Day 4 route on Google Earth imagery

Last night was warm; I even had to shed a fleece. I was up at about 4:45 am, a little after first light. After a leisurely breakfast and pack, I departed about 6:15 am. Yesterday's wind had become stronger in the night but had now abated, and Long Lake was dead calm. At the Thoroughfare I went to check in with the Ranger. He was expecting to see me, having been forewarned by his colleague at Michaud Farm, but, after chatting for a while, he told me to do all the paperwork at Churchill Dam. As I crossed Umsaskis Lake, I became aware of a light, cold wind blowing on my back, quite a rarity. I didn't mind the temperature; the direction was very welcome.

I was wearing my gloves again as my hands were suffering roughness and splits. Out of Umsaskis Lake I was once more reminded that this was still upstream in the Allagash. After a brief chat with some canoe-campers at Chisholm Brook camp-site, I continued upstream, a mix of paddling and wading, and reached the site of Bissonnette Bridge by 10:30 am. There I took a rest and had a snack, fuel for what was to come, beside a mountain of gear that the Ranger had transported there so that other paddlers could run Chase Rapids unladen.

Photos? Have patience.

Explanation tomorrow.

I had deliberately taken things easy so far in order to be fresh for the challenge of ascending Chase Rapids. My preparation had included identifying the road to the dam for a long carry if really necessary, but my heart was set on remaining in the river if at all possible. Initially I was able to eddy-hop. Sometimes it was a thing of great beauty: accelerating smoothly from the eddy, nosing into the current, and maintaining momentum to carry me to the next eddy; even four or five such manoeuvres were possible before taking a break to scope out the next set of moves. On the steeper, more powerful sections I was forced to wade. Even double poling would not have worked here, so I did not miss the lost pole. In places there were strong eddies with upstream flow and I made full use of these.

Other paddlers came down the rapids at intervals, no doubt en route to reclaim their baggage at Bissonnette Bridge. One was paddling a cedar-strip canoe. The usual comment was that I was going the wrong way. Maybe they had a point.

After sending a SPOT waypoint maybe half way up, things slowed as the rapids became more powerful. Wading now became the predominant means of travel, manoeuvring the canoe through channels between rocks, with just occasional paddling in deeper sections. I became ever more aware of the amount of algal growth on the rocks, the mucilage making them extremely slippery. It was hard to keep footing; my feet would appear stable and then skitter off in random directions, crashing into other rocks. I was glad of the protection afforded by my dry-pants and boots – they saved many a bruise. A few times I lost balance completely and sank to chest level, scrambling to regain control before being swept away downstream.

Eventually, just as I had let loose a stream of invective about mucilage, I became aware of a fisherman on the bank, easily within earshot. He reminded me about the portage path. I had heard of this, but knew no details. Although I had wanted to stay in the river all the way to Churchill Dam, I was becoming tired and therefore at greater risk of injury in the slippery conditions. Having travelled probably over four miles up the Chase Rapids, I made the decision to swallow my pride and to carry the last half mile.

Another fisherman, Scott, pointed the way to the carry trail. There wasn't really a good option to get there. He also offered me a fine fish, a trout I believe, but my cooking set-up was not equipped to handle such a gift and do it justice, so I declined as gracefully as possible. He also asked permission to take some video of my carry. This he did, my initial loading up and beginning the bushwhack to the trail and the final arrival in style at Churchill Dam. He made these available to me later, for which I am extremely grateful. The carry took about 10 minutes, so was probably less than half a mile. At the dam, having set down my canoe on the shore of Heron Lake, effectively the narrow end of Churchill Lake, and sent a SPOT waypoint, I went to check in and settle up with the Ranger, a man from the Falkland Islands with a very British accent.

Carry from Chase Rapids
Photo from video by: S Stewart

Carry from Chase Rapids
Photo from video by: S Stewart

Carry from Chase Rapids
Photo from video by: S Stewart

Carry from Chase Rapids
Photo from video by: S Stewart

Arrival at Churchill Dam
Photo from video by: S Stewart

Arrival at Churchill Dam
Photo from video by: S Stewart

Arrival at Churchill Dam
Photo from video by: S Stewart

Arrival at Churchill Dam
Photo from video by: S Stewart

The day was now bright sunshine in a blue sky with a light, but cold, northwest wind. I set off across Heron and Churchill Lakes, past the Jaws campsite where I had stayed five years previously. It was yet early afternoon; I had made better progress than expected up the rapids, so now was in a position to push on and gain a few miles as a cushion against future delays. I initially aimed for Scofield point, but was there well before 4:00 pm, too early to stop on such a gorgeous day, so carried on south towards Eagle Lake.

Finding the exit from Churchill Lake was awkward. At that lake level it did not resemble the map, and I ended up exploring a shallow area of old flooded forest stumps for at least half an hour before realising my mistake and accepting that the compass does not in fact lie! Once back on course, I passed under Johns Bridge, through Round Pond and into Eagle Lake. On my right as I entered Eagle Lake was an idyllic little shale beach, Little Eagle camp-site, and I pulled in well before 6:00 pm. I was now about 4.5 miles ahead of schedule, not least because of a remarkably fast ascent of Chase Rapids. At the beach I had my first real wash. It was too cold for complete immersion, but some basic hygiene was welcome. Tomorrow I would be undoing all that on the Mud Pond Carry. With a frost expected under the clear sky, I piled on warm clothing after dinner in preparation for bed.