This post will describe the meetup, the campground facilities and surrounding activities, but I will only post here sporadically unless the LL site goes down. If it does, then this will become the primary communications tool.
Mattawamkeag Wilderness Park is in northern Maine near the town of Lincoln. It is a quasi government/private campground owned by the county but leased to an individual Carlton Norris who operates it more like a private campground. Their website is http://0354726.netsolhost.com/index.html, a strange url but it works!!
Sometime after the first of the year, Carlton starts taking reservations. Leave him a message by phone or email and he will call you back, but in the winter it may take a week or so.
MWP has about 45 sites, 6 with full hookups that front the river, another 6 with water and electric and 6 with water only, the remainder have no utilities. The riverfront sites are open (ie no trees) but have a nice view of the water. The others range from partially open to fully surrounded by trees. So, something for everyone.
The Park accepts pets on a leash. It has a separate laundry/shower/restroom building as well as couple of restroom only buildings, a dump station, a recreational hall and a bbq pavillion. Depending on the final number of attendees we may want to rent the bbq pavillion for a night.
Baxter State Park and the spectacular Mt Katahdin is about 50 miles to the northwest. But Baxter is rather strict and doesn't allow dogs even if they stay inside cars. I talked to Carlton about this and he said we can leave our dogs in our camper if we want to go to Baxter for the day and can even arrange for a midday walk if necessary. I plan to leave our dog and drive through Baxter to see the wildlife and Mt Katahdin up close and may even do a hike to the top of the mountain.
Adjacent activities include hiking miles of trails accessible from the park, fishing and exploring. We plan to arrive Thursday, August 3 and depart Sunday, August 6. We will host a bbq rib dinner at our site (or maybe the pavillion), on Saturday night. Bring a side to share. We can do something together or separate the other nights.
We now (as of 11/22/16) have 10 campers who have expressed interest or commitment to come. Using their LL user names, these are: david (me, DavidM on this site), PEIslander, Paul (long shot- new baby), gbpack, leslie, Merlin, charleschapman, fasteddieb, Steve and Dana and docktorjj. If anyone else thinks they may want to come, send me a PM with your email address on the LL site as long as it is open, otherwise here.
See you all in Maine.
David
This forum and this thread will now become the primary mode of communication for those planning to meetup in Maine on August 5-6. So please leave a short message here to confirm your interest in coming. I think I do have everyone's email address who expressed interest over on livinlite-owners.
Once we get a reconfirmed count of participants, I will contact Carlton at Mattawamkeag Wilderness Park (forever after designated as MWP ;-) and let him know of our interest and make my own reservation for August.
David
I plan to be there. Let us know when we can start making reservations at the campground.
Joan & I will be there (gbpack). Looking forward to it! Gregg.
David, can you post here when we can make reservations for the Maine Rally? I would prefer that you make the first contact so we can have sites together, rather than scattered across the campground. Thanks.
Leslie:
I sent an email to Carlton, the campground manager about a week ago. Another member sent a message on Friday. No response so far to either of us. But it is winter, so things probably slow down glacially in Maine this time of year.
So yes I plan to let everyone know after I make contact with Carlton.
David
Leslie et al:
I still haven't heard from Carlton. His voice mail box is full and not accepting messages and it has been almost two weeks since I sent him an email with no response. I guess he is hibernating and we may not hear anything from him until spring ;-).
Hang in there. I will post something here as soon as I hear from him.
David
Thanks David. Would mind also sending a quick note to all of us via email when you hear back from Carlton and reservations can be made? It would be easy to miss an announcement here if it got "over-written" by a post after yours.
Sure, Merlin. I have the email list with all who expressed interest.
David
David, how are things going for the August meetup? I have yet to contact the manager, but on Tuesday, Jan. 31, I am planning to lock down my reservations for Maine. Hope to see you this summer!
