Isla au Haut, Maine

“Problem with teaching is there is no way to get a week off in September. I hope y'all have fun.

t-g: I'm sure you could get a ride up from one of these people who live closer... or get picked up at a number of different airports, train or bus stations.”

“Dang, I soooooooo want to go on this trip, but I have to work....
Dang, Dang, Dang, Dang, Dang!”

“Dang! LOL...

If something changes Stomper, there's plenty of room for you to join in at the last minute.

Did you try the hummus? Pennsy turned his nose up at it. :)”

“I should have the last details finished up this week and posted - like where we're gonna camp Saturday night.
I think it'll be an additional $5 apiece, but it's the best I can do. I can't seem to locate the "free" places, and I'd rather not get kicked out of a place for camping illegally.”

“twiggy - Not yet! I've got to get some olive oil for the hummus.
I'll eat just about anything.”

“I got your e-mail,twigeater.It did help alot.Just hoping I can get some definates in place soon..I tend to get anxious about not having things in order.... :~\”

“Stovestomper...I wish you could go too.This will be a ROCKING trip. :~ )”

“Dang, Dang, Dang, Dang, Dang, Dang, Dang, Dang, Dang, Dang!

Sometimes working for a living really sucks!”

“I'm from the other forum. I wanted to add that I thought that area was
like paradise. I paddled out from
Stonington The NOAA chart #13313
"Approaches to Blue Hill Bay" pretty much covers that area and the surrounding archipelago. Please
excuse the informality, but I tripped out over the post.”

“trekkngirl
We live in South Portland, If you got to the airport in South Portland, we could give you a ride. I have a Ford Ranger, so gear stowage would be fine, but the hopper seats in the back of the truck are...uh.... ahem ...cozy! We are looking to move soon, but probably not before the trip, so..... Anyways, offering an option.”

“That would work well with flying into Manchester, NH then taking the bus to Portland, ME. :)

Elfskin2 - join us! Plenty of space left. Check out the trip page for details.”

“My mom is very sick.So I'm staying
in the neighborhood. Thank you for
the invite. Your gonna love it up
there.”

“Sounds like a real deal.I'll check out the flights and get back to ya.Riding the bus from Manchester,NH. seems to be the cheapest way to go.Or would renting a car be better? :~ )”

“Tom Terrific flew into Manchester, rented a car (4 wheel drive truck actually), and drove to Baxter for the winter trip. I bet he could help out with info on that. Ohhhhhhhh Tommy??”

“Thanks PennsyHiker maybe hhhheeee will help little ole me... :~ )”

“I don't know anything about renting cars (I never go ANYwhere, hehe) but my travelog friend who's brain I've been picking recommends the bus, but says you can rent a car one way. The bus would prolly be easier, but I wonder about the arrival and departure times.”

“Hellllll-oooooo Pennsy!

We rented a small pickup in Manchester for the BAxter trip.
It was a long haul(320 miles each way).
My wife travels for work and set up all that stuff over the internet.
All we had to do was get there.

Renting a car costs a bit but gives you freedom to come and go when you please.
Setting things up on the internet seems to get the best price too.

The earlier you get air tickets the less expensive it is.”

“Is this the same trekkngirl going to Olympic National Park?

After that Isle au Haute should be a hoot!”

“I’m going to reserve our Saturday arrival site with Great Northern this weekend when I’m in Millinocket. I’ll get a site on the way to BSP so all I gotta do is put out the marker, and I’ll post a picture of that (if I can, lol). I may not be able to post the site details until I get back from vacation on the 18th.

We’ll drive into BSP on Sunday to do Katahdin. We have reservations, so there’s no problem getting in. Cars with out of state plates have to pay a $10 fee at the gate. Stay this night at Avalanche Field. If the weather doesn’t cooperate on Sunday, we can shoot for a Monday hike. We can leave for Isle au Haut either Monday or Tuesday.

I've been chatting with Captain Bill re: kayaking, etc. If anyone is still thinking about kayaking, those interested can take a chance that there will be a spot available and get to Stonington by 8:30am. This is when the normal group trips leave.

The rest of us can arrive Stonington whenever but by 1pm anyway, which is when the kayakers will be done. There are pay showers at Captain Bills for $2.50 or at Billings Marine. We can decide where to shower (if you want one) when we decide if we have kayakers.

If we have kayakers, we’ll take the 4pm mail boat run, which puts us on the island at 4:45, then we hike the five or so miles to camp. If we don’t have kayakers, we can shoot for the 11:30am mail boat run – unless people want to hang out in Stonington and have lobster or whatever, then we can go at 4pm.

There is a fresh water pump at the camp site with drinkable water - however, it is full of minerals, most notably chunks of iron. The best thing is to carry some fresh water in, and maybe bring cheesecloth or some such thing to strain the iron from the pump water. I’m not sure how well filters would work – we could strain it first, then filter if you don't like the iron. I don’t remember it being any big deal last time I was there.

There is still the Captain Bill option where he drops us at the campground and we can bring all the water we want. He now does a daily trip for $30 – however, it leaves Stonington at 8am and returns at 4:45pm. He said he could adjust his time for us, but we’d have to COMMIT to dates and times. Frankly, I kinda like having the option of coming and going when we please, even if it means we hafta lug water. Besides, Bruce Almighty is coming on this trip - we’ll just give him some money and he can run to the store and get 5 or 10 gallons – he won’t break a sweat and it won’t take him mor’n half an hour, LOL…

Monkeyboy, are you bringing your clam rake? I’ll try and get a crab trap.

We don’t have to leave Isle au haute until Saturday, but if we get bored out there we can always head inland and go to Acadia or whatever.

Each lean-to has a critter proof food box, there are three very nice outhouses and we can have a fire. Any other questions, let me know!

