Spencer Stream (The Stream from Hell)

July 14, 2024

mile 465.7-482.8

(Spencer Beach Campsites) (No portaging but a lot of river walking)

Holy. Fuck. What a day.

This morning when we woke up I used my Zoleo to message Mom asking her to check the stream gauge for us. She responded back that it was around 650 cfs and wished us luck. We left camp around 8:30 and put in just below Big Eddy, dodging and zig zagging around 3 fly fisherman. We ran the rapids with no problem and then had about 7 miles of flatwater on the Dead River.

We saw so many Kingfishers zigzagging overhead and quite a few Bald Eagles. Next up was the Grand Falls Carry. We took out at a floating dock and portaged 1 mile on a "wheelable" snow mobile trail. It was rocky, covered in roots and uphill (a pattern is emerging). When the trail is uneven like this Henry pulls the cart and I push to prevent the canoe from falling off or tipping over. The canoe bangs into my knee caps repeatedly, leaves bruises on my upper thighs and infuriates me every time.

The side trail to Grand Falls was a great break though and holy shit was it a sight to see. Such a massive amount of water pouring over especially with these recent rains. Finished our portage and then paddled up to the base of the falls to admire them from the water. Henry fished for awhile in the tumultuous waters and caught a few bass. The mist coming off the waterfall felt so good on my sweaty overheated face.

Right around the corner was the confluence of Spencer Stream and where we began our upriver. We had about two miles before it split off from Little Spencer where we hoped it might get a little easier. Henry pulled me in the canoe as much as he could all day and that's the only thing that saved my sanity. Starting this section knowing it was going to take us a long ass time and be terrible actually helped the experience. When it was too shallow I'd get out and stumble along, holding onto the canoe, rolling my ankles and kicking into sharp rocks. By the end of the day my toes were so fucking sore. Horseflies followed us all day long, biting the back of my legs and arms and leaving giant welts. Little Spencer turned out to be even harder. Some of the rapids were stronger, deeper and longer but Henry got us through them. Finally, finally we reached the last flat water section and paddled up to Spencer Dam Carry. All in all this section took us 5 hours. That dam was one of the best sights I've seen so far. We couldn't believe we'd made it.

We paddled 3 miles on Spencer Lake to get here to the campsites and it was an absolutely beautiful paddle. The sunset over the mountains and really put on a show. It really feels like you're in the middle of nowhere here, my busy brain loves the complete and absolute silence. No people, no lawn mowers, no motorboats, nothing. Just silence.

We're camped on a big sandy beach and I'm hiding out in the tent from the swarms of mosquitoes that even the Thermacell couldn't tame.