Paddlers pause on a rare straight stretch of the Oswegatchie River.

Dave Tobey helps bail a swamped canoe on the Oswegatchie River.

Hugo Lentze paddles on a canoe trip on the Oswegatchie River in the Adirondacks.

Mike Peterson and Marty Sobel negotiate a beaver dam on a multi-day paddling trip.

Mike Peterson and Marty Sobel pause to enjoy High Falls.

A paddler admires the sunset on the Oswegatchie River.

For three days, the Oswegatchie was everything. We drank the river, ate food prepared with its water, and travelled on it. It also cleaned us — body and soul.

We began our journey at Inlet Road near Star Lake in the northwest corner of the Adirondacks. You can paddle the Oswegatchie for 20 miles from the put-in, but the five of us weren’t travelling as many miles as possible — we would linger with the river.

Five men in three canoes — a pair of 17-foot Souris River boats and a single Placid Boatworks Spitfire. The week before our trip, my boatmate contracted COVID-19. He wore a mask as he paddled and our boat was dubbed........

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