Summer vacations at Moosehead Lake and vicinity. A practical guide-book for tourists: describing routes for the canoe-man over the principal waters of northern Maine, with hints to campers, and estimates of expense for tours

Front matter

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ADVERTISEMENTS.

Introduction

To the care-worn business man and overworked student, no relaxation from the constant wear of their respective calHngs is so grateful as that which comes while camping in the woods. " The accompaniments of life are removed, and selfishness, ambition, and care have here no place ; a man is most truly thrown upon his own resources. To be alone with nature, without book, without work, without care, without the slightest hindrance to wandering at your own sweet will, with a heart which beats ' true to the kindred points of heaven and home,' and to be for this purpose in the very heart of the Moosehead forests, is more than all the trout-fishing, and almost the rival of the matchless views which meet the eye."* In the wild woods life is regenerated, and even after two weeks of camping out and canoeing one issues forth with renewed strength for the work of the coming year. Rest and recreation are an absolute necessity. A celebrated jurist of this country, no longer hving, used to say he could do a year's work in ten months, but not in twelve.

vi INTRODUCTION.

It then becomes a practical question, how deep into the forests must one penetrate with his birch-canoe to find this seclusion and relaxation, and what are the means of attaining them ?

The advantage to canoe-men of having some definite and tangible information concerning the different lakes and water-courses over which their routes may take them, is too well known by those persons who have camped out in the woods of Maine to need proof. It often happens that the tourist comes to a part of a stream where the difficulty of further progress seems insurmountable. After successful efforts made to overcome the obstacles which first appeared, others take their place, and the chain seems unending. The luckless canoe-man in ignorance turns back disappomted and seeks an easier route elsewhere, when, if he had but known it, smooth water and a picturesque and attractive course lay before him, within easy reach.

With a knowledge of this need, gained by expenence, the writer has prepared the following pages for the benefit of habitues of Moosehead Lake, and of others who may have in view a visit to some of the wilder localities in its vicinity. The brevity necessarily required in a pocket guide-book has caused him to set forth facts without any attempt at embelhshment, — plain, statistical facts, whose only function is to be useful The book, aside from its illustrations, is not meant to be entertaining, and they who seek in its pages any elaborate or detailed descriptions of scenery will be disappointed.

INTRODUCTION. Vil

That part of the work devoted to camping is also merely an epitome. Many topics touched upon had to be passed over briefly, and left perhaps incomplete, while others of scarcely less importance had to be omitted altogether. The information and advice actually given is, moreover, very much condensed, and, such as it is, the writer offers it to beginners in the art of camping, as a stepping-stone to a more extended knowledge, which can best be obtained by experience.

He who goes into the woods to camp for the first time will be at a loss to understand many of the phrases in vogue among older campers and guides, some few of which, on account of their brevity, have been used in the following pages. The word " pitch " refers either to the resinous mixture used on canoes, to a small water-fall, or to the height of a stream. After a hard rain one may say, " There is a good pitch of water." " Rips " is a word used of a stretch of water, which is not long enough nor rough enough to be called " rapids." To " drop " a canoe over a " pitch " is to let it float over it, the canoe-man guiding it from the shore with a setting-pole, and with the " painter," or leading-rope.

A " landing " is a term used by lumbermen to denote a place cleared of bushes and trees on the bank of a stream or pond, to which the logs cut in winter are hauled, in anticipation of the spring floods.

"Logon," probably a derivative of "lagoon," means a very shallow arm of a stream or pond, where lilies and grass grow profusely.

viii INTRODUCTION

« Wangen" is a shelter-tent, one might say, made of bark or boughs, and is perhaps oftenest used by " river-drivers " in the spring, when engaged in floating or " driving " logs down the rivers to market.

In the vicinity of Moosehead Lake the expressions "East Branch," "West Branch," "North Branch" and " South Branch " refer to the Penobscot River. Moreover, the North and South Branches are actually branches of the West Branch.

On the Kennebec "The Forks " means the junction of that river with Dead River.

