If you’re a serious paddler, chances are you’ve taken a longer paddling excursion that spans at least a few days or more. In Maine, we’re fortunate to have a beautiful natural landscape enriched with the rivers and lakes that allow us to enjoy everything from a simple early morning fishing trip to multi-day paddling trips. Recently, our general manager Sam Martinelli and a few of his close friends spent a week paddling solo Old Town Trippers on the Baker Lake to the Allagash Village stretch of the St. John River, wielding an arsenal of Shaw & Tenney paddles… the annual R&D trip.
The St. John River begins about 80 miles south of Allagash Village and flows through some of Maine’s most remote forests and wooded areas. From the headwaters of St. John Ponds, the river starts as a series of ponds and brooks. The river widens after Baker Lake, yet remains a narrow and undulating stream. The massive St. John River that results is built of the Southwest and the Northwest branches, and The Big Black and The Allagash Rivers contribute to a river 750 feet across.
Sam met up with friends at 3am in Madawaska, where they began the five-hour drive to Baker Lake. As if the long, early drive wasn’t stressful enough, they lost a tire off the trailer 20 miles into the woods. Miraculously, they spotted three lug nuts, and decided that would be just enough to get them to Baker Lake. Finally on the water and just in time for the rain to start, they paddled the 15 miles to Morrison Depot to spend their first night on the river.
The crew spent four more nights on the river before pulling out in Allagash Village. One night, they all huddled under a tarp in the pouring rain and enjoyed the “greatest venison steak” (seasoned with Old Bay, of course) any of them had ever had. The following evening was spent drying out all the soaking wet gear at the historic Nine Mile Bridge. The fourth and coldest night was spent at Simmons Farm. Their sleeping bags were coated with a quarter inch of frost by morning. The final night was spent at Castonia Farm, where they enjoyed the fresh Fugée found on the river’s edge.
As you might expect, Sam brought a variety of S&T handcrafted wooden canoe paddles and gear on the trip. Our enameled mugs held his morning coffee (and something a little stronger,) a handcrafted Northern Forest Canoe Trail paddle moved plenty of water, and a pack basket stored some of the trip’s most essential items. At Shaw & Tenney, we know first-hand about the quality of our products because we use them ourselves.
Interested in seeing more of Sam’s canoe trip down the St. John River? Visit our Facebook or Pinterest pages for some beautiful photographs from this memorable journey.
