CVOA River Runners Survive the Allagash!

By John Mc Catherin

It's one of those things that many of us always had on our "bucket list" – do the Allagash. Well, at least ten members of CVOA can now check it off, thanks to a six-day trip on Maine's best-known wilderness waterway.

Starting at the Churchill Dam at the north end of Churchill Lake, the five-canoe flotilla covered 62 miles of the waterway finishing up at Allagash Village where the Allagash meets the St. John River.

The good news? All canoes remained upright throughout the trip, including the four-mile section known as Chase Rapids right at the start of the trip.

Coordinated by CVOA Secretary John McCatherin with Allagash veteran Dennis Pruneau as river master, the food (each canoe was responsible for one dinner and one breakfast) was as good as the river running, and animal sightings were frequent (moose, deer, beaver).

 Five of the Allagash crew – Pete & Judy Weston, Gail Miller, Bill "Pappy" Labbe and McCatherin – climbed 1,500-foot Round Pond Mountain on the way and others (Bee Harvey, Pruneau, Chris Bond, Joe Loughran and Ed Martin) did some fishing or just hung out at camp.

Weston, CVOA's president, concluded that "it's not the sort of trip we can do every year, but we'll certainly be back."