The term "navigation" as used in the following pages refers to canoes, and readers will also note the difference between the right and left banks of a stream, and the same terms without the word " bank."

The distances given are only approximate, but are founded on close observation and studied comparison. No changes have been made in the text of this, the second edition, which is published separately from the map which accompanied the first edition ; woodcuts have been substituted for photographic reproductions, and the book is offered to the public with the wish tliat it may prove a useful and serviceable companion to campers-out in the woods of Northern Maine.

The author again acknowledges his grateful appreciation to Dr. Elliott Coues, U. S. A., for the use, kindly and prompdy granted, of his Hygienic Notes, and to many other obliging persons for timely and important information and assistance. Cambridge, June lo, 1880.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

PAGE

Mount Kineo from Kineo Cove Frontispiece

Mouth of Spencer Brook i8

Mount Kineo— Pebble Beach 32

Mount Kineo — Table Rock 48

Socatean Falls and Pool 60

Chesuncook Lake 64

Ripogenus Gorge — Looking East 68

Ripogenus Gorge — Looking West 70

Millinokett Lake 76

Moxie Falls 122

MAPS.

Caucomgomoc Lake and Vicinity 96

Part First. Pagb

Time of Year i

Number in a Party 2

A Camper's Outfit, — Where and How to Get it . . 3

Camp "Kit" 4

Personal Luggage 7

Provisions 14

Canoes and their Usage 16

Guides 19

Camp-Ground 22

Camp-Fire 24

Cooking 25

Dressing Game 28

Hygienic Notes 29

PART SECOND. Routes from Boston to Moosehead Lake ... 39

Mount Kineo 4^

XI 1 CONTENTS.

PAGE

West Branch of the Penobscot, — Going Down . . 62

Jo Mary and Neighboring Lakes 76

Northwest Carry 'j'j

West Branch of the Penobscot, — Seeboomook Falls 78

West Branch of the Penobscot, — Going Up . . . 79

South Branch of the Penobscot 82

North Branch of the Penobscot 86

St. John Pond and Baker Lake 91

Caucomgomoc Lake 93

Allagash Lake 100

Down the St. John River loi

East Branch of the Penobscot 107

Ebeeme Ponds and Pleasant River 109

Katahdin Iron- Works in

Sebec Lake 112

Mount Katahdin from the East 115

Forks of the Kennebec and Vicinity T17

Moose River above Moose River Village .... 126

Game and Fish of Northern Maine 129

Digest of Game and Fish Laws 132

Tables of Tours for Campers 135

Expense of Tours • 13^

Advertisements 140

Index 141

SUMMER VACATIONS

AT

MOOSEHEAD LAKE.

Part First. How To Camp Out

TIME OF YEAR.

All seasons have their respective advantages for the hunter or trapper, whether sportsman or not, according to the object he has in view. Each has its own disadvantages as well, but for general purposes of campingout September and October offer the most attractions and have the fewest drawbacks. Black-flies and mosquitoes have then ceased their torments, the weather is apt to be settled and pleasant, the nights cool, and game is in its prime, and likely to be found everywhere.

The best fishing is undoubtedly to be had — at least in places of most frequent resort — in early spring, just after the ice breaks up in the lakes and streams. The larger game frequents the feeding-grounds on the banks of streams, and shores of ponds, and comes down to the water at night, in the hot weather of midsummer. But these are the halcyon days of the black-fly and mosquito, I the one a constant attendant by day, and the other by night, both combining to make hfe miserable for the reckless sportsman. Besides, the days are sweltering and the nights oppressive.

Midwinter is not without its attraction, — principally that of novelty for him who ventures into the woods too far north. He is soon disabused of the fascination which drew him thither, and learns that it is much more comfortable to put up at some hotel or cabin at the outskirts of civilization, and to make hunting excursions on snow-shoes from these, and to fish through the ice under cover of a warm little fish-house, than to camp under a shelter tent with the snow four feet deep around him, and the mercury at twenty-five below zero.

NUMBER IN A PARTY.

