Upstream in Grand Falls Township, Maine
We spent the long Memorial Day weekend up north off the grid in Grand Falls, near the Madagascal Stream. We had several days of cool but dry weather (it apparently rained Saturday through Monday down south in Litchfield). The Grand Falls camp of our friends, Marilyn & Pete, is located south of Lincoln, Maine, and east of Howland. As I like to describe it, it is five or six miles (I think) after the telephone/utility poles stop appearing along the side of the road.
We did a couple canoe trips north and south on the stream, which seemed high to me but Pete thought it was about average for springtime. On coming around one of the many bends in the stream, we caught this female moose staring at us intently. After a few minutes she twirled around and disappeared into the foliage.
Further upstream, we got to one of the largest beaver dams on the stream and were surprised that it was not really holding back much water. The water level appeared the same on either side. The dam is big enough to deter further travel upstream unless one wants to expend the energy to clamber over it, dragging canoe and gear.
Wild life was sparse. We saw one muskrat, a mother duck (probably a merganser) and three or four of her young kids. She sprinted off at high speed with her feet in the water attempting to distract us away from her family. Below is the image before the mother started her dance across the water.
