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ALLAGASH DIARIES                                                  

CVOA Paddles Pristine Waterway

By Paul Trueworthy

On August 15, CVOA members Rick Chenard, Betsy Chapman and myselfas well as four others, all guided by Chip Cochran, started their canoe trip down the Allagash River.

At Chase Rapids, Rick and Paul took about 20 gallons of water into the canoe and had to stop and bail out.

Betsy was in the forward end of Chip's 20 ft. Old Town canoe and all of us agree the the first 7 miles of the trip was very exciting.

All told, we spent 6 nights on the river, staying at the following camp sites: The Jaws on Churchill Lake, Jalbert on Long Lake, Back Channel on Round Pond, Allagash Falls, Big Brook East and Five Finger Brook
West.

Each day we averaged about 12 miles... sometimes more, sometimes less.

The river has 75 miles with staggered rapids and calm water. Chip was able to steer us around many hidden obstacles but none the less Rick & Paul managed to hit many boulders over the 6 day trip.
Chip also knew where the deepest parts of the river were so that even though the water level in the river was low, we
grounded out only a few times during the whole trip.

Betsy, Rick & I all tried poling a canoe with mixed success. Chip Cochrane can REALLY move a canoe with a
pole. I was stunned to see how fast and straight he could push a 20 ft. canoe.
He is an 8 time canoe poling world champion.

Chip's cooking was excellent. All the food was cooked over an open campfire and                             
he never burned a single item. Gingerbread, yeast rolls, carrot cake and many
other foods were baked in a reflector oven. He never brings a gas stove.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE TRIP:

*The hike to the Round Pond fire tower. This was the first time I have ever been anywhere and could not see any type of human habitation.

*Swimming at Allagash Falls. We spent extra time here. The weather was great and indeed it only rained twice during the whole trip.

*Rick's and my very close encounter (12-15 feet) with a moose in the river. The current was flowing pretty fast and we got upon the animal a lot faster then we anticipated. It was hard trying to take pictures with fast water but I managed to get a few of the moose.

I brought along a half gallon of Cutty Sark scotch, never believing that I could drink the whole thing. As it happened, no one else brought any alcohol
save three bottles of wine. Therefore, being a true sportsman, I shared my scotch and each night we all had a small toddy. The last night of the trip was
Chip's birthday and we finished the bottles when four of us toasted him with a huge drink of 2 1/2oz. apiece.

Thus ended our trip on the Allagash. I would do it again in a heartbeat and I'm sure that Betsy and Rick would also.