Lovell's Island Camping Trip: July 31 - August 2, 2012

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norm
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Lovell's Island Camping Trip: July 31 - August 2, 2012

Post by norm »

During many kayaking trips with Bea and Briggsy in 2011, we talked about wanting to do a camping trip on Lovell's Island in Boston Harbor. Sue joined the conversation over the winter and spring. We even did a scouting trip to Lovells in March to see what the campsites looked like. As summer arrived and life got busier, we kept putting off choosing a date for the trip. I think it was Bea that got things going again and found a date when there were a couple campsites available for a Tuesday and Wednesday night. Since I already had accounts on ReserveAmerica, I made the reservations for 2 sites. We had the potential to fill up both sites, but had a few people decide not to join us.

Getting There:

The plan was to head out and set up on Lovell's on Tuesday afternoon with the intention of getting through Hull Gut at slack tide with our fully loaded boats. The group for the first night would be myself, Sue, Bea and Russ. Our launch spot was the end of the Hull municipal parking lot where there is a sign that says it is ok to park overnight in a few of the parking spaces.

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With Sue's low volume boat, she got the idea of towing a tube in a mesh bag with her water bottles and shower water bag in it. Somehow this rig got the name "Lucy".

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It sounded like a good idea at the time, but proved to be such an incredible drag that she made extremely slow headway. By the time we got the few hundred yards to Hull Gut, it was obvious we had missed slack and with the little current, Sue could make no progress at all.

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Bea grabbed a few of the water bottles from Lucy and put them under her deck bungies and handed some to Sue, but it wasn't enough. Sue had to pull over to the beach and empty some water from her shower bag and strap it onto her back deck while still towing an empty Lucy. We were about to cross a channel together when somebody noticed the catamaran ferry steaming full speed from our right so we stopped to let it pass.

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I guess Sue pulled in Lucy at this point and put her on the deck to eliminate all drag.


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I don't think this Boston Harbor Cruise ship ever slows down. Every time I've seen it this year, it's been steaming at high speed.

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At Lovell's, Sue and I went ashore to find the Ranger and get our site assignment while Bea and Russ waited and watched the boats. The rangers were in their yurt and said we could take whatever empty site we wanted. By this point in time, we knew there would only be 4 people the first night and 5 the next, so any good sized site would suffice.

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We paddled to the point on the island where we had scouted out sites on the water to see if they were available. I didn't recall seeing these pilings back in March, but this time we had arrived at low tide.

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The beach was very rocky and the landing would not be easy, so we sent Russ ashore to see if there was a site available since he was in a plastic boat. From our low vantage point in the water, we could see tents on some sites but couldn't tell if there was another one free.

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Campsite Setup:

Russ came back with good news, that there was a site out in the open with plenty of space, so we started lugging the gear over the slippery rocks. The site turned out to be perfect for us, with trees on one side that we could attach my tarp to in case of rain.

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The open side had a clump of low bushes but also views to the water in two directions. I think we got the best site!

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We were able to carry 3 of the boats up to the campsite with the gear inside. It took all 4 of us to carry a single boat at a time. This put less stress on each person and on the boats. (My boat had to be unloaded before we carried it up.)

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No time was wasted as we set up tents and our dining canopy as quick as possible.

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The gravelly sand was a bit soft for stakes to hold well so we used the stone slabs that were strewn around the site to hold everything securely.

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Just as everything was set up, the storm rolled in and some gentle rain started falling. We retreated under the canopy to prepare dinner. I had brought a fold-up charcoal grill and Sue brought the charcoal. It was very convenient that we were able to set up the grill under the edge of the canopy to keep the rain off the fire. There was a grill on the site, but it was kinda dirty and rusty. Russ and Sue turned out to be pyromaniacs and got the fire going.

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Bea whipped up a pasta salad and green salad and then waited for the meat to be cooked.

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The canopy gave us good protection against the light rain, but had to be manually drained every once in a while as water puddled up on it. Russ and Sue worked as a team after dinner to drain the water off the canopy into the dirty pots and pans for cleaning. There was no lack of fresh water on this trip.

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Russ and I had both brought a Duraflame log since you're not allowed to bring firewood. My log was broken up into pieces. After the charcoal had almost burned out, we added a little Duraflame to give us fire for a little while longer and till it was bedtime.


Wednesday Morning Wake-Up:

Wednesday morning, the skies were still a bit overcast. I think the planes started flying over at about 5:30am. I gave up trying to sleep at about 6:00am and started getting out of my tent and found that Sue was getting out of her tent also.

Looking north towards Hull and Georges Island. We had realized there was a better path to the water at the southern end of the campsite where we stored the boats overnight.

