Roach River, Maine

[riverstrider]

While randomly "watching" a playlist of my favorite canoe trips while trying to fall asleep amidst a blinding full moon last night, one theoretical trip I have yet to do intruded on my thoughts. It was a trip I thought to do 4 or 5 years ago, but never had a chance to look into it and it sorta dropped off my radar. Now that it has asserted itself out of nowhere, I figured I might as well put it out there to see if anyone else has been there and can tell me anything about it:

I'm looking to do a run down the Roach River from Kokadjo down to Jewett Cove on Moosehead Lake, and perhaps combine it with a few nights roaming around Moosehead Lake. From a Google-Earth survey the river looks to be mostly moving water of the Class I-II variety with a smattering of Class III closer to Moosehead Lake. But of course, Google Earth is a deceptive source at times ad local information would be preferred. Has anyone here paddled it? Or poled it? Is it a dam release out of Roach Pond or just subject to normal seasonal variations of flow? What is the best time of year to run it? And, of course, how difficult is the whitewater on it?

Thanks for any info!

-rs

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

RS, if no one knows this river, you can have the great privilege of making a first descent—that is, a personal if not a universal first descent.

Takes me back to the 80's when we used to do that all the time on little known whitewater rivers. No information, no guidebooks, too lazy to buy topo maps, no Google Earth, no GPS, just curiosity and . . . go! We never claimed to be the first to run those rivers and creeks, but since they were information-less, virgin runs for us, they were personal first descents.

Having run or stumbled down them once, we of course then became the "experts" on those rivers. We wrote some up in the AMC New England whitewater guidebook series, and I even got a rapid named after me—"Glenn Dropped In" because I flipped there in my Perception Gyramax—in some creek I can't recall in Vermont or New Hampshire. I say "we" because it's always much safer to make a first descent with some other paddlers for safety and rescue reasons, as you know.

I do see internet sites and videos talking about fishing on the Roach. Perhaps a call to a fishing outfitter would yield knowledge of the entire run.

 

[riverstrider]

Thanks, Glenn. Yeah, it does not seem to be a popularly run river, perhaps due to its proximity to other more well-known quality runs and maybe it's dirt road shuttle route and half-mile lake paddle to the take-out. I did find it listed as a trip offered by a local outfitter, which tells me that it probably isn't too crazy. Regardless of whether I hear from anyone, I'll likely make plans with some others to run it. It will haunt my dreams until I do. I'm especially hoping that it is a quality poling run.

-rs

 

[Gamma1214]

Had a few minutes this morning & found this. Sounds like a fun day trip.

 

[yellowcanoe]

Thanks, Glenn. Yeah, it does not seem to be a popularly run river, perhaps due to its proximity to other more well-known quality runs and maybe it's dirt road shuttle route and half-mile lake paddle to the take-out. I did find it listed as a trip offered by a local outfitter, which tells me that it probably isn't too crazy. Regardless of whether I hear from anyone, I'll likely make plans with some others to run it. It will haunt my dreams until I do. I'm especially hoping that it is a quality poling run.

-rs

contact Wayne and Barb Plummer at Northern Pride Lodge on First Roach Pond.. They are right in "downtown" Kokadjo

 

[paddler123]

There is a brief write-up of the river in the AMC Maine River Guide. They have information on the sections from Third Roach Pond to Kokadjo and Kokadjo to Moosehead. It says Class II-III. "You don't have to deal with any dangerous spots here, but you also find no sections of flat water until you reach the lake." It also suggests running at high water.