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Sunday, July 28, 2002
Allagash Wilderness Waterway
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If you can survive all that, as well as rocks, whitewater, hours of sunshine, wind and wilderness, you may be ready for the Allagash Wilderness Waterway. It's a long way to Aroostook County even if you live in Maine. The distance from Augusta to Allagash Village is about 280 miles, with roughly a 100 miles of the trip on back roads with some of the most beautiful scenery in the state. And that's before the backwoods shuttle. Dare I say, it rivals the coast? Yes, and it's not overrun with traffic and cutesy gift shops. The last part of the drive included hillside hamlets with mountain fields of potato blossoms, views across the St. John River Valley into Canada and more hillside farms. MEETING OUR GUIDES Sunday night in Ashland at the only motel in town, The 4 Seasons, we met our guides and got a lesson in packing. Barb Pineau and her 17-year-old son, Buck, met us at the motel after dinner, looked at our gear and asked me to unpack my dry bags. She had given us a list of things to take including a box of heavy-duty trash bags. She demonstrated how to double bag everything before it went into the dry bags. There is nothing worse than sleeping wet. It didn't happen because we were prepared. This woman knew her stuff. Holly Weidner, a physician's assistant for Family Medicine Institute in Augusta, found Pineau on the Internet when she was looking for someone who specialized in women, youth and family trips. Holly was bringing her 7-year-old daughter, Kate, and her 13-year-old nephew, Philip Zane. Also on the trip was Joann Austin, an attorney from China and myself. It was the first time on the Allagash for all of us. Monday morning we followed the Pineaus and the Old Town Discovery 169 and 174 canoes we were to use on the trip from Ashland to Allagash Village Three women and two children off for an adventure. UMSASKIS LAKE PUT-IN It was noon before we got to the put-in on Umsaskis Lake. Eight people and all our food and gear for five days were stuffed into a hot, dusty van, hauling a trailer with four canoes. It bounced over dirt roads with Wilmer"Wilm" Hafford of Allagash Outfitters, a shuttle service out of Allagash Village Wilm (pronounced Wim) has lived in Allagash all his life and is carrying on a 90-year business started by his father. He's been shuttling people in and out of the waterway for 35 years. "Sometimes it's busy, sometimes not," he said. He estimates he does about 100 shuttles a year. Hafford told us he was taking a short cut. Clueless about where we were,we listened to his stories. There were no road signs and the only stop we made in the two-and-half-hour trip was at the check-in gate where counts were taken and road and camping fees paid. It was midday when we started unloading boats and gear at the Umsaskisboat landing. Barb and Buck distributed all the coolers and food boxes between the four boats and told us which were ours. Pineau showed us how to wedge our drybags into a standing position to make a back rest behind our seats. Very handy. LONG LAKE Off we went. Into the wind. Hungry, we stopped at the first camp site a mile down the Thoroughfare. It was a welcome sight. The first day the bugs were as wind-blown as we were, and my organic herbal blend worked like a charm. We only made a couple more miles that day in the wind. We had to drag the boats around some sandy points in whitecaps that threatened to swamp us. We landed at Sam for the night. I slept like a rock, not even getting up to see the moon rise at 9 p.m. In the morning, after a hardy meal of pancakes, hashbrowns, juice and coffee, we headed for Long Lake Dam. We lined the boats down the left shore and paddled across to a pool at river right to swim and fish until Barb called us for lunch. At lunch we met up with a group of Boy Scouts with plans to portage around the dam. Barb told them to use bow and stern lines to guide the canoe from shore to the safety below the broken remains of the dam. ROUND POND On the second day, we made up some of the time lost on the first day. The paddle from Sam to Long Lake Dam was 8 miles and then we had lunch. After lunch we headed for Round Pond, drifting and paddling and enjoying the scenery. By the time we pulled off the river at the Inlet Campsite we had traveled a total of 18 miles. Fresh salmon and socializing with a couple fishermen from Saco followed and then we were off to bed. Along the shore wild blue flag irises were in bloom, with