WILLEM: Today on Windows to the Wild, we're going to take you to northern Maine, which many people say has some of the best canoe tripping in the country.

So, stick around.

♪ Welcome to Windows to the Wild.

I'm Willem Lange.

The Allagash Wilderness Waterway in northern Maine is a place that many people can only dream about.

It has whitewater canoeing, huge forests, great scenery, and wildlife.

If I don't seem too happy about that, it's because I can't go.

My son is in a downriver kayak marathon out in Missouri, and I've gotta go out there and be his ground crew.

So, I've recruited a good friend to kind of sit in for me: Scott Ellis.

Scotty!

SCOTT: Hey, Willem!

I’m excited about this opportunity.

Thank you!

[chuckling] WILLEM: It is my pleasure.

I wish I could go.

Well, Scott was in a previous episode of Windows to the Wild.

He's an outdoor educator and a filmmaker in the Upper Connecticut Valley.

[Scott’s voice] Having fun when you’re out on a trip should never be a problem.

There are so many great things to do to fill your days.

Let me show you some of my favorite fun activities out there.

If the boat ends up capsizing, then no problem.

Just swim underneath and hang out under the upside down boat.

It's one of those things everyone should do at least once in their life.

[chuckling] SCOTT: I’ll tell you, Willem, I love making these videos.

WILLEM: Do you really?

SCOTT: And this is a really great opportunity to go to another beautiful place and meet some pretty cool people along the way.

WILLEM: That’s true.

I love the way you carry the GoPro on the end of your waking stick.

SCOTT: It’s pretty fun.

I'll get a couple of those shots for you, I promise.

WILLEM: Oh, good.

Okay.

So, while I'm heading west, you're headed north.

SCOTT: I’m heading north.

Yeah!

WILLEM: Well, I do hope that when I return, I’ll get my job back.

SCOTT: No promises there.

You got a pretty good gig, Willem.

[both laughing] WILLEM: Well, good luck, my friend.

SCOTT: To you as well!

WILLEM: But not too much of it.

[both laughing] [water flowing] SCOTT: Through the tunnel we go.

[boat hitting branches] [water lapping fiercely] The journey begins.

Windows to the Wild.

It's a pretty wild ride right here.

WILLEM: Scott Ellis is an accomplished paddler, and he's about to embark on a seven-day voyage on the Allagash Wilderness Waterway, located in the northern Maine wilderness.

70 miles long in total.

On this trip, he'll have to canoe through lakes, rapids, and yes, a storm which is about to come up right now.

♪ SCOTT: The first test of the wilderness of the Allagash was this little creek.

We're through.

But the next big test is going to be this wind, man.

It is going to push us back.

It seems to be going right at our faces.

Might make sense to just hold up here for Gil, even.

Let the guide lead the way!

WILLEM: Good call, Scott.

Lucky for Scott, Gil Gilpatrick is no ordinary guide.

He's a Master Maine Guide with more than 40 years of experience guiding people down the Allagash.

[orr pushing water] Gil's on the trip with his friends Holly Beardslee, Karen George, and Chris Sage, who are all experienced paddlers.

Now, back to the storm!

GIL: Hard right.

Through it hard.

That’s it.

SCOTT: Looking good guys!

Past the first challenge.

GIL: Yeah!

♪ [wind violently hitting water] Couldn't be at worse wind.

I'm going to put the motor on.

We'll try to work our way up that shore to the other side of the island, and then then we'll be in the lea of the island.

I think we can get to the campsite.

♪ [engine rumbles] WILLEM: Time is of the essence, but that doesn't stop the producer-videographer from doing something foolish during this moment of peril.

SCOTT: Gil!

We lost the paddle!

It's going to wash right in!

♪ [engine rumbles] VIDEOGRAPHER: Oh, there he is way over there.

♪ [wind blows violently] SCOTT: We were stuck in weeds, we dropped a paddle we had to go back for, and then we got all messed up tied up with the boats together.

But now we're making some forward progress!

It is windy out here, I tell you what.

