Thunderstorms gone! A "Maine Day" followed.
Day 4: River was picked up pace with numerous short runs of rapids. By now, I had learned to follow Steve's lead in picking a line through the rocks. He would point out subtle rocks for us to avoid - it was almost like being give the answers to a test ahead of time.
Nonetheless, he had a couple of close calls. Only a few minutes downstream and both canoes got suckered by the same set of rocks causing us to take on a bunch of water. We had to pull over and pump them out. Later on, Lew and I snagged a boulder and it started to push us over downstream. We quickly leaned upstream and miraculously slid free. Whew! That was nearly a disaster.
By the end of the afternoon, we knew we were getting near the takeout point for the portage above Allagash Falls. If you miss it, the river sucks you over the falls to near certain death.
We unloaded our gear, chose a campsite and prepared for the next day's portage. Supper was spaghetti but Christine had cold gruel and apple slices. After supper, darkness approaching Steve and Lew took the leap of faith into the bottom of Allagash Falls. Crazy. We had a nice warm fire but Lew's cough continued to get worse.
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