No trouble finding time for Branch Lake trip

Pardon me for a minute while I revisit with an old friend. One of the first lakes I ever visited in Maine is Branch Lake in Ellsworth. Longtime family friends have a camp there (and it’s still a camp and not a four-season luxury resort) and consequently I’ve had many opportunities to visit the lake over the past 30 or more years, and it still ranks up there on my “most favorite” list.

So it shouldn’t be a mystery then why I try to get back there from time to time to enjoy this fine body of water that serves as Ellsworth’s water supply. And I can tell you from having waded last Saturday in the cool, crisp waters at the state-owned beach site at the narrows that consumers in Ellsworth have some pretty cold water running out of their taps these days. Despite the warm-to-hot temperatures last Saturday, things under my kayak were pretty cool.

What a day! It was sunny, hot, and a bit hazy earlier, but later it turned to threatening (and delivered a one-two punch to Old Town early in the evening). My veterinarian friend, Dr. Robert Causey, was able to free himself from the University of Maine’s mares and we set a course for Branch. It’s part of our magical lake tour series we started a few weeks ago – Pushaw, Cold Stream, Toddy, Branch.

Our starting point was the state-owned beach at the narrows that divide two larger sections, north and south, of Branch Lake. The northern section is heavily developed while the southern part is sparsely populated. We opted to head south. It turned out to be, I later calculated with my mapping program, a 10-mile loop.

At Loon Cove, about two miles southeast, we saw two couples who had just launched their kayaks for a paddle. Continuing onward we explored the southwest shore all the way around to “Mill Pond” (that’s what the topographic map says) at the southernmost part of the lake where there’s a dam and public launch ramp at Hale’s Beach. A bridge over the end of Branch cuts off “Mill Pond” and its low clearance keeps larger motorboats from getting up into Branch Lake.

We got out near the dam to stretch, then relaunched and headed up the easterly shore. By 4 p.m. the wind had picked up out of the southwest and made the return more interesting. The nice thing about waves is that they help expose boulders lying just below the surface – and there are many along that shore. I managed to miss all but one. I nicked it while exploring the area around Howard’s Brook. The scraping sound along the bottom of the glass fiber is akin to fingers on a chalkboard to me. I cringe.

The wind continued steady at around 15-20 mph, while to the north it was evident a storm was brewing. Distant rumblings foretold of the storm that later arrived (well after we’d driven home). We decided it was best to head straight for the narrows and get off the water, picking up our pace and keeping an eye on the clouds. It turned out we had plenty of time, but you never want to play games with electrical storms.

Later that evening at home as I watched lightning to the north of Bangor strike the ground, I was happy to be far from action central – and even happier to be off the water. I don’t mind reasonable wind and waves, rain, fog, or even snow, but I’m not a big fan of electrical energy, especially when I’m on the water.

To get there: Take Route 1A to Wilson Corner (DeLorme Map 23, D5) and turn onto the Winkumpaugh Road. Follow it for just under five miles to the four-way intersection at Happytown Road. Follow that for 2.5 miles. You’ll have been through an S-bend and there’ll be a camp road on the left with all sorts of name signs posted by the road. Follow this road to the end keeping all the camps and houses on your left. At the end of the road (just under two miles) is the parking area and outhouse. The beach is on your left. This is a carry-in, carry-out park, so don’t leave anything behind.

At lunchtime the other day when I was walking our family dog (she’s so stiff from arthritis that walking is a relative term, it’s more like shuffle) I was heralded by the distinctive call of a cardinal. He perched ahead of us on telephone wires long enough for me to get a good look, then flew into a nearby maple and practically disappeared in the new leaves.

I think he was trying to tell me to dig out the most recent Fields Pond Journal, the Penobscot Valley Chapter of Maine Audubon’s newsletter. I’ve been meaning to remind readers (and you 12 people know who you are) about the fun birding opportunities right here in River City. Judy Kellogg Markowsky, Audubon center director, has an article on the cover of the May-June issue, “Urban Birding in Bangor,” that you should check out.

Inside there is a listing of spring bird walks in Bangor, some of which have taken place already. I’m a little late for them, but blame the cardinal, OK?

Here are a few you might want to check out: today at 7 a.m. Brown Woods, with Ron Cote and NEWS columnist Chris Corio – meet at the parking of Brown Woods on Ohio Street; tomorrow (Sunday) Audubon’s Penjajawoc Sanctuary at 7 a.m. with Bob Milardo and Elizabeth Payne – meet at the dead end of Fox Hollow off Essex Street; Wednesday, May 26, Saxl Park, with Hope Brogunier, Tom Hodgman and Bob Duchesne – meet on grounds of BMHI off State Street (turn onto State Hospital Drive at the Ronald McDonald House, go three-tenths of a mile up hill to stop sign and bear left. Go 500 feet to meet at the parking lot by a brick building, formerly State Inland Fisheries and Wildlife office).

And there’s a Bog Boardwalk outing at 6 a.m. Sunday, June 6, with Hope Brogunier, Joni Dunn, and Ronald Davis – meet at the Bog Boardwalk in the Bangor City Forest (park at the end of Tripp Road off Stillwater Avenue.)

Audubon has numerous other outings planned, including a butterfly count May 29, a night foray into the Sunkhaze National Wildlife Refuge on June 4, a book discussion of “The Ghost with Trembling Wings – Science, Wishful Thinking and the Search of Lost Species” on June 10, and an evening paddle down the Sedgeunkedunk Stream on July 1 and 29.

For more information on these outings call the Fields Pond center at 989-2591.

While I’m in the reminder mode, check out the June issue of Outside Magazine. On the cover (behind all that type about national parks, epic trips, and one-day wonders) is a picture of the Bass Harbor lighthouse. Inside the issue is an article by Annette McGivney on a handful of “secret trips” to select national parks featuring out-of-the ordinary ways to enjoy the natural splendors.

In the case of Acadia National Park, McGivney recommends an approach by water and exploration of the more remote parts of the park such as Isle au Haut. She suggests starting in Stonington with Capt. Bill Baker of Old Quarry Ocean Adventures and a tour of the remote island by bike. The next day you might sail over to Mount Desert Island, following the Maine Island Trail, and find an anchorage in Northeast Harbor. Then she suggests, take a bike ride on the park’s 57-mile carriage road network. Then the following day, sail back to Stonington.

Bass Harbor, she suggests, offers “enough patience to treat travelers right. Cozy up among the town’s rugged cottages at the Bass Harbor Inn Bed and Breakfast or pitch your tent at the seaside Bass Harbor Camp Ground … [or check out] Thurston’s Lobster Pound.”

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