Today was one of those beautiful summer days that you just need to experience every time they occur; the temperature was hovering around 75 degrees, the skies were mostly clear with a very light breeze. Some of my favorite ways to enjoy such as day are as follows: Four wheeling, hiking, walking in a field barefoot, kayaking, driving down the road along the coast with the windows down, sitting above the coast listening to the waves below, playing Xbox and swimming.

After Church, I decided to put my kayak to use and headed to Eddington which is ten miles from Bangor. Eddington hosts a few ponds and streams, one being Chemo pond. While I was unloading my kayak a man with a Saab was loading his kayak onto his Thule Hull-a-Port- a system that I am considering purchasing for my car as the foam blocks are not working out that well. I asked him how his trip was and his thoughts on the Thule system; he explained that he does not regret the purchase and that they make the entire trip more enjoyable due to the ease of use.

I set sail and sighted a destination for today’s trip; a stream on the south eastern edge of the pond. Streams and small rivers are one of my favorite bodies of water due to the amount of wildlife and plant life that you can encounter. This stream’s width fluctuated from 10′ to 40′ throughout its many twists and turns and hosted beds of Lilly Pads at every bend giving off a sweet aroma. The shoreline was lined with thick berry bushes, exposed stumps, Pitcher plants, mud clad mounds and razor grass. The water was very calm and clear which allowed me to view fish swimming along the bed of the stream, Painted turtles sunbathing at the surface of the water, Bull frogs basking in the sun on Lilly pads and beavers moving hewed trees. As I neared the end of the stream, beavers had built a dam that I could not transpose but it did however allow me to utilize my new 70-300mm lens. While relaxing in my kayaking, taking in the sun, listening to the water trickle over the cluster of twigs and branches, Sparrows and Goldfinches chirp I heard splashing near by; the reason why I waited had come to fruition, two young beavers were swimming around enjoying the sun. I was able to quietly paddle close enough to them so that my lens could reach in on one of the beavers scurrying a way from me; they are very agile in the water.

This summer I wanted to focus on visiting other “tourist” sites that I have either not visited myself or have not visited in awhile, so I took Friday off from work and headed to Bucksport, Maine. Earlier this week I was reading through a book Jack had gave me for Christmas, “Quiet Water Maine” and found several options for this weekend, after reading each of the lakes high-points I decided to visit Silver Lake, because of its size, layout and it’s located near the new Penobscot Narrows Bridge along with Fort Knox.

I arrived at Silver Lake and found that two other people were Bass fishing in various spots. I put in around 9am, the sun was roughly 3 hours above the horizon which gleamed across the western portion of the lake that created a nice are to sun bath along the muddy shoreline for a Muskrat; although I believe it was actually diving for soft-shell clams. I tried to get my camera out in time to photograph it but Muskrats are very quick in the water. I found a very shallow portion of the sore that had roughly 50 opened shells which obviously must of been a feeding ground for the Muskrat; it had quick access to the water, the shore and cover from small shrubs that had possibly flooded this spring. I followed the shoreline for awhile looking for turtles and after 30 minutes I found a young outstretched Painted turtle a foot down sunbathing on a clay mound.

I paddled by an island within the lake lined with jagged ledge that would rise high enough to climb and at times plunge beneath the surface only visible when the sun was piercing the shallow water. In the distance I noticed a large bird perched on stump in the marshy portion of the lake, once I got closer I could tell it was a Great Cormorant with its distinctive pose (partially outstretched wings shaped as an M). Near the end of my kayak trip I spotted two Loons diving for fish, I think they are very exquisite looking; their long sharp bills used for stabbing prey, black head / neck with maroon eyes, white belly with a black back and white speckles. They are very illusive, I followed them for roughly 30 minutes before giving up on them- I was able to snap one decent shot of them with my 28-135mm lens.