I just got a note from David today that he has not heard yet from the park. Since they are closed in the winter, it could be a while. I have all my other reservations for the east coast completed (but not for the entire trip). We are staying in Quebec and New Brunswick at Canadian national parks on our way to Maine. Their parks are celebrating their 150th this year with a free entrance pass to all Canadian federal parks. In addition to the free entrance pass, the parks opened reservations 3 months early and started taking them in January. We jumped on that and made camping reservations at 3 national parks for a total of about a weeks worth of camping. At one of them (Kouchibouguac), we got one of the last 3 sites available for our dates in August (!), so things are filling up for campgrounds right on the coast. We'll make our reservations (August 4-6) at MWP as soon as we hear back from David on who to contact at the park.
Further to Merlin's post above, I and others have sent emails to MWP and I also note that their phone mail box has been full. So obviously they are not communicating for now. I will keep on top of it and advise the membership on this thread as well as with an email to those who have expressed interest, when I hear from MWP. I suspect that it won't be nearly as bad as getting reservations at Canadian Provincial or National parks.
David
Hello all:
Well, MWP came out of hibernation this morning and I got a phone call from Rosemary at MWP and made our reservation for the weekend of August 5-6. Chuck beat me to it by a few minutes and if others have left messages recently you should also get a call. So if you want to come, call 207-290-0205 and leave a message. BTW they are rather laid back and didn't require a credit card to set up our reservation. Also if you reserve and I don't already have your email address, send me a message with yours at my address below.
We talked about the pavilion, dog walking and discounts:
Pavilion- They are tentatively planning a chicken BBQ for all campers on Saturday, August 5th in the pavilion. So if that happens, we may want to do that and then do ad hoc get-togethers for the other nights. Rosemary said she would call me once it was firmed up. Otherwise the pavilion rents for $100 if we want to use it. It will depend on how many LL campers actually reserve whether we use the pavilion or not.
Dog walking- Pets are ok at MWP, but Rosemary confirmed that Baxter State Park does not allow any pets in the park even if they stay in the car. So we will leave our dog in our camper for several hours while we visit the park. BSP is an experience that shouldn't be missed- the mountain, pristine scenery, wildlife, etc. The park entrance is about 50 miles from MWP. Rosemary said that she could arrange for someone to walk our dogs once while we are gone. So let me know if you would like to do that and I will set it up with Rosemary. We will probably drive to BSP on Friday, but pick your own day and let me know.
Discounts- I proposed to Rosemary that if 6 or more LL campers came then they would offer a discount. So we will wait to see how that develops. Or maybe they will offer the use of the pavilion at no charge if the chicken BBQ doesn't happen.
So, Joan and I are set for site 33 for August 3-6th. Hope to see you all there. Should be lots of fun.
David Marchand
dmfeelingroovy@gmail.com 949-244-1496
Thanks, David. I called and left a message for them to call me back. We want to reserve a spot for August 2 - 9. Will post here when it is confirmed.
As mentioned on email, I have made our reservations at MWP for 4 nights beginning Thursday, August 3. Since we are going to be there 4 nights, we took a FHU site along the river (although I don't remember the site number). As David mentioned, they didn't take a credit card over the phone but are still holding the reservation with just our name and phone number. Didn't ask for an email address either, so don't expect a confirmation email from them! Sounds like it will be very relaxed and laid back! We are really looking forward to it. Definitely want to do the trip to Baxter SP on either Friday or Saturday and we would be interested in having someone let our dog out of the trailer once or twice while we are gone. Gregg & Joan
Rosemary just called me. I asked for FHU, and my husband and I will be down by the river next to Gregg and Joan. They have #4, and we will have #5, if the seasonal renter doesn't come in; if the seasonal comes in, we will be in #3.
We met Joan and Gregg when we were camping in Bluffton, SC. We are looking forward to seeing them again and meeting everybody else in person, after chatting on these boards. Fast Eddie and Kool Karen have met up with us several times now. I am hoping they can make it too.
Thanks Leslie. Joan & I are looking forward to seeing you and your husband as well. Yes, we are in site 4 and it sounds like Merlin is in site 6, so you'll be right between us (if that's where you end up staying)! But site 3 would be nice as well!
Leslie, Merlin & Gbpack --- Yours truly, Mr. & Mrs. PEIslander (Ross & Heather), and our small but mighty CL11FDB will be your neighbors down by the river. We'll be in site R1.
