The Crown of Maine

August 4, 2020

Look at a map of the counties of Maine and you can see why Aroostook is called the Crown of Maine.

The morning after our arrival at Lakeview Campground in St. Agatha, the weather was brighter and we headed out to take Sylvie as far north and west as we were comfortable. We went to a point just before “Little Black Checkpoint” on Map 66 of the DeLorme Atlas and Gazatteer.

The Bridge at Dickey, part of the town of Allagash, looking south across the St. John River (both above and below).

 

The St. John River looking east
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We headed back east to the junction of the Allagash River with the St. John River. The Allagash comes in from the south to the east-flowing St. John.

Looking north from the Route 161 bridge over the Allagash to its merger with the St. John.
GPS view

Fort Kent, where U.S. Route 1 begins or ends, according to your perspective. Yes, we were at the other end of Route 1 earlier this year.

Madawaska, Maine and Edmundston, New Brunswick are linked by a mile-long pressure pipeline that carries pulp created in the Twin Rivers plant in Edmundston across the border to the paper mill in Madawaska. It looks like one big town. Most of the structures in the following photos are in Canada.

It’s all about the timber industry.
We continued along the top of the Crown to Grand Isle, then headed inland to see potato fields in bloom.

Then we ran into this yearling – oops, bad terminology, not literally!

On our way back to St. Agatha we drove through Pelletier Island in Long Lake, connected by a long causeway to the shore.

3 thoughts on “The Crown of Maine

  1. We were there at exactly the same time!  I am sure that your first day in Fort Kent was also our first day there, and then you went to Long Lake and we put in to paddle the (very low water) Allagash.  When we got off the river on Saturday, we then went back into North Maine Woods territory and went as close as we could get to Estcourt.  But truly, you cahn’t get theah from heah.  In order to get into Estcourt you have to cross the border (even though part of the town is in Maine) and the border crossing is closed on the weekends.  Of course, we couldn’t have crossed anyway because it’s closed to Americans at the moment and for the foreseeable future, the way things are going with COVID.  We spent Saturday night in a beautiful NMW campsite on the Little Black, very close to the border.  On Sunday we drove back to Ft. Kent and meandered down through St Agat and along Long Lake, having lunch on the deck at the famous Long Kale Sporting Club, an experience to be sure.  We spent the night at lovely little Aroostook State Park (Maine’s 1st) and had a nice swim in the lake there.  Monday we meandered all the way home: through Amish country, stopping at a farm stand where I bought too many baskets, checking in at ME Woods & Waters headquarters in Millinocket to get some info for the next trip up there, and then continued on state roads all the way to Newport where we finally got on the interstate.  I do love The County! We are taking off next Tuesday for another visit to Andy & family in Leadville, Colorado via Baker in eastern Nevada where Abby Johnson has a place.  I think we’ll be gone nearly a month.  We found on the first Colorado trip in June that we could travel with minimal contact by booking all our campsites in advance as well as planning our meals and doing all the shopping before departure.  Of course this trip could go to hell at a moment’s notice, depending on COVID, but right now we’re fairly confident. Last week, we spent three nights at Cobscook Bay State Park.  Highly recommended.  There is a brand new conservancy in that neck of the woods that just opened last month.  Lots of small “parks” that are beautifully outfitted with great signage, lovely trails, and even small screened in “pavilions” with picnic tables and views.https://www.facebook.com/cobscookshores/    — link to a PPH article that I can no longer accessMillionaire’s nonprofit quietly buys 7 miles of Maine coast 

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    | | | | Millionaire’s nonprofit quietly buys 7 miles of Maine coast

    The Butler Conservation Fund has since summer 2016 acquired shorefront tracts in Lubec and Trescott that will ho… |

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    This guy’s foundation has also done trails for hiking, biking, xc skiing and snowshoeing on the E. Branch of the Penobscot, but that’s another trip. See you eventually!

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    1. We hiked the trails on the East Branch preserve last fall on one of our shake down cruises, before I started blogging. I may have to do a flash back entry, because we also drove the Woods and Waters loop. Your venturing west encourages us to consider going west sometime later in the fall. We just don’t know. Be flexible, I guess!

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