256 
FOREST AND STREAM 
May, 1920 
ing you this letter. It is a very accurate 
description and credit for its accuracy 
belongs to my brother Frank E. Brown, 
of West Bulton, Maine. He has been 
over the stretch described at least once 
each year since 1893, and has made the 
canoe trip with his wife several times. 
He has charge of the log-driving opera- 
tions on the Saco and is therefore inti- 
mately acquainted with all parts of that 
river. 
Parties wishing to take the canoe trip 
down the Saco River should have their 
outfit shipped to Fryeburg, Maine, on the 
Maine Central R. R. You can then take 
the river at Western’s Bridge or else 
start in below Swan’s Falls, two and one- 
half miles lower down, which will save 
one carry. On leaving Swan’s Falls you 
can go as far as the mouth of Old River 
the first day. Old River comes in on the 
left bank about five miles from Swan’s 
Falls. If you have time it is well to go 
up Old River, about two miles, to Lower 
Kezar Pond, the outlet of which comes 
in on the right just above the covered 
bridge over Old River. Lower Kezar has 
good bass and pickerel fishing, and you 
get one of the best views of the White 
Mountain Range. Leaving Lower Kezar 
Pond you go down Old River to the Saco, 
then down the Saco a distance of six 
miles when you come to Pleasant Pond on 
the left. Good bass and pickerel fishing 
here. 
Leaving the outlet of the pond you 
come to a covered bridge over the river 
and a set of rapids. It is best not to try 
to run these rapids, as there are some 
bad rocks in the channel. There is a 
good channel to lower canoe through on 
the right side. Leaving foot of rapids 
you find clear water for four miles when 
you reach Lovewell’s Pond on the right. 
This pond was the scene of the famous 
fight between the Indians and Whites in 
which Chief Pangus was killed. Fishing 
good for bass and pickerel. 
About one-half mile below Lovewell’s 
Pond and on the left is Brownfield Bogs 
where you will find good duck shooting in 
season. Continuing down the river a dis- 
tance of five miles you find a covered 
bridge over river near East Brownfield. 
Good place to renew supplies. Nine miles 
further down you reach Hiram village. 
There is a bridge over the river here and 
one-half mile further you pass under 
railroad bridge at Bridgton Junction. 
Three miles below you come to Hiram 
Falls where you will have to carry, as 
there is a dam and power plant here. 
One-half mile below Hiram Falls you 
come to a set of rapids. You had better 
not try to run them if loaded heavy. It 
is easy *o lower down right side. Three 
miles below these rapids you pass bridge 
at Cornish Station, and three miles fur- 
ther you come to Hiland Rips. Lower 
down right side, eight miles below, is the 
village of Steep Falls. Good pickerel and 
bass fishing all the way between Hiland 
Rips and Steep Falls. If you want to 
you can leave the river here, as it is on 
the line of the Maine Central R. R. If 
you wish to follow the river carry at 
Steep Falls and four miles below you 
reach Parker’s Rips. Lower down right 
side. One half mile further down is 
Limington Falls. Best to carry here. 
Leaving foot of Limington Falls there 
is dead water for five miles to Bonny 
Eagle where there is another carry. Good 
bass and pickerel fishing through the 
pond between Limington and Bonny 
Eagle. From Bonny Eagle to West Bul- 
ton is one mile. Carry at West Bulton 
then good water, and bass fishing to Bar 
Mills; six miles. You can leave the river 
at Bar Mills if you wish, as the Boston & 
Maine R. R. crosses river there. If going 
below, it is best to have outfit hauled to 
Union Falls, a distance of three miles, 
as it is broken water a good part of the 
way. You pass Salmon Falls, one mile 
below Bar Mills. Salmon Falls is one 
of the scenic places of the Saco River. 
Leaving Union Falls you have eight 
miles of good water to Saco and Bidde- 
ford where the river ends. There are 
good camping places the whole distance 
on this river and deer hunting almost all 
the way. Open season, October 1st to 
December 1st, above Hiram; November 
1st to December 1st, Hiram to Saco. 
Ernest A. Brown, N. H. 
trout in this section of the river. Having 
caught the required rainbow, the young 
fisherman is accepted as a member of 
the trout club and is thereby relieved 
from the common camp duties of kitchen 
police, and wood gathering for the cook 
stove or the evening campfire, for a 
period of one week. The camp manager 
found it necessary to disqualify those 
who attempted to stretch a point by 
hanging slightly short trout by the gills 
with a rock tied to the tail. At times the 
rivalry for membership has been so keen 
that it has been necessary to call a halt 
to fishing for a period of two or three 
days in order to make use of the supply 
already in the larder. For breakfast 
more than a hundred beauties are often 
cooked for the hungry thirty, but it is 
difficult in such quantities to cook to the 
proper turn and season to the best 
flavor. The real treat is the trout cooked 
in the small fry pan. Many of the boys 
in groups of two and three were wont to 
spend a day on a side trip, carrying with 
them lunch and a fry pan. A fish rolled 
in corn meal and fried in olive oil on one 
String of rainbow trout caught in Kings River, California 
IN PARADISE 
To the Editor of Forest and Stream: 
P ARADISE Valley, near the head- 
waters of the Kings River in Central 
California’s High Sierra, is, each year 
during the month of July, the scene of a 
unique camp of high school boys from 
Bakersfield, California, under the direc- 
tion of a high school teacher. To reach 
Paradise Camp from the end of the 
wagon road it is a two day trip on foot 
accompanied by a pack train. The party, 
composed of thirty vigorous boys, in- 
cludes the camp manager, a physician 
and a professional camp cook. The pack 
train is composed of thirty mules and 
five packers. 
In Paradise there is no more coveted 
honor than to become a member of the 
Paradise trout club. Eligibility for mem- 
bership consists in bringing into camp a 
rainbow trout at least twelve inches in 
length, caught from the Kings River in 
Paradise Valley. Although the trout are 
much larger in the nearby glacial lakes, 
eleven to twelve inches is a fair sized 
of these trips comes nearer perfection. 
In the evening ensconced in the com- 
fortable canvas chairs, whose framework 
is made of fir logs six inches in diameter, 
fastened in single lap joints and hung 
with stout canvas whose angle fits in 
luxurious manner the natural curve of 
the spine, the day’s experiences are vivid- 
ly recounted in the campfire’s ruddy 
warmth. It is here also that strategic 
means are discussed for again tempting 
the big one that got away or the still 
larger one that haunts the bottom of the 
pool. 
At four in the afternoon, or there- 
abouts, before the July sun sinks behind 
the precipitous cliffs that form the can- 
yon walls, the rod and reel give way to 
the joys of the swimming hole. This 
particular pool is twenty feet in depth, 
clear as crystal and just a little too cool 
to be a temptation to the aged or the in- 
firm. The decision that it takes to make 
the dive from the protruding rock into 
the chilly depths gives a proper zest tb 
the affair and causes a thrill that will 