When I spoke with Rosemary about making a reservation she seemed genuinely pleased our group were coming to the park. I was a bit surprised they didn't want a deposit. When we booked she said all the six sites (R1 thru R6) by the river were now booked. Perhaps we'll be joined by a couple of seasonals in those riverside sites.
I've done a fair amount of research on the Wilderness Park. All the sites are spaced out but overall the campground is modest in size so I'm sure it will work out well for us no matter which site anyone books. From the town the park is eight miles down a narrow, slow speed, dirt road. I read where one local wrote that when taking that road, it is highly unlikely that you'll meet anyone coming the other way -- and if you do the other vehicle will be going slow too. His point -- don't worry about it. I also saw where someone said only 250 campers use the campground each year! It is not uncommon to find references to the park as an undiscovered "hidden gem" and how well-loved it is by the locals and those in the know. There aren't lots of reviews on the web but it seems those that intentionally chose it as a destination universally love it. I did find a few reviews that were less enthralled but they seemed to be travelers who arrived without anticipating being so far back in the woods. (Sounds like its a bit too adventurous for the typical motorhome folks). From what I've read that the campsite sounds much like an old Boy Scout campground - Kind-a rustic with a simple charm. It is in a little over 1000 acres of old-growth forest (deciduous & coniferous). Washrooms and showers are old & tired -- not up to the Disney Fort Wilderness standard. On the other-hand the manager Carleton that David mentioned gets rave reviews.
The Mattawamkeag River is the longest in Maine and the only one without dams. Heather & I are thinking about buying some inner tubes to experience tubing there. I hope others will pick up on this idea and join us. I'll bring a compressor. There's also more than 15 miles of trails in the immediate area. I've read that the mosquitoes aren't too bad in August.
I also read about Gordon's Brook that joins the river just where the road enters the Wilderness Park. Apparently there's a local legend of a boulder in the woods, somewhere near the brook, that has a gold vein in it. The location has been lost and is waiting to be found. Perhaps one of us will find it and live happily-ever-after!
As you can tell by this post -- I'm really looking forward to this gathering!
Ross:
It is great that you will be there this summer and I hope that Paul, Melanie and their new baby also can come.
For those of you who don't know, Paul, Ross, I and our wives have met up for two camping trips over the past two years- the first at the Bay of Fundy NP and the other at Acadia NP. Ross actually found MWP late last summer and I jumped in and organized this bash. Paul lives in New Brunswick and Ross on Prince Edward Island, so we try to select the campground in Maine or NB.
So we now have 5-6 confirmed attendees. Merlin, have you booked yet?
David
We are signed up for water & electric site. Look forward to meeting you. Ross did you contact Rosemary? They called me because they needed your last name. I sent an email but did get a response. See you all in August.
For this year I don't plan in advance I'll see more closer to the date but most likely won't come, Mélanie doesn't seem to think it's a good idea to cross the border with a new born, I am telling her it's only Maine it's like New Brunswick lol. I think it will be easier to decide if we come or not when the baby is here in May For 2018 we will be able to come if we don't come for the 2017 meetup!
Quote from: DavidM on February 11, 2017, 06:13:16 PM
Ross:
It is great that you will be there this summer and I hope that Paul, Melanie and their new baby also can come.
For those of you who don't know, Paul, Ross, I and our wives have met up for two camping trips over the past two years- the first at the Bay of Fundy NP and the other at Acadia NP. Ross actually found MWP late last summer and I jumped in and organized this bash. Paul lives in New Brunswick and Ross on Prince Edward Island, so we try to select the campground in Maine or NB.
So we now have 5-6 confirmed attendees. Merlin, have you booked yet?
David
Yes, we (Roger and Jan) are booked into site R6 for Fri-Sun. I sent you an email on that last week. We are coming in via New Brunswick and may meet up with Paul at a park near his home the week before the MWP weekend.
Quote from: Chappy133 on February 11, 2017, 07:28:14 PM
Ross did you contact Rosemary? They called me because they needed your last name. I sent an email but did get a response. See you all in August.
Thanks for that email. I called Rosemary using the number you provided and she booked me into site R1. We'll arrive Thursday 3rd Aug and leave on Monday the 7th.
