Wild Maine: Dreaming of Hikes and Lake Paddling. Arriving in N71RJ, an Amphibious Seaplane – Just a Short Flight from Home
Like Minnesota (“many waters”), Maine cumulatively has thousands of lakes and ponds. It’s the perfect place for paddlers and amphibious pilots to explore and recreate. For me, I chose the Big five destinations on my bucket list. It begins with Allagash Waterway and ends via AMC lodges at the awe-inspiring Baxter State Park.
First up, we fly over Chamberlain Lake for mile after mile of spectacular scenery. We then follow the Allagash waterway northward. In just 50 miles. In fewer than 30 minutes, we will transverse this otherwise 4-day canoe trip and tip our wings to paddlers far below. By now, we will likely have several moose photos ready to marvel at our dinnertime near the Canadian border. Turning Eastward, we soon arrive at Northern Aroostook Reginal Airport, KFVE, refuel, tie down, and head to nearby Lakeview Restaurant, or optionally, cross into Edmundston, Canada. That night, we stay at the Days Inn just over the St. John River in Edmundston, Canada where our U.S. dollars buy more.
Optional:
Canoe the Saint John River through the first part of the Allagash Wilderness – even if for only ten miles. It will still be unforgettable!
Second, we head south to the gigantic Moosehead Lake! Within its 117.9 square miles is the town of Greenville in the southernmost point. Streets are filled with shops, lodging, and restaurants. It’s a great summertime stop for overnighting with friends or family. The lake is stunningly scenic and often breezy and cooling on rare hot days. Greenville has something else amphibious plane pilots love before they lift a cold glass of beer to their lips; an airplane ramp to park and tie down their planes! With a Seawind, all you need to do is extend the landing gear and drive up the ramp to the parking area, tie the airplane down as we would at any airport, refuel, unload our stuff, and head out for our lodging and that cold beer.
Moosehead Lake. We wake up to a Maine breakfast of blueberry pancakes stacked high, hot coffee, and eggs any way you want then head out for a day pursuing a long-held dream – catching the biggest fish of a lifetime. The next day, it’s back into the captain’s seat of our amphibious adventure vehicle.
We taxi into the water, raise our landing gear, review our take-off checklist, raise the water rudder – and away we go! The Super Seawind breaks water and easily climbs at 1,000 FPM. Next destination?
Now, we fly a little north, then turn easterly to AMC’s Gorman Chairback Lodge. We transition to stealth mode to quiet the plane and harmonize with the environment. Soon we land at Long Pond and secure the plane, then head inside to pick up our reservation and unpack what we need. We spend the rest of the afternoon hiking nearby trails and capturing future memories through our lenses. We envision the evening spent with lively conversations and later stargazing (the sky
here is one of the few remaining “dark spots” in the USA). It’s a great place to lie on our backs and watch late August meteor showers. Day upon day we trek and paddle with our binoculars to our chests – hoping to see a bald eagle or two gracefully flying over us. Next up?
Medawissla Wilderness Lodge on the Second Roach Pond for a few-day stay and more paddling the Pond and hiking lakeside trails. More great foods and conversations about wild Maine -then…
Baxter State Park for paddling, camping, and hiking in the shadow of the magnificent Mt. Katahdin – which I climbed long ago. Hiking and paddling here are like no other in the world. Fish jump from the water, Eagles, and Osprey swoop them up faster than I can catch them. As the sun rises on Nesowadnehook Lake casting rays into the southern campground, I gather my tent and belongings and pack my Super Seawind for the two-hour trip home. Soon, the amphibious airplane takes off, climbs to 6500’, and passes Mt. Katahdin off the left-wing. I wave goodbye once again to what struck me to be a spiritual sentinel looking over the land and lakes to inspire and protect native peoples for all time. On the way home, I again pass many more mountains and luring lakes – places where anyone can forget about world troubles for a bit and rejuvenate our minds and bodies.
In just a few days, we have traveled over what may be the world’s most scenic waterways with a beautiful amphibious airplane, the Super Seawind. Smiling, I awake and then I realize; Yes, I was only dreaming. Resources for this trip: www.SuperSeawind.com Seawind Schedule of events: https://superseawind.com/super-seawind-n71rj-events-calendar-2022/
Greenville Maine: Search “Greenville Maine”
Maps and camping Information: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=maine+state+parks+map&t=chromentp&ia=web https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g40744-d145571-Reviews-Baxter_State_Park-Millinocket_Maine.html https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g28940-d105722-Reviews-Allagash_Wilderness_Waterway-Maine.html#/media-atf/105722/461216208:p/?albumid=-160&type=0&category=-160
Wikipedia on Allagash Wilderness: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allagash_Wilderness_Waterway#:~:text=The%20Allagash%20Wilderness%20Waterway%20is,Maine%20into%20Piscataquis%20County%2C%20Maine. The Allagash at our feet: www.maine.gov/allagashwildernesswaterway
Maine Public Reserved Land. Camping, paddling, hiking: https://www.maine.gov/dacf/parks/about/public_reserved_lands.shtml Video on Maine great outdoors: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rW_hu9B4rIw Guides and guidebooks: www.mainewoods.org
Allagash Trip Information Package: T. Bureau of Parks and Land: 207-941-4014 Super Seawind Trip planning calendar: https://superseawind.com/super-seawind-n71rj-events-calendar-2022/