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To the north, there was a little promise of sunshine trying to break through, giving a glimpse of Boston behind Nixes Mate.

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The water tower on Long Island had a sliver of sunshine lighting it up in the shadows.

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There were two other campsites nearby. One had a lot of gear set up, but we never saw any occupants.

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The site closest to us had a father and a couple kids but they weren't early risers. They packed up and left Wednesday.

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A look at our site from the northern beach side.

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You can see the dampness on the ground around the table. We had dropped the lower edge of the tarp and tucked it under the table legs overnight to drain better and protect the gear left out on the table.

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Russ and Bea didn't seem to mind the planes flying over as much as Sue and I, so they were a little later getting out of their tent.

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We each used our butane stoves to make our coffee. I think bagels were the most common breakfast food.

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After breakfast, the sun came out and everything started to dry.

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We tidied up our tents and gear and got ready for the day's activities.

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Overnight we had noticed a ship pull in and drop anchor on the other side of the channel, over beside Gallops Island. In the dark all we could see was a masthead light and one sail. In the daylight, we could now see the true size of the sailboat. On a subsequent trip into Boston Harbor, we came across this same ship and found the name to be the "Roseway", an 84 year old Grand Banks Schooner with an interesting history. To read more about the Roseway, take a look at the website: http://www.worldoceanschool.org/all-about-roseway/roseway-history

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None of the local Quincy, Hinghan or Hull commuter boats pass through the "Narrows" channel between Lovell's, Gallops and Georges Islands, but the ones that head to Provincetown do use the channel. I wonder if this is the boat that ran aground in this same area a few weeks after this picture was taken?

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Wednesday Morning Walk and Exploring:

While we had a little time before the day's planned paddles started, Bea, Sue and I took a walk to the northernmost tip of Lovell's Island. On the beach around the corner from the campsites, there are huge slabs of concrete that I believe were underground at one time. I think the ground around this old bunker has eroded away causing everything to collapse. The tide was coming in, so we looked to see if there was a path under the concrete, but it was all blocked.

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A closer look at the make-up of the soil that is deteriorating and must be getting carried away by the tides.

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To get around the concrete slabs, we had to walk in the water.

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It looks like there was a brick building here at one time, where now it is a beach.

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A couple seagulls enjoyed the morning sun with Boston in the background.

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The bunker at the north end of the island is different and more intact than the one near our campsite. From the beach side, it looks like the water now reaches the base of the bunker at a very high tide.

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The inside of the bunker area was very overgrown and seemed like a jungle in the South Pacific in places.

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There are still a few metal doors intact and lots of dark places to peer into. Forgot the flashlight again!

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We couldn't even fathom a guess about what this hole was for.

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There were a lot of berries on the bushes in this area. I guess the black ones were ripe. I tried a red one and it was horrible.

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This stairway seemed like it might lead to a view of the water.

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So we went up to take a look.

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But we were further back from the water than I thought.

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There wasn't anywhere to go from the top of the wall and we were not sure about poison ivy so we headed back down.

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We went through a passageway to an open field.

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In the field there are remains of a small building.

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Half of the back wall of the little building had fallen off in one big piece.

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On the beach nearby are some big old wooden docks/floats?

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We couldn't return along the beach the way we had gotten here, so we headed inland looking for a trail over the little hill. We discovered that there's a nice trail with stairways and bridges.

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The trail leads to the top of the steep cliff area we had walked below on the beach earlier and provided a nice view.

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The trail turned inland past this triangular shaped, solid concrete pillar. I thought it was a chimney or air shaft for something underground, but Sue was able to jump up and see that it was solid. I wonder what it was for?

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Heading further inland, the trail meats up with one of the old roadways that runs most of the length of the island.

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Just off the roadway are some old concrete pits that looked like they had recently been cleaned out.

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Further down the road we came to the upper campsites where we knew there is a stairway to the lower roadway we needed to get down to.

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The stairway is quite treacherous. I can't imagine using it at night to get down to the outhouse in the lower campsite area.

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Across the lower road is a slippery boardwalk that heads over a dune to the beach.

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Looking up the beach toward our campsite, Gallops island across the channel.

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Looking across the channel toward Georges Island we could just barely see a paddler headed our way.

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It was Briggsy who was coming out to join us for the second night of camping.

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Briggsy unloaded his camping gear and met Russ.

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We kept a lookout for our next visitor and Bea went out to the beach to greet him.

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The visitor was Jim who had contacted me earlier in the week asking about paddling on Wednesday. I told him we'd be camping on Lovell's and were planning to go out to The Graves Lighthouse and he was welcome to join us.