WILLEM: It's so windy, it even knocks the videographer over.

Of course, this happens when he isn't busy losing a paddle.

[engine whining] The crew have reached the island.

Or, at least, what's left of an island.

[current rolling ashore] CHRIS: There's a little water in there.

WILLEM: After setting up camp in the rain, they don't have much time to make a big feast.

[hatchet hitting wood] So, they prepare the classic meal of saucisse sur un bâton .

Or in the common tongue, hot dog on a stick.

But don't worry, folks.

Things can only get better for this crew.

Trust me.

♪ ♪ [spatula scraping griddle] Day two starts out with some hearty pancakes and some decent weather, both of which are nice to have after yesterday.

♪ Leaving camp early in the morning, they decide to head out to a land that existed before highways and cell phones.

♪ [orrs pushing water] [crunching underfoot] [birds tweeting] WILLEM: Who would have thought it?

Trains this far from civilization.

Quite impressive.

SCOTT: This brings you back to a piece of the history of this land.

You look around on the lake and there's not a single house and you think you're in this completely wild, pristine place, but there's a history here, and the history is tied directly to the trees about logging.

This is an old relic of the old logging days where this was a rail car that would bring the logs over to the other waterway where they could get them out, and they could access more land up here.

But out in the middle of the woods, far from any road or anything, lives this giant hunk of steel and rust that is just kind of being held together by rust.

And, uh, cool kind of piece of history that exists here in this forest, and a fun, little interesting interlude to go into and play around in it.

♪ WILLEM: Not far from the trains is an old, abandoned logging camp To get there, you just have to follow the remnants of the tramway.

GIL: There’s two boilers there, and this is the old steam engine.

SCOTT: Yeah.

GIL: Big old belt ran through here.

OSHA didn't inspect these places.

SCOTT: Yeah.

Do whatever they wanted out here, huh?

[chuckling] GIL: Yep.

Somebody got caught in the belt?

Well, we’ll bury him here.

This all ended in 34, about time I was born, actually.

♪ SCOTT: Thanks for the tour, Gil.

GIL: Oh, my pleasure.

♪ WILLEM: Not only has Gil written two guidebooks on the Allagash River, but he's also published many outdoor how tos and contributes to Maine's Northwoods Sporting Journal.

SCOTT: One thing I noticed reading your book, too, is I like the philosophy you have: If I know about it, I'll tell you about it.

GIL: Yeah.

Yeah.

That’s kind of been my attitude.

Yeah.

SCOTT: Now, why did you come to that philosophy?

GIL: Early on, I subscribed to a writers magazine, and I had it for 2 or 3 years, and then I read an article on writing how-to stuff, which is basically what I did.

SCOTT: Yeah.

And one of the things that it advised you was not to tell them everything; save something so you can do another one.

I said, That doesn’t seem right to me.

[chuckling] So, I canceled my subscription.

And I've gone my own way since then.

WILLEM: He's a man who lives and breathes Maine's outdoors.

The perfect guide for an Allagash trip like this.

SCOTT: What do we have in store today?

GIL: Well, we've got a little bit of wind, but we're going to travel up Eagle Lake, go past Farm Island, and, if the wind allows us to, we'll make it into Churchill.

[orrs pushing water] WILLEM: Just as things are starting to look promising, the wind’s come back and the lake gets choppy.

[orrs pushing water] The group decides to wait out the storm.

When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade, collect firewood, and skip rocks.

♪ SCOTT: Not too bothered by our presence.

We won’t get too close; let her be and do her thing.

That’s a pretty cool animal to see in the wild.

WILLEM: The moose isn't the only animal Scott's crew sees this afternoon.

CHRIS: I can see him straight across.

WILLEM: They also see loons, and a rabbit pays them a visit.

Animals and birds everywhere.

Not a bad day to be in the wild.

[chatter] [fire crackling] [birds tweeting] [current rolling ashore] The first great sunrise of the trip.

And up bright and early to enjoy it is Gil.

