Overview of our NFCT Adventure
Back in the dark days of lockdown in the UK, we were itching to get outside and on the water. After some late evening googling, Robert came across a National Geographic article that really piqued our interest. When asked “is there anywhere new we could paddle?” whilst paddling with friends on our local river when restrictions were lessened just a bit, Robert replied “Well, I did find an interesting trail online...” Little did we know that conversation would set in motion an adventure that would change the next 3 years of our lives.
The trail we read about was the Northern Forest Canoe Trail (NFCT), which is a 740 mile water trail from Old Forge, NY to Fort Kent, ME, that consists of 23 rivers and 59 lakes, and passes through 45 communities in the US and Canada. This trail follows traditional routes used by native americans, settlers and guides, and is the longest canoe trail in the US. It is now (at time of writing), also the longest canoe expedition we have ever undertaken.
We trained for this trip with a small group of friends; reading a lot of information about canoe expeditions; working on our fitness, both mental and physical; learning how to canoe, having all been kayakers before this; and updating quite a bit of our outdoor gear, as this was mostly setup for hiking and or car camping. After getting our employers to agree to us taking sabbaticals (which we are grateful for), we then started planning in earnest; looking up all the information we could about the trail; planning our route and resupply points; organising equipment to be available when we got there; and actually booking things like flights.
Our goal was always to enjoy the journey, not try and set records. We completed our through paddle in 56 days. We got to see eagles soaring above us, deer on the shores of lakes, beavers plodding away at creating new dams, turtles swimming in the water around our paddles, and even a dragonfly emerging from a cocoon. Nature was all around us, even if some of it would bite us more than we’d like. Listening to birds as we woke, and chipmunks as we went to sleep became comforting. Wearing bug nets and shirts became our second skins when we camped, and a blessed relief to remove them when we stayed a few nights in AirBnb’s. We dragged our canoes up and down shallow riverbeds, and it felt at times that we wheeled them almost as much as we paddled them. Those same canoes cruised across mirror-finish lakes, and gave us perfect vantage points for beautiful vistas. It was an immense experience. We had good days, and great days, and a few days we just had to get through, but we will not regret actually going and doing it.
At points it felt like we had been paddling for too long, but it came to an end all too soon. We finished without any crowds, like you might finish a race, but with smiles on faces and a strong desire for a shower. We have so many stories to tell from this time, and lots of knowledge to share. So if this post has piqued your interest about the trail too, or expeditions in general, we’ll be posting more soon.
