After
looking for Moose in the West Shirley Bog in Moose Junction Township, Shirley, Maine, there was time for a second kayak adventure at Bald Mountain Pond in Bald Mountain Township, Maine. All total, the two trips will consist of 14 miles of kayak travel under full power much of the time, a good testament to the ability of these motorized kayaks. At the end of the day under cloudy skies, the on-board battery was still at a consistent 51%. This, on a variable cloudy day.
This pond was tough to find, mostly because the roads in the area must have been reconfigured recently. Nevertheless, there is now a kiosk after turning onto JW Pinkerton Road (the main entry road from the South) that contains an accurate map that can be snapshot for navigation into this wonderful wilderness.
An item of note is the three roadside campsites that you'll pass on the way in that skirt the northeast side of Austin Pond. They require a fire permit (easy to get) and have fire rings and plenty of roadside room. They looked very appealing.
Bald Mountain Pond has just one camp on its shore, provided for Appalachian Trail through hikers on their way to/from the 100-mile Wilderness. The trail skirts the ponds northern shore, and the setback camp is located on the northwest corner.
This pond is a gem, with truly wilderness surroundings. On the day of this visit, there was no-one else on the pond, or the roads, with one exception as they exited the area for some crazy reason. Two of the three campsites on Austin Pond contained folks packing up, and when exiting the area around 3pm, all three of these appealing looking campsites were vacant. The only humans encountered on the lake this day were the two AT hikers, from 150 yards off the northeast shoreline - no reason to infringe...however, maybe they would have appreciated an "off trail" food donation on their trail quest. For those who've never walked the AT, even a few miles might add to your perspective - it's a legendary path.