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As Jim was arriving, the Roseway was leaving from its anchorage on the other side of the channel.

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This is when we got a closer look at the crew and got the impression that this must be a training ship from the similar clothing they were all wearing.

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Jim and Briggsy got acquainted while the rest of us got our gear ready for the day's adventures.

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Wednesday daytime adventures:

Jim, Sue, Briggsy and I were headed to The Graves while Bea and Russ were going to Georges Island for the day.

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The water was a little choppy as we got out by Green Island.

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Approaching the Graves Lighthouse.

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Getting close got us a respite from the rough water.

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As usual, we saw a seal near the lighthouse.

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Jim in front the Graves Lighthouse.

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Briggsy in front of Graves Lighthouse.

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Briggsy, Sue and Jim at Graves Lighthouse.

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Starting to head back toward the rough water to circle the lighthouse.

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Back in the choppy water.

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Circling the lighthouse.

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On the way back. Jim passing Middle Brewster Island.

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Our next destination - Great Brewster Island.

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Briggsy and Sue with Calf Island on our right.

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Jim taking a picture of the 100 foot high cliffs of Great Brewster. Sue noticed there is a picnic table on the concrete slab at the top of the cliff.

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Our original plan was to do a second afternoon paddling trip to Great Brewster after having lunch back at Lovell's, but it was getting too late in the day, so we decided to make a stop on our way in from the Graves.

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Looking back at Lovells, with Boston in the background, the weather was starting to go downhill but it wasn't immediately obvious to us at the time.

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Briggsy was curious about the campsites on Great Brewster. You cannot reserve sites, but can call for permission to camp there. Sue, Bea and I had been here earlier in the year, so we knew where to go ashore to find the former island landing area that people now use for camping.

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Last time we were here it was early in the season and the birds were still nesting so we couldn't visit the higher end of the island. This time there were no sea gulls diving at us so we were free to explore.

At the base of the hill, there is still an out-house but it is very overgrown and almost completely hidden by the sumac bushes. Somebody took a look inside and said it still seemed functional.

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There are some leftover concrete platforms nearby that were probably floors of WW2 vintage buildings.

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Heading up the trail there are some old bunkers also hidden in the overgrowth.

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The trail is not very wide.

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Near the top of the hill there was a field of sumacs all in bloom.

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It looks like there was a nice picnic area at the top of the hill before it became completely overgrown. The area is fenced in, blocking access to the top of the cliff.

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Somebody has taken a picnic table and lifted it over the fence and placed it on top of an old, round, concrete slab base of some sort, that now extends over the edge of the cliff. This is the table that Sue noticed from the water. From down there, it seemed like it would be crazy to go out onto the slab...but from up here it seemed very stable. Sue and Briggsy were the first to go over the fence and out to the table.

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Then Jim and I followed.

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There was just barely enough room to stand on either side of the table.

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And no room at the end of the table where you can get a better look at the slab we were standing on. There is a pipe that protrudes straight out of the side of the slab and hangs out over the cliff. It looked like there's a metal plate on the top of the concrete slab, so maybe it's hollow. The biggest guns on Great Brewster during WW2 were 2 shielded 90mm anti-motor torpedo boat guns and it looks like they were near the top, so I wonder if this was a base for one of them.

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Looking to the side, it's obvious why they fenced off access to the top of the cliff as it looks very unstable.

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I don't understand how these cliffs keep their sharp shapes.

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The views from up here are fantastic. Too bad it wasn't a clearer day. Boston and Deer Island were barely visible.

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The closer islands were clearer. Calf Island.

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I had to get up on top of the table to get a better view of Green Island which was nicely illuminated by sunshine.

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It was even harder to get a clear shot of The Graves Lighthouse.

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The trail back down the east side was even tighter than the trail up.

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It's always nice to look back at the beach and see that your boats are still there...

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Boston Light came into view as we made our way down.

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Eventually there was a nice clear shot of Little Brewster from Great Brewster.

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It was time to go and we got back in the boats and headed back to Lovell's. Briggsy was still studying the chart, probably to familiarize himself with the area for next time.

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As we got back near Lovell's, it was getting late and Jim decided it would be best to head straight back to South Boston without stopping. The weather was still not looking very good near the city and it turned out that he ended up having to paddle through some rain.

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Wednesday Late Afternoon:

After we landed back on Lovell's and chatted with Bea and Russ about their adventures on Georges Island, it was too early to start cooking, but the weather was looking a little sketchy to consider a quick trip over to Gallops Island. As we were talking, we watched a large crane on a barge pass by in the channel and turn around the marker near Gallops and head over to Georges. It was odd to see something this tall moving by.

