Base camp for Allagash Canoe Trips is located in Greenville (Maine) on Moosehead Lake, a 3-hour drive from our starting point on the Allagash River. Jani and I met there at 7 a.m. with the other eight paddlers and two guides, loaded our gear and headed north on logging roads to our put-in in the Allagash Wilderness Waterway.

Except for the two men in our group who had done this trip before, the rest of us were headed into the unknown, at the mercy of two guides with whom we were not really acquainted. Thus began a long-awaited adventure.

We did not know anyone in our group and the van ride was hardly conducive to learning anything about our new companions, short of trying to remember their names. But… it was a beautiful sunny day. Everyone was in good spirits and the three hours passed surprisingly fast. We made a brief check-in stop at the Telos ranger station, which appeared to make it official that we were entering a wilderness area.

Churchill Dam was our put-in location, about 65 miles from our ultimate destination seven days later. As we unpacked the van and canoe trailer we got introduced to wannigans, (heavy wooden foods boxes), yellow waterproof bags that held tents and the “portage packs” that held our personal gear. All this had to be loaded into our six Old Town canoes along with setting poles, paddles, life jackets and any small packs we might have brought along to make this seven days pass comfortably. This would become routine, every time we stopped to set up camp or to break camp the next day.

Once our canoes were loaded and trimmed, we paddled a mile to a campsite called Jaws, where we had lunch, set up camp and listened as Lani talked about what to expect over the following days. Day 1 was like an orientation. The guides could check out paddling and camping skills of our group, and we were getting an idea of what was expected of us and what jobs would be left to the guides.

Jaws provided our first impressions of what we might expect for campsites on the trip. It provided a large table which featured poles overhead that would support tarps for cover in inclement weather, a safe fire pit with a stout hinged grate, ample tent sites for numerous tents and a well-maintained privy. If the remaining sites were similar, we would have a reasonably comfortable camping experience.

The afternoon offered a little more down time than we expected, but it allowed the group to become better acquainted, and at least learn all of our names. It was also time we could use reading or hiking, and many hiked back to the dam. There were some fresh moose hoofprints on the trail to the dam, which raised hopes that we would be seeing some moose on this trip.

Lani and Chris cooked us a steak dinner that included potatoes, a fresh salad, and a banana bread dessert. There was more than enough food for everyone and it was delicious.

A hauntingly beautiful evening capped off a positive first day. We were excited to be in the Allagash.

First Day in the Allagash Wilderness Waterway – A Gallery

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