I really hope the park has their annual bbq when we are there. We'd likely get to meet lots of locals as I suspect it is for the volunteers and not just the campers.
One thing I noticed about the park on Google: It is listed with a lot of different phone numbers! I assume most of them don't work or aren't the current one that should be used. With the one on their website (207-290-0205) you can leave a message. The one Chappy133 gave me seems to be Rosemary's cell phone. I won't publish it here but if anyone needs it they can contact me. Chappy133 can likely help with that too.
Ross - Thanks for all of that info on the park. Yes, we read the reviews as well and I agree with your assessment (it will be a great spot for those who choose it as a destination). We'll just have to take our time driving in there! We will be staying the same 4 nights that you are (starting Thursday, leaving Monday) and we look forward for to meeting you and your wife (along with all of the others!). One question about the river..... Do you think it flows slow enough for us to kayak on? If it's too swift, then we would have a hard time getting back to the campground. We are trying to decide whether to bring our kayak along. Thanks,
Gregg & Joan
We are bringing our recreational kayaks. We could bring a third as a loaner too. Good river information at: http://www.riverfacts.com/rivers/11349.html
Downstream from the CG is some Class IV water. This not recreational kayaking. http://www.riverfacts.com/maps/11350.html
In August we may find the river too low for kayaks. Or at least right at the park. Earlier in the year maybe. Apparently there are some great stillwater areas miles upriver from the park --- but they probably aren't accessible from the park without driving back to town (some say that takes 45 minutes!) and then driving miles up the road on the other side of the river.
Here's a few pics of the beach at the park that I found on Google. I don't know the time of year for the first -- likely in the summer.
(https://s8.postimg.org/3srrsoiol/1beach_area_at_park.jpg)
The next two were taken in mid-June. I found them on a nice blog posting about visiting the park: http://thebookerblog.blogspot.ca/2015/06/into-wild.html (http://thebookerblog.blogspot.ca/2015/06/into-wild.html)
(https://s18.postimg.org/yzs895m4p/Camping_Mid_June_2015_030.jpg)
(https://s10.postimg.org/4h0awtlq1/Camping_Mid_June_2015_055.jpg)
Maybe the idea of going tubing has potential!
I just made a reservation at Schoodic Woods Campground in Maine for the Sunday night following our MWP meetup. Schoodic Woods is a new National Park Service campground that is part of Acadia National Park, but it is about 5-10 miles east of Bar Harbor across Frenchman's Bay on Schoodic Penninsula. It opened in 2016 and has a nice driving loop along the rugged Maine coast similar to the main Acadia NP on Mt Desert Island.
That campground has three types of RV sites. Loop B is pull through and has 50A power and water, but no sewer it seems. Loop A has 50A power and 20A power, the former is an "RV site" and the later is a "standard electric site". All types are available for August 6, although there are only a couple of pull through sites left.
So I thought I would pass this on to those attending MWP. You might want to give this campground a try. It is about a 2-1/2 to 3 hour drive from MWP. Go to https://www.recreation.gov/campgroundMap.do for reservations.
David
I have heard good things about Schoodic. I think you will enjoy it. After Mattawamkeag, we will be heading south and staying in Skowhegan for a few days before heading to another rally in Hermon ME.
Thanks David. We will be at Acadia NP for 3 nights prior to the MWP outing and then begin heading back to OH after that.
We are headed to Acadia too after our get together. Staying at Blackwoods Campground on the A loop till Thursday. Next will be Recompense Campground outside Freeport for some waterfront camping on Casco Bay. Great private campground 15 minutes from the shopping and dining in Freeport.
We will be camping on the Atlantic coast for a week at 3 national parks in New Brunswick prior to the meet-up and heading back west leisurely through the White Mountains and the Adirondacks afterwards.
David - What's the count right now for our outing? I think I count 6 (not including Paul because he will be a last minute decision), but I could be wrong! Looking forward to it!
Yes, it is now six. I am away from home for a few more days but from memory it is you, me, Leslie, PEIslander, Chappy123, Merlin.
