Loons

Dark Skies and the Milky Way Aren’t the Only Reasons to Paddle the Allagash

Allagash Wilderness Waterway (AWW) is a spectacular 92-mile long river and lake area like no other waterway in the eastern United States. To those who are willing to get off the beaten path and unplug from technology it offers remarkable natural beauty, an opportunity to experience solitude and escape from...

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Tips for Traveling the Allagash in Summer

Canoeing and camping go together like bacon and eggs. The canoe can transport you to some of the most wild and pristine places in relative comfort. Unlike backpacking where weight is a primary concern, canoeing allows you can bring plenty of good food, roomy tents and other equipment necessary to...

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Lessons from a Backwoods Kitchen

By Ruth LaRoche (wife of Matthew LaRoche, Superintendent of the Allagash Wilderness Waterway). I have had this reoccurring dream over my lifetime. In this dream, I need to figure out how I am going to feed 20 guests with one can of evaporated milk and a small package of venison. And I can’t...

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Milford and Dot Kidney Were Allagash Legends

When I first arrived for work in the Allagash Wilderness Waterway- at the ripe old age of 19 years, I had the privilege of meeting some very interesting people. People that I didn’t realize would become Allagash legends. Milford and Dorothy (Dot) Kidney were two remarkable people that made their...

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Edouard “King” Lacroix Was a Canadian Lumber Baron

Edouard “King” Lacroix, a Canadian lumber baron, who had huge operations in the Allagash Region- left a legacy that remains in the heart of the Allagash Wilderness Waterway (AWW). He was born to humble beginnings, in Sainte-Marie, Quebec in 1889. He had little schooling, but did attend college for six...

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Good Read: New Book Documents 18 Trips on the Allagash

Maine’s Allagash Wilderness Waterway holds a special place in the hearts and minds of all who have experienced its wonders.  In “Discovering THE ALLAGASH– A Canoeing Guide to the Allagash Wilderness Waterway, North Maine Woods” Jeff Sims does an outstanding job of portraying the essence of the Waterway, and at the...

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How the Allagash Changed My Life

My first trip on the Allagash Wilderness Waterway was so powerful that I can say without question that it changed the course of my life forever. I was 23 years old.  Having grown up in a beach town in Southern California, I was athletic (a surfer), but certainly not skilled...

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Connecting Youth to Nature on the Allagash Wilderness Waterway

This year, the Allagash Wilderness Waterway Foundation (AWWF) partnered with Chewonki of Wiscasset, Maine, to offer two all-expenses-paid paddling and camping trips on the Waterway for youth living in gateway communities of the Waterway.  With the generous support of local partners, the Quimby Family Foundation, and the Defoe Fund, 18 students from the Katahdin...

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I Had Paddled Many Rivers in Maine, But Never the Allagash

Although I had worked along different stretches of the Allagash starting when I was fresh out of college in 1979, my first canoe trip down the entire river was with my daughters, my husband, and a few friends in 1999. I’d paddled many rivers in Maine, but never the Allagash. It seemed like an ideal river...

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My First Encounters with the Allagash

My first encounters with the Allagash were by air, with limited time on the water. In June 1955, I accompanied Governor Muskie on a flight to Chamberlain Lake, where he met with Al Nugent of Nugent Camps to discuss Mr. Nugent’s concerns about clear-cut lumbering operations and the threat of...

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