Below a mountain shrouded in clouds, Matt Polstein, left, and Galen Hale float down the East Branch of the Penobscot River during a trip from Matagamon to Bowlin Camps.
Water splashes over the bow of a canoe and onto Galen Hale as he and Matt Polstein paddle through Stair Falls on the East Branch of the Penobscot River during a trip from Matagamon to Bowlin Camps. There are a number of rapids on the upper stretch of the river that must be portaged but a few can be run.
Grand Pitch on the East Branch of the Penobscot River is one of the numerous portages canoeists must make while paddling the river.
Polstein, rear, and Hale paddle down the East Branch of the Penobscot River.
Haskell Rock Pitch, named for its distinctive rock in the middle of the river, is one of four rapids that must be portaged around when canoeing the upper East Branch of the Penobscot River.
Hale, front, and Polstein run a set of rapids on the East Branch of the Penobscot River.
Reporter Tux Turkel paddles down the East Branch of the Penobscot River.
An immature eagle perches in a dead tree along the banks of the East Branch of the Penobscot River.
Hale carries a canoe during a portage around the Hulling Machine on the East Branch of the Penobscot River. Hale is a guide who owns Nicatou Outfitters in Medway. One of his uncles guided Henry David Thoreau to the Tablelands on Mount Katahdin in 1846.
Haskell Rock Pitch is one of four rapids that must be portaged around when canoeing the upper East Branch of the Penobscot River.
Hale, left, and Polstein look for wildlife along the East Branch of the Penobscot River.
Polstein carries a canoe along a portage around Pond Pitch.
In a downpour, Polstein, rear, and Hale paddle a canoe through Stair Falls.
Polstein leads a canoe trip down the East Branch of the Penobscot River.
A deer fly examines the lens of a camera mounted on the front of a canoe used by Matt Polstein and Galen Hale, at right, during a trip down the East Branch of the Penobscot River from Matagamon to Bowlin Camps. In addition to the tenacious deer flies, the North Woods were teeming with mosquitos and black flies during the trip.
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