Maine Paddling

[daxs]

Has anyone paddled (kayaked) and camped along Nicotous lake outside of Bangor or on Flagstaff Lake in western Maine? Any advice/suggestions? I will be in Maine for almost 2 weeks in early Sept. Looking at some flat water kayaking as well as ocean kayaking. I already have advice on kayaking in acadia. Oh yeah, hope to get some 4000 footers while I am there. Not going alone, I do have a paddling/hiking partner.

 

[SherpaKroto]

daxs,
Hey lady Flagstaff is a great lake to paddle, excellent views, but a heck of a car spot if you plan to cross it. I might be coaxed into heading up there to car spot you (it's about 87 mile drive from Cathedral Pines to Long Falls Dam). For my money, I prefer Lakes Umbagog, Richardson, and Mooselookemeguntic, but Flagstaff is right behind that. Note: all of these lakes have some serious wind issues. If it blows in, it BLOWS IN! I've had a canoe submerged while off fishing below Middle Dam on Richardson.

 

[Papa Bear]

Flagstaff is popular with summer camps as a paddle/hike back. Call it a Flagstaff/Bigelow loop. What happens is they split the group in two. Group A paddles and Group B hikes. (probably a 3 day 2 night tramp - maybe save a day for really fit groups). Then they switch modalities and come back to the start.

I always thought a small group version of that (say 2 boats, 2-4 paddlers, equal number of hikers) would be fun.

 

[peakbagger]

A word of caution about Flagstaff, the topo maps were made on a year with a very high water level. There is a large bay NE of the main lake that appears to have a channel coming back to the main lake on the north end of the bay. The channel does not exist and would require a long portage.

The great thing about the lake is that it is full of floating logs and sandbars, big power boats tend to avoid it, so canoes and paddles pretty much have it to themselves. Be aware that fires are only permitted at designated campsites and there are a lot of nice places to camp that arent designated.