North Woods Canoe Expedition (ages 14-17)
Three-Week
This classic three week canoe trip through Maine’s North Woods will explore some of the wilder regions north of Moosehead Lake, taking participants through some of the most unspoiled and scenic lands in the eastern United States. Participants will learn the language and rhythm of canoeing as they travel on streams, lakes and ponds down the fabled West Branch of the Penobscot River, followed by a journey down the Allagash Wilderness Waterway. As we paddle we will explore the scenes and sights along the way, including the remote Eagle Lake and encounters with moose, loons, and bald eagles.
George River Canoe Expedition (ages 16-adult)
Five-Week
This is a challenging journey for experienced paddlers who believe that a first-rate canoe trip is an adventure. The George River, wide with plenty of whitewater, offers a challenging paddle through Canada’s subarctic terrain. We travel north by van and train to Schefferville, Quebec, and begin our journey on Lac Attikamagen, paddling almost 400 miles in five weeks along the DePass and George rivers to Ungava Bay. Along the way we take time to examine evidence of early native encampments. With the wild and remote river as our backdrop, we are sometimes lucky enough to observe wolves or the George River caribou herd on their annual migration. The journey concludes at the remote Inuit village of Kangiqsualujjuaq, among people who know the territory well through experience and tradition.
West Branch Explorers
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Look for these trips in 2009
Thoreau Wilderness Trip (ages 14-17)
Five-Week
Since 1970, we have retraced many of the steps of Henry David Thoreau in the Maine Woods on this classic Chewonki trip. Setting out by canoe we paddle the St. John River from its headwaters at Baker Lake, pole the Allagash, and travel the great lakes of northwest Maine to reach the headwaters of the East Branch of the Penobscot. We spend the final day of this five-week trip climbing to the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail to Katahdin, where Thoreau encountered what he called the “primeval, untamed and forever untamable nature” of the Maine Woods.
Mistissini Canoe Expedition (ages 16-18)
Five-Week
We begin this several-hundred-mile, five-week trip at the Cree Village of Mistissini Poste in central Quebec, paddling with a Cree guide the entire length off Mistissini Lake, then traveling upstream on the Temiscamie and Coldwater rivers to the Height of Land. The long descent of the Mistissini River follows after a resupply is flown in with our provisions for the second half of the trip. The farther down the river we go, the more challenging the whitewater becomes. Paddling, poling, and portaging are the regular fare, and participants learn the ways of native people through this vast and unbroken northern forestland.
