West Branch Penobscot Water Levels: Sept. 12, 2018 vs. Sept. 13, 2019 vs. June 2021

[alsg]

A recent post about water levels on the West Branch and how they can expose some significant rapids just above Pine Stream campsite has sent me back to my photos. I found two pictures taken a year and a day apart that really show the water level differences.

The first photo was taken on September 12, 2018. This was the day we ended up swimming the rapids, which I maintain were at least Class II and maybe closer to Class III. Take a look at the patch of grass on the right and note how far below the grass the water is. We were told by AGC when we took out at their place a couple of days later they hadn't seen the water this low this early in September before.


The second photo was taken on September 13, 2019. On this day there were not only no rapids above Pine Stream, there wasn't even any moving water that I could perceive. Take a look at the patch of grass on the right. Same patch of grass as the previous photo and note how the water is touching it. We were told this was a "normal" September level.




The last photo was taken by someone else last week (June 2021) and posted to a Facebook group on Maine Canoe Trips. Note the water level relative to the patch of grass. It appears that the West Branch is already at "normal" September levels in June.

 

[yellowcanoe]

Nice comparison.. Now we begin the slide. This year I believe the gates at Seboomook were not left open all winter. They were winter 2019-20 bringing all sorts of misery last year.

 

[sweeper]

Nice set of pics. We're headed for the Allagash on the 19th. Might be cheaper in the long run to rent a canoe.

 

[yellowcanoe]

Allagash was over a thousand last week. which is fine.. Our main tripping canoe is Kevlar. When we got to Pelletiers Norm said in his patois "You will break zee boat". The Allagash that week was at 1500 and we hit nothing.. We did not do Chase though we weenied out and did the truck portage of the canoe too.

If the Allagash were lower than now I would rent.

 

[sweeper]

The 1st time we did the Allagash it was running @ 800 and went up to 1100 by the time we finished. I have a Kevlar Souris River,
I'm watching the river daily and may give Norman a call the beginning of next week for a rental.

 

[jffdejongh]

Allagash was over a thousand last week. which is fine.. Our main tripping canoe is Kevlar. When we got to Pelletiers Norm said in his patois "You will break zee boat". The Allagash that week was at 1500 and we hit nothing.. We did not do Chase though we weenied out and did the truck portage of the canoe too.

If the Allagash were lower than now I would rent.

We went in July and a family wrapped (and broke) one of their canoes on the second set of rapids in Chase. I believe it was an old fiberglass canoe. We had about 800 cfs in Chase and 380 cfs for the rest of the trip. I used my plastic Appalachian and left a fair amount of red on the rocks.