The number of persons of which a party should consist will depend more or less on the characteristics of the individuals and the object in view. Travelling — especially in the woods — is apt to show up the least amiable side of one's disposition, and the larger the party, the more difficult will it be to have united counsels and action. If you are bent on having a jolly time, and are not particular about getting game and fish, nor where you go, you can well join a large party ; but when you go mainly for the enjoyments of hunting and fishing such as can only be had in the wild woods, go with one friend, — a tried friend, on whose good sense and unselfishness you can rely. The next best way, and you may prefer it, is to go alone, with a trusty and competent guide. Two men, each with a canoe and guide, IS an advantageous combination, for the pairs can separate for a time, if advisable, and occupy different grounds near together. For a short trip two men and one guide can go in one canoe, but for a trip of two weeks or more a canoe will only hold two men and luggage, and will have an ample load at that.

A CAMPER'S OUTFIT, — WHERE AND HOW TO GET IT.

As Mr. Gould has happily suggested in his interesting book, " How to Camp Out," you should begin to make preparations for your trip two or three months before you intend to start. To make small purchases of useful articles to be taken with you, and to dwell in anticipation on what is before you, affords almost as much pleasure as the later enjoyment of the woods. There is great satisfaction in picturing to yourself what part this and that article will play in your adventures, or in what sort of a place, whether lake or brook, mountain or meadow, it will first be called into requisition. Then, too, if you put off all preparation until the last moment, you may forget some of the most important parts of your outfit, — a sme qua non, — and the thought of what " might have been " will be quite aggravating. Collect your outfit, piece by piece ; appropriate a closet or a trunk to its exclusive use, and put the parts of your collection into it, day by day, keeping a list from which to check off each item as soon as obtained. Every time an article suggests itself to you as one that is likely to be indispensable, get it. Only be careful to make your load as light as possible. Remember

4 MOOSE HE AD LAKE AMD VICINITY.

that what one may consider a necessity at home may be regarded as a luxury in the woods, and that to carry one pound of extra weight fifty miles is equivalent to carrying fifty pounds one mile.

Get everything you need, in the way of personal luggage, at home. You seldom have time or incHnation to stop over, by the way, and are not at all sure to find what you want at the last village on the verge of the forest. By " personal luggage " the writer means everything exclusive of food, and of the camp "kit," a term explained below.

It is very convenient, if you mean to use canned goods in the woods, to have them packed at home, in a box with rope handles on each end of it, and to take them with you as luggage.

CAMP "KIT."

Parties who go into camp with guides do not usually have to provide what is termed the " kit." This includes, besides canoe and tent, axes, cooking utensils, and the like, — articles which nearly all guides own in quantities sufiicient for parties of two or three.

For persons who may be about to go into camp without guides, the following list of articles will be found useful, if not indispensable : —

Party of Two. Party of Four.

Axe, one ; 35lbs two.

Baker, small medium.

Breadpan ; 2 qts 3 qts.

Butter-box, wooden

Can-opener

Coffee-pot ; I qt 2 qts.

Forks, three five.

Firkins, or bags, for jjrovisions ....

Frying-pans, two, medium two, large.

Kettle, iron ; 2 qts 3 qts.

Knives, three five.

Molasses-can ; i gal

Mop for dishes

Pepper-shaker

Potato bag

Rope for canoe, — " Painter "

Salt-shaker

Sponge for canoe two.

Spoon, one, large

Teaspoons, three six.

Tent (A) 7ft. X 8ft

Tin dippers, four six.

Tin pails ; two, 2 qts three, 3 qts.

Tin plates, four six.

For parties of more than four persons, the capacity of the pails, pots, and pans will have to be proportionally larger, and the number of the more necessary tabledishes increased, so that there will be two or three extra of each kind.

The cost of an outfit for two, such as is given above, will be about fifteen dollars, exclusive of tent, which may be bought for ten or twelve dollars.

