Joe and I have been hooked on canoe tripping, so we knew the infamous Moose River was a trip we HAD to do. Starting and ending a river trip at the same location?? Amazing.
Looking for just the facts? See the bottom for trip stats.
Day One
It's true. The Moose River trip can start and end at the same point. The adventure begins and ends at Attean Landing. It is easy to find the parking lot (45.588378, -70.259610 or see black circle on above map), however, be aware that the road and land around the launch is private. Please respect these landowners so we can continue to use this put-in. You will reach a gate close to the landing where you can park, unload your gear, walk through a field (it's very easy to find the trail), put in on the Moose River, and paddle upstream to Attean Pond. Don't worry, the current isn't very strong.
We camped nearby Friday night to get an early start on Saturday and avoid the crowds. Being a three-day weekend and a popular canoe trip, we didn't know what to expect as far as how many other people we could expect to see. Plus, in Maine, the winds typically pick up in the afternoon, and we wanted to be done with the lake portions by then.
We set off at 7:00 am, paddling across. amostly calm Attean Pond. Mid-morning brough a few motorboats and fishermen, but as far as we could tell, we were the only canoeists. I had a tiny bit of remorse for not bringing our fishing rods when I saw all the people fishing on the pond. The paddling was going well until we reached the neck on Attean Pond (see pink star on map). At this point, the wind had picked up to a steady 10 mph coming straight at us. We hugged the shore and paddled as hard as we could to make any sort of forward progress and to avoid getting blown to land. It was tough. Trip tip: Check the weather before this trip, I believe anything above 8mph wind will be challenging and not a beginner trip.
We were exhausted when we finally reached the end of Attean Pond. All of us, especially our dog Luna, were glad to be done with that stretch of the trip. However, the grass is always greener, I guess, because now we were at the dreaded 1.2 mile portage to Holeb pond (see orange star on map). The trail is too rooty and rocky for canoe wheels, so we knew it would be rough carrying everything on our back. We packed as lightly as we could (well, except for the couple beers we brought that are just essential) by bringing minimal extra clothing and opting for Good-to-Go backpacker meals. Luna, our dog, on the other hand, had a blast running back and forth between us while we struggled to carry all our gear to the next put in. It took us about 2 hours. Unfortunately, Holeb had the same head wind as Attean and we were in for another long battle against wind and waves.
I was ready to call it quits by the time we reached the end of Holeb Pond but the sites I was really looking forward to (Turner Brook north or south, which has beautiful sand beaches) were already taken by some motor boats. Trip tip: If you want to avoid the portage and big lake crossing parts of this trip you can put in here and take out at Attean Landing. We pressed on, entering Holeb Stream (see light purple star on map), which quickly connects to the Moose River.
Although Attean and Holeb Ponds were beautiful, the river portion of this trip is what makes it special. This has got to be the windiest (windy as in has many turns) river in Maine but that results in a really interesting and unique ecosystem. On the inside curve of each bend, the river deposits sediment and makes these beautiful sandy beaches. It's amazing habitat for the endangered Wood turtle, which we saw 6 of! Some might find the constant winding monotonous but I found it really exciting to discover what's around the next bend.
At this point, we passed another group of paddlers. They told us they were trying to reach Holeb Falls which was much further than we were hoping to go today. It was about 2:00pm and this was the only other group we had seen which really surprised us.
Finally, we reached Camel Rips campsite #2 (see purple star on map) and I told Joe that was all the energy I had left in me. It was about 4:00pm and we decided to make camp. The site was great, although I don't think it would fit more than three 2-person tents comfortably. The real highlight of this site though was being right at Camel Rips. We immediately jumped in the water and laughed as we slide over the smooth rocks into the whitewater. With an empty canoe we played around with surfing the whitewater. It was exactly what we needed after a long, physical day. We enjoyed a beer on the rocks as the sun set. What more could you want?
It's possible that we may have pushed ourselves too hard on day one because we were eager to go to sleep when the sun set at about 8:45.
Day Two
We were physically exhausted the next morning and slept in but since we were eating backpacker meals we were able to pack up and get on the river reasonably early- 8:30 or so. We paddled until we reached the portage sign for Holeb Falls (great...another portage). This portage was only about .25 miles or so. Trip tip: When you see the portage sign you will also see a massive log jam and then the stream opens up again. At this point, you can get back in your boat or "line" it until you reach the log jam campsite where you'll take out and portage the major falls. Holeb Falls was really beautiful (see yellow star on map). There's something magical about seeing a big waterfall like that when you're all alone and it is unreachable by car. It feels sacred and special- something only you and other fellow canoeists can share. This is a great camping spot with two cabins and plenty of tent space. The cabin on the hill has a wood stove, looks well insulated from mice, and would be a great place to stay if you have a rainy trip and want to dry out.
After that, Mosquito Rips were interesting but not much to report on. Continuing on, Spencer Rips was a lot of fun to run and we entertained some fly fishermen as we boinked off some rocks. It looked like a good campsite here and would be nice to have an evening to play in these little rapids. Rumor has it, this is a good put in/take out. I'd like to try that next time. The next notable feature is Attean Rips (see red star on map). We had gone back and forth between camping here and making this a 3 day trip or continuing to our car. However, when we saw that there were already people camping there we decided to keep going and finish our trip early. Trip tip: The second part of this rapid was the most technical and we decided to scout it before running it.
The paddle from the river back to our car was beautiful. Calm waters and not another soul in sight. We paddled leisurely almost trying to delay getting back to our car, phones, and responsibilities. All in all, the Moose River did live up to the hype. Lessons learned for next time? Take more time.
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Trip Stats
River: Moose River aka Moose Bow
Town: Jackman, Maine
Dates: May 25-26, 2024
Put in/take out: Attean Pond Launch
Number in party: 2 people, 1 dog
Miles: 29 including about 2 miles of portaging
Days: 2 (long ones!)
Canoe: Old Town Discovery 169
Meals: Good-to-go backpacker meals (double portions) for breakfast/dinner. Sausage, tuna, cheese, crackers, and apples for lunch.
Other people seen: 12
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