We threw the big Penobscot 17 on the roof yesterday for our trip (which, given the weight difference between us, made it ride as though it was popping a wheelie, and like it had a sail on it), it's a great boat...
We paddled across Hoel Pond in much better weather than we had yesterday...
Between Hoel and Turtle Ponds, there is a set of railroad tracks, with a short tunnel underneath...mere mortals can carry their boats over the tracks, but we like to shoot the tunnel...
The flash washed this picture out a bit, but the water flow is just enough to shoot the canoe down the pipe and out and over a waterfall into Turtle Pond...Ben and I had a snack and a drink at the beach just below the waterfall, and then headed out across Turtle Pond, accompanied by a cloud of biting beasties until a wind blew them away from us...
Down at the bottom of Turtle Pond, as we approached the narrow river that separates it from Slang Pond, we could see rain clouds building ahead of us...
Ben had gotten wet during the tunnel and while paddling, so while we had another snack break and drink, we gathered a bit of wood and started a fire...I had matches in my small trip first-aid trip...it's better to have it and not need it than vice versa...besides warming Ben up a bit, it also chased off the bugs for a bit...it made for a nice break and fun wood-gathering...we didn't bother finding/burning anything bigger than finger-width, since we weren't going to be there long, and didn't need to cook any food...
Once Ben warmed up a bit, we decided to press on to Long Pond...so we paddled over to the carry with the plan to walk over to play at the super beach on Long Pond...
We had a last batch of snacks and played in the water for a bit...there is a beautiful beach in this spot, with nice and clean sand, lots of beaver-chewed sticks, and the water was the warmest we had encountered all day...
It was a pretty walk back though the woods, and gorgeous opening back onto Slang Pond when we got back to the boat...
On the way back, it began to rain and the wind picked up a bit...Ben was damp from the swimming, and he got chilly in the wind, so he stopped paddling (for the first time on our whole trip...he was great), and rode in the bottom of the boat, which sheltered him from the wind a bit...he warmed up by the time we got back onto Hoel Pond and were coming back to the car...
We had a fun time, and Ben was planning our next outing even before we got back to the car...he likes multi-pond trips, and even liked the portages...I've told him about the 12 ponds trip that is nearby, and he was ready to go this afternoon...maybe later this summer...
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