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The barge was quite a contrast to the sleek yacht that went by in the opposite direction.

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When we looked toward Boston, we couldn't see it any more. We worried a little about Jim but knew he could take care of himself.

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It was time for us to batten down the hatches and prepare for the storm headed our way. Sue and Bea gathered firewood but it was a little long for our little charcoal grill / fire pit. I was generous enough to lend them my brand new folding saw.

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Russ was generous enough to supervise while he had a cup of coffee.

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We added more lines to the dining canopy and tried to create a ridge line to improve the drainage after the previous night's experience.

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Russ supervised the canopy work too and had another cup of coffee.

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The rain moved in and we were ready.

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Bea was all prepared in her rain poncho and the firewood was all cut and stacked up under the edge of the canopy for later.

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Time to hunker down under the canopy for a little while and see if the rain clears out. We sat and chatted about our day's adventures. Bea told us about her visit across the channel on Georges Island / Fort Warren with Russ and we told her about our paddle and hike to the top of Great Brewster.

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Sue and Russ did their fire tending jobs again. Sue got the coals started this time.

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The wind was blowing the rain into our den so we set up a second tarp to block it from coming in the side.

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Our tarp improvements helped a little, but it still wasn't draining perfectly without help.

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Russ fed the fire with the wood Bea and Sue had gathered and got a nice warm flame going.

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My little fold-up fire stand from L.L. Bean (20+ years ago) really came in handy, allowing us to have a little fire without fouling the campsite. It was also nice that we could locate it right under the edge of the tarp, keeping it out of the rain.

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I enjoyed warming up my feet for a few minutes.

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Do we all look comfortable or what?

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We could see a little clearing in the skies if we tried real hard. If you look real hard, you can see the Logan Airport control tower.

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Eventually it cleared up and stopped raining. It was still too early to cook dinner, and we were all tired of sitting.

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One thing we needed to do was bring the boats up to camp for the night. It didn't look like it would clear enough for an evening paddle.

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A view of the campsite from the trail leading back from the boats. Everybody milling around.

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Wednesday Early Evening:

Sue and I decided to take a walk to the far end of the island to check out the group campsite. I've been to this island a few times but had not visited the southern end yet.

The entrance to the group campsite.

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The group campsite has it's own outhouse. I believe there are a total of three on the island. One at each end and one at about the middle.

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There are a couple WW2 gun emplacement remains with concrete bunkers at the edges of the big open field group site. The bunkers come in handy for shelter from severe weather. Jim had been here earlier this summer on an AMC camping trip and they had to seek shelter from a lightning storm here.

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We climbed up the stairway to the emplacement on the left that was clear on top and got a better view of the whole field.

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The old gun mount area.

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The open field did not seem to have a good clear view to the water due to low bushes and trees. From the top of the bunker, I could look east toward the Brewster Islands.

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Looking west from the bunker, the occupied corner of the group site is visible and a few campers are throwing a Frisbee around.

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We left the group site and took a look at the area across the island from the pier area. There is a low bunker with a concrete roof that looks like it's in pretty good shape.

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And a higher lookout tower with a ladder that made it accessible to the campers that seemed to be playing capture the flag.

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On the beach near here is the gravel spit that extends out from Lovell's Island toward the Great Brewster spit. Boston Light is visible in the center of the picture.

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During the summer, a couple rangers live on the island in this yurt.

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In the middle of the island, facing northeast are the four big gun emplacements that once had 10 inch disappearing rifles. Some of the emplacements have intact stairways with railings.

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At the top is a bunker that was probably the plotting room for the gun. 65 years of scrub tree growth has blocked the view to the water.

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Just inside the doorway, we saw a neatly written name that we saw earlier in the year over on Long Island at Fort Strong.

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Looking over the roof, the water is visible back to the southwest.

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Looking back down into the gun pit shows how high the walls are and how overgrown they have become.

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The hole where the disappearing gun was mounted is full of trees.

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There is a pathway from one gun pit to the next.

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All four gun pits look about the same. Here are 4 views of the walls from the gun pit floor. Notice the missing railings and crumbling stairways. Sue noticed how big the rings hanging from the walls are. They must still be very solidly secured or somebody would have taken them by now.

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We headed back to the campsite and it was time to start preparing supper. The sun had actually come out but with the damp air, we started having issues with biting bugs. Briggsy, Russ and Bea had changed into long pants and I soon joined them. Sue just wrapped a towel around her legs.

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Once the coals were brought back to life, everybody got to work preparing food.

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The grill got put to work cooking burgers and venison sausage.

