Saint John River - Day 3

Day 3 also begins chilly but the wind has swung to the west and is now at our backs. The Ninemile stream gauge has dropped to 1420 CFS overnight.


6:45 AM - Richard and Chris prepare blueberry pancakes for breakfast.


6:50 AM - Dan gets in line for a short stack.


8:00 AM - Loading the canoes in a light rain.


9:15 AM - Richard stands for a better view of the rapids ahead.


9:30 AM - Mark and John cruise the shoreline.


10:10 AM - We take a morning break at Burntland Brook and shed our rain gear.


11:22 AM - Dan and John enjoy the tailwind above Ninemile Bridge.


12:30 PM - Cabin chairs at Ninemile Bridge cabin.


12:35 PM - Lunch siesta at Ninemile Bridge.



12:40 PM - The campsite at Ninemile Bridge.


2:45 PM - Lionel Caron's cabin near Billy Jack Brook.


2:50 PM - Glassy afternoon water.


3:00 PM - Chris and Dick take a floating break above Seven Islands.


5:00 PM - Sawing firewood at Seven Islands campsite.


5:20 PM - Dan updates his journal at Seven Island.


5:30 PM - Once again, Dick tries his luck at fishing.


5:45 PM - Richard makes a coffee cake in the reflector oven.


6:45 PM - John tends the sausages for tonight's dinner.

Saint John River - Day 2

The second day on the river begins with a cold morning, followed by strong headwinds. The water level at Ninemile Bridge has fallen to 1630 CFS overnight.


5:54 AM - Dick waits for morning coffee.


7:40 AM - Packing the canoes.


7:50 AM - Leaving Turner Bogan.


9:00 AM - Chris practices his poling as we approach Flaws Bogan.


9:02 AM - Mark and John in the Blue Hole.


9:05 AM - Flaws Bogan cabin.


9:10 AM - Be good - I may be watching.


9:25 AM - The River at Flaws Bogan.


11:40 AM - Chris and Dick negotiate an unnamed rapid above Southwest Branch.


11:41 AM - Mark and John take their turn.


11:42 AM - John and Dan make it look easy.


11:54 AM - Richard unpacks lunch, Dick unpacks his fly rod.


12:10 PM - Dick does a little fishing.


12:46 PM - Dan makes friends with a crayfish.


2:00 PM - Afternoon on the river, during a momentary break from the headwind.


2:30 PM - Checking the map at Doucie Brook.


6:00 PM - Tonight's camp is at Northwest Branch.


6:10 PM - Dick an Richard check out the We-No-Nah after two scratchy days on the river. At the end of the day the Ninemile Bridge stream gauge reads 1510 CFS.


8:25 PM - Dick tries a little evening fishing.

Saint John River - Day 1

A low-water trip down the Saint John River in Maine.


5:30 AM - The rush to sort gear begins at Chris' house in Augusta.


5:50 AM - Packing the pickup.


8:30 AM - Everyone enjoys Richard's recitation of "The Cremation of Sam McGee".


10:30 AM - Pit stop on Route 11.


11:50 AM - Norman and Leon tie down the the canoes for the long ride to Baker Lake.


11:55 AM - Richard sports his pristine new red Crusher.


12:20 PM - A view of the trailer at the Allagash Checkpoint on the Michaud Farm Road.


4:20 PM - Unloading and resorting gear at Baker Lake.


4:30 PM - Loading the canoes.


4:35 PM - The warden's dog. We're told "You'll be the last trip down the river this season". The stream gauge at Ninemile Bridge reads 1710 CFS.


5:30 PM - Finally underway!


5:45 PM - John and Dan enjoy the scenery.


5:44 PM - Dan flashes our canoe gang sign?


5:45 PM - Chris paddles while Dick looks for fish.


6:30 PM - Turner Bogan, our campsite for the night.


7:20 PM - Relaxing by the fire while waiting for dinner.


7:40 PM - Mark's old Blue Hole.

The Boston Marathon

While attending college in Boston, I often watched the Boston Marathon, whose course was only a few blocks from my apartment. I was on the cross-country team in high school, where a race was 3 1/2 miles or so. However, I wasn't a very good runner - my legs are short and my oddly shaped feet always developed a wondrous pattern of blisters in the wafer soled Adidas we wore back then. Still, I identified with the marathoners in a way I never did with someone who played baseball or basketball.

Thirty years ago, it wasn't that difficult to get a good spot at the finish line and watch the runners on their final sprint down Boylston. This time, though, I decided it would be easier to watch from Kenmore Square, about a mile from the finish and the crushing crowds.


10:08am - The wheelchair runners started at 9:25, the women started at 9:35 and the men started at 10:00. All is quiet in Kenmore Square.


10:11am - Boston Police are out in droves - not just for the Marathon, but because for some perverse reason there's a Red Sox Game at 11:00am today.


10:58am - The first wheelchair competitors head down Commonwealth Ave.


11:25am - The crowd is still thin as the wheelchairers continue to zip past.


11:56am - A growing blare of sirens and a camera truck signal the approach of the first women runners.


11:57am - Alevtina Biktimirova of Russia and Dire Tune of Ethiopia run past my lamppost perch.


12:03pm - Just six minutes later the first male runner, Robert Cheruiyot of Kenya makes his way towards the finish.


12:06pm - Last years winning female runner, Lidiya Grigoryeva of Russia, looks pained.


12:45pm - Antoni Kot of Edinburgh looks intense.



12:48pm - Adam Mulia of New York looks... like an airplane?


1:01pm - The runners, coming thick and fast now, round the corner on Hereford Street. Only two blocks to go!


1:34pm - Tracey Martin of Chicago (official time 3:01:35) stands triumphant and slightly dazed amid the chaos near the finish line. "Can you tell me where the subway station is?" he asks.