West Branch Penobscot River: Canoe ...

Welcome again to Half 2 of this multi-part piece I’m writing on my latest journey down the West Department Penobscot River. When you have not already, I’d extremely advocate studying Half 1 earlier than diving into this one beneath. In Half One, I’ve lined the route we plan to take and a few information on the individuals on this journey.

This journey was not sponsored by anybody, however I wish to thank Old Town Canoe for getting me a Discovery 158 I used for this journey and Jetboil for hooking me up with Flash 1.0 Fast boil system to cook dinner quite a lot of my meals and make my espresso.

Canoe Protection on AllOutdoor

Packing for the Journey

Whereas I knew this specific route we might be taking down the West Department Penobscot River didn’t require any portages, I nonetheless needed to maintain my packing to an absolute minimal. Whereas weight was not a priority for this journey, I hate it after I overpack for any journey and have all this further stuff I by no means use. I introduced your entire regular tenting stuff, however I’ll embody an in depth record with hyperlinks beneath. This isn’t a complete record however extra of the bigger and fascinating objects I introduced.

Transient Historical past of the River

The West Department of the Penobscot River, a 117-mile-long tributary in Maine’s North Woods, performed a pivotal position within the state’s logging trade beginning within the early nineteenth century. Originating at Seboomook Lake and flowing by way of Chesuncook Lake and Baxter State Park earlier than becoming a member of the East Department at Medway, the river was a significant artery for transporting logs to sawmills and later paper mills. From 1828 to 1846, unbiased logging firms drove logs down the West Department, navigating its rapids and falls to succeed in Bangor, then often called the “lumber capital of the world.” By 1846, the Penobscot Log Driving Firm was shaped to streamline these efforts, sorting logs at “growth” areas and rafting them to homeowners, a system that advanced into company management by the Nice Northern Paper Firm (GNP) by 1903. Damming intensified to help this trade, with constructions just like the Ripogenus Dam, accomplished in 1916, creating huge storage for logs and hydropower. By 1933, GNP had developed a storage capability of 57 billion cubic ft, enabling year-round log drives of shorter pulpwood logs till environmental laws and the completion of the Golden Highway in 1972 ended river-based log transport.

At present, the West Department is primarily valued for its leisure and ecological significance, following a shift from industrial use. The cessation of log drives, spurred by the Clear Water Act of 1972, and the Penobscot River Restoration Venture, which eliminated dams like Nice Works and Veazie by 2013 and put in fish passages, have revitalized the river’s ecosystem, boosting populations of Atlantic salmon, shad, and different sea-run fish. The river now helps vibrant whitewater rafting, notably by way of Ripogenus Gorge’s Class IV and V rapids, and fly fishing for wild landlocked salmon and brook trout, attracting adventurers and anglers. Conservation efforts, together with a 329,000-acre mission by the Forest Society of Maine, guarantee sustainable forestry and public entry for canoeing, birdwatching, and moose recognizing, preserving the river’s pure magnificence and cultural heritage for future generations.

Henry David Thoreau’s Affiliation with the River

Henry David Thoreau, the famend American transcendentalist author, thinker, and naturalist, visited the West Department of the Penobscot River in Maine throughout his three journeys to the Maine woods in 1846, 1853, and 1857. These experiences are documented in his e book The Maine Woods, a group of essays printed posthumously in 1864, which incorporates detailed accounts of his travels, notably within the essay “Chesuncook,” named after Chesuncook Lake, a major characteristic alongside the West Department.

Thoreau’s journeys into Maine had been pushed by his fascination with wilderness and his want to expertise nature in its uncooked, unspoiled state. The West Department Penobscot River, flowing by way of the rugged and distant North Woods, was a central factor of his 1857 journey, which he undertook together with his cousin George Thatcher and their Penobscot Indian information, Joe Polis. Ranging from Bangor, they traveled by canoe up the Penobscot River, with important parts of their journey alongside the West Department, together with areas round Chesuncook Lake and Ripogenus Gorge. Thoreau’s writings vividly describe the river’s difficult currents, rocky rapids, and surrounding dense forests, which he noticed as a stark distinction to the tamed landscapes of Harmony, Massachusetts.

In Chesuncook, Thoreau particulars navigating the West Department, noting its wild magnificence and the bodily calls for of canoeing and portaging by way of its terrain. He describes the river’s position within the logging trade, observing loggers’ camps and the environmental affect of timber harvesting, which he discovered each spectacular and troubling. Thoreau lamented the destruction of old-growth forests, writing, “The mission of males there appears to be, like so many busy demons, to drive the forest overseas.” His encounters with the Penobscot individuals, notably Joe Polis, enriched his understanding of the area’s cultural and pure historical past, as Polis shared data of the land and river navigation strategies.

At present, Thoreau’s affiliation with the West Department punctuates its historic and literary significance. His descriptions proceed to encourage conservation efforts and leisure actions like canoeing and mountaineering within the area. The West Department, now a hub for whitewater rafting and fishing, stays a testomony to the wilderness Thoreau cherished, together with his writings serving as a historic lens by way of which to understand the river’s enduring attract and ecological significance. That is the tip of Half 2 of this multi-part piece on this river journey, be sure you look out for Half 3, the place the journey and paddle begins.

Patrik Orcutt

Patrik is a contract photographer who has been fortunate sufficient to see quite a lot of the world and doc his travels together with his digicam. He has labored for the U.S. authorities as a Public Affairs Officer documenting Multi-Nationwide Particular Forces Coaching across the World. He’s presently engaged on changing into a Blackhawk Pilot for the Military whereas being an avid gear junky and out of doors fanatic.