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Jun 24, 2021: Eastern Egg Rock

The need for a quality forecast makes planning a sea kayak trip to distant Eastern Egg Rock a challenge.  That was especially true this year as strong winds and high seas (due at least in part to Tropical Storm Bill) resulted in four postponements.  We finally got a good wind and weather forecast but 2 to 4 foot seas were predicted.  It seemed like every aspect of the trip was formidable.  Round Pond Landing was crowded and chaotic.  I estimate the seas were in the 4 to 5 foot range approaching Western Egg Rock where we initially thought we’d had a close shark encounter.  Turns out it was probably a sunfish.  It was unsafe to land on Western Egg, a first for me.  That meant remaining in our boats for an extended time.  We decided on a short visit with the puffins with a stop at western on our return.  The seas were still big leaving Western but mellowed as we neared Eastern Egg Rock.  Usually, most of the puffins are located on the west side of the rock but only a few were present this year.   Since a tour boat was circumnavigating the island, we reluctantly decided to extend our trip and do the same.  Our efforts were rewarded as scores of the delightful seabirds were swimming and feeding in large swells on the south side.  Numerous more sightings were made as we continued around the rock.  Hurrying back to Western Egg, it was still unsafe to land.  After about 5 hours in our boats, we found relief at Noyes Preserve on the southern end of Loud’s Island.  Whitecaps were building when we finally returned to Round Pond Harbor.  Despite a multitude of obstacles, we had another successful puffin endeavor.

Participants:  Ellen Nelson, Mark Nelson, Jean Miller, Randy Berube, Laurie Wunder, Tom Meredith, and TC

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Jun 5, 2021: Dead River (4000cfs)

Participants: Kayaks – TC’s Suzanne and Gary Cole, Emma Erler, Charlie Berliant, Jean Miller, Bill Stafford, Paul Bicknell, Tom Rutka, Jeff Swett, Troad Richmond, Jeff Bickford, Loren Starcher, Jamie Dolan, Jordan Schlitzer, Devon Carter, Pat Cavanagh, Paul LeClerc, Randy Berube; OC1 – Patti Rutka; Shredder – Paul Peters, Connor Marland; Raft – Deb Harris, Wayne Adams.

This level was a step up for some of our participants and a revisit to the “old 3500” for others. In recent years, the 3500 release shrank from what we were use to because of more accurately measured releases. So, in order to get back to the “old 3500”, they now release 4000 cfs. Some of the rapids seemed big to us old timers; we aren’t sure if it is because we had grown accustomed to the recent years levels or if it is in fact bigger than the old 3500. 

Clouds and warm weather ushered us down the river. With such a large group, we created subgroups to look out for and keep track of each other. There was good surfing at all the usual spots and those who were not as familiar with the river followed us old timers. We had a bit of excitement with four swimmers. Many thanks to the people who helped out with the swimmers towing boats and boaters to shore. 

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May 1, 2021: Lower and Middle NH Swift

Participants:  Brent Elwell, Kevin Rogers, Kenny DeCoster, Kirk Ross, Hal Earle and TC

River levels this Spring have caused several trips to be canceled and my NH Rivers trip was in danger until heavy rains on April 30 saved the day and provided us with great paddling in the North Conway area.  After a brief discussion at the meeting area, we reached consensus on the Middle and Lower NH Swift.  We don’t usually paddle the Middle Swift, but the water was high enough that we were in hopes that it would come down a bit on the Lower if we did a warm up paddle up higher.  This plan worked out well as the Middle, between Rocky Gorge and Lower Falls, was very fluid and provided us with a good warm up and more time on one of the most beautiful rivers in New England.  Gusty winds did provide challenges for our open boat crew, as the gusts had a tendency to change the canoe’s direction at the worst possible time on occasions resulting in a pinned canoe and a chance to practice swiftwater river rescues.

We portaged Lower Falls and immediately noted that the water was still higher than the gauge in Cabin Gorge was indicating.  A good part of the discussions on the trip involved how and why the gauge level seemed inaccurate.  No good answers, but the river from Lower Falls to Cabin Gorge was quickly paddled.  After a quick scout of the Cabin Gorge rapid, we all had good runs and were pleased to have one of the “Big Two”, the other being Staircase, behind us.  The rest of the trip was an extremely enjoyable run down one of the most sought after whitewater rivers in New England.  It’s difficult to beat the combination of bright sun, warm weather and an excellent level on the Lower Swift, and the post trip confab at the take out was an enthusiastic recount of the day’s action. 

Photo of Kirk Ross running Staircase on the Lower Swift

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May 1, 2021: Donnell Pond Hike

The plan was to canoe camp and hike at Donnell Pond for the weekend. No other members signed up for the trip, so Chris Petersen and I (Helen Hess, TC) decided make it a day trip, take the dog, and leave the canoe at home. Instead of parking at the boat launch, we parked in the lot near Schoodic beach and hiked up Black Mountain. I’ve spent lots of summers on Donnell Pond and have only ever hiked Schoodic peak. It was always so hot that one hike did us in, and we’d return to the water for the rest of our fun. So I chose a date in early May when the weather would still be cool. We got even luckier with the bugs…there were none! Our hike through the woods was sometimes steep, but often gentle, through a festival of tiny leaves as the trees start to celebrate spring and the moss is as green as can be. We went up the Black Cliffs trail and then out to Black Mountain east peak for the spectacular views. We looked at Mt Desert Island to the south and at the rows of windmills, looking like an otherworldly amusement park, to the north, all under an ever-changing sky. We returned to our car via a loop that skirted Wizard pond and led us back to the beach by mid-afternoon. The wind had picked up, and the whitecaps on the pond made us feel quite satisfied about our boat-free plan for the day.

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Apr 26, 2021: Narraguagus (500cfs)

Paddlers: Andrew Carey, Bud Gilbert, Carlisle Landel, Maggie Heherington in kayaks. Helen Hess (TC) in canoe.
This Monday trip was a reschedule of the advertised Sou trip for Sunday which was way too low for anything more than a wet hike. Low water levels have kept us searching for running streams this month, and downeast Maine had some options. The Narraguagus is a beautiful little stream, and at 500 cfs it had just enough water to get us down the river, with a wee bit of scraping in a couple places, but no dragging. There were even a few microsurfing spots, but the main challenge was picking a route among the many exposed rocks and boulders as well as the odd strainer. The wildlife highlight was an osprey flying overhead with a fish in its grip. Andrew drove up from southern Maine for this trip, and his truck got all the people and their boats to the put-in. Even though there was room in the cab, Bud preferred his perch in the truck bed and enjoyed the fresh air but perhaps not the bumpy road down to the put in. Lucky he’s rugged. While Andrew had a long drive, Carlisle and Maggie traveled even further; they came from Santa Cruz, California to boat this gem in downeast Maine.