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It was just something they wanted to do together to cement this moment, this era of their lives - why not? Don’t we all want to accomplish something new? Something new, something impossible. Something that will make tomorrow feel like it was earned.
So - here’s a few of these Maine rafting boys, sitting around the ol’ Sugar Shack treehouse in the woods behind Three Rivers, talking about stuff just like this back last October. Brian Olas, Jeremy Huston, Dan Sloan, Isaac Treem and Tom Herling had all been boating together there at Three Rivers for years
They decided - amid a haze of sentiment, camaraderie and God knows what else - they’d take Brian’s 13 ft. Aire E Series 13’2" Lowrider on a trip no other Maine raft guide (least any one they had ever heard of) had ever made - the Dead the Kennebec and the Penobscot rivers - all in one crazy, wild, and friggin’ long day!
The decision was made in early May to do it Sunday, May 30. This would be a good day for it, thanks to the power of man-made dams, but the window to make it on to each river was tight: the first half of the scheduled 5500 Dead release came from Flagstaff reservoir at 6 a.m. and the second half at 7:30 a.m., but the bubble wouldn’t get to Spencer Stream until 9 at the earliest. To paddle the 16 miles of the Dead at 5500 takes at least two hours, and that’s if you’re paddling steady.
Then, the boys knew they’d have to put on the Kennebec before 1 p.m., because that’s when Harris Station was more than likely shutting off its water for the day. So they had to blast down the Dead, jump into vehicles and drive the 14 miles to the Kennebec Gorge.
On top of all this was the two hour-plus drive to the Penobscot, where they had to put on before 5 p.m. because Ripogenous hadn’t running any steady nighttime water all spring.
"We knew we needed help," said Brian, a guide for Three Rivers and an account manager at Corporate Express in Portland.
So - the fellas recruited two support drivers, Monte Sloan (Dan’s dad) and Dawn Sayward (a fellow rafting guide), plus some corporate sponsors (seriously) Gatorade and Teva, to help them on their trip.
May 30
The fellas woke up early on Sunday morning and met at Three Rivers Whitewater in The Forks. They got their equipment together and loaded it into the support vehicles and headed up to the Dead.
They put on at 9:10 a.m., just after the water came up. Brian said they really had to paddle quickly on the Dead to make it happen.
"We’d catch a surf here and there, but mostly we just paddled downstream."
Tom Herling guided the boat through Mile-Long rapid, and the fellas had a hell of a good time.
They actually passed the bubble below Big Poplar Falls, and had to dodge rocks for the last mile of the trip until they took out at Rt. 201 across from Dead River Outfitters.
There, Monte and Dawn were waiting with the support vehicles and the fellas jumped aboard and headed up the hill to Harris Station.
They put on the Kennebec at 12:20. At this point, the fellas figured they had accomplished the toughest part of their journey, timing-wise (because they had paddled the Dead and had made it to the Kennebec before the water was shut-off), so they intended to fully enjoy their trip down the Kennebec.
Jeremy Houston, a fulltime Three Rivers guide, guided the Kennebec and took the fellas down an exciting line through Rock Garden, all the way left, and dropped into Goodbye Hole sideways. Even so, to the dismay of carnage fans, the fellas were able to keep it upright, with everybody in the raft.
They took out at Carry Brook Eddy and, once again, jumped into the shuttle vehicles. The next drive would be the longest of the day for the fellas as they had to truck across the state to the sticks of the Katahdin Area. Monte, not wanting to beat on his vehicle, elected to take the pavement, while Dawn and the fellas drove across on the dirt, taking the Broshua and Golden Roads.
The fellas ate sandwiches and drank Gatorade on the way, remaining in their wet gear the whole way.
They pulled into the parking lot at McKay Station at 3:30 p.m., but Monte – and the ever-important barrel pump – was nowhere to be found - just goes to show that dirt is the way to go.
The fellas waited for a half hour before they decided it was time to get on the river. Luckily, they were able to borrow a barrel pump from North Country Rivers to top off their raft and they put on the Penobscot Gorge at 4:20 p.m. ("Does it get any better than that?" asked Brian.).
Brian guided the raft down the right line of the Upper Gorge. A lefty, Brian held a right broach raft angle as he approached Exterminator Hole, but at the last second he sadistically gave a hard pry, spinning the raft just as it dropped into the frothing maw.
"I figured we hadn’t had any carnage yet, so what the hell?"
The hole grabbed the raft’s stern and sucked it under water, filling the compartments with water. The fellas surfed Exterminator for a couple gyrations, before the river gods finally granted them their freedom and the hole regurgitated their boat, upright.
"If it wasn’t for the instant water-filling all of the raft’s compartments, we all would’ve tasted Staircase [a nasty section below]. We narrowly escaped the swim below. There was a lot of hooting and hollering after that incredible hit," said Brian.
Shortly thereafter, the fellas saw something that made their entire day slow down.
"Just as we passed by Crazysurf after Little Eddy, we saw a huge bald eagle with a bright white ‘fro launch from a tree on the left side of the river and soar downstream. Circling round and round in the wind for almost five minutes. We all were amazed, but we all remained silent," said Brian. "If you talk to any one of the crew, they all agree that that was the best part of the whole day."
After sharing that moment together, Isaac Treem, a full time Three Rivers guide on the Penobscot, guided the fellas down the Crib Works section cleanly.
They hustled to the take out at Big Eddy, with hopes of squeezing in another run through the Gorge, but by the time they got back to McKay, the water had dropped to 1600 cfs, so the fellas called it a day.
Nevertheless, they had gotten one run in on the Penobscot Gorge, completing their Maine River Trifecta.
When asked about the first thing they did after parking the shuttle vehicles at Three Rivers base in Millinocket, Dan Sloan had a simple answer:
"Shots. Yeah, shots of Beam," said Dan, a Ranger at Chimney Pond in Baxter State Park. "We had just completed a challenge a lot of people said couldn’t be done, so it was time to celebrate" It was a great group of guys to do it with. We’ve all known each other the entire time we’ve been guiding - we all had confidence in each other, we were all on point the entire time. There was no question whether we could get it done; it was just a matter of whether there would be enough water."
Besides Teva and Gatorade, Dan also gives credit to unofficial sponsors, Berry’s Store egg salad sandwiches and Pabst Blue Ribbon, for being integral parts of the team.
"Teva sent us each a pair of one of their top-of-the-line sandals, the Guide Pro L.C. These sandals have the support of a Chaco [sandal], but they’re not as stiff," Dan shamelessly plugged on. "And we drank Gatorade like you would not believe."
But, the fellas didn’t do it for the free gear or the money (what money?). The Trifecta was the result of a group of friends wanting to do something cool together when they had the chance" and why not try to get a free pair of sandals out of the deal?
"We did it for the pure fun of it," said Brian. "A bunch of close friends doing something together they all love to do: ‘Let’s go boating!’"
Dan did have a few points of advice to offer others who want to try this trip: "Enjoy it! It was physically rigorous. The worst part was driving to the ‘Nob. Oh and don’t be an idiot and stay up late drinking the night before."
Now that the fellas have become the first group to paddle the three Maine rivers in one day, what’s next?
"Four rivers in one day ... ? We’ll keep you posted on the developments," said Brian.
Good luck fellas.
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