He may be 80 years old, but Gil can’t stand to sit around.

SCOTT: Seems like you're a doer, Gil.

You’re always doing something, huh?

GIL: Yeah, that's I know I have that problem.

[Scott laughs] The only guided trip I’ve ever been on about three years ago, I went on a... dog sled trip.

And, of course, there was a guide there and I knew her well.

I'm always looking, I gotta do something, and finally she says, You can't sit still, can you?

And I said, No.

♪ [fire crackling] SCOTT: Allagash muffin extraordinaire here, huh?

What goes into an Alagash muffin, Gil?

Raisins?

Cinnamon sugar?

♪ [fire crackling] ♪ [griddle sizzling] GIL: Come eat!

We’re throwing it out in five minutes.

♪ SCOTT: So we have quite a day in front of us today.

Is that right?

GIL: We do.

Yeah, this is a fun day.

SCOTT: A fun day?

This is the funnest day maybe?

GIL: This is the funnest day of the trip, I think.

We're going to paddle down to Churchill Dam.

Take us an hour over an hour.

Then we're going to offload our gear, and a ranger is going to cart it around town to the lower part of the rapids.

SCOTT: This is luxury.

GIL: Yeah.

We get to run the rapids with the antique canoes.

SCOTT: Is there anything we should be worried about with these rapids or any tips before we head out on this?

GIL: Watch out for fallen trees, standing waves if they're real big, try to avoid them and, of course, the rocks.

SCOTT: Yep.

WILLEM: It's time for Scott's crew to head out.

Gil's the first to jump into his canoe.

Notice how he walks the gunwales?

Rumor is he doesn't like to get his feet wet.

GIL: Yeah!

SCOTT: Did you used to get your feet wet?

[chuckling] No.

I don't know.

[chuckling] It’s just a fetish, I guess.

SCOTT: I can't imagine.

I wouldn't be able to do it without getting my feet wet.

GIL: Well, you’ll see my wife.

You can ask her about it.

She jumped out of the canoe more times.

It's kind of I suppose it's kind of embarrassing for me, but I don't care.

[both laughing] I want my feet dry.

♪ SCOTT: Beautiful day.

Nice little sunrise.

Learning from the pro, Gil Gilpatrick, expert of the Allagash.

♪ WILLEM: It's been about an hour, and Scott's crew lands at Churchill Dam, where they portage their canoes and start to run Chase Rapids.

[water flowing fiercely] SCOTT: Why is the Allagash the river of Maine?

What's special about it?

GIL: Well, maybe that's just my opinion, but it's the one river that I wanted to do.

And so, that's why I call it the river of Maine.

[water flowing] WILLEM: Well, everyone made it through the rapids, and it was time to settle into camp.

[fire popping] As their food was heating on the fire, an animal came to rest on the rocks.

Can you see it?

Look at the bottom left corner.

[frightening music] A snake!

Poor little guy just trying to get warm.

The trip has already experienced rapids, storms, and snakes.

Quite the adventure.

One I'd want to be sharing.

And it's been only three days into the trip, so far.

[fire crackling] [birds calling] SCOTT: It is our fourth day now on the river.

The sun has finally come out; a beautiful morning.

We got held up a little bit early on.

There was Hurricane Arthur really had some high winds and held a lot of groups up.

So, now, there's a lot of groups on the water all in the same area.

So, lucky for us, Gil has brought a motor, and we're going to strap that motor on and we're going to motor down and try and pass all these groups so we can get our first pick of a campsite tonight.

But we are really happy to see the sun and another beautiful day on the water.

♪ ♪ [engine whirring] WILLEM: Ah.

There's nothing like motor canoeing in the morning.

You might say this is cheating, but for a river that's so packed with canoes, this is the only way for Scott's crew to get a good campsite.

Well, they do manage to pass many other groups, getting better campsites from here on out.

[water flowing] [orrs calmly pushing water] SCOTT: Karen, what keeps you coming back?

You've done this how many times now?

KAREN: This is my third trip with Gil.

Yeah.

