Skowhegan, Maine

Our trip to Cliff Lake in the Northern Maine Woods

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• published: 15 Sep 2008
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Our trip to the Northern Maine Woods A long time friend kindly invited us to go on an adventure with them. We spent Saturday afternoon preparing for the trip and packing the jeep with camping gear, canoe and seven days worth of food and supplies. We left at midnight in the pouring rain. to meet our friends in Skowhegan, Maine, 1.5 hours away. Just after dawn we crossed the Allagash Wilderness Waterway. It took us 9-hours (including checking in at the gate to the N.M.W and check in at camp office and some site seeing) to get to our Cabin on Cliff Lake, 3.5 hours of logging roads. By 10am Sunday morning we had our Cabin all set up and the 4 of us took a 3-hour nap. We got up and had some grub and piled into one boat and explored the 2 attached lakes. We found the lake to be the home of 4-6 loons, some seagulls, ravens, many kingfishers and an eagle. That night we watched the beautiful sunset from the porch of our cabin. Monday we spent our day fishing and exploring the lakes and in the evening we towed our canoes across both lakes to explore the tributaries. We motored in as far as we could, transferred to the canoes and paddled until we couldnt go any farther. Tuesday was a rainy day so we went and explored Haymock and Spider lakes. At Haymock we heard eagles and at Spider Lake we watched a Juvie and an Adult Eagle fly around together through binoculars. Wednesday, Peggy and I tried to watch the sunrise behind the cliff, from the boat on the lake. Before the sun rose, the fog rose. We had to wait for the sun to come up (2-hours) before we could find our way back to camp. We started about a mile south of the camp and had drifted over a mile north of the camp. We returned to camp got warm and napped a few hours. Spent the rest of the day fishing with no luck. With binoculars I watched the eagle of the lake catch a fish.. The Loons were just a squawking while the eagle fished.. Thursday the 4 of us ventured another hour north to Mooseleuk Lake. The last mile in was 4 wheel drive only so we drove in unloaded our gear and canoe, and went back out to get our friends, who only had a car. As soon as we got there the 4 of us walked down to the water and there was a Moose in the river, and here baby was on shore. We paddled our canoes 2 hours into the tributaries, and saw, such beautiful views of mountains, kingfishers and moose. On our way back to the landing Peggy and I were first. We came across a moose to our left in the water and then heard a baby moose crying to our right. Mom crossed in front of us and went up the bank to get her baby. As we drifted along she reappeared in front of us, stared us down and jumped into the water. I grabbed at grasses to stop our canoe so she could cross with her baby about 40 feet away from us. That night we ate dinner at the campsite at Mooseleuk and made our way back in the dark. The last 2 days we spent fishing, and exploring both the lake and the woods around it. The sunsets were beautiful and the sounds of the loons and eagle so serene. Fishing with an Eagle was just amazing.. Thank you Dan and Kathy we had A great Time..