Spent a week doing this loop with kids and a packraft (Alpacka Forager) in May 2021, Jared and I returned later in the summer to do the loop in 1 day. Drove up Friday night, stayed at rental place in Stratton and got going early starting on the west side of the lake. Thankful for a clear night with lots of starlight, didn't need headlamps on the water. Had the usual winds from the west which helped our paddling since our packraft is tough to move upwind. Didn't see a moose for the whole week in May, but since we were on the water at sunrise on this trip we paddled right by 2 that were getting an early drink from the lake, had a bonus when a bald eagle flew right by them, Jared did his best to get some pictures but it was tough with the amount of swell at that spot. Carried plenty of water in the boat. Took our time transitioning at the east end and had sunny weather to help dry everything out. Rolled up the boat, stuck it in our packs and filled up bottles at a stream by the gravel pit campsite. Tried to go as light as we could but packs were still pretty heavy since we carried the boat, probably brought a little too much food also. Felt like we made good time over Little Bigelow, still had plenty of water so we skipped the side trip to Safford Notch (maybe we should've carried less water though), then got up the steep climb to Avery Peak where we enjoyed nice views of the whole lake. Next stop was at Horns Pond to fill up with water again. The miles and weight were getting to us at that point, thought we would have an easy cruising descent into town but it was brutal, we hadn't done that section before and didn't expect such a rocky, jolting, slow climb down. Mentally the toughest miles we've done since the descent took way longer than we imagined. Eventually got down and walked back through town to the spot on the lake where we started. We were pretty trashed and despite wanting to we couldn't eat much for about 24 hours after finishing. Amazing loop, beautiful place.