I’d have to say it would be Gil that brings me back.

[chuckling] SCOTT: Gil that brings you back?

KAREN: Yeah.

He's just a real fountain of information.

You know, he makes the trip a real pleasure.

You know, you feel comfortable, even if you might make a mistake or something.

He won't make you feel as though you have.

And, it’s just his company and, of course, the wildlife is just wonderful to see, and the solitude of the river.

♪ [water susurrating] WILLEM: Northern Maine is a pretty wild place, and the Allagash Wilderness is no exception.

So much natural beauty and so many animals all around in these woods, it's hard to tell what year you're in.

The Allagash Wilderness is timeless.

[birds tweeting] SCOTT: Day five on our Allagash Wilderness trip, and things are really falling into place.

The group's feeling really good.

We had some great weather yesterday.

And, what do we got in store today, Gil?

GIL: Well, today we're going to paddle down the end of Round Pond and then we'll be in Round Pond Rips.

Fairly shallow; pick our way through it.

It's a fun day.

WILLEM: As soon as they pass by a group of camping Boy Scouts, an eagle flies across the horizon.

[Bald Eagle calling] Coincidence?

Maybe.

Just another reminder of how wild and special the Allagash is.

[orrs pushing water] SCOTT: You keep going on these trips with Gil.

What is it about, you know, coming on these trip with Gil?

(humorously) CHRIS: I like to be abused.

That's what it's all about.

The abuse.

♪ [sawing] CHRIS: Friendship, I think.

Just a stand up guy.

You can always you can always count on them.

And, just a real comfortable trip that I don't have to worry about stressing myself about.

He makes it easy.

SCOTT: That's the abuse.

That's what you come back for?

CHRIS: Yeah.

Yes.

All this stuff.

SCOTT: Yeah.

CHRIS: It's wonderful.

♪ ♪ [water susurrating] [water susurrating] WILLEM: Everyone seems to be congregating at the Deadwater North Camp today.

People fishing, Boy Scout paddlers, and a Maine Ranger motoring by, this camp was a happening place.

[birds tweeting] And soon it was time for dinner.

SCOTT: Looks like spaghetti tonight.

Meat sauce.

WILLEM: Gil is a firm believer in having good meals on any camping trip.

He doesn't incorporate dried food into his meals, but instead makes food he'd eat at home.

GIL: My wife always kicks me when I say this, but this is like putting the food together.

You know, I put together stuff that I like so I know that one person on the trip’s gonna be happy.

[laughter] ♪ [chatter] ♪ WILLEM: I can't believe it's already day six for Scott's crew on the Allagash.

Things are so calm in camp this morning, it has some visitors drop in.

The scavengers of the northern New England woods the grey jays.

If you have so much as a raisin lying around, they'll find it and eat it.

That is, if they know how to eat it.

This grey jay is having a little trouble with it.

But the grey jays aren't the only visitors in camp.

SCOTT: I heard you had a little bit of a scare with a moose last night.

GIL: Well, he comes strolling down the river and splashing on the way, and all of a sudden, I think I think he got a sniff of us and let out a couple of roars.

SCOTT: Keeping our perfect streak of a moose every day, right?

So, what do we got in store for us today, Gil?

GIL: Oh, today, we got a series of rips to go through.

Then we get to Allagash Falls, and that means all the stuff’s got to be lugged around.

SCOTT: Heard it’s a petty spot, though.

GIL: Pretty spot.

We’ll stop there and get some pictures and we'll move on a little ways down and camp.

SCOTT: Sounds great.

I'm looking forward to another great day on the water.

GIL: So am I. SCOTT: Yeah.

Want to go for a paddle?

GIL: Sure.

Let's go.

SCOTT: Let’s do it.

WILLEM: First, Scott's crew needs to pack up.

♪ GIL: Thank you, Scott.

♪ WILLEM: Before going to the portage around Allagash Falls, though, they need to stop at the ranger station.

GIL: So, you’re still at it then?

RANGER: I’m still at it.

