SMALL BOAT CRUISE: Moosehead Lake, Maine

There’s adventure in leaving a place you know for a place you don’t know.

- Ida Little

One summer while sitting on the porch at Cape Cod looking at our Maine Gazeteer for a lake to explore, we noticed Moosehead Lake, which turned out to be the largest in New England, stretching about 40 miles north-south, and about 10 miles wide. There’s enough expanse for steady wind and over 400 miles of shore and islands to make sailing and exploring interesting. A big plus is Lily Bay State Park along the western shore of the lake that offers two launch ramps, hot showers, and campsites with their own beach.

We made reservations in May to camp in August, knowing the sites would book up fast. Heading north on the Maine Turnpike in pouring rain, we were assured by the weather report that the sun would be out soon. And it was….for about an hour. By the time we neared Moosehead, the forecast was for four days of solid rain. We made a 180 and headed back home.

“A wall is just an opportunity to change direction,” Garrison Keillor once said. Because of this particular about-turn, we learned that if we camped after Labor Day, no reservations are required. This suited us better since it meant we had the flexibility of choosing our timing by the weather rather than by reservation.

Later in September when the forecast looked good, we headed north. After seven hours driving along the coast of Maine and then inland and north, we topped a rise overlooking Moosehead Lake and had to pull over. Both of us were stunned at the panorama of a long blue lake embraced by forested mountains. We rolled down the windows, breathed in the piney air and listened to…quiet.

It’s one thing to scope out a place on maps and in photos, and very much another to be in that place.