Excursion in Orland refreshing

Last Friday seemed like a great day to take a walk. The sun was shining, not a cloud in the sky, and the thermometer was in the low 30s. The northwest wind whistling by around 20 mph provided enough evaporative energy to keep me from overheating. It was a perfect day to strap on the snowshoes and explore new territory.

Two of my paddling friends, Dave Morrill and Karen Francoeur, were equally stoked to get out, so we gathered at Morrill’s home in Orrington and headed out for Hothole Pond, a little body of water in the shadow of Great Pond Mountain in Orland.

Morrill grew up exploring the area, so he provided the navigational guidance and landed us on the banks of Moosehorn Stream that flows south out of Long Pond on Route 46.

For several summers now I’ve traveled via Route 46 and the Mast Hill Road to Castine to guide kayak tours for Francoeur’s business, Castine Kayak Adventures, and have driven right past the North Orland Road wondering where it went and why I never had the time to explore it. I got my chance, albeit only a little more than a half mile of it. (I checked out DeLorme later and learned that it connects with Winkumpaugh Road that connects to Route 1A at Wilson Corner.)

We parked next to Moosehorn Stream and strapped on our snowshoes and packs, and set out on the frozen surface. About a quarter of a mile from the road is the junction of Hothole Stream that we followed up to Hothole Pond.

Along the way we checked out what appeared to be coyote or dog tracks and a spot next to the stream where the animal had bedded down. Farther upstream we followed beaver tracks from the stream’s edge for a short distance.

A couple of fishermen were keeping Hothole Pond’s frozen surface stirred up as they checked out their traps via four-wheelers. We hugged the shore and headed up Hothole Stream from where it dumps into the lake on the southeast corner.

Here we were out of the wind and treated to the beauty of frozen overflows where ice formed bridges over the brook after water levels dropped and rocks were encrusted in icy mantels. We tested the ice as we went and only once did we break through. Somehow I managed to sneak over the thin spot and Morrill dropped through. It was near shore and the water was only inches deep. Waterproof boots kept his feet dry.

A little ways upstream we found a spot on the easterly side of the stream where the sun had melted the snow. We broke out the Crazy Creek chairs and plunked down for a lunch in our own little spot in the sun. Had I broken out the windbreaker, I could have dozed off it was so peaceful. Then again I’d have missed lunch…

It would have been tempting to have lingered longer, but we all needed to get home. The return walk of about two miles was more direct than our meandering arrival. We took time out to check the sun’s shadow from a stick we’d marked on our way in so we could verify the old trick of establishing an east-west line. It works! (Put a stick in the ground or snow, and place something, like another stick, at the top of the shadow. Come back later and mark the new shadow’s top. Connect the original mark and the new one and you have a true east-west line.)

I received an e-mail the other day from Antonio Blasi of Hancock, who could be described as a diehard paddler. He doesn’t let a little cold air and ice get in the way of a good day on the water. He’s a Maine Guide and “avid sea kayaker. The later means that I have been out on Frenchman Bay eight times in February.” He said January is about the only month he’s not been out. All right, Antonio!

Sometimes, he said, he’s joined by another paddler or two from a loosely organized group called Eastern Maine Paddlers. “Granted, these are short trips of a few miles, and are recommended only for those who are appropriately dressed, including ice grip shoe attachments.”

He went on to explain that EMP is not a club, there are no dues or commitments, just a friendly association with a few operating guidelines: All trips are on salt water; paddlers should have salt-water experience; guests (less experienced) should be accompanied by one of the experienced paddlers (regulars); when one of us gets a notion (the originator) to go that person sends out an e-mail message with the trip’s particulars; the originator is the trip leader.

The network provides someone planning to go out for a day with possible partners as well as a forum to hear from others about any particular day’s outing. It also is an informal float plan to let others know if you’re headed out. (I’d want to be a lot more formal, knowing for sure someone else knows I’m going to be on the water.)

If you’re interested in learning more about EMP and have a burning desire to get out on the water, I’m sure Blasi would love to hear from you. Drop him an e-mail and get in touch. He can be reached at: eggplant@prexar.com.

And speaking of icy paddles, mark your calendar for 7 p.m. next Friday, March 19, and plan to attend a free slide show at Maine Sport Outfitters on Route 1 in Rockport, where you’ll be treated to a presentation by expedition kayaker Chris Duff on his circumnavigation of Iceland.

“Iceland Expedition 2003” included Duff and two other paddlers from the Pacific Northwest on the 1,500-mile expedition that took 10 weeks to complete. Duff describes Iceland as having “the largest population of seabirds in the world, glaciers, coastal deserts, fjords and some of the friendliest people you could find on the planet. Iceland is a paddler’s paradise.”

Duff’s goal was to “explore the Icelandic history, coastline and culture with the spirit of sea adventurers, and in the process to become the first American team of two men and one woman to complete the circumnavigation. The Icelandic waters are some of the most challenging in the northern hemisphere with high northwest winds and associated seas. Miles of cliffs along the northwest quadrant of the coastline made for committed long distance paddling. Steep gravel beaches on the south coast made surf landings unavoidable. In addition, the extremely cold water increased the physical challenge” faced by the group.

Iceland is Duff’s most recent exploit. He has solo circumnavigated the United Kingdom, Ireland, and the south island of New Zealand, and 8,000 miles along the eastern third of the U.S. and Canada. He is a British Canoe Union paddler and coach and an author as well. Duff has been a featured speaker at numerous kayaking symposiums, including the L.L. Bean symposiums in Castine in 1987, 1999, 2000, and 2001.

For more information on the presentation call Maine Sport at 236-8797.

Jeff Strout can be reached at 990-8202 or by e-mail at jstrout@bangordailynews.net.