Of course, persons ca?i get along with fewer things than those above enumerated. The hunter often goes into the woods, in midwinter, and his outfit consists of a thin blanket, an axe, rifle, sheath-knife, frying-pan, and large tin dipper. With these, a bag of flour, a piece of pork, and what he shoots, he sustains himself, and makes no complaint. In like manner, a camper's " kit " can be crude, or elaborate, to suit his whims or his pocket ; and he can direct his outlay in such a manner as to undergo a greater or less degree of " roughing it," — and to his entire satisfaction.

For the benefit of parties who go to Moosehead Lake, it may be well to say that all of the above articles can be bought at Greenville, except bags for provisions, which will have to be brought from home. These should be strong, made of stout drilling, and of various sizes, according to the bulk of the articles meant to be carried in them. Moreover, a large canvas bag, or rubber navy bag, should make part of the kit, to hold the smaller bags, and keep their contents dry.

It has been, and still is, quite common to carry provisions into the woods in wooden buckets or firkins. They answer very well for trips where little or no carrying is to be done, but are very much of a nuisance when the contrary is the case. The principal advantage in having bags is, that, as fast as your food is consumed, the bulk of your luggage decreases, which with buckets is not appreciable. One bucket, for dishes, salt and pepper shakers, can-opener, condensed milk, and other odds and ends, will more than compensate, in convenience, the trouble of carrying it. Axes and hatchets should be provided with some sort of cover. They are then less troublesome and harmful, and can be thrown into a canoe or on shore without danger, either of cutting something else, or of being themselves nicked or dulled. They can also be carried safely in one's belt, over carries and through the woods.

One or two kettle-holders will prove extremely useful, and easy to carry ; a small whetstone and a crcoked knife, too, may well be added to the kit.

An iron bean-pot will be found a great luxury, if it does not have to be " carried " much. Otherwise take canned beans.

A farina boiler, which consists of two pails, the smaller set in the other, serves well to cook oat-meal and mush, without risk of burning, — either the food or the cook.

A shelter tent is warmer than an A tent, if a fire is kept blazing before it all night, but it is otherwise less convenient, especially in stormy weather. ,

PERSONAL LUGGAGE.

The writer first began to camp out ten years ago. His preparations for his initial trip to the woods were crude. As beginners, we do not feel the need of many things, which want of experience, perhaps as much as lack of means, prevents us from getting ; but after a series of summers spent in the woods, we learn how we can, in many ways, add materially to our enjoyment and comfort, at trifling expense, and with only a slight addition to the weight of our luggage.

Following is a list of articles the writer deems essential to a tolerable degree of comfort and ease, while out for a two weeks' canoeing excursion : — •

One pair stout shoes, well greased.

One pair stout slippers.

One suit, — old, but stout clothes.

One extra pair pantaloons (Scotch goods).

Two woollen shirts with collars.

One change of under-clothes.

Two or three pairs heavy woollen socks.

Two silk handkerchiefs.

A cardigan jacket (dark gray).

A light rubber coat.

Two rubber blankets, — for each person.

One pair heavy woollen blankets, — for each person.

A blanket strap.

Two carrying straps.

Small flask of brandy.

Bottle Jamaica ginger.

Box of grease for boots.

Bottle of mosquito mixture.

Piece of soap in small tin-box.

Camp candlestick and candles.

Two or three haversacks, or a knapsack.

Mosquito net for the head.

A knit cap for sleeping.

Pieces of rope and twine.

Rags, and a small bottle of gun-oil.

Compass, matches.

Broad belt, with strap for attaching tin cup.

Good sheath-knife.

Cartridge-box (old army cap-box).

Allen, or Winchester, rifle, and from 50 to 100 cartridges.

Cheap fly-rod, four leaders, and a dozen flies.

Six stout hooks.

Reel, and fifty yards oiled-silk line.

Pack of cards — for rainy days.

Pocket-map of region to be visited.

COMMENTS ON THE FOREGOING.

