Case of the Mondays, Followed by the Great Days

This week is, in professional terms, fairly enormous for your humble blogger. I got a promotion late last year, and for the first time in my life, I'm responsible for a sales and revenue target. I like to think I'm pretty good at a lot of things (and I know that I'm lousy at many, as well, including discipline and organization), but I know fuck all about running a sales team. And the numbers through May betray that.

While my business is growing by 12% from a revenue perspective, and by nearly 20% in terms of year over year sales, we're behind our sales target fairly significantly. But with a little luck, we're gonna have a monster June. We need it. And I'm gonna be stressed like you read about this week while I watch the deals come in.

Fortunately, I've got a bit of a built-in stress release planned for just a few short weeks. I've done a four-day canoe trip in Maine with my cousin, uncle, sister's husband, and several other guys twice over the past few years. We're upping the ante this year. Rather than try to explain it, here's the trip syllabus from my uncle's older brother Bob, a seasoned outdoorsman. (If you read carefully, you'll notice what I'm contributing to the group's enjoyment, beyond charisma and the occasional moment of unintentional comedy.)

Allagash River Canoe Trip July 13, 2019 – July 20, 2019

Saturday, July 13: Travel to Pelletier’s camp ground on the St. Johns River in St. Francis, ME. Address is ME-161, St. Francis, ME 04774. Eat supper in St. Francis. Camp overnight.

Sunday, July 14: Wake up early and be transported to start of trip (3 and ½ hours) at Chamberlin Bridge. Put in and starttrip. Paddle up Chamberlin Lake (10 miles), portage Locke Dam and continue 5 miles to Pilsbury Island (Campsite = Pump Handle) and camp. 15 miles. All lake paddling with a short portage – 50 Yards.

Monday, July 15: Paddle from Eagle lake to the outlet of Churchill Lake and camp. (Campsite = Jaws) 16 miles. All lake paddling Note: Possible side trip to visit the Tramway

Tuesday, July 16: Paddle to the outlet of Heron lake and portage Churchill Dam (75 yards). Run Chase Rapides (9 miles) to Umsaskis Lake. Camp at the Ledges. 14 miles

Wednesday, July 17: Continue down river through Long Lake to Round pond. Great wild life viewing in this area. Good river current and small rapids. Camp at Squirrel Pocket. 20 miles

Thursday, July 18: Continue down river to Allagash Falls. Portage Falls (about ¼ mile trail) and continue down river to West Twin Brook where we will camp. 26 miles

Friday, July 19: Continue down river to town of Allagash and onto the St Johns River. Note: the Allagash River spills into the St. Johns River at the town of Allagash. The combined river is twice the size of the two individual rivers. Good current and small rapids down to our camp ground at St. Francis where we will spend the night. Drive to Fort Kent for a celebratory dinner. 21 miles

Saturday, July 20: Head Home!!

Gear for the group will be provided by Bob:

Tarps
Packs
Plastic bags and trash bags
Cooking equipment (pots, pans, grill, plates, forks, spoons, cups) can opener, matches
Axe and saw
Tents as needed. Jason is supplying one so is Fred.
Craig is bringing one, I think. If we have extras we can leave them in our cars.
Coolers: Stephen to supply some of these and RHC the rest.
Ropes
First aid kit,
Maps
Lantern and flash light

Individuals responsible for:
Sleeping bag
Sleeping pad
Tent – I have extras if you need one
Clothes, river shoes and rain gear
Bug Repellent, Sun Screen
Alcoholic beverages
Individual dietary preferences and Medications
Flash light

Food to include:
Breakfast – coffee, tea, hot chocolate, cereal hot and cold, tang, milk, fruit, (Rob Russell is planning to supply gourmet coffee!!)
Gorp (Grand Old Raisins and Peanuts) to be supplied by Cathy Webster (Jason’s mom)
Lunch – cheese, crackers, peanut butter, jelly, life savers, candy bar or granola bar, canned meat, fruit drink, dried fruit
Afternoon snack – Granola bars
Dinner – Meat, vegetables, starch, desert, salad

I know that some have expressed thoughts about the menu. Please give me any input that you might have. Lets travel in style and eat in style!!

Fred is an experienced photographer. He has agreed to be our trip photographer. National Geographic
is already making inquiries about his negatives!!

The Allagash is a classic canoe trip, probably the most popular week long canoe trip in the United States. The river was designated by Congress, in 1965, as a “wild and scenic river” and is regulated by the Park Service. Camping is permitted only at designated sites which are all named and include a picnic table, fire ring and outhouse. Canoeing groups are limited to 12 people or less. I have been down the river at least 15 times since my first trip in 1964.

There is a lot of information about the Allagash and its history on line. Detailed maps showing rapids, campsites and points of interest are also available on line or from the Park Service. Recommended reading for anyone wanting a “feel” for the river and its history is The Allagash by Lou Deitz.
The canoeing challenges on this trip include a good bit of lake paddling at the start of the trip – 30 miles or so.



Chamberlin Lake can be especially difficult if we have a headwind since the lake is long and narrow and big waves can build up. Chase Rapids are the first rapids that we will encounter (starting just below Churchill Dam). These are several miles long and class 3 and 2. Since these are the first rapids of the trip, we will not be as “experienced” as we will be a day or two later. I am sure that our adrenalin and excitement will be very high as we take on this stretch of river. Below Chase Rapids the Allagash has about 70 miles of good current and any number of fun rapids until we reach the town of Allagash where the Allagash and the St. John Rivers merge. The only significant portage is around Allagash Falls.

At present our group consists of 10 people, five canoes. This is two less than the largest permitted group. We are renting the canoes from the transportation company and they will be 17 foot Old Town Trippers or similar