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It's amazing how many bags and containers we had for just two nights stay.

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Wednesday Evening:

Looking toward the airport, we had an interesting sunset.

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If the weather had been better, I wonder if we could have tried a full moon paddle? Maybe next year.

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After we had exhausted our supply of coal and gathered sticks, we lit the DuraFlame log that Russ had brought. It gave off nice color and heat, but the smell is just not right. Luckily the wind was light and blowing away from our seating area. It's great to have a fire to sit by and chat when you're camping.

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I don't recall how late we stayed up Wednesday night, but I think it was till around 11:00pm.

Thursday Morning:

Again, some of us woke up as soon as the planes started flying over at about 6:00am. We had left the tarp up overnight since the storm had passed and the winds stayed calm. Under the picnic table, there was footprint evidence of little visitors, but no damage to anything left out.

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The sun came out nice and bright and dried everything out fairly well as we took our time packing up the gear for the paddle back to Hull. Some of us were wishing we had planned a 3 night stay.

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I took another look at the rocky beach on the northern side of the point that our campsite was on. The view of Boston was a lot clearer this morning than it was yesterday afternoon.

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Somebody had made a couple improvised chairs by stacking big flat stones. I don't think any of us tried them due to the weather we had each evening.

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We never did see anyone at the site a couple over from ours where they had some much softer chairs set up facing the same way as the stone chairs.

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Behind the chairs is a grill/fire pit and a Weber grill. I wonder if they rented the site for the full 2 week limit and just spent long weekends here.

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In the bushes between our site and the beach were some wild flower bushes.

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Like good little campers, we packed up and vacated our campsite on time and headed back to Hull. Briggsy had packed up and headed out earlier. We swung by the island's pier and Bea grabbed a snapshot of the sign.

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At 10:00am, the day's weather was already looking hot and hazy.

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Bea took a last look out toward the Brewster Islands.

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Before we could cross the channel between Lovell's and Georges Islands, we had to wait for this huge yacht.

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An interesting thing about the yacht was the size of the dinghy it was towing.

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It was an easy channel crossing. Paddling past Georges Island.

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The water was a little rougher heading through Hull Gut, but nothing serious, which is comforting when paddling with a loaded down boat.

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It was still early in the day after we had unloaded our gear from our boats into our cars. I tried to convince everybody else to go out for a day paddle but everyone had other things to do but me. So, I went for a short paddle along the Hull shore alone. I always wanted to take a look at Spinnaker Island, so I took a spin in that direction.

Next year, I think 3 nights on Lovell's would be a great idea. Ear plugs for sleeping later than 6:00am might be a good idea too.

Here's a Google Earth snapshot of Lovell's that might be a good reference to places mentioned in this trip report.

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I had a great time on this camping trip even though we didn't have perfect weather. I'd like to do this again in 2013.

It was fun looking back on this trip four months later as I finally found a little time to finish writing this trip report. It's nice to think back about how nice and warm it was as we turn up the heat in the house. I'll have to keep going back in my picture archives to find more trips to write reports about, from that warmer time of year.

Norm
Ken R
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Re: Lovell's Island Camping Trip: July 31 - August 2, 2012

Post by Ken R »

Wow Norm what a post!
Have you ever considered applying to National Geographic as a documentary photographer?
GREAT JOB
KR
NorwayLady
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Re: Lovell's Island Camping Trip: July 31 - August 2, 2012

Post by NorwayLady »

Ken R wrote:Wow Norm what a post!
Have you ever considered applying to National Geographic as a documentary photographer?
GREAT JOB


Totally agree!

Bea
Bea
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nchill
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Re: Lovell's Island Camping Trip: July 31 - August 2, 2012

Post by nchill »

Fabulous report and photos, Norm. I guess I'll have to get out there sometime. It looks like a fun area to explore. In the beginning of your report, you mentioned that Sue was paddling a low-volume kayak and wanted to tow the net-covered tube with some of her stuff. I expected to see her Tahe Greenland in the next picture. When I didn't, I wonder how she managed to fill her kayak. Then, when I saw the huge bag of charcoal......... :-) It looks like you all had many comforts and had a great time in spite of the rain. I've camped many times with continuous days (4!) of rain where I only removed my rain gear to sleep. Having a decent tarp close to a fire can make all the difference in those circumstances. It looks like you had a great setup and great food. Venison sausage? Wow! Count me in for a trip next summer!

-Nancy
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Birdseye
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Re: Lovell's Island Camping Trip: July 31 - August 2, 2012

Post by Birdseye »

Awesome Report Norm. Great Detail. Makes me want to paddle more. :)

Nelson
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