Do not wear boots into the woods. They are cumbersome, and sure to get wet, and when in that condition are very hard to get off and on. A pair of loosefitting brogans, such as can be bought for about two dollars, or an old pair of Waukenphast's shoes, if you have them, will be found most comfortable. Shoes should fit snugly, without pinching. If your feet are going to be out of order for want of proper covering, you would better go back home at once. A piece of leather may prove of service in your " kit." The writer has of late years found rubber boots, which come up half-way between knee and hip, almost indispensable where wading is necessary. However, a pair of stout shoes, well greased, will answer the purpose, and when you return to camp with wet feet, the comfort of dry socks and slippers will be exceedingly grateful. If you take rubber boots, a change of pantaloons will not be necessary.

An excellent substitute for heavy shoes and slippers will be found in moccasons, which when new are water-proof, and fit the foot easily. They are good either in a canoe, or when on the walk ; an extra sole on the inside helps to protect the foot from roots and stones. In this connection, when you dry your shoes or moccasons, be careful not to expose them to too great her,c. Greased leather, or the fatty hide of any animal, will, when exposed to the sun, or to a hot fire, burn very quickly, and before one would suspect it. It is a serious thing to lose one's foot-covering in the woods.

A heavy coat, or overcoat, will be found to be an incumbrance from its weight, and inconvenient when paddling. A good cardigan jacket and a thick vest will be all the extra clothing needed for cold days in September. The suit one wears should be such as one does not expect to use again. Scotch goods are preferable, as they dry easily after a wetting. Their color should be dark gray, if possible, to resemble that of the trunks of the trees. The wearer will thus be less likely to attract the notice of game that may come in his way.

A pair of suspenders is a comfort one should not be without. It does not matter if they do not look well over your woollen shirt.

A light rubber coat in the woods is invaluable, and two or three extra rubber blankets are apt to be quite serviceable, in more ways than one. Should a shower overtake you en route, one of them thrown over your canoe-load protects it thoroughly. In camp two of them stretched overhead on either side of a horizontal pole make a good shelter both for your table and luggage, and they also make a warm covering to sleep under, on cold nights.

A good substitute for tent, and rubber blankets too, consists in pieces of cotton cloth, 7ft. X 4ft., soaked in boiled linseed-oil. If made with eyelet-holes in the margin, they will answer the purpose of a tent, four of them being laced together in pairs, two side to side, and these pairs end to end. The two ends thus laced together are laid on the ridge-pole of the tent, and triangular pieces buttoned on at each end complete the dwelling.

One pair of stout uncut woollen blankets for each person is none too many. For cold nights in September more warmth and comfort can be had by having your blankets doubled over and sewed up on one end, and three quarters up the side, like a bag, so that when in it you have two thicknesses of blanket over and under you, and your feet cannot become uncovered during sleep. The top of the blanket can, if necessary, be drawn up

HINTS TO CAMPERS. II

over the head, while that part of the side left unsewed will furnish a good breathing-place.

Leather carrying-straps consist of a centre piece about a foot long and two inches wide, firmly sewed, at either extremity, to slightly tapering end pieces ten feet long and half an inch wide.

To make a pack, spread out on the ground your blanket, tent, or whatever you intend to use for the purpose, and double it over, more or less, to suit the size of your load. One or two trials will enable you to judge accurately of the extent of covering needed for the pack. Lay the strap on the blanket, &c., so that the centre piece shall be just over the edge of it, opposite the middle of the side, and the end pieces shall extend from the same side along the ends of the blanket, half-way from the middle of it to the ends. Then fold the ends of the blanket over the strap, letting them meet in the middle, or overlap, if necessary. The foundation of your pack is now ready. Make a pile of your luggage, buckets, provisions, &c. on the blanket, and when you think you have weight or bulk enough, take the ends of your strap, one at a time, and knot each to the corresponding end of the centre piece; pull tightly, so that the ends of your blanket will be drawn together like the mouth of a bag. After the knots shall have been made, bring the ends of your strap together at the middle of the pack under the centre piece, cross them and carry them around to the opposite side of the pack, where they shall be firmly and finally knotted. The pack thus made is slung on the back ; the broad part of the strap rests against the forehead, and by leaning forward, and holding the strap with both hands over the shoulders, a heavy weight can be carried with comparative ease. The Indians use this method almost altogether.

