Day 38: Twin Brook East to Pelletier’s campground

It’s diner day! Without breakfast to eat at camp, we were quick to pack up, and after a short paddle down to Two Rivers Lunch in Allagash Village, we were rewarded with the biggest pancakes I’ve ever seen (along with coffee, an omelet, and a plate of home fries and corned beef hash). What a good day already. 

Diner food after 10 days in the wilderness hits different

The St. John, our final waterway en route to Fort Kent, ME

The remainder of the paddle to the confluence of the Allagash and St. John (our final river!) was quick and relatively uneventful. We finally understood what John meant when he said that people say the St. John is “a mile wide and an inch deep” – fortunately, we were lucky to have higher-than-usual water levels for finishing our trip. 

There were a few stretches of whitewater as we approached Pelletier’s, and I felt really proud of how far we (aka Ben) have come in our ability to read the river and maneuver around rocks and through rapids. I think we did some actual class II rapids and handled them so smoothly. John even noted how vastly we’ve improved in our teamwork, and he apologized for dissuading us from running Chase Rapids. We’ll be back someday soon to have another chance. 

We arrived at Pelletier’s campground and guide company by the early afternoon and had several hours to hang out. We were feeling restless by evening with such a short day of paddling (following a string of such long days) and didn’t know what to do with ourselves. Against the backdrop of a dreamy sunset, Ben and I celebrated nearing the end of the trip with ice cream bars from the gas station up the road. We ate them in thoughtful quietness.  

Previous entry: Day 37
Next entry: Day 39

Celebrating nearing the end of our journey