Any more? Plenty of sites available at MWP.
David
Sounds great! We can't wait! Thanks David.
Just saw this and I'm interested in attending. Is there still space?
Yes! The park web site (earlier in this thread) has a map of the campground with which sites have which features. All of us have called the park individually to make reservations. Let them know you are part of the Livin Lite gathering. It will be good to meet you.
Also, send DavidM a private message through this forum with your basic contact information. He's been keeping track of attendees.
Curtis - If you need a different phone number than the one on their website, PM me and I will send it to you. Not sure if it's Rosemary's cell phone or what, but it will work if the other one doesn't get you through! Hope you can join us!!
Welcome Curtis, I hope you can attend. The phone number listed on MWP's website rarely gets answered, at least not now, but they will return the call eventually. All waterfront sites which have full hookups are now booked, but there are sites with electricity available. I am in site 33 as I like to rough it!
As gbpack noted, please send me a PM with your email info. We will be organizing a day trip to Baxter State Park, Friday and probably Saturday, so let me know if you need someone to walk your dog if you have one because Baxter does not allow any dogs in the park.
David
Thanks everybody for your help. I'm looking forward to meeting everybody.
I just heard from Curtis who confirmed his reservation at MWP. We now have seven confirmed LL campers coming. There still is room for more!!
David
Thanks Dave, I'm still not to sure how to work this forum............. ::)
When we first started making reservations at MWP early this year, we were told of the possibility that MWP would have a BBQ chicken dinner for the evening of Saturday, August 5 in their central pavillion. Many of you said that you would like to go.
I have just heard from Carleton, the park manager and the BBQ chicken is definitely on for that date. So, if you are planning to go, and I would suggest that we all do, then email Carleton at info@mwpark.com and indicate how many from your party will come.
Joan and I will host BBQ ribs on Friday night at our campsite, number 33. Bring a side dish or dessert, something to drink and a couple of chairs so we can all sit around the campfire. I have a new fire pit (we still haven't gotten out camping yet this year to try it out, maybe next week) so we can all group around the fire, eat BBQ, drink ??? and hang out that evening.
David
David, I am a go for the Chicken Dinner but the Misses is a vegan. She will will attend and will bring her own protein. Looking forward to the meet up.
Thanks David! Joan & I will be at both the Friday and Saturday festivities. Will let Carlton know that we'll be there Saturday. We can't wait to meet everyone at the campout in August!
Gregg
Both meals sound good for Jan and me too. We'll email Carlton about Saturday.
Hi David (and all)
Robbie and I were going to go to the last meet-up at Acadia, actually got halfway, and then had to turn around due to a death in the family. Sadly, because of something already on the schedule we can't go to this year's either. Hope everyone has a great time and maybe next year we'll make it, if there is one. See Ya.
Mitch
Mr. & Mrs. PEIslander (Ross & Heather) are looking forward to the get-togethers on both Friday & Saturday nights! (We will advise Carleton by email of our interest in participating in his BBQ on Saturday).
Only a month now until we leave for the Maine outing! We are really excited and have already begun our preparations. We leave on July 23 and will be camping in upstate NY, the White Mountains of New Hampshire, and Acadia NP in Maine along the way to MWP. Then we will be camping in 3 other Maine campgrounds after MWP and then stopping in Vermont and Watkins-Glen State Park(NY) on the way back. All told, we will be gone for one month! Should be a great trip! We are looking forward to seeing all of you soon!
Gregg & Joan
I've been reading info about travel up the St. Lawrence River by land and my wife just put a French translator on her phone. A large part of our trip is in Canada and most of that is in French speaking territory. If we get a chance to meet Paul out at one of the parks near him in New Brunswick, we'll be all set (he speaks French, so I'm told).
Merlin - That sounds great! We will be traveling along the U.S. shore of the St. Lawrence Seaway on our way out to Maine. Will be spending 3 nights in a State Park outside of Waddington, NY, so I'm sure that we'll see a lot of the river and may make a day trip into Canada from there as well. Can't wait!
Wish we could make it and meet everyone. We took our CampLite to New England last year and the Maine Coastline was our favorite part of the trip. we wish everyone a great time.
