Lake Umbagog.
1907
August
  There are lakes which impress one as dominating their immediate
surroundings, others which seem to be dominated by them. Umbagog
belongs to the latter class. It is too narrow and
tortuous and too closely approached by majestic mountains
to be in itself imposing. Like many a precious stone
it owes its charm largely to the perfection and effectiveness
of its setting. In some respects it resembles the expansion
of a sluggish, gently curving river, especially if it be
viewed from some elevation like
Upton Hill. North and south, east and west it stretches,
trending, indeed, towards every point of the compass
as it winds among its encircling hills and ridges, following
everywhere what appear to have been the line of least
resistance. Although twelve miles in length it is nowhere
much more than a mile in width and there are
places where the opposite shores approach one another
to within less than a quarter of a mile. The coves
by which they are indented are almost by innumerable
and of widely varying shapes and sizes. Some have but a few
acres of open water, reached, perhaps, only by a narrow
tortuous passage, easily overlooked. Others are broad, deep
bays, rivaling in apparent extent the central reaches through which
the steamer channels run and for which they are often
mistaken by persons unfamiliar with the region. The number
and character of these coves and bays fully establish the
claims of Umbagog to be regarded as a lake. They add
materially to its interest and attractiveness and rather
surprisingly to its shore line which, I have been told,
exceeds seventy miles in length. This may be an exaggeration
of the truth but it is safe to say that to paddle around 
the entire lake in the course of a single day, keeping everywhere
close to the margin of the water, would severely tax the strength
and endurance of a veteran canoeman.
General Character of the Lake
Its coves