Northern Maine was suffering through a serious drought. The rivers and streams were drying up and the lakes unusually low. The whitewater prospects for Labor Day weekend were grim. Whitewater enthusiasts were waiting for the verdict on whether or not there would be releases on the dam-controlled rivers.

Brookfield Renewable owns the dams on the rivers in northern Maine. The axe fell on the Dead River when the much-anticipated 5,000 cubic feet per second (CFS) Labor Day weekend big water release was canceled. Finally, some good news: Brookfield announced the 600 CFS release on the Canada Falls section of the upper Penobscot River would occur on Saturday as scheduled and there would be a 5,000 CFS release on the Kennebec River on Sunday.

Avid paddlers with the Penobscot Paddle & Chowder Society began organizing for an exciting whitewater weekend. My son, Adam, was coordinating the Canada Falls trip, and long-time friend, Kyle Duckworth, was leading a Kennebec Gorge outing the following day. Perhaps my last Class IV whitewater opportunity of the year, I decided to paddle with Adam both days. We were going to navigate a two-person inflatable vessel called a shredder.

Canada Falls is located in a remote area about 20 miles northeast of Jackman. Actually, a 3.5-mile section of the South Branch of the Penobscot River, the rapids on Canada Falls, are rated Class III/V by the American Whitewater Association.

Eight kayakers, three canoeists, and Adam and I in the shredder made the long drive to the put-in a short distance below the dam at Canada Falls Lake on a warm, sunny day. The excitement was palpable.

We started out with some steep, narrow twisting rapids, a mere taste of what was to come. When angling hard right in a small canyon, a kayaker got pushed against a wall on the left and flipped. He rolled but flipped again. This time, he swam. Fellow paddlers quickly rescued him and his boat, but his paddle was lost. Fortuitously, another kayaker had a spare breakdown paddle.

Soon after, an intimidating falls called The Slide begins. All of the water tumbles precipitously down a steep, shallow incline into a gigantic foam pile followed by a host of turbulent breaking waves. Often the scene of unpleasant swims, everyone had successful descents, but some kayakers had to roll.

Several difficult rapids followed. We maneuvered around the many obstacles in Cabin Rapid and plunged down Upper Split Decision, Lower Split Decision and Megahole. Two canoeists capsized and swam at Upper Split Decision, but were quickly reunited with their boats.

At the takeout, paddling the Kennebec Gorge near West Forks the following day was the primary topic of conversation. Most of the group planned to test their skills on the big volume rapids.

The put-in at Harris Dam on the Kennebec was crowded with rafters when 10 of us arrived on a sunny, warm Sunday morning. Many of the rafting companies had originally planned to paddle the high-water Dead release, so the cancellation resulted in about twice the normal number of rafts on the river.

The contrast between the Kennebec Gorge and Canada Falls is remarkable. Canada Falls is a precipitous, low-volume stream whereas the gorge is 4 miles of almost-continuous, huge waves followed by 9 miles of feisty, big-water rapids.

After descending a steep, crowded stairway, we launched immediately below the dam and quickly separated ourselves from the rafts paddling through a comparatively easy rapid called Taster. The kayakers surfed several waves in Taster, including an unpredictable roller called Disappearing Wave.

Then the excitement began in earnest. Trashy holes and choppy breaking waves were successfully navigated in Rock Garden before entering a rapid named after the largest wave on the river, Big Mama. The explosive breaker knocked a canoeist over and he swam. Several members of the group assisted him and his boat safely into an eddy.

Demanding rapids named Alley Way, Z-Turn and Magic Falls followed. Powerful diagonal waves in Magic Falls flipped the canoeist. Adam and I helped him back into his boat.

The rapids gradually diminished in difficulty as we continued to the takeout in West Forks. The whitewater thrills and spills were over for another Labor Day weekend, and what a weekend it was.

My book, “Maine Al Fresco: The Fifty Finest Outdoor Adventures in Maine,” relates many more exciting escapades on the best whitewater rivers in the state.

Ron Chase resides in Topsham. His latest book, “Maine Al Fresco: The Fifty Finest Outdoor Adventures in Maine,” is available at northcountrypress.com/maine-al-fresco or in bookstores and through online retailers. His previous books are “The Great Mars Hill Bank Robbery” and “Mountains for Mortals – New England.” Visit his website at ronchaseoutdoors.com or he can be reached at ronchaseoutdoors@comcast.net.