Troop 175 Adventure Crew Trip to Maine High Adventure Base

On June 29^th, our eight-member Adventure Crew departed from Simsbury and headed to the Maine High Adventure Base in northern Maine. After a nine-hour ride, we arrived at Matagamon Wilderness, a campground on the banks of the East Branch of the Penobscot River where we spent our first night. Early the next morning, after a great breakfast cooked for us on an open fire, we traveled a short distance to Grand Lake Matagamon where we were met by Maine High Adventure Base staff. We loaded our personal gear and boarded a pontoon boat for the ride across the lake to the landing at Maine High Adventure Base.

After a tour of the Base, the Crew met with Base staff to discuss trip planning and options. Base staff plotted 4 different trips for the Crew to consider.  The Crew picked an exciting trip with lots of white water on the St. Croix River on the Maine/New Brunswick border from Vanceboro, Maine to the Ocean. The Crew chose this trip because of the allure of an exploratory element to the trip along the lower reaches of the St. Croix River and out into Passamaquoddy Bay. No Maine High Adventure Base crew had ever before paddled down the St. Croix all the way out into the Bay. No one, including the Base staff and our guide, was sure what we would encounter for river/water or campsite conditions along the lower reach of the St. Croix River and open tidal water. We spent the rest of the day preparing for the trip; packing food, gear and supplies we would need for the entire trip. That evening, we camped along the shore of Grand Lake Matagamon where the Crew enjoyed cliff jumping into the lake.

 The next morning, the Crew paddled back across Grand Lake Matagamon, loaded the van and trailer and head out on the three-hour ride to the St. Croix River put-in at Vanceboro. We had the great fortune of having Jason Cross assigned as Guide for our Crew. Jason is a Maine native, a Registered Maine Guide, and he comes from a family with a background in professional guiding. Jason was a great source of knowledge and experience, which he freely passed on the Crew.

Some of the highlights on the trip included learning to maneuver a canoe around rocks and river obstacles; running class 2 and 3 rapids; getting up at 3 am to paddle in the early morning river smoke, encountering numerous bald eagles, a family of beavers, a moose crossing the river and an unexpected longhorn bison; loons calling through the night; bushwhacking a campsite along the exploratory reach of the river; fishing; walking out into the rapids in a chain-like maneuver; learning new cooking techniques and quick-release knots; a tour inside a hydroelectric generation plant; and interloping across the US Border into Canada. Near the town of Calais, after a strenuous portage around a dam, we had the exciting experience of having the dam release water with us below it.  We had to move quickly to load up, get into the water and make it through the speedily increasing rapids before they became impassable.

Our last day on the river, we covered 21 miles which included long reaches of slow water on the lower St. Croix, as well as waves and head wind in the cold, salty waters of Passamaquoddy Bay, an inlet of the Bay of Fundy.  The day included 13 hours in our canoes. We arrived at Robbinston, our take-out destination, in the early evening, toward the end of the day, a total of 72 miles downstream from our put-in at Vanceboro. We had made the entire trip without dumping a canoe.

 

The next morning, July 7^th, we packed and loaded for the three-hour ride back to Grand Lake Matagamon and our last paddle across the lake back to the Base. After turning in our gear, we sat down for a bean hole supper that was absolutely delicious.   

A unique aspect of this trip was that we cooked great meals including chili (river guide style), river-itos, and moose cakes over open fires built the Maine Guide way.  We enjoyed sunny, clear weather every day, a river breeze that kept the infamous bugs of Maine at bay (at least while we were on the water), and Hudson Bay bread.  The whole trip was a great experience.

Along the way, the Crew learned river safety and rescue techniques and developed teamwork and skills necessary to quickly and efficiently make and break camp, cook and clean, accomplish difficult portages, and to handle the physical challenges encountered on the trip.