Greetings, I was wondering if anyone was attending this meetup would be coming from the New Jersey area?
I sincerely hope we will be able to join you in Maine. I have been looking forward to seeing again Merlin and his wife, and Greg and Joan whom we met while camping in South Carolina. I was really looking forward to meeting everybody else who I've been talking to here. I wanted to see PEIslander's mighty camper.
As I posted in another thread, my husband will have brain surgery July 13th. He is scheduled for a checkup on July 26th. We will find out then if the doctors will let us go.
As for now, we are planning to be there. You will be able to see how my husband looks with a shaved head! On July 26th, I will know for sure. I will be so disappointed if we can't make it.
Thanks for the update Leslie. All of us hope that it goes well for your husband and that you'll be able to join us in Maine. Joan and I will be praying for both of you. Gregg
Curtis, Not from Jersey but we are 1/2 mile from the border in Easton, PA.
Leslie, Wishing your husband a speedy recovery.
The Maine camping meetup is only a month away now. We have seven campers coming now (I am counting on you Leslie! Maybe Paul and family will make eight), and if anyone else wants to join us, just call the MWP at 207-290-0205 and make a reservation.
We will be doing day trip(s) to Baxter State Park, white water rafting for some, swimming, hiking and fishing in the river in front of the campground and BBQ ribs at our site 33 Friday night and BBQ chicken put on by MWP Saturday night.
So come and join the fun!!
David
I have to cancel our whole trip to Maine, including the meetup. The good news is that my husband does not have prostate cancer. Whew! It killed my grandfather and I have been worried.
However, at the beginning of August, he is scheduled for surgery on his prostate. Sorry we are going to miss all the fun.
That's OK Leslie. Another time. We'll continue to keep both of you in our prayers.
Thanks for the updates. We'll look forward to the next meet up with you sometime. Take care.
And, since you are not going to Maine, remember the eclipse coming up late August. If you are still in Louisville then, it will get dark!
August 4th is the next date for surgery. Ronald Reagan had the "roto-rooter" procedure. I said to my husband that he was in good company. He said that was no comfort.
Some 30 years later, the thing to do is burn the prostate. Which sounds more brutal?
We left Ohio yesterday and are headed east towards Maine. In Fair Haven, NY, right now along the shores of Lake Ontario. Driving northeast tomorrow and stopping at Coles Creek State Park in Waddington, NY, for 3 nights which is along the St. Lawrence Seaway. After that, heading east to the White Mountains of NH for 3 nights and then Acadia NP in Maine for 3 nights before heading up to Mattawamkeag for our meet-up. We will be at MWP starting Thursday, August 3rd and leaving on Monday the 7th. Looking forward to seeing everyone soon! Gregg & Joan
Quote from: gbpack on July 24, 2017, 10:21:09 AM
We left Ohio yesterday and are headed east towards Maine. In Fair Haven, NY, right now along the shores of Lake Ontario. Driving northeast tomorrow and stopping at Coles Creek State Park in Waddington, NY, for 3 nights which is along the St. Lawrence Seaway. After that, heading east to the White Mountains of NH for 3 nights and then Acadia NP in Maine for 3 nights before heading up to Mattawamkeag for our meet-up. We will be at MWP starting Thursday, August 3rd and leaving on Monday the 7th. Looking forward to seeing everyone soon! Gregg & Joan
While you are camped at Coles Creek SP, we will be going by on the 401 in Ontario, just north of the St. Lawrence River. If you gaze across the river and see us, be sure to wave 8)
Got to Coles Creek SP in Waddington, NY, this afternoon. Beautiful here along the St. Lawrence Seaway (the American side!). Merlin, I have my binoculars out and am looking across the water for you! Have fun and we'll see you soon in Maine!
I won't be attending this year meet up but hope to be able to next year. We decided to stay in Canada for now due to a new baby. We will do a small camping trip in Nova Scotia not too far away from our home instead. This will be our first camping trip with the baby! Merlin is going to meet with us in New Brunswick prior to the meet up in Maine.
Thanks Paul. We hope to meet up with you sometime in the future! Best wishes and blessings to you and your family.