After spending another 30 minutes fighting the unforcasted strong wind I loaded up and headed towards down-town Bucksport where the Penobscot Narrows Bridge is located. I found a nice walkway that follows the shoreline of Penobscot River, it overlooks Fort Knox and the Narrows bridge. I crossed the bridge for the first time and it was much more narrow then it appears (Narrows does not come from that though rather from what the colonists 150 years ago named this passage). There’s an official rest-site to view the bridge from its best angle with a plaque explaining the history of the bridge and narrows, the road that this site lays was once beneath a few hundred feet of ledge that was blown out for new passage to and from the west side of the bridge. I signed in to the visiting area for Fort Knox and the Narrows bridge and parked directly below and in-between the new Penobscot Narrows Bridge and the old Waldo-Hancock Bridge, which provided an interesting perspective of the two. From the 440 foot observatory pylon, you can see 60 miles as the crow flies on a clear day; I could just make out the outline of Mt. Katahdin. The view from the top was incredible, from the vantage point I can see why the colonists chose the location for Fort Knox as it provides excellent coverage of the Penobscot and Orland river that converge from the invading British.

I drove to Kokadjo Saturday afternoon to visit with Dad and Karen, they were not around so I walked next-door (or should I say camper) to my Aunt and Uncle’s to grill a few burgers and visit. Once Dad arrived we drove around on the logging roads looking for Black bear and Moose; while driving down the road we heard an alarmingly loud crashing in the woods, we looked over and to our shock a bull Moose jumped out of the woods and ran parallel with the truck, if Dad would have stuck his arm out the window he could have pet the Moose. We stopped a few miles and jumped over a fence the logging company had installed and walked down a trail that lead us to log cabin encompassed by pine trees. There’s a patch of woods that stretches for 1/8th of a mile until it meets the shoreline of a pond, the bedding of the forest was lined with orange pine needles giving off the sweet aroma of pine and pitch. As we walked back towards the truck a young Bull Moose walked out in front of us and observed a creature that it probably as never smelt before. On our way back to the camp we crossed over Lazy Tom Stream, the sun was just about to meet the horizon behind Big Spencer Mountain; which illuminated the cloudy sky which reflected beautifully off the calm water, the only disturbance you could see came from a Moose in search of a meal.

Today Nate and I set out on our unpremeditated kayak trip. Our goal was to set sail at the Pushaw Lake dam where the lake is eventually drains into the Penobscot River, but of course we did not want to take the whole route as it would have been nearly an 8 hour trip, so we would end the voyage at Old Town where Pushaw Stream emptied into Stillwater River.

At noon we arrived to the dam and set out on the water, the weather was perfect for kayaking, mostly cloudy skies with patches of blue and cool breeze. The steam was much bigger than I had thought it would be, with water at the depth of 10-11 feet and widths up to 100 feet, with those measurements there’s very little current to help you along. We saw a fair amount of wildlife, mostly of my favorite reptile, the Turtle. At one of the bends in the stream the water became very shallow and muddy shore was littered with tree stumps, this setting is a particularly favorable habitat for turtles as it provides an area for laying eggs, feeding, mating and basking in the sun. At this point I had considered tipping myself over because I had decided to not bring my camera with me. We let the current move us around in this area so we could observe the Painted Turtles going on about their lives, everywhere you looked you could see them on logs as many as three per log basking in the sun. I was actually able to capture one of them; he was roughly 2 years old and probably has never seen a human before. We counted 20 turtles on the trip, which may seem like a lot, but considering that the trip was almost 10 miles it was minimal. We also saw many Kingfishers, Herons, two Eagles and a dead baby Beaver.

Near the end of our trip our backs and legs very getting soar, so I decided to dock on a very thick clay bank to stretch. As I was stretching I looked down and became curious with the clay and started to play with it, this was a mistake as clay can be very slippery as I soon found out. My entire backside was covered in clay, I smelt like Swampthing. I took my jeans off and paddle the rest of the trip in my boxers. That event was appeased by the next bend that I-95 passed over; I have never been underneath an interstate on water before so it was interesting. I waved at a gang of motorcyclists that acknowledged me. Being under the highway was interesting, I would have thought there’d’ be visible vibration but there was none, the noise was incredible. Ten minutes later we were at the end of our trip which took 5 hours in total.

vYesterday was a nice “almost fall” day with a low breeze, sunshine, mostly cloudy skies and temperatures in the low 70’s. I left late in the morning with my kayak to dad’s camp to spend the day kayaking and riding around looking for wildlife. When I arrived we ate and relaxed for awhile; caught up on what has been going on in our lives.

