Moose River Canoe Trip with Mt. Abram Regional High School

On the drive up to the put-in spot for their Moose River canoe trip, the students from Mt. Abram High School in Phillips, Maine, placed a call to pre-order pizza to enjoy at the end of their four-day expedition. This was the third time that Jayden Thatcher, aka “Thatch,” had paddled the Moose River with her Outdoor Club leader, Jim Danala, and other students from her school. Thatch, a member of the Teens to Trails Youth Advisory Council (YAC), recounted her trip to fellow YAC member Eva Dodge for this story.

According to Thatch, the first day is typically a simple, short paddle across Holeb Pond in Somerset to the campsite. Before heading out, everyone puts their phones in a bag that Mr. Danala (known affectionately as “Danala” by his students) keeps safe. During the paddle, they test out pairings of canoe partners and see how people feel in their paddling roles.

At the campsite, the group unloads their boats and then prepares to head back out onto the water for additional practice. The students who have chosen to take on the challenge of being positioned at the stern, which is at the back of the boat, will go out in canoes by themselves to practice maneuvering the boat. They are required to go around a small island and come back. Once they return from this short paddle, they do it once more with a partner at the front of the boat. They end their day with T-rescues, a way to assist other paddlers if their boat capsizes.

When they finish with T-rescues, the group paddles to shore and gets camp set up for the night. Then students have the option to hang out, hike, or swim before dinner. For night one, the group enjoyed a delicious “Thanksgiving dinner,” with stuffing, mashed potatoes, and chicken.

A fond memory of Thatch’s from this first night was the students remembering another group that canoed past them earlier in the day and were camping nearby. As an act of kindness, the Mt. Abram group hiked their dinner leftovers to the other campers, who happily accepted the unexpected feast.

The students ended their first night playing games around the fire, talking about plans for the rest of their trip, and finally heading into their tents to rest.

As a part of the breakfast crew, Thatch was one of the first students to wake up on day two. Her crew prepared oatmeal, which also happens to be Thatch’s favorite trail breakfast. The day’s plan was to paddle across Holeb Pond, enter Holeb Stream and paddle until it connected with the Moose River, then follow the Moose River to the next campsite. The group hoped to be on the water by 7 a.m.

It rained the entire second day. Luckily for the group, the rain meant they didn’t have to do one of their portages, as the water was high enough for them to paddle through! The group only had to do one portage that day — carrying their boats to the bottom of Attean Falls. This portage led right to their campsite, and the group didn’t have to go through the trouble of repacking their boats.

For dinner on night two, they enjoyed fajitas. Once again they had quite a bit of leftovers, and once again there was another group camping nearby. They gathered the leftover food and brought it to the nearby group, who were as excited for the extra food as they were for the students’ kindness.

Night two ended with a pep talk from group leader Jim Danala, to prepare the group for more rain and the longest day of paddling ahead.

Day three started with a little bit of sprinkling, coupled with warm sun, no wind, and peaceful weather.

Early in the day, the group encountered their first set of rapids. Due to shallow waters, everyone learned to line the boats. They tied ropes to the bow and stern and walked along the shore to navigate through the shallow water and rocks — sort of like walking a dog on a leash! They did this until there was enough water for one partner to sit in the canoe while the other guided the boat with a line.

The group hit one more set of rapids before coming to the first portage of the day. Ash, another student, claimed to have seen another set of canoes run the intense rapids. Thatch didn’t think much of it until Danala said he wanted to try going down the rapids with his wife. His wife, who was also helping lead the trip, declined, and so Ash did the only logical thing and volunteered to go in her place.

Thatch heard the two from upstream. Danala shouted, “Draw on your left! PADDLE! That’s your right!!” The boat caught on a rock, and before they could do anything, it was filling with water! Thatch watched as their gear started floating downstream. Thankfully, two other canoe groups helped them grab their floating gear.

After this excitement, the group repacked their canoes and paddled to Attean Lake. They sent one canoe out to secure the campsite. As the rest of the group reached the halfway point on the lake, the waters became very choppy when the winds picked up significantly. The group found shelter from the wind behind an island but then learned that the scout boat had not been able to secure a site — everything was occupied. This meant that the whole group had to turn around, paddle back across the lake, and upstream to an unoccupied site.

The group felt a bit defeated, but also a sense of pride as everyone pushed through their tiredness and frustration, and were able to make it safely to camp.

Although their energy was low, the group enjoyed “Hobo Stew” for dinner that night. This consisted of potatoes wrapped in tinfoil, topped with beef and chicken, veggies, cheese, hot sauce, BBQ sauce, ketchup, and several pounds of bacon. The decadent stew recharged everyone’s spirits, and after dinner, the group spent the rest of the evening reflecting on the ups and downs of the trip.

During this reflection, Thatch smelled something odd. She looked over, and the shoes that Morgan had placed by the campfire to dry out were aflame! They quickly put the fire out, and this gave everyone a good laugh. Most of the group went to bed soon after; however, Thatch and two others stayed up a little later to stargaze, and they ended up seeing two shooting stars! Thatch said it was a magical ending to a wonderful night and long day.

On day four, Thatch could tell people were ready to go home, as they rushed to pack up camp. The surface of the lake was smooth as glass, and there was almost no wind. These favorable conditions allowed the group to reach the take-out an hour earlier than planned, despite everyone’s sore arms from the arduous day before.

The group enjoyed the pizza they had ordered at the start of their trip. There is no better picnic spot than Attean Overlook near Jackman, with stunning views of the area’s lakes and mountains. With a final photo op, Thatch and her group considered this trip a success!