Third Day June 27 - Holeb Falls to Attean Landing

Yep that's right, this is a 34 mile round trip adventure! It is called the bow trip because the map looks like a bow, as in bow and arrow. We don't backtrack and we end up where we started. Here's a map to show you the route:

OK On with the third day.

As I ended the last post - it IS amazing what a good night's sleep can do for an attitude. I woke up saying "Let's hit those rips!"

It didn't last long. But I did get a little braver, asked Scottif he would take me down them and he agreed, In our morning prayer, Ron prayed long and hard that I would be brave, and I prayed that I would know when I should NOT go down. It worked and all in all it was a great day with no more anxiety!Although I did hold on for dear life!Janet, Maryellen and Barb all paddled through the rips.Tyler has the most athletic yet graceful paddle technique I have ever seen. I loved when we were behind them because I loved watching him paddle.After an exciting ride down Mosquito Rips and Spencer Rips - we had time to relax and enjoy the beautiful scenery. The last day was no doubt the best day because we all got enough sleep the night before. It was great weather and we really enjoyed all the river had to offer.

Barb did a good job paddling Jeff down the river :-)

Janet has the prettiest paddling technique of the girls (in my humble opinion)

We even stopped to share an ICE COLD Diet Coke - aaaaaaaaaaaah.

It wasn't long before we heard the familiar rush of the river and knew we had arrived at Attean Falls. This is a double set of rapids and is a familiar place to those who have wiped out on this trip before. There are two sets of falls and the first one was a piece of cake - long and fun and everyone did fine running it. The second was bit more tricky. I got out to take a look and Jeff and Barb ran it just fine - but Jeff's advice to me was to stay on shore, which I gratefully followed!
Ron and Janet came next and this is what I saw when I rounded the corner:

Hey what is Janet doing swimming?

And why is Ron clinging to that canoe?

This is my favorite picture of the whole trip! Look at that water!
Scott and Jeff bringing the infamous #13 through the falls....

Maryellen and Tyler made it through just fine, although perplexed why on earth
Ron and Janet got out of the canoe to take a swim...

Where's that first aid kit?

Lots of bailing and a couple of bandaids later...

we were on our way.
Back into the boat!

Yep, that's where they biffed it...

On the road again, leaving the falls and headed for Attean Lake...

The river widened out and pretty soon we were on the Lake again.The storms chased us out of there and the lake got very choppy, but we made it back to shore in record time!Back at shore, packing up
Jeff and Barb paddled together the last day...so that Scott could convince me to stay in the canoe!
Yummy dinner and bathrooms in Jackman Maine. We really didn't want the party to end so we went out to eat before we headed home.

Evidence of wildlife: On the way home we saw a beautiful bull moose with a big rack - and I SWEAR to you he is right here in these woods. Maybe YOU can't see him, but we all know he is in there!We did see this moose on the road, and Barb and Jeff saw a mom and baby moose in the river. We saw loons, ducks, an eagle, snakes, fish, crows - and I saw a red fox on the shortcut through the woods on the way home! There was also a racoon that enjoyed a meal at our last campsite compliments of the boys cooler with no latch. Oh yeah, and speaking of wildlife, Scott and I rounded a corner on the river and came across a woman naked from the waist up. That was pretty wild.WE DID IT LADIES!!! WE DID IT!