Landmarks aid return after dark

After the remains of Hurricane Lili blew through last Saturday and things settled down, Sunday turned out to be a blue ribbon day – one to get out and enjoy. The skies were clear, the air crisp and cool, the foliage turning but not peak. It seemed right to take it all in from some body of water inland.

An abbreviated version of our paddling klatch held a teleconference and it was moved and seconded, voted and approved to go forth and find the southern end of Nicatous Lake in remote Hancock County. There is a public boat launch there.

A large portion of the shoreline and islands in the lake are publicly owned thanks to a $3.75 million deal signed back on April 24, 2000 when the state purchased a 20,000-acre easement around Nicatous and neighboring West Lake

The conservation deal came a year after the Land for Maine’s Future program purchased 76 islands on the lake and 204 acres of land connecting Nicatous to the state-owned Duck Lake Public Reserved Lands unit, a NEWS story at the time said.

Gov. Angus King was quoted in that story as having said, “Three bald eagle nesting sites, 34 miles of shoreline, seven remote ponds and 20,000 acres of land will be protected forever … In my book, that makes today a red letter day for Maine’s environment.” Mine too!

The NEWS article went on to say that the land is guaranteed to be open for public recreation, including hiking, hunting, fishing and boating. The land’s owner, Robbins Lumber of Searsmont, will still be able to harvest wood on much of the land. Robbins also has an agreement with Champion International allowing that company to harvest wood on the Nicatous land for its stud and paper mills.”

Our mini-klatch assembled in my driveway in Bangor around noon. Karen Francoeur of Orono was elected pilot and Robert Causey, known to only a few as the Baron of the Bunny Hutch in Glenburn, was selected as official back seat inquisitor and tale-teller. I got the navigator’s seat. We temporarily relinquished our titles to become longshoremen and baggage handlers. (It’s surprising how much gear three people can assemble for a day trip, and that all that dunnage and three sea kayaks can fit into and onto a Jeep Cherokee!)

The smartest thing I did before we cleared the runway in Bangor was to enter a couple of waypoints in the GPS – one to help us find the woods road off the Airline, the other one close to (but not close enough, it turned out) the launch ramp. With the Maine Atlas and Gazetteer at the ready, we set the flaps, added some RPMs and fairly flew to Dunkin’ Donuts in Brewer. The first leg or our journey was a success!

After a caffeine and bagel fix we toured the interior of Holden on a “shortcut” our pilot insisted we see. Eventually we got the nose pointed east on the Airline and our GPS guided us to the turnoff. Leg Two was a roaring success.

Into the woods we went on what could be termed “a pretty good” dirt road. We stopped along the way to admire foliage from a small bridge and to pay the rent on our coffee. We made our way north to the Stud Mill Road and onward to the waypoint I’d entered on the GPS. Great! Leg Three complete, we set off to find the boat launch.

An hour or more later, after driving past the road to the launch ramp, and exploring several others, we came back to the right road and then saw the sign with the words “Boat Launch” (or something like that) in small letters. Duh!

By the time we got on the water it was close to 3 p.m., which cut down the time we had for exploring, but not our enthusiasm – nor our enjoyment of the tranquility that greeted us. What a joy! We spent the next few hours exploring and sightseeing. We searched for but couldn’t find the campsite at the narrows designated in the Gazetteer.

Later we studied a pair of loons through our binoculars, then rafted up and had a wrap sandwich that Francoeur conjured up.

We got back to the launch ramp (I’d entered a new waypoint before we launched) in time to restuff the Jeep and sit on the shore to watch the sun set as we snacked on crackers and cheese. It was a perfect way to end the day.

The only flaw on the return trip was a missed turn in the dusk. (We got to see a couple of moose though). We turned down a road that paralleled the one we came in on. Instead of being on the east side of the Narraguagus River we were on the west. It’s a much rougher road. The compass, however, told us we were headed south, and the GPS told us we were headed toward the waypoint for Route 9. Sure enough, we hit the highway where we figured we would, about a mile from where we entered the woods.

If you’re thinking about making this trip, and I highly recommend it, get your Maine Atlas and Gazetteer out, study it closely and pay attention to the map and the road as you progress. And if you plan is to return after dark, pay particular attention to landmarks or side road numbers. It’s easy to get confused. A compass comes in handy. So does a GPS.

To get there from Bangor, drive east on Route 9 through Amherst and Aurora. When you get to Beddington you’ll pass the intersection of Route 193. Continue on Route 9 and you’ll cross the Narraguagus River. Go one more mile and you’ll see a dirt road to the left. It has a gate that is open. Take this road north for 12.5 miles and you’ll cross the Stud Mill Road and then come to Deer Lake on your left. If you continue northward for 4 more miles you’ll pass a big rock on your left that’s painted bright red. Next you’ll come to the 32-32-0 road sign on your left. If you’re paying attention, you’ll see the small lettering that says Boat Launch.

On the drive up from Route 9 you’ll notice white rectangular signs with seemingly mysterious number sequences.

There is rhyme and reason to the road numbering system, and knowing a little about it could help you get reoriented should you get off track. On Monday I talked with Gary Donovan, a wildlife ecologist with International Paper. He helped me make some sense of the system.

Think of the Stud Mill Road (numbered 01-00-0) as the major artery (a tree trunk, if you will) in the woods between Costigan and Princeton. As you go east from Costigan the roads that go north and south off of it are numbered in increasing sequence. When you get to the Narraguagus River you will have passed some 32 side roads (think branches), hence the road that goes north (toward Deer, Nicatous and Duck lakes) is called 32-00-0.

As you go away from the Stud Mill Road the second number in the sequence increases. The first road off this branch would be 32-01-0 and the next would be 32-02-0.

If you were on 32-32-0 you would be (roughly) on the 32nd branch of the 32-00-0 road) I say roughly because, as Donovan explained, the paper company may not have cut roads in some places yet, just as there are addresses on your street where there is no house. These blanks may eventually have a road that will be assigned a number.

As you get farther out on the side roads, the final number increases. So a side road off a side road would be numbered 32-32-1 or 32-32-2 for example.

On our foray into the woods after crossing the stud Mill Road (about 9.5 miles north of Route 9), we picked up 32-00-0 and headed north. It’s just about 6 miles to the 32-32-0 road (where the boat launch is located). The numbers say that the paper company has 31other side roads (or plans for that many) off this branch up to this point.

On roads that go from Route 9 into the woods, but do not connect to the Stud Mill Road, the side roads are numbered in increasing sequence. So if you leave Route 9 and the side road numbers are decreasing, you know you’ll connect to the Stud Mill Road. If the numbers are increasing, you’ll know you’re just getting farther into the woods on a dead end.

And one final hint that Donovan passed along: Road numbers with two digits followed by three zeros connect to other roads.

Jeff Strout can be reached at 990-8202 or by e-mail at jstrout@bangordailynews.net.