We finally did it! Or more like we did it a month ago, and I’m only getting this done now! But I’ve had to wait until my photos were developed, and then I moved (another post about that coming soon). Remember those days? Yea we only did a disposable film camera each, and phones were off and away the whole week, and to someone whose job is literally glued to their technolog, it was fun.

The Premise: Two girls, Liesel and Jenna, both with full time jobs take only 7 days to canoe a 92 mile river in the middle of the North Maine Wilderness with only 2 backpackers backpacks for gear.

The Result: Crossing an item off the bucket list. And we did it in 6, not 7.

We said we would call this trip a success if all 3 of these things happened. 1) Nobody got seriously injured. 2) My car didn’t get damaged or get a flat tire. 3) If the canoe we rented did not get damaged. And would you believe it? It was a success, and we actually had some fun along the way too.

To start with, a hurricane was upon Maine that week. 2 storm systems were hitting the state. And the logging roads to get to the put-in point, seriously scary. Probably one of the scariest things I’ve ever done, because we did not have cell service and if we broke down, there was no plan B. The suspension on my (lease) car is pretty shot I’m sure, but we made it a total of 45 miles with no flats, no problems, and only slightly sore bootys. Praise. Jesus.

We canoed an average of 15 miles a day. We ended a day earlier than expected, and we were able to finish the river despite the low water level, which was something we were not expecting to do. My highlight every day was being done rowing and sitting down to a lovely dinner of ramen. Yea, I ate it every night, and it was just as delicious every night. One of the craziest things for me about this trip is how my stomach wasn’t like rumbling wit hunger, but every time I ate food I was never full, or satisfied, because we were burning so much more calories than I was eating at least. Just to give you an idea of what each day was like-we woke up around 6am, ate breakfast, disassembled camp, rowed, stopped for lunch, rowed some more, set up camp, ate dinner, played cards/read from a little pocket John I brought with me, and then went to bed around 9pm.

We logged our progress every day, so instead of me droning on, here are our notes from each day on the river. I have edited it to read more like a diary entry rather than the bullet lists we wrote, which is the skeleton of them. I hope you enjoy the late at night  configuration of 2 wilderness travelers.

7/11/20-Today we put in and started the river at Chamberlain Bridge at around 2pm. We made it through the logging roads just fine. As soon as we put it, the wind was blowing against us, but we were able to press through. Conditions got worse after Rocky Point. We stopped for the day at Donnelly Point and made camp. We saw a loon, which was our first wildlife. Setting up camp took a little longer as we did it for the first time. Very glad we brought the camp stove so we didn’t have to make a fire every night to cook.

7/12/20-Morning cloudy as we started, and the afternoon got worse and then better. We overshot Lock Dam by a mile and had to backtrack against the wind and current to get there. Still being under the assumption we had to stop at every ranger station we came to, we went looking for the one at LD. Instead, we came across a historical cabin and were welcomed in by Bill and Sue Olsen and Vinnie and Karen [we forgot their last name] playing cribbage. Found out they were believers, knew about the Navigators, and had mutual friends with Liesel. We stopped at Thoreau Island (home to the campsite of HDT who also paddled the Allagash in the 1800’s) and after lunch and petting some doggos it started to rain. We took shelter under some guys tarp which was very nice of him, and once it passed we paddled straight 3 miles to Farm Island, which was much farther than it looked.

7/13/20-Mostly/partly cloudy all day. Wind was very bad after 9am. We attempted to find a fire tower on the lookout trail. Could not pick up the trail after about a mile, but did find fresh bear tracks! Moose tracks as well. After stopping at Scofield Point for lunch, we finished at Churchill Dam at 2pm for the day. Met Alyssa the ranger and checked in to do the rapids tomorrow. We “did laundry” and bathed, read 4 chapters from John in the logging museum, and drank lots of water from the spigot they have here. While bathing, fish were so curious they continued to nibble our toes and all over us. Needless to say, we bathed quickly, as that was one of the weirdest feelings ever. We built a celebratory campfire and got it started with only one match. The winner of our Trash card game will be determined tomorrow…

7/14/20-100% cloud cover all day, water temperature very warm. NE wind against us, but still hasn’t rained on us. We started out the day doing the Chase Rapids and slayed them! No upsets or serious damage to the canoe (so we think). We did Umsaskis and Long Lake today, paddling against wind and current to finish at Long Lake Dam. There was no signage on the right to take out, which is incredibly dangerous and Jenna is very upset about. Met Jeff and Jill? from Maryland at Lost Popple. They were cool. Saw a loon with fresh out of the egg babies. Still haven’t sighted a moose. Liesel claims she heard footsteps around the tent in the night…

7/15/20-No clouds, sunny, fair, 5-10mph winds. Started the day at 10:15am and took a lot of breaks. Stopped at a bridge for lunch where the bugs were so bad Jenna had to put her black garbage bag over her. Saw a lot of eagles and camped at Round Pound Outlet. Went “swimming”, and started eating the fruit snacks after running out of Oreos. Food supply low. Someone please help…

7/16/20-30% cloud cover, fair, light wind. Ate breakfast with a New England cottontail Liesel has named Cedric (I think she has a crush on Cedric Diggory from HP. He seems just her type) and gray jays which ate trail mix from our hand. We paddled to Michaud Farm (~15 miles) by 2pm. The ranger was very nice and contacted Norm our transport. We decided after weighing our options of either taking out now at Michaud Farm or finishing the river, to let Norm know that we WILL be finishing the river, and a day early at that. We had to portage the canoe a third of a mile around Allagash Falls (much dreaded but the falls were gorgeous). We met two girls from Saco in a metal canoe who brought margaritas (we agreed although a fun idea, we are too dehydrated to have been able to pull that off.) Made it to Big Brook South thanks to nice family from Manchester, NH, who stopped to help us find it. They had a REALLY attractive dude with them who lifted their canoe above his head and carried it by himself at the portage! Binged on food for our evening meal since this is our last night on the river. We are exhausted but in high spirits!

7/17/20-Finished in the Town of Allagash after having to get out and push at some points since water level was low. Found Debbie (after Jenna probably mooned a guy trying to pee at what we though was her landing) and called Norm. Got transported (3 hour van ride!) back to car at Chamberlain Bridge. Then went over logging roads again and made it through without any problems but lots of white knuckled driving. Drove to Bangor and FEASTED on Chick-fil-A in the car which made our serotonin levels spike. Made it back to Portland at 10pm and said goodbye, safe and sound.

It was a once in a lifetime trip, and I don’t regret it for a second. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about it and that I’ve done it justice. We’re thinking Montana next, since this trip has solidified our bond as adventure buddies. My mom asked me before I left why all my vacations have to be so dangerous. Not that it was terribly so, but I guess those make the best ones.

~J

P.S. If you ever want to paddle the Allagash, now you know someone whose done it and will gladly go again as a guide;)