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Writer's pictureCassandra Smith

A Perfect 1st Day

June 2, 2024

Mile 0-14.2 (14.2 miles) (0.5 mile portage)


Honestly don’t think I’ve ever had such an incredible Day 1 of any trip ever. This is going to be one of the greatest adventures of my life I can already tell.

We left Henry’s parents house at 4 am this morning to start the 6 hour drive to Old Forge. I slept most of the way after only getting 3 hours of sleep the night before and before I knew it we were unloading at the dam and hugging Henry’s mom goodbye.

We took our time loading up the canoe, trying to balance our gear out as best we could. Pushed off from the dock and whooped- NFCT let’s go to Fort Kent!

The weather was perfect- sunny, breezy and occasionally overcast. We paddled through the Fulton Chain of Lakes all day and the further we got from Old Forge the less boat traffic and lake houses we saw. We paddled by a small decorative lighthouse and right after that Henry got a hard hit on his fishing line he’d been trolling along behind us. He reeled in an 18.5” land locked salmon!!!

We were both riding an adrenaline rush- Henry’s excitement reeling it in is something I’ll remember forever. He was going to release him but he wasn’t doing too hot and wouldn’t swim away, so we kept him for dinner.

Next up was our first portage- only a half mile and totally wheelable but it was at this point we realized we have way too much stuff or that we need to figure out a better method of organizing it at least. We did start out with wayyy more food than we needed because we had so much backpacking food we’ve collected we figured we save on resupplies. With wheelable portages we can keep most of our gear in the canoe besides our two heavy backpacks which is nice, but there are plenty of non-wheelable portages where we’ll be carrying everything so I have a feeling a downsize in gear is in our future.

It sprinkled rain the last two miles to camp. We’re set up on Goff Island and it’s a perfect little spot. Right on the water with one flat spot just big enough for our tent and a fire ring. Henry got to work cleaning and cooking our salmon and a sirloin that we’d back out to cook tonight- what a Night One meal. Loons called as we sat against logs around the fire, devouring buttery, salty salmon and steak off of foil. At sunset an osprey flew by with a fish in its talons.

Now we’re laid out in the tent, it’s really pretty warm out so the tent is almost hot with our body heat and the rain fly on. The loons are calling nonstop out on the lake. Henry is already asleep beside me. This is going to be a legendary trip.


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