It has been a few months since I returned from my last expedition to the Maine North Woods. Since then, President Obama has announced the creation of the new Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument, encompassing more than 87,000 acres adjacent to Baxter State Park. This impressive conservation area adds habitat protection and connectivity for Read More
Quest for Protection: The Headwaters of Maine’s North Woods
Erika Zambello, a former NRCM intern, spent part of each season in 2016 in Maine’s North Woods, traveling the headwaters of five major rivers. Her posts share her explorations of the Penobscot River’s East Branch, on and near the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument, as well as the Allagash, St. John, Aroostook, and Kennebec Rivers, as well as Moosehead Lake and a variety of other lakes and ponds. Erika’s photos and stories transport you to vast lakes and small, hidden bogs, and even a boat full of bear-tooth holes!
Summer Day 4: Aroostook River Headwaters
The final leg of my National Geographic Young Explorers grant was bittersweet. The day itself was glorious: warm, blue skies, and no clouds until we finally said goodbye to the Maine North Woods later in the afternoon. After eating breakfast and packing up camp once again, Brian tugged the canoe up the stream to Munsungen Read More
Summer Day 3: Munsungan and Millinocket Lakes
I awoke to rain again, this time pattering against the rain fly of the tent. I knew instantly we had made a mistake the night before, and I snuggled down into my sleeping bag and put the pillow over my head, willing it away for a few minutes. While we had the foresight to put Read More
Summer Day 2, Part 2: Allagash Falls
The paddle across the lake was easy, but the next rocky section of Allagash Stream was tough. Paint marks on particularly large rocks illustrated that many canoes had scraped along the bottom before us, and we even spotted two lost paddles caught in downed tree limbs and along the shore. We were too heavy, and Read More
Summer Day Two, Part One: Allagash River
Day two dawned wet. We could no longer access the weather report without internet or phone, but there was no mistaking the dense, low-hanging clouds. Though Bob Johnson rarely has canoers, the other couple and us were ready to paddle the Allagash Wilderness Waterway by 8 in the morning. Johnson led all of us down Read More
Summer, Day 1: Headwaters of the Allagash River
After a six-hour drive—which included a pit stop at LL Bean and Hannaford for supplies—we made it to Johnson’s Allagash Lodge for the very last expedition for my National Geographic Young Explorers grant. The lodge is a collection of log buildings on the edge of Narrow Pond, which eventually drains into Allagash Lake. The cabins Read More
Spring: Day 3 on Fifth Pond, the Headwaters of the St. John River
On Day 2 of our spring trip, Brian and I split up for a few hours. Brian had had great luck catching brook trout below the old dam, and I wanted to search for arriving migratory birds, especially warblers. The colorful, palm-sized species journey hundreds and thousands of miles north to nest and breed in Read More
Spring: Day 2 on Fifth Pond, Headwaters of the St. John River
After a delicious breakfast at Pittston Farm – complete with Guy’s homemade donuts – we packed camping and fishing gear into the car. In our beat up Ford Explorer we had miles to go on dirt roads before we made it to an access point for Fifth Pond. From the road, we flushed both Gray Read More
Spring: Day 1 on Fifth Pond, Headwaters of the St. John River
The spring trip was up to Fifth Pond and the headwaters of the Saint John River. More than 400 miles long, this waterway rushes from Fifth Pond all the way to the Bay of Fundy. For stretches, it creates a watery border between Maine and Canada. Like many areas in northern Maine, the population at Read More
