By Mike Duclos
On 7/30/25, after saying goodbye to everyone at the St. Johnsbury Park n’ Ride following a Worcester AMC Northeast Kingdom four day self-contained tour, and fueling up at the St. Johnsbury Supercharger while doing some food and other shopping, I drove to Moose Brook SP in Gorham, NH. I easily got a nice campsite (midweek) and used the excellent dishwashing sinks for hot soapy water to clean my bike for the next adventure.
On 7/31/25, I rode 1 mi. from Moose Brook SP to the Cross NH Adventure Trail, then about 19 mi West to the end of that cleared section of trail at Pondicherry Wildlife Refuge, and back. It was misty with a low cloud ceiling, but still great scenery, including wetlands and limited mountain views. The trail surface was mostly improved and in good condition, there were some chunky sections with some old, half buried railroad ballast, but no real issues on a Surly Disk Trucker with 38 mm tires, not loaded. I’d have preferred wider, softer tires, but it was very enjoyable in any case. Check out the Story Map and the ride.
Left Gorham at about 1 PM, stopping at the Bethel, ME Visitors Center to chat with the attendant about the Cross NH Adventure Trail. On the way out the door, I met a couple of cyclists headed back to Gorham on the CNHAT with a large flat mountain bike tire and a tiny frame pump, so I loaned them my floor pump. This was about 3 PM, so I hope they made it to their B&B in Gorham. I continued on to the Super 8 in Augusta for some re-packing, etc.
On 8/1/25, stopped briefly at the Augusta supercharger then on to Winslow, ME to pick up Jeanine Libby who is with Maine AMC, I met Jeanine on Don’s MV trips. Jeanine invited me to the AMC Medawisla Gravel Weekend, offering a free stay at the lodge if I would sweep group rides on Sat. and Sun. We are both long time AMC’ers, so we had plenty to discuss on the 2.5 hour drive to Medawisla Lodge, about 25 mi NE of Greenville, ME. A brief stop at the Skowhegan Supercharger allowed us to buy crucial provisions including pretzels and IPA, which we learned we both enjoyed.
Medawisla Lodge, is one of three AMC Sporting Camps located within a 10-30 mi. distance of each other so, it is possible to bike pack from camp to camp, Additionally there are lean-tos, tent sites, as well as other locally owned RV and cabin options. There is a 3 min. professionally produced video overview of the area and the facilities.
There is a red passport sized book called the Gravel Adventure Field Guide that is apparently only available in printed format (I could find no download link here), and it contains a number of example loops with Ride w/GPS files, and descriptions. The Get One link at the top of the page and scrolling down a long way will eventually bring you to AMC / Maine Woods / Moosehead Lake Region guide and a list of businesses in Maine, NH and MA at which a hard copy can be obtained. I have a dozen or so copies if anyone is interested.
Jeanine and I settled into one of the four person bunkrooms. the receipt I received from AMC for the two day stay was $172.22 for 8/1 dinner, 8/2 breakfast, trail lunch and dinner, 8/3 breakfast and trail lunch, for which I was comped for sweeping the two rides. Nice hot showers, very nice lodge with bench type dining space, a gathering space, a lounge area, etc.
Jeanine and I then went out for a ride so I could get a feel for the place. Behind the lodge there is a lake w/ swimming, boat launch, SUPs, kayaks, etc. and more bunk houses / cabins connected by short trails. Most of the riding was on logging roads; we came upon one road grader with a rake stirring things up, and we negotiated a short section of newly laid gravel maybe 3” thick that would eventually be packed by passing motor vehicles, which seemed to be all private cars and trucks. There were no logging trucks in the area at the time, but Jeanine told me we should get well off the road if we encountered one.
Jeanine, who seems to know just about everyone in these parts, met someone she knows on a 4-wheeler from whom we learned the trail ahead was flooded with about 2 feet plus of water, but he said it ‘had a good bottom.’ We decided to press on, expecting we might need to turn around, but we were able to walk on the side in the brush a bit and get by that way without getting our feet wet. I should mention I was riding my Surly Disk Trucker with 38 mm tires at 35/40 psi, and would have preferred wider, lower pressure tires, but it worked well enough.
We enjoyed the IPAs after we got back before the dinner whistle blew at about 6 PM for a very nice dinner, which included vegan choices for those expressing an interest beforehand and for anyone after those who signed up for vegan had their share. Activities for the weekend were described, including a ‘small ride’ and a ‘medium ride’ leaving at 9:30 following a hearty breakfast at 8 AM. The opportunity to first take a pack raft on your bike, then your bike on a pack raft was offered after both ‘small’ and ‘medium’ rides.
The bunkhouses (I recall six rooms of 4 bunks each in ours) did not have bathrooms; it was a very short walk from our bunkhouse to the lodge bathrooms, for which we were rewarded with amazing views of the Milky Way, thanks to AMC’s Dark Sky Park.
I think the low temp the first night was about 40F. It was a bit warmer the second night, but that overnight low temp meant low humidity which was welcome as the day warmed up.
On 8/2/25 I was sweep for the ‘middle ride’. I recall a number of downs and ups that would allow me to gain and keep some momentum for the next up. Generally it was pretty good gravel, with a few rough spots but nothing too challenging, we had no significant mechanical issues.
The ‘medium ride’ arrived back at the lodge later than planned, but Alejandro Strong of Pack Raft Maine was undeterred, giving us about 15 minutes to catch our breath before starting the pack raft adventure.
