Forty years ago, my wife, Nancy, and I paddled the iconic Seboeis River canoe trip from Grand Lake Road west of Shin Pond to Whetstone Falls on the East Branch of the Penobscot with our friends John and Diane Stokinger.  Twenty years later, I descended the turbulent upper Seboeis to Grand Lake Road with…

Ken Gordon and I awoke to a remarkably beautiful spring day at our campsite next to Little Falls on the Machias River.  We were on the second day of our river trip and sharing the scenic site with six canoeists we met the previous day.  Anticipating an exciting paddle on upcoming Wigwam Rapids, our young…

Forget the St. John, Allagash, or St. Croix Rivers.  As far as I’m concerned, the Machias River is the best tripping river in Maine, maybe all of the northeastern United States.  A free-flowing river with a large watershed, it begins in the lakes region of northern Washington County.  From Fifth Machias Lake, it meanders and…