St. John River, Maine (May 12-17, 2018)

[alsg]

I went on a guided trip (Allagash Canoe Trips) from May 12-17 on the St. John from Baker Lake to Dickey, Maine, which is about 105 miles. The river only runs reliably in May.

There were six of us (2 guides and 4 customers) in three canoes. The water level at the Dickey gauge was reading around 16,000 cfs when we started the trip, 7000 on the Big Black Rapids and about 5,500 when we ran the Big Rapids. According to our guides, water levels were perfect. Enough water to make things exciting without washing out the features.

What a beautiful, wild river. We saw only one other group on the river, several moose, eagles and osprey. A few sprinkles one night. Otherwise dry. Temps got down to the low 20s a couple of nights and mid 50s-60s during the day. No bugs other than a handful of mosquitoes.

 

[lowangle al]

Early season is good for no bugs or people, and if the trees aren't leafed out you can see more wildlife. That looks like a good area.

 

[dougd]

I did the St John last year with a group of 6. It was a good river and we saw a lot of wildlife but dang the fees were steep, we hired a shuttle in with no guide. One of the group had run it before. Big Rapid and Big Black the water was dropping so it was a bit of rock dodging but fun. We took out at Pelitters and the water almost gone by then. My MR Maclicite has some new scratches due to rock banging. Great run!

 

[alsg]

A short video shot at the top of Big Black Rapids.

 

[yellowcanoe]

Our group tried to scout from land but due to trees we could see little.
A father and his young son(maybe eight) floated on by with a chainsaw on the canoe packs and we decided not to be wusses!
thanks for sharing

 

[alsg]

Our group tried to scout from land but due to trees we could see little.
A father and his young son(maybe eight) floated on by with a chainsaw on the canoe packs and we decided not to be wusses!
thanks for sharing

We scouted Big Black from river right, scurrying up a trail our guides knew that lead to an outcropping with a good view of the rapids.

We didn't scout the much longer Big Rapids (they really need to get a little more imaginative with naming the rapids) because they were a lot more open and our guides said we'd have to stop constantly to try to scout it all.

I think someone who was an experienced white water paddler (which I don't consider myself) could run both of these without scouting.

 

[dougd]

We were able to scout Big Black from river left on a trail. Big Rapids we ran blind, no way to scout. Made for an interesting run for sure. Big Black was an easy run but Big was pushy as heck. I am sure a lot of running these two rapids has to do with water levels and we were on the tail end of the drop.