BANGOR DAILY NEWS • November 27, 2020
In the more than three decades since my first descent, I’ve navigated the Dead River an estimated 200 times. Due to the pandemic, almost everything in 2020 has been an ordeal. That’s been true with whitewater paddling. An added difficulty for me has been my ongoing battle with arthritis. Fast forward to November; I had recently received another hip injection and two young enthusiastic members of my paddling club announced an unexpected Dead release was scheduled for Nov. 10, exactly 29 years after my first outing. We successfully maneuvered through formidable Upper Poplar Falls. The excitement ended with a calamity-free, exhilarating descent of complex Lower Poplar Falls. ~ Ron Chase