Day two dawned wet. We could no longer access the weather report without internet or phone, but there was no mistaking the dense, low-hanging clouds. Though Bob Johnson rarely has canoers, the other couple and us were ready to paddle the Allagash Wilderness Waterway by 8 in the morning. Johnson led all of us down…

After a six-hour drive – which included a pit stop at LL Bean and Hannaford for supplies – we made it to Johnson’s Allagash Lodge for the very last expedition for my National Geographic Young Explorers grant. The lodge is a collection of log buildings on the edge of Narrow Pond, which eventually drains into…