He first showed us how to roll up and attach a pack raft to our bikes, nominally to the handlebars (the rafts weighted only 8 lbs.) but for those of us who didn’t do such a great job rolling the raft on our first try, the rear rack was a possibility, where I also put my paddle and PFD. We then rode about two miles to another location on Second Roach Pond, where Alejandro showed us how the raft peripheral tube zipper worked so we could store gear like tent, sleeping bag, clothing, etc. inside, no dry bag needed!
Then he showed us how to use a light nylon bag with two sticks attached, connected to the inflation port of the pack raft. Manipulating the open end of the bag with the sticks to ‘swallow’ a gulp of air, then tightening them and compressing the bag was used to inflate the pack raft.
He told us to remove only the front wheel (normally we would remove both wheels, but we were running late) and how to strap the bike and wheel to the front of the pack raft. We then proceeded to inflate our rafts, attach our bikes and help each other move the rafts into the pond. We paddled back to the landing at the Medawisla lodge, helped each other carry the pack rafts onto the lawn, reassembled our bikes and rode the short distance back to the lodge. The timing all worked out well: I had time to take a shower before dinner, which was already in process. One less item on the bucket list!
Early Saturday AM I had noted my car had a flat tire, so after dinner, instead of attending the evening program of music, I made a soap solution, ran my tire inflator till it went up in smoke, then soaped up the tire looking for the leak. From the gauge I saw it was leaking about 1 PSI per minute, and it was remarkably difficult to find the leak. It took me almost an hour.
I tried the plug kit I had, but the cement had dried out and the plug insertion tool was not working very well. Alejandro walked by, offered his compressor and plug kit (if you don’t have a spare tire in your car, I’d highly recommend both a compressor and a plug kit with fresh cement.) With Alejandro’s heavy duty ‘T grip’ plug insertion tool I was able to get the plug in, using his compressor I was able to inflate the tire to about 50 psi, and I left it for the night to join the remainder of the evening program which included a bike repair discussion session Eric of BCOM Maine was holding in the lodge.
Checking early Sunday AM, the tire had held air very well overnight. Alejandro offered to follow us to Greenville where tire repair service might be found if we left at the same time following the Sunday ride.
On 8/3/25 I was again sweep for the ‘middle ride’, which was a bit shorter, but with a bit more elevation gain, and more challenging road surfaces.
Near the start of the ride I told Alejandro his tires looked really low, he said he was going to turn back, but I convinced him to use my frame pump, which provided enough air so he was able to complete the ride.
The pace was a bit quicker than Saturday, the riders seemed somewhat younger, we again had two ebikes in the group, and some of the climbs (and descents) had more loose rocks, gravel, etc. so it seemed to me to be a fair bit more challenging, and I often was well behind most of the group until near the end.
There were a number of interesting climbs and descents, washed out bridges and road sections. I was riding a Surly Disk Trucker with 38 mm tires (unloaded), a bike primarily intended for loaded touring on much smoother surfaces. It was all manageable but I did a fair bit of walking both up and down. We stopped at First Roach Pond and some of us went wading: iI’s a beautiful spot. A short time later Henry from Greenville broke a spoke on his ebike. I lent him my spoke tool and he easily removed it. From Henry I learned there was no garage open in Greenville on Sunday to repair my car tire, so I hoped my plugged tire would hold for the entire ride home.
One rider with tubeless tires had a flat which he tried and failed to fix with a plug, it appears there was little to no sealant left in the tire, so a tube provided by another rider was quickly inserted and we were soon rolling back to the lodge.
When we returned to the lodge, my car tire was still holding air so we took showers, and when Alejandro had all his pack rafts loaded into his vehicle, he followed us back to Greenville. There is now a NACS charger in Greenville, so we did a bit of grocery shopping for the ride home while charging, then headed back to civilization.
On the ride back Jeanine and I discussed the weekend. She had a goal of getting some people from different chapters up to Medawisla to see what it and the other lodges provided, ride the gravel, enjoy the ponds, and bring back some first person information to other AMC chapters about what the place is like, which I’ve tried to do here.
One thing we discussed is maintenance on the roads (e.g. rake dragging behind a road grader, laying down more gravel, which appeared to happen in about 3 inch thick layers, so riding that was slow and challenging in the short bit we hit on Friday) and the importance of making road condition information available to those who wanted to ride there, something the AMC should be working on, I think. I think there is some ‘local knowledge’ about road conditions, e.g. for the Sunday ‘middle ride’ Eric was clear in describing that some of the roads had not been maintained in quite some time, and so would be more of a challenge.
Some of the fondest memories of this trip include the long tables in the dining area, where people just randomly mixed together and talked. I met someone who lives in a town adjacent to my home town, a couple of gravel racer types from mid-coast Maine, and a variety of others, all sharing a common interest in riding gravel, and otherwise enjoying the area using the available SUPs, kayaks, hiking trails, etc.
The stars at night were spectacular. It was really quiet. There is no Internet or cell coverage. It really feels remote and disconnected from the world, and I found that to be very attractive. The food was really good, the additional things like the packrafting / biking, the evening slide shows, discussion of bike maintenance and other entertainment all served to enhance the total experience.
There are two more 2025 Gravel Cycling Weekends, this year: 9/19-21/25 and 10/3-5/25 and I’d encourage anyone interested in what I’ve described above to check them out, see Medawisla Summer Trail Map.
Hopefully this gives you a flavor of the experience, it was a most enjoyable adventure, if you have any questions don’t hesitate to get in touch.
Mike Duclos
mduclos1@icloud.com