Plenty of room left on this trip! :)”

“WOW, Twig...another vacation!!! Good for you!!! Yeah, I can't wait for this vacation myself, been looking forward to it. That sounds like a good idea maybe going to Acadia.

Is Bruce Almighty ready to carry ALL of the water for us ;) how nice of him.... :) We may be getting a little buggy of sorts for carrying some stuff, we'll see.”

“That's a great idea, but since mountain bikes are not allowed on the hiking trails, I assume other wheeled things aren't either. However, we could take the road to the campground if we really wanted to haul something.”

“"However, we could take the road to the campground if we really wanted to haul something."

Like some ass?”

“yeah, haul my ass in it... :)

Also, there's a "2 parcel" limit on the mail boat then they start charging extra.”

“two parcels per person, that is...

=D”

“What's all this about "packages" on the "male boat"?”

“Yup, I'm a bringing my clam hoe with me. We're gonna have some nice steamed clams, and iffin' anyone wants to, they can bring some batter and grease and we can fry 'em too. We're gonna need some butter too! I've gotta find me some rubber boots to go clamming in. Wore them out long ago. Uh.... do I need a license to dig out there? Or am I allowed to as it's a National park?”

“No license, I asked last time. We just need to ask about red tide. The only place I tried for clams out there was near the dock. I didn't need boots but didn't find any clams either. Maybe I can find out if there's a good place to dig out there.

monkeyboy, you need to get to Cobscook Bay state park - no license, you're allowed a peck and you can use their rake and hod. AND there are actually clams there, but you need your boots as the mud is deep.

Now why would you ruin perfectly yummy seafood by frying it, or puttin' butter on it? :)”

“Clams in Maine. Ohhhhhhhhh the memories.”

“Now why would you ruin perfectly yummy seafood by frying it, or puttin' butter on it? :)
twigeater
02:28:19 PM
08/06/03

twigeater sure ain't from the South! ;)
I LOVE fried clams!”

“"monkeyboy, you need to get to Cobscook Bay state park - no license, you're allowed a peck and you can use their rake and hod. AND there are actually clams there, but you need your boots as the mud is deep."

Wow, I'm havin' a time understandin' that!
So, you're allowed a peck.
Why not a nice sloppy kiss?
I carried mud in a hod many years ago on a construction job.
And it was haaahd work, too.”

“....and the "grease"?

What's the grease for?”

“Do you use the grease with the Cob?”

“Actually Stomper, here in Maine whenever anyone talks about a place that has the "best seafood" they are talking fried. Fried doesn't really agree with me. As for butter - I just figured out that I could eat more lobster if I didn't put any butter on it, LOL. But I do like the roe and the tamale - yum! I usually try to get female lobster.

TomT, my laffer would be 'bout broke by now if we were having this conversation in person! :)

monkeyboy - I forgot to mention the 20-25ft tides in Cobscook Bay and the clam flats that go one forever...”

“...that would be "go on forever...”

“20-25 foot tides???
Are you all daft?

Ha ha, yeah, I'm lookin' forward to another "pajama party" at _______ Pond Cabin.”

“What was the name of that pond by the cabin?”

“The tides won't be that extreme where we're going. I'm teasing monkeyboy cause I couldn't talk him and Skeetah in going way downeast with me - rubbing in what they missed out on. :p

Compass Pond. The next winter trip might begin at Shin Pond.”

“Bruce Almighty is coming on this trip - we’ll just give him some money and he can run to the store and get 5 or 10 gallons – he won’t break a sweat and it won’t take him mor’n half an hour.

Hey, I thought the humanpackmule was in Florida? I'm in Pennsy, remember? ;o)

What's all this talk about rakes, hods, digging and stuff? That sounds like work! I plan on having a mainland eatery deliver my seafood dinner each night.

I can't wait for this trip. I hope the weather is good for Katahdin cuz I have another sicko hike in mind. Don't ask cuz I ain't tellin. ;o)”

“Who's bringing the steam pot? I brought the big pot for the chili last winter, but it ain't big enough for what we'll be eatin.

20 -25 foot tides???? Once I wasn't paying attention and the tide swept in on me where it was only an 8 foot tide and filled the mud hole I was diggin in. Me and my boys had to hoof it pretty fast through shin deep mud but made it back alright. I'm not so sure we could outrun a 25 foot tide if we lose track of it!!!! Yikes!!!!”

“trekkngirl - I am driving up from williamsport pennsylvania. I could haul ya a few miles ifn ya can tolerate weird music and a strange driver.

Twigeater I almost forgot to ask... are hammocks gonna be ok or should I plan on sleeping on the hard rocky ground for the first time in two years.(Id almost rather stand)

Im not too particular about the sex of my lobster as it will still be an orgy either way
:}”

“We can use our regular cook pots for mussels, clams and crabs. We'd only need a big pot if we were doing lobster on the island, and if we do that, we should look at going over with Captain Bill.

DOM - Hammock should be fine in BSP, and in Isle au Haut we have lean-tos. The first night is most likely a gravel pit, where there must be someplace to hang a hammock.”

“What day are you driving up? I like WIERD music.. :~ )”

“Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, lobster ...”

“Well Geobeet, change that maybe to a YES and come have lobster with us!”

“Would if I could.

I'm hoping to get back up there next summer.”

“Im very flexible trekkngirl , so long as I make the knife edge its kewl....I can meet you at a major hub if ya want, might save you a few bucks.

E-mail me at dirtyoldman@charter.net once twiggy is sure what we are doing for the first night.”

“Compass Pond, Shin Pond, whatever!

As long as there's a pajama party, I'm in~~~%^]”

“You got mail”

“IT'S PICK ON TWIGEATER DAY

Tom T said so!”

“Dang right it is!

I can't wait to have some more of that Moose Gumbo!”