Spring runoff will fill the East Branch of the Penobscot River in Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument, temping experienced canoeists/Maine Office of Tourism

Editor's note: Spring thaw is well underway. Rivers that depend on snowmelt to well their girth and submerge their rocky bottoms will soon be ready for you to dip your canoe paddle in. Christine Parrish did just that last May in navigating the East Branch of the Penobscot River in Katahdin Woods and Waters Monument. What she found just might tempt you to look to Maine this spring.

As soon as we slid the canoe into the river, the current grabbed it and pulled us towards the first rapid on our 26-mile guided trip down the East Branch of the Penobscot in the heart of Maine’s north woods. Now mid-May, it was the perfect time to run the Stream of Light, as the native Abenaki called it, in part because the black flies weren’t yet biting.

Keeping an eye out for a flat horizon line and for signs on the riverbank warning of whitewater ahead, we pulled out to scout Stair Falls, which spanned the river like a set of wide steps. After running it, we paddled ahead of the rest of our group to set up camp at the Haskell Deadwater, slow stretch of water with a view of the Traveler Mountains.

Guide services area available to help you navigate the river's leaping waters/Maine Office of Tourism

Next morning, the guides hoisted the canoes on their shoulders and the rest of us set off down the tote path lugging camping gear around Haskell Rock Pitch, the first unrunnable rapid on the trip. After two hours, we launched the boats and paddled a short distance before pulling out again above Pond Pitch for the second portage. We made camp early, fished for salmon and told jokes around the campfire, then watched the full moon light up the river mist before crawling into our tents for some well-earned rest.

From the launching point at Matagamon bridge on Route 159 near the northern entrance of the new Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument to Bowlin Camps nine miles downstream, the East Branch drops over six major rapids, losing 200 feet in elevation along the way. We would portage around four of them, including the waterfall at Grand Pitch and the Hulling Machine, a rapid so named by 19th century lumbermen because the rocks could strip bark off logs during spring river drives.

After the Machine, the river narrows, running full throttle to Bowlin Falls. We steered left to avoid being pulled towards a boat-swallowing hole in the rapid, then shot beneath a snowmobile bridge leading to nearby Bowlin Camps, a former logging camp with cabins, a cafe, hot showers and parking.

For those who want two nights on the upper East Branch, Bowlin’s is a good place to take out. It’s also a good starting point for a 13-mile two-day paddle with no portages that ends just upstream of the tricky rapids at Whetstone Bridge.

A ribbon of blue through a sea of green/Mark Picard via Elliotsville Plantation, Inc.