On our way. Stopping in Vermont to visit my brother & family along with dropping Mom off for a visit. Mom wanted to take the Lake Chaplain Ferry ⛴.
We are looking forward to meeting you Chappy, along with all of the others! Also want to hear about you taking the ferry across Lake Champlain. We contemplated doing that, but chose to drive around instead. We are at Acadia NP right now and loving it. Mattawamkeag Wilderness Park is next! See all of you soon! Gregg & Joan
We got back last night after three days at MWP in Maine meeting up with other LLers. Five couples attended: Greg and Joan (gbpack), Chuck and Karen (Chappie133), Ross and Heather (PEIslander), Roger and Jan (Merlin) and Joan and I (DavidM).
On Friday, eight of us in two cars made a day trip up to Baxter State Park. BSP is restrictive and doesn't allow RVs (only lean to and tent camping) and no dogs. That is why we picked MWP as a base. BSP is rather rugged and primitive- all roads are gravel but well graded. We stopped at an impromptu picnic site (an empty lean to camping site along a brook) for lunch and then then proceeded up to Ledge Falls, a smooth rock slide area where kids were playing in the water and sliding down the water chutes.
A group pic of all except Roger and Jan who arrived later is attached. Ledge Falls is in the background.
That night we all had BBQ ribs and fixings in our campsite. The next day MWP held a BBQ in their pavilion for all campers and town people. It was a nice crowd, maybe 75. I found it interesting that many, probably a dozen, four wheel ATVs arrived with locals for the event. That night we hung out at Heather and Ross's campsite where some of us consumed the better part of a fifth of Knob Creek.
Joan and I left the next morning for Acadia's Schoodic Woods campground. See a report on this brand new campground in the Campground Reviews section.
How did we like MWP? Well ok, but I wouldn't do a return trip- a bit run down and disorganized. Our campsite was great but we had to search for one with a picnic table, most didn't have one. The adjacent river was the highlight of the campground but the way the river sites were arranged, they didn't have a view of it. Poorly laid out IMO.
But in any case we had a great time meeting our old and new friends there. I hope others will post more pictures.
David
BSP is a great park, I was there several times and climbed Mt Katahdin twice, never made it to the top though, got as far as the Knife edge and turned back. How was the bugs? Maine is notorious for them in the summer.
Yes, Joan & I had a great time at the Mattawamkeag meet-up as well. Really enjoyed meeting all of the people in attendance from our forum, and really enjoyed the area and the other campers as well. Agree with David that the campground could have been laid out better, but we would consider coming back here sometime on our own just because of the beauty and solitude of the place. Tough place to get in and out of (20 minutes each way on a bumpy dirt road), but it's worth it once you're back in there. Would definitely recommend being down by the riverbank even though you don't have a view of the river. Neat area down there and very easy short walk down a path to the river. Thanks for organizing this meet-up David and to you and Joan for hosting all of us for ribs at your place on Friday night (they were fabulous and I loved the homemade BBQ sauce). Hopefully we can all meet up again somewhere else sometime in the future. Here are a few pics that I took of the area (and one of Ross and one of me!). Hope to see some other pics from others as well. Take care everyone and let's stay in touch!
Gregg & Joan
Hey, you picked up a Sasquatch in that last photo !
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This seem to have been a good trip! I hope I would have been able to attend but we had to go to the hospital for sick children in Halifax for our daughter on Tuesday Aug 8. We decided to do a vacation trip out of it. We went to Truro, NS from Friday Aug 4 to Wednesday Aug 9. There was a Geocaching event in Truro we wanted to attend. That was a really good event, we met 645 geocachers there from all over the world.
On Aug 2 on their way to Fundy National Park Merlin & Wife came to Moncton to meet with me and we went to Shediac to visit the Biggest lobster in the world and the Pointe du Chêne wharf and we visited my seasonal camp site. I wasn't able to attend the meetup but I am really glad that Merlin took the time to come visit me in NB!
On our way back we just had passed the NB border and we spotted a red Dodge Caravan towing a Camplite that were entering Nova Scotia!
