25-31

 

@Arcticelf has some good info. I need to get back up there eventually.
@NorthEastTacoma
@SR-71A

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...ods-of-maine-train-spotting-trip-2k19.581296/

 

This sounds like fun. I'm a maybe for now. Have to see the work home schedule closer to May/ June.

How many trucks are you looking to do Eammon?

 

Considering.

 

@BadDNA id recommend about 6-7 depending on the sites you plan on. Even that might be strong for some of the sites.

I'm more of a 25/75 for making it so I'm happy to bow out since I'm going up labor day weekend anyway.

 

I'm going to say no more than 6 trucks.

 

Route Planning / Campsites - Running updates to be posted here as I build out the route and plan camping locations.

Day 1 - Monday 7/25 - Staging
Saint Johnsbury, VT to Rangeley Lake State Park, ME: ~146 miles
Camping at Rangeley Lake SP - I have Site-1 booked for the night, and can have up to 6 people. It'll fit a 35' RV so I'm thinking three trucks max, but the campground policy may be like most and limit us to 2 vehicles. I couldn't find that info in a quick search on the reservation site.

The route will head east from St. Johnsbury into NH before heading north through Colebrook, NH toward the Connecticut Lakes region. We'll pick up some easy dirt roads here and track southeast into Maine where we'll get back onto pavement and head to the state park for our first night of camping at Rangeley Lake.
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Day 2 - Tuesday 7/26 - B52 Bomber Crash Site
Rangeley Lake, ME to Moosehead Lake, ME: ~132 miles
Camping at Lily Bay SP - I booked Site-29 similar to Day-1 camping

The drive from Rangeley to Elephant Mountain will be mostly (all?) pavement, but I want to make sure we have plenty of time to hike around and explore the crash site. We'll spend the night nearby at Lily Bay State Park before heading into the North Maine Woods on Wednesday.
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Day 3 - Wednesday 7/27 - Ghost Trains
Moosehead Lake, ME to Crescent Pond Campsite (NMW), ME: ~111 miles
Rustic campsite in the North Maine Woods - Pay upon entry to NMW (Cash or check only)

We'll head north from Moosehead Lake to where we'll pick up the Golden Road at Caribou Lake and enter the North Maine Woods at the Caribou Checkpoint. There is a per day land use fee and a camping fee (North Maine Woods Land Use and Camping Fee Schedule). We'll make a stop for a hike to the Ghost Trains at Eagle Lake before continuing on to our campsite for the night. I'm planning on trying for the Crescent Pond Campsite but there are no reservations for NMW camping, so we may have to adjust our plans on the fly.
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Day 4 - Thursday 7/28 - Refuel/resupply
Crescent Pond Campsite to Big Brook Campsite via St. Francis, ME (Chamberlain's Market): ~113 miles

There are no designated sights on today's drive, but we're cruising all the way to the top of Maine where we'll leave the NMW briefly to find a gas station and a store or two to refuel & grab any necessary supplies before heading back to NMW for this evening's camping at Big Brook Campsite.
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Day 5 - Friday 7/29 - Cruising NMW
Big Brook Campsite to Coffeelos South Campsite: ~106 miles

Another day of quiet cruising. We're making our way further south to our last campsite in NMW. We'll spend one more night out here camping before we move on to some more sightseeing tomorrow.
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Day 6 - Saturday 7/30 - Debsconeag Ice Caves & Kahtadin Iron Works
Coffeelos South Campsite to E. Branch Pleasant River (Campsite #2) (KI Jo-Mary Forest): ~115 miles

Two stops today on our way to our last campsite of the trip; The Debsconeag Ice Caves and Kahtadin Iron Works. We'll spend some time exploring both of these sites before heading to E. Branch Pleasant River for our last night of the trip. We'll also be passing near Millinocket so if fuel or anything else is running low we can re-up as needed.
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Day 7- Sunday 7/31 - Homeward bound
E. Branch Pleasant River (Campsite #2) to Home: Various miles

We made it! We'll break camp this morning, say our 'Goodbye' and make our way back home. Hopefully we've made it here without any serious incidents and we can enjoy a drive home.

 

That is some beautiful country up here. Other than Alaska I doubt you'll find any thing as nice any where else. The Golden Road refers to money from the timber.