Moosehead Lake, Maine - Part 1

For years Moosehead Lake has been on my list of places to paddle and why not? The name of the lake alone draws one to it. The whole place seems to be the home of the moose cult. Finally this past week I had the chance to visit. Here's what I discovered...


The lake can be said to have two parts: the head and the horns, if you like. As the lake is large, I spent my time mostly in the southern 'head' section. In this post, I paddled around Sugar Island, the largest of several islands in the lake. It was mostly devoid of cottages, although there is a light sprinkling of them here and there. There are also several wilderness campsites, especially on the eastern facing shore.


The first day was perfect, sunny, cool and calm. The views are typical of what Moosehead Lake has to offer, rocky shorelines, crystal clear water surrounded by miles and miles of forested hills. Now and then mountains burst up and dominate the skyline with their changing fall colours.


Now and then something catches your eye as you paddle along and you have to swing into shore for a closer look. Here are a pair of seaplane floats, mysteriously hauled onto the beach. What happened to the plane they once supported?


The beaches tend not to be that kayak friendly as you can see from this photo of my lunch stop. Just off the shore commonly are large boulders lying ready for a bite of your gelcoat and sandy beaches were very uncommon. Still the cool, clear, weedless water was a delight to paddle.