Favorite Fall Foliage Travels—Canoeing the Allagash, Maine

In 1998, I had an assignment from Men’s Journal magazine to paddle the 92-mile Allagash Wilderness Waterway in the northern tier of Maine. It was late September, when the summer infestation of mosquitoes and black flies were gone, along with most paddlers. Instead, I found a river ablaze in fall color. An added bonus was that moose were in heat. One night while I was sleeping near the shores, several moose were going at it and I thought I was going to be trampled to death. Besides that little adventure, I had a glorious time venturing down this magical waterway. I went with classic Maine guides, Alexandra and Garrett Conover, who are semi-retired and no longer take folks down the river. Instead, go with a trusted guide like Mahoosuc Guide Service who led me down the West Branch of the Penobscot River in Maine for this Sierra Magazine story.