An Oasis Emerges in the Rain

June 29, 2024

mile 298.9-314.3 (Belknap Campsite) (8 miles of portaging)

Last night in the tent when we were just dozing off we heard a loud splashing in the river- like something big was walking through. We both turned to silently look at each other as we listened and then quietly unzipped the tent and slipped out with the headlamps. Just downstream and across the river walked two moose! We got a really good look at them as they turned their heads towards us trying to figure out what we were before they took off through the swampy wet brush towards the forest. We crawled back in bed excited and even heard them one other time during the night a few hours later.

We actually did it this morning- we woke up early! We were on the water by 8:30 which is unheard of for us. We had 6 miles of paddling before we reached our portage take out to avoid some rapids. I still can't believe we're finally going downstream again, the miles were beautiful and thankfully the water was high enough we were able to plow right over all of the beaver dams, including one that was basically a class 2 drop 😆

We backed up, picked up some speed and flew over it with a few exhilarating moments of me in mid air before we dropped back down into the water. Our portage was nice enough to start out. I had a C4 I'd been saving and sipped it while we walked. The road was flat and I was able to read my kindle so the miles flew by.

We stopped at a nature visitors center to fill up on water and get rid of trash. It started raining pretty steadily when we left there and never stopped the rest of the day.

Even though my kindle is water resistant I've never wanted to test it so I put it safely in my dry bag and continued on with only the thoughts in my head. We reached our put in and took some time to organize the boat and I pulled on some warmer layers since I started to shiver. The river started with a few miles of class Is and from where we stood on the bank they looked runnable. We started out and not long after crashed into a rock which pivoted the boat and caused us to get stuck. The current was moving pretty good and I was nervous as Henry got out to pull us off and the current pushed us onto another rock before he could even get back in. It was just too shallow to run without completely destroying our boat. We carefully walked through the rapids to the bank to weigh our options. Looking back at the few hundred yards we'd traveled from the put in looked like miles when we thought about walking back upstream. It would be nearly impossible to maneuver the boat through the rocks so we'd have to carry it and losing our footing would be pretty much guaranteed, probably multiple times. We decided to bushwhack through the thick trees and brush on the bank knowing eventually we'd run into a grass ATV path that that leads to a shelter. Two hours later we were back to the put in where we'd started. Sigh. We gathered ourselves under the small overhang by the road, pulling out my phone to see how much further we'd have to portage to get to the campsite. The screen wouldn't work with wet fingers and I angrily wiped them with my wet towel, finally figuring out it was only another 2 miles by road to the campsite.

We cheered up some as we walked even though it continued to steadily rain. As we crested a hill we saw the most glorious sight... a general store. That would've been enough cause for celebration but not only was there a general store, there was live music and a food truck parked out front. I thought I might be dreaming for a second but we pulled the canoe under the cover of some pine trees and walked over and sure enough it wasn't a mirage.

We stripped off our soaking rain gear under the overhang and ordered two bacon cheeseburgers. The owner of the store, John, came out, immediately knowing we were paddlers. He was so welcoming and made sure we knew about the campsite back behind the store. When he saw how soaked we were he disappeared inside to talk to his wife and when he came back out he said "I'm going to make you an offer that's impossible to refuse- would you like to dry all of your wet clothes in our dryer upstairs?"

I immediately said yes and thanked him profusely. When I told Henry the good news he couldn't believe it. We devoured our burgers and drank sodas while listening to the live music and talking to the locals about our journey so far. When we finished we gathered our wet gear and went upstairs, stripping out of our soaked clothes and tossing them in the dryer.

We lounged around the warm bathroom naked while our clothes spun around and around and I ate an ice cream sandwich on the floor. When our clothes were nice and dry and toasty we gathered everything up to thank him one more time.

As we were leaving Henry asked over his shoulder, "Do you have live music every Saturday night?"

John shouted across the room "Only when you're here big guy!"

We shoved our dry clothes in our dry bags and made our way down the street and into the woods near the river to the campsite. The rain died down a bit just in time for me to set the tent up and then poured the remainder of the evening and night. Overall a great day that ended especially well. The simple generosity of people makes me feel warm and happy about this world.