The foregoing Hst includes a small quantity of brandy. This should be used only in case of sickness. People are supposed to go into the woods for the pur^ pose of gaining health and strength, and this inestimable privilege should not be prostituted by the use of liquor, merely to gratify an appetite for drink. The use of stimulants is sure to be followed by an unhealthy reaction, and in the woods, if nowhere else, there ought to be enough in Nature's charms to draw one away from a practice at once ruinous to health and to self-respect. For colds, or after a wetting of the body, Jamaica ginger will be found an excellent remedy and preventive.

Parties who camp out in July or August will need some mosquito-repellent, to put on their faces and hands. Various c®mpounds are put up, and are for sale, by druggists and others, which may answer the purpose ; but the writer has never found anything better than oil of tar, and sweet oil or glycerine, in equal quantities, and a little gum camphor and oil of pennyroyal mixed with it. At first, renewed apphcations are necessary at short intervals, until the skin becomes moist, and saturated with the odor of the mixture.

For ladies, a pair of thick buckskin gauntlets, and a good veil, are the best and most pleasant substitutes for the above mixture.

A mosquito net for the liead, such as are for sale at sporting emporiums, will be a great comfort on warm nights, and especially about daybreak.

Matches should be kept in a small tight tin box, in a dry part of your luggage. A water-proof pocketmatch-box you should always carry with you, well filled. You may need it once in ten years, but might fare badly that one time if caught without matches.

As to gun and fishing-tackle, some prefer one kind and some another. Usually campers-out take just what they can conveniently get. The Winchester gun, eight-shooter, is now the favorite. It is cheap, reliable, and can be fired and reloaded from the shoulder, besides being of a desirable weight. The Allen gun is also a good gun for a cheap one, but, not having a magazine, cannot be fired so rapidly as the Winchester. For a two weeks' trip fifty cartridges will be found more than enough, unless one expects to ignore the possible presence of large game, and to shoot right and left at anything which may furnish a good target.

A shot-gun will generally be found a useless encumbrance.

For fly. rods, one made of ash and lancewood, and which weighs from eight to twelve ounces, and costs about five dollars, will answer well enough for ordinary fishing. Higher-priced rods can be had according to one's taste and resources, and afford, perhaps, more satisfaction to the scientific fisherman. They can well be taken care of, when the owner is at a hotel, but the camper-out will find it rather irksome to be continually putting his rod together, and taking it apart to avoid a rain-storm or the dews of night.

For flies, the best are the Montreal, red-ibis, brownhackle, and blue-jay. For spring-fishing additional varieties may be found good, such as the Jenny- Lind, the grizzle-king, the professor, and the gray-drake.

Six-foot leaders are long enough. They should be of a pale bluish tint.

A map is desirable as a guide ; it also serves to while away many an hour which might otherwise be dull. You become familiar with the character of the country, and, after study of, the different water-courses, can often plan out trips, and post yourself upon their practicability, by questioning guides and others, whenever opportunity offers.

PROVISIONS.

The following list of provisions will be found to contain all that is necessary for good camp-fare, together with a little that may be regarded as a luxury. The acid in pickles, tomatoes, and dried or canned fruit, serves as a corrective to the large amount of fat unavoidably eaten by campers, and just enough of these articles should be taken to serve this purpose, and vary one's diet, without adding too much extra weight to the necessary canoe-load.

The fractions opposite each article in the list represent the amount of such article which a man of average "camp-appetite" will eat in one day, and are based on the writer's experience with ten different men on six different trips. To know approximately how much to take for a given time, it is hardly necessary to say, multiply the number in your party by the number of days you are to be in camp, and this result by the several fractions. Of course there can be no absolute gauge of appetites, and during the last few days of your trip you may have to hve on short rations \ or yon may find so much game as to have an overpkis of provisions. In either case, however, this Hst will be found to be not wide of the mark.

Daily Amount per Person.

Baking powder 1-15 box.

Beans 1-16 qt., or 1-12 can.