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Thanks for the update Paul. Looks like fun! We're loving the lobster here in Maine right now! Glad that everything is OK with your family. We look forward to meeting you and them sometime in the future! Enjoy the rest of the camping season!
That is like, the biggest crawdad EVER. Terrifyingly so.
Kayaking with Karen and Chuck
We thoroughly enjoyed our trip east this summer! From Michigan we went up the St. Lawrence River in Ontario and Quebec, then spent a week on the Quebec and New Brunswick coasts, hop-scotching through 3 national parks. Forillon was spectacular for the cliffs and birds, Kouchibougauc was amazing for the bicycle riding and birds, and Fundy was wonderful for the tides and hiking. Our new folding bikes served us well in several places we stayed. It was great fun to meet Paul for an afternoon at Shediac, NB. After the meetup in Maine, a leisurely trip back through the White Mountains and the Adirondacks and camping on Lake Erie ended the adventure. We'll have lots of long-term memories of the interesting things we did and saw on the trip. We laughed out loud at the 17% grades on the roads in the Gaspe, we were wary of the big lobster until Paul assured us it was concrete, we had trouble with our blood pressure in the 2 hours of sitting in traffic around Toronto, we marveled at the grace of the sea birds on the cliffs along the coast, we camped on the shore of both Lake Erie and Lake Ontario (lifetime desires of mine), we noted the really great asphalt roads of New Brunswick and wondered why in the world Michigan is still building roads out of concrete, we learned that 300 miles in the eastern states is a lot farther than 300 miles in the western states, we learned again (double tuition paid on this one) that truck stops are horrible places for RVs, we found out that Quebec is actually France, just in a different place on the globe, and we marveled at how great people are everywhere when you smile, wear a floppy hat, and pull a camper.
After leaving New Brunswick, we went west to Mattawamkeag, Maine for the meetup. We found four other well-set-up Camplites and 8 wonderful folks. Good food and good people are a stellar combination and we had both for 2 days.
However, my wife and I voted our camping experience there as one of the worst we've had with our camper. We were not mentally or physically prepared for the 7.5 miles of super dusty/rough road going in and everything was a filthy mess when we arrived. The office was closed in the middle of the afternoon because the attendant was in town when we arrived, so we had a confusing time finding a site, having lost our reserved site "on the river" to a local resident camper. A person who knew something about the campground found us a site with electric and water but it was on a steep hill and tricky to set up. It was also on the main track into the campground, so the dust continued the entire time we were there. We will be cleaning dust out of the camper and TV for a long time. The worst of it was the campers in the site across the road who were constantly cussing at their small children. We really couldn't be outside at our site listening to that and wished we had our kayaks with us to escape to the river. We were very happy to leave that site.
One very odd thing happened at the campsite. In the middle of the night (3:00A), I noticed the little Mr. Beams battery-operated motion sensing LED light we put on the wall in the camper bathroom turning on by itself. It ran the length of its internal electronic timer (about 30 seconds) and turned off, only to turn on again about a minute later. I got up to check it out, thinking it was defective and figured I'd replace it at trip's end. I then noticed all of the battery operated motion sensing lights we put in the camper cabinets (6 in all) were turning on and off by themselves at the same time! I could see their glow through the Azdel and door cracks. I'm an empirical Ph.D. scientist, so I wouldn't buy any theories about ghosts/hauntings, but it sure was weird to have all those lights going on by themselves. It stopped after maybe a half hour and hasn't happened before or since. They've been in the camper for 2 years and are independent of the camper electrical system. What sort of external signal was setting off those little battery LED lights at Mattawamkeag in the middle of the night?
On the plus side, we really enjoyed the local color at the park picnic on Saturday but the food didn't match Joan and David's ribs on Friday night. Ymmm......Two evenings of campfire conversations with LL owners were highlights.....see photos below.
First is David heating Joan's ribs while Chuck watches :o
Second is the table of wonderful food with Gregg and Joan ;D
Third is Chuck, Karen, Jan, and Heather getting full 8)
Fourth is the 2 Joans :)
And last is Joan, Joan, Gregg, and Ross along with the campsite boss, Abby ;)
Those ribs were very good. I had seconds.