FOREST AND STREAM 
646 
whether or not to risk the canoe, which is not a 
rough water boat, into the slam of wind and 
wave but Guide Grinier thought the passage 
could be made by poling along the lee shore 
which he did most skillfully but at the same time 
giving his city sport in the bow a most whole¬ 
some ducking. As we crawled along from point 
to point subject to the blast of wind and smash 
of wave an eagle wheeled about aloft seemingly 
indifferent to the gale and the creature “man” 
below. From windy Eagle Lake to the shelter¬ 
ed Thoroughfare that led into the pretty Church¬ 
ill Lake was a comparatively short paddle and 
the guide pitched camp on the very shore of the 
lake, a most attractive situation. 
The skill of the Maine guides in woodcraft 
and watercraft soon wins the admiration of the 
city man. The quick way in which they will 
build a fire and cook a meal is one of the won¬ 
ders of the woods—and they say that they cook 
food, not smoke it. The latter is usually the 
custom of amateur campers. The writer has put 
up with all the cooking anyone encounters from 
Budapest to Honolulu and no where has he 
tasted better biscuits, better Johnny cakes, or 
better griddle cakes than the guide cooked 'in the 
Maine woods—nor better fried potatoes a la 
Grinier. The method of the Maine guides is, 
to first build a fireplace with two parallel rows 
of stones. Then cover the stones over with 
birch logs and they are very careful in the se¬ 
lection of the birch—to have only dry wood. 
Underneath the logs or in this simple “stone 
stove” they build the roaring fire which they 
set going without paper in a jiffy and they can 
shortly actually bake, boil or broil the food in 
the most palatable fashion. A city man would 
certainly not make much headway in the woods 
without a guide. Day’s Journey—16 miles. 
August 26, 1913. 
It was with regret that we left pretty Church¬ 
ill Lake at 8 o’clock in the morning, our usual 
starting time, and voyaged on to Chase Carry; 
after which comes the rocky road to Dublin, so 
to speak, in the form of the swiftest rapids and 
most rocky course of the Allagash trip. The 
danger spaces are known as the Devil’s Elbows, 
Boars Head and similar titles and as the guide 
pilots the frail canoe through the rushing waters 
fairly bristling with rocks the city sport comes 
to the conclusion that the Maine guides earn 
their present rate of $4.00 per day. A city man 
practically puts his life in their hands. 
After shooting the rapids with nothing more 
than a canoe scratch the guide demonstrated on 
the shores of Umsaskis Lake how he could put 
up a quick lunch. He unpacked his utensils, 
built a fire, prepared a hearty meal of baked 
beans, toasted biscuits and tea. The lunch was 
eaten, dishes cleaned and repacked—and we were 
again on our way with the whole operation tak¬ 
ing only forty minutes. 
Long Lake Thoroughfare was next in order 
and on reaching the lake in a gentle shower we 
fell in with several canoe parties who were 
making haste for the available camp sites. We 
joined in the rush but Guide Black Hawk Pal¬ 
mer and his three canoes were victorious. How¬ 
ever, there was room for all and Guide Grinier 
soon found a suitable site on the western shore 
of Long Lake. 
In the evening we had a call from Guide Si¬ 
mon Mayo, from one of the neighboring camps. 
The two guides talked about their parties and 
trips—not upon current newspaper topics—and 
then Simon with his French Canadian accent 
related the characteristics of his two youthful 
sports. Said he, “Last night I bake for dem a 
sheet of biscuits, a sheet of Johnny cake, I fry 
a great lot of bacon, ham and potatoes, given 
’em a jar of marmalade, a bottle of olives and 
by Moses dey clean out the whole business. How 
the deevil is a man going to carry supplies 
enough for two hungry kids like that?” 
Simon evidently had not calculated on the ap¬ 
petizing atmosphere of the Maine woods and its 
effect on city folks. The average elevation along 
the Allagash is fifteen hundred feet—and with 
the daily exercise and air redolent with balsam 
birch, spruce, pine and cedar—anyone has the in¬ 
clination to eat like a horse. 
Day’s Journey—22 miles. 
August 27, 1913. 
At 6 a. m. this morning the guide left camp 
for trout but returned with none. In the af¬ 
ternoon we tried another nearby stream but had 
the same result. So far on the trip bird life 
was fairly plentiful, we having seen a number of 
eagles, cranes, shell-drakes and loons but scarce 
was the sight of big game. 
The cry of the loon is a sound of the wilder¬ 
ness which is most impressive and one which 
Thoreau comments upon in his classic “The 
Allagash and East Branch.” He says: “In the 
middle of the night as indeed each time that we 
lay on the shore of a lake, we heard the voice of 
the loon, loud and distinct. It is a very wild 
Map of the AHegash Trip. 
