Yesterday 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 2nd 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.

Wednesday Mom and Jack came up from Virginia to visit for a week. They arrived at my apartment late evening due to Jack’s mother being in the hospital. We spent an hour or so talking until it was time to go to bed. I took Friday off to spend some time with mom. We went to a few stores to try to find the right accessories for my kayak, after looking around I decided to purchase an Old Town kayak spray skirt. Afterwards we headed to Pushaw Lake to kayak, although we only had one we took turns and photos. After an hour or so of that we headed back home and got ready for dinner at “Anglers”, a local restaurant in Newport with my grandparents. I had my normal dish, Chicken Tenders and fries with 2% milk.

On Saturday mom and I headed towards Ripley to visit with Frank (mom’s brother) and Anne-Marie, they have a house on Ripley Pond. It rained for about an hour which gave us time to talk, after the rain let up mom used Frank’s kayak and we went out on the pond. We headed out towards Sandy’s (her sister) house to see if she was home, she was and we talked for a few minutes. After, we decided to find our old camp that was owned by my grandparents. When we finally found it, we were surprised to see how much it had changed. The last time I saw the camp I was probably 9 years old, it was nostalgic to see the camp and reminisce with all the good times we had as a family during the summers. After a couple of hours of kayaking we headed back home.

Today, we went to Church and than I kayaked on Wassakeag Lake in Dexter for a couple of hours. Grammy and Grandpa hosted a family cook-out later in the afternoon. The whole Wintle family did not show, but there were still 15 or so people there. I once again did not bring my camera with me; fortunately my grandmother loves to take family photos so I’ll have some copies once they’re out.

The weather has felt like fall weather- breezy and cool (low 70’s), this weather is almost perfect to me but not to someone who is used to high 80’s 8 months out of the year.

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.