Today I decided to head to Baxter State Park which is a two hour drive from home. The foliage is peaking in that region of Maine which makes an enjoyable day trip if you like foliage and taking photographs, both of which I enjoy very much.

Once I arrived at Millinocket you could begin to see Mt. Katahdin, the largest mountain in Maine and also the last mountain of the Appalachian Trail. I have never climbed it, but would love to some day. The Maine foliage website was correct; the leaves were at peak- everywhere you looked leaves were bright yellow, orange and red with a mixture of green pine. The Golden road is so beautiful, there are many places to pull over and get into the woods to fully experience the foliage. I took a few photos in the woods where the bed of the forest was blanketed with yellow leaves and orange pine needles, the scent is indescribable, I wish I could bring that scent home with me. After walking around for awhile I decided to head on, the skies were starting to cloud over which was very discomforting to me. I found another little path down the road that lead to the State power lines that circles around the park, from there a small vista of Mt. Katahdin formed. I came across yet another interesting rest area that featured a large boulder with a painting of a Black Bear near a stream that was title “Keep Maine Beautiful”. While leaving the rest area you had to actually drive about ½ mile from the Golden Road which places Katahdin behind you, I took this photo while driving down the road… there’s not a lot of places in the US where you can have sights like this.

I arrived at Abol Bridge and found one of the better places up close to take a photo of Mt. Katahdin, unfortunately at the time it was cloudy. I waited for about 20 minutes and the skies started to clear and I was able to take a few decent photos from Abol along with a nice photo stitch (cropped version). After hanging out at the bridge I headed back towards Millinocket, I decided to take a different route home and found this nice little spot. I wish I could travel more often, I love staring in awe of God’s Creation, it’s undeniably perfect.

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.

This past weekend was very nice; Saturday we had weather in the 90’s and Sunday was more of a warm autumn day- 80’s with a crisp sporadic breeze from the North. If I could choose one season to live in it would be autumn. Fortunately, most Maine’s fall weather consists of crisp breezy days with enough sunshine to keep the daylight hours warm.

For most of the day on Saturday I stayed inside trying to stay as cool as possible. I caught up on some Xbox 360 game time, after I worked on a client’s website. Later in the evening Nate and I went to Pushaw Lake to go swimming. The water was very warm and calm. As we swam the sun began to sit behind the horizon, its rays being absorbed by the atmosphere and reflecting in the mixture of clouds and humidity in the most brilliantly beautiful sunset that I’ve seen in a long time, unfortunately I did not bring my camera with me. To remedy this issue I plan to take my camera everywhere I go from now on. Speaking of cameras, I decided to keep my Canon S3 IS., I just need to purchase or find a tripod that has a removable bracket so I can easily attach / detach the camera.

I went to Church on Sunday and headed up to Kokadjo to spend some time with dad. After eating we decided to kayak on one of the nearby ponds. When we arrived we spotted a young bull moose about 20 feet from the shoreline eating Lilly roots. I ran back to the truck to get my camera and was able to snap a few photos; unfortunately I did not have enough time to adjust the settings so the moose wouldn’t be as dark. The moose soon darted off into the woods and I followed quickly behind to snap a candid photo of it looking curiously at me. When dad and I returned to the truck we found that in our haste the doors were locked with the keys inside. We walked about a half mile up the road to another pond where he knew a lady that had some tools to open a door. The walk was nice as the cool air was filled with the scent of raspberries and pine; the skyline had a backdrop of mountains and the clear sky that went from dark to light blue.

After getting the truck unlocked we headed out onto the pond. I wanted to take my camera out but was unsure of how stable I would be on the kayak, I found that I was stable and next time I’ll bring my camera out. As soon as we were on the water we spotted 4 other moose spread throughout the shoreline. I quietly drifted towards one of the moose and was roughly 25 feet from it until it started to walk towards me. I spotted a few loons and attempted to get close to them but they dove under and swam away. Loons are beautiful visually and audibly, I didn’t realize they could stay under water for so long.

I had a really good time kayaking; I’m highly considering purchasing my own kayak from Old Town Canoe. I never realized that Old Town was so popular throughout the US and worldwide. Now that I think of it, I’ve seen Old Town canoes and kayaks in Virginia, on TV, etc. The name Old Town is actually a name of a town in Maine that’s actually 15 miles from where I live. L.L. Bean is another popular, high quality company that was started and based in Maine.

I wanted to take a panoramic photo of Mount Katahdin and was able to take a perfectly aligned photo. Mt. Katahdin is 5,270 feet high and is the last mountain of the Appellation trail. On the way back to the camp we picked about a quart of raspberries, I had to fill my camera case. I plan on baking a raspberry pie very soon. I left shortly after returning to the camp as it was getting late and I wanted to leave in time to take photos of the sunset over Moosehead Lake in Greenville.

The following photos were taken in Greenville: Candian Geese flying by, Almost there, So close, Tall shot, sunset and Sunset 2.