New England here we come! Coming home for the summer was our original plan, but after spending a winter in Steamboat Springs, CO we were excited about biking and enjoying the mountains. What changed our minds, you ask? The prospect of spending 6 weeks canoeing 740 miles in our own, HOMEMADE CANOE!
The Northern Forest Canoe Trail stretches 740 miles from Old Forge, NY to Fort Kent, ME. This trail follows original Native American trading routes along rivers and lakes. Of the total mileage, 150 miles are upstream, 55 miles are portages, and the remaining 500+ are a combination of lakes, calm rivers, and whitewater.
Here are some stats about the NFCT:
Rivers and streams: 22
Lakes and Ponds: 56
Portages: 62, totaling 55 miles
National Wildlife Refuges: 3
States and Provinces: 5 (NY, VT, Canada, NH, ME)
Our plans for this trip are developing quickly and everything is coming together smoothly despite our last minute decision. First on our agenda: build a boat. The wood for our canoe was harvested from a basswood tree on Brian's property in NH. Brian's parents, Keith and Leslie, so kindly used their band-saw mill to cut the tree into the long strips we'll use to build the canoe. They're currently drying in NH and when we arrive in a few weeks they'll be ready to go!
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| Basswood Tree after it has been cut into boards |
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| Strips cut from the boards |
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| Laid out on the floor to dry |
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| Laid out on the floor to dry |
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| Strips being planed to correct thickness |
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| The mold is starting to come along as well. The strips will be bent around the mold and glued together |
THANKS SO MUCH KEITH AND LESLIE, YOU BOTH ROCK!
We'll keep you updated on our cross country trip and our boat building adventure.