An hour or so later we put our kayaks in the truck and headed for 1st West Roach pond which is west of Roach pond where the camp is. The pond is fairly small, quiet and out in the wilderness surrounded by a few small mountains, a perfect place for Moose to feed. As always, we were in the company of Moose, this time there were only a three. A couple of weeks ago I was able to take a photo of a young bull moose in the same area; you can read more about that in my “Kayaking in Kokadjo” entry. As you can see, a cow and calf are feeding near the shore. Unfortunately we did find the Bull Moose with full sized antlers that has been spotted in the vicinity that has drawn many of hunters’ attention. After taking a few photos we paddled around the rest of the pond enjoying the scenery, fresh air, calmness and the overall relaxation of being in the wilderness, God’s creation.
Later in the evening we sat around the camp fire where you can find me playing with fire, building it up, cutting wood, etc. I took a few photos of the fire, experimenting with different exposures. My uncle had a custom fire place made with the family name engraved into the side which makes an interesting effect at night.

I set off for the two hour journey home down Route 15 South an hour later, to my surprise I did not see one Moose attempting to cross the road.

Today I had planned on waking up at 6AM but the alarm did not go off and I woke around 6:40AM on my own. I jumped out of bed, got dressed carried my food and camera out the door as fast as I could and headed towards Howland to meet Brian, Tim and Tyler, two of my co-workers, to kayak down Passadumkeag River. I called Brian on the way to explain I may be late- it normally takes 30 minutes from Bangor to Howland but I made it in ~15 minutes, thankfully most of the drive was on the interstate.

After arriving at Brian’s house we loaded his truck with our kayaks and headed to where our trip would end and left Brian’s truck there, we than proceeded to Burlington where our journey would begin. The water was Class I rapids where we started off and was shallow, it’s safe to say that my kayak is now physically broken in. This is my first time in rapids, I almost tipped over within 2 minutes of the embankment but quickly learned how to maneuver. The river started to calm down and widen out was we paddled; the current was able to carry us down river allowing us to recuperate from the rapids.

The weather was better than what we expected, it was hazy and in the high 70’s which blocked the sun from glaring down on us. I was surrounded by birds chirping, bugs buzzing in the meadows and trees, Canadian Geese honking and the sounds of water moving at a steady pace. The scenery was beautiful, at some points the water was so calm it appeared as a black mirror reflecting the overhanging Oak trees, baby maples, Lilies and ledge all along the bank of the river. I had some excellent chances to take beautiful photos but I found in my haste this morning that my camera batteries were spent. I was however able to take a few low-quality photos with my cell phone. As the morning grew late we started to work up a sweat, Brian and Tyler decided they want to swim next to their kayaks for awhile which was entertaining to watch. At one point the river widened and throughout the banks were Weeping Willow trees acting as doors to an open meadow that spanned for at least a good half mile out.

Right at the end I enticed Brian and Tim to a race to the finish, sparring with them, calling them old men and stating that they could not keep up. Brian didn’t take that comment too well and took me up on the race, in the end he won.

I had an excellent time, it took us about 5 hours of actual time in the water. I am very impressed with the quality of my Old Town kayak, it bent and contoured right over the rocks with out any hesitation of damage.

I purchased a kayak from Old Town Canoe today, it’s a Loon 100. It’s roughly 10 feet long and has plenty of space for me. The material of the kayak is very strong and flexible, if I hit a rock in the water the material will bend but not break. There’s a waterproof cargo bin behind the seat which will house one of my survival knives, flashlight, clean shirt and a book (maybe an extra Bible) just in case anything happens. I purchased the kayak which was discounted due to some very minor scratches, a life jacket that you cannot tell you’re wearing it and a matching paddle.

Later in the afternoon Nate and I went kayaking on Pushaw Lake, the wind was pretty steady causing decent sized waves. I’m glad that I researched on which kayak would be best for me, I decided to purchase one that had a keel- the keel came in very handy today. We were out on the water for a few hours; we explored one end of the lake that turned into a swamp that a few beavers called home. At some point I’m going to head to Old Town Maps to find out if they have any type of kayaking guides for local rivers. In the next few weeks me and a few other co-workers plan to kayak down a river that is unknown to me at this point, I’m sure we’ll have a good time.

Here are some photos that were taken on August 11th : Loon in the water, Me in the water, Me in the water 2.