Oh yeah To the rangers, Gil is a celebrity All through the trip, they went out of their way to meet him.

MATTHEW: I first met Gil in 1976 when I was an assistant ranger up here.

And we got to know each other.

He kept coming through with groups, and, you know, He had these canoes that he made with his kids at school.

And they trashed a few on Chase Rapids GIL: That's right.

MATTHEW: over the years.

Got to get kids out paddling and fishing and doing things like that.

Sometimes, they don't do it when they get to be adults.

[water flowing steadily] SCOTT: I tell you what, this boat is not light.

It may be pretty.

It may be nice on the water, but it's not so fun on your shoulders!

[boat creaking] [water flowing] This is the beautiful Allagash Falls a landmark on this route on the Allagash Waterway.

Really is a beautiful spot.

[water flowing] WILLEM: You definitely don't want to be going over these falls.

You portage your canoe and gear.

But there's plenty of fun to be had here.

SCOTT: Whooo!

[splash] [water flowing] [splash] [water flowing] [splash] WILLEM: The Allagash River is truly timeless.

It's been a logging highway, an outdoor playground, and most importantly, a natural preserve.

It's a natural wonder that has stood the test of time.

But for Scott's crew, time on the Allagash is coming to a close.

SCOTT: This is a pretty special place in many ways, and I think it's special for everybody in a different way.

So, what's special about the Allagash for you guys, both as a returner and a new person here?

KAREN: It's just so scenic and quiet.

You know, what's not to like?

You know, you're getting away from your normal routine at home, and it really makes you appreciate this much more.

HOLLY: I love wildlife; I love being out in the woods.

This is a first for me and it's just been a great experience.

Seeing eagles is awesome.

And we've seen a moose every single day.

We're up to 22!

SCOTT: 22 moose?

KAREN: 22!

SCOTT: So, Gil, here we are.

Last day on the water.

How do you feel about that?

GIL: Well, it's always sad to see it come to an end, but we're happy to get home to my wife and my dog.

SCOTT: Yeah.

But we do still have a little water to paddle in front of us, right?

What do we got in store today?

GIL: We got some rips ahead of us like we've been through the last couple of days.

And also, we've got the Twin Brook Rapids, which is the second most difficult rapids, which isn't saying too much, but it's not that difficult.

That is the official end of the waterway, right there And then, we got another few miles to go to get to Allagash Village, where we'll meet our cars and... SCOTT: Yep.

Go back to the land of sofas, right?

GIL: That's right.

Yeah.

♪ [water flowing] SCOTT: Well, this is always the sad part of any adventure for me, but all good things do come to an end.

And I really want to thank all of you.

This has really been an amazing adventure out here on the Allagash.

And, we've had some good times, and we've really gotten to know each other better, and it was truly amazing.

I thank you so much.

GIL: My thanks too.

It's been great for me to [inaudible].

Can't think of a better place or with better people.

WILLEM: Well, as you can see, the season has changed a little bit.

Scott and I are back from our respective trips.

I went to Missouri.

SCOTT: And I went to the Allagash.

WILLEM: And I got nothing to show for it.

SCOTT: And we got tons to show for it.

WILLEM: Get out!

SCOTT: Yeah.

So much good stuff.

[chuckling] WILLEM: I got to Kansas City.

My son meets me at the airport and says, Dad, you should leave your cell phone on.

I tried to reach you.

The trip’s been postponed for a month because of high water.

So, I had some Kansas City barbecue and I flew back home SCOTT: And we paddled an amazing river with some really cool people, saw the moose every day, and just had an outstanding time.

WILLEM: Oh that's great.

SCOTT: Yeah, it was great.

WILLEM: Well, sometime, we’ll do it together.

SCOTT: I would love that.

That’d be great.

WILLEM: But, for now, it's time to say goodbye.

I'm Willem Lange.

SCOTT: And I'm Scott Ellis.

WILLEM: And we hope to see you again on Windows to the Wild.

Support for the production of Windows to the Wild has been provided by... ♪