wild strawberries, wild chives, silky dogwood, hawkweed, vetch and violets. Standing on the bluff overlooking the pond, we watched the full moon glowing behind the mountains and into the clouds, finally breaking through and casting a buttery glow in our direction. Quiet and complete,we crawled into our tents. MUSQUACOOK DEADWATER With mist on the water, calm and quiet, we talked about hiking Round Pond Mountain but decided to stick to the river because of time lost fighting the wind the first day. We could see the fire tower and knew the views would be spectacular. Next time. We made Round Pond Rips then wended our way into the Musquacook Deadwater. Lunch was made at Hosea B campsite with flocks of swallowtail butterflies as guests. We has tabouli and pita pockets, leftover portabella mushrooms from the night before, PB&J, fresh fruit and veggies, hummus and plenty of luncheon meat and cheese. There was always plenty of food — both vegetarian and standard. We had worked it all out ahead of time. We drifted and paddled through evergreen forests to our campsite at Deadwater North. We got the tents set up just before the rains came. Lusty rains and winds serenaded us to sleep our third night. There was breakfast in the rain and then the sun came out for another gorgeous day on the river. The view from the river looked much as it must have when it was truly a wilderness A 500-foot buffer on either side of the waterway protects it from all but recreational activity. On one mile on either side of the river all timber harvesting and commercial use is managed by the state to protect the natural character of the river. SUMMER PERFUME Our guide, Barb Pineau, was tall, freckled and redheaded. She started out as a whitewater rafting guide and circumstances led her to her own business. A single mom with three children, she wanted a summer job where she could take them with her. It has been 13 years and her last child, Buck, 17, is looking at his last season on the river. He plans to become a Navy SEAL after graduating from high school next year. "I'll just have to retire," she said. "I don't have the energy to train someone new." But we didn't believe her. During the school year she is a special education teacher in the Caribou school system. "My summer perfume of choice is Swisher Sweet cigars with wooden tips and Deep Woods Off," she said. We didn't see the cigars because she never uses them on trips with children. Kate Weidner was an enthusiastic camper with a smile on her face and eyes bright with curiosity. All children should be like that. She was wonderful to have along. "We still talk about her," said Barb in a follow-up interview. When Barb yelled from the lead canoe, "Buck, honey, drink water," we alldrank water. When she stood up in her canoe, heading into a rapids to better see the rocks and yelled back, "Follow me," we followed her. At Cunliff Depot we took the short hike to the Lombard Haulers abandoned so many years ago. Huge iron horses used to skid wood out of the wilderness to the river. ALLAGASH FALLS Fifteen miles from Round Pond we checked in at Michaud Farm Ranger Station and paddled the remaining three miles to Allagash Falls, a roaring 40-footdrop over rocks and ledges into a pool made for swimming and fishing. Camping at the falls, we portaged around the falls in two steps. The boats were pulled out at the second take-out and we hauled our gear to the campsite. The next morning we completed the portage by getting back on the river below the falls. Leaping from the ledges into the pool below the falls and swimming across to the far side kept everyone busy for a time. It's a great chance to rinse off the bug dope and sweat from the day's paddle. Cool, but not cold, the water is a welcome change from the heat of the sun. It was day five, 20 miles to go. After a leisurely breakfast and pictures at the falls and more leaping and swimming we headed down river just before midday. It's been more than 10 years since I've done any canoe camping, and it all comes back. I love this. We were all beginning to feel at home on the water and when we got to Twin Brook rapids at the end of the wilderness waterway we were around rocks, dashing down chutes, catching wave trains and avoiding the boney shallows. Was there wildlife? Moose big and small, deer, beaver, bald eagle, osprey, raven, sandpiper, Canada geese, lots of geese with goslings, mergansers with ducklings, loons, squirrels, song birds and swallowtail butterflies. The warblers sang river joy to us. |
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