We spent the official end to summer camping at Umbagog Lake (pronounced um-BAY-gog or at-BAY-gog according to Charlie). Although the fishing could have been better, we really lucked out with the weather on our camping trips this year.
Since resident goose hunting season opened the week before Labor Day weekend, we brought the hunting blind for the boat and a few decoys. Charlie and Clara helped set up the decoys and played the match game while waiting patiently for the geese to arrive. Despite the realistic spread, the geese we saw flying a few miles away didn't come in to our decoys. Oh well.
On the boat ride back to the campsite after the hunt, we had one of those moments that we knew we would eventually look back on and smile. We were eight-or-so miles away from the campsite, in the middle of the Androscoggin River, in hungry-mosquito-spawning grounds, in the pitch dark, and the boat motor quits. We come to a splashing halt. Jared's first instinct was to pull out his Swiss Army knife and clear away any debris from the bog we were perched on during the hunt. Good idea. The motor started back up, but no water was circulating to cool the motor. As the bow rider, I deployed the electric trolling motor and started heading back to the campsite at an alarming speed of approximately two miles per hour. We saw a fisherman and asked if he could tow us back. He agreed, but said he wanted to catch a few more fish before he left. Slightly frustrated, Jared started the motor again thinking he'd see how far we could get before the motor overheated again. A minute or so later, the water started circulated and we were cruising back to the campsite! The ride only took 15 or 20 minutes, but the kids fell asleep and quickly nestled into their sleeping bags when we reached the tent. Phew!
On Saturday, we boated to the mouth of the Rapid River and hiked to Cold Spring pool, where we found the perfect lunch spot on the rocks.
