Now that we’ve wrapped up the fifth annual Paddle Smart from the Start Safety Symposium, our intrepid band of planners can turn its thoughts to our own jobs and maybe even getting out and enjoying some of what the area has to offer.

This year’s edition, which was held at the YWCA in Bangor last Saturday afternoon, was not as heavily attended as past editions that were held on Friday nights at the YMCA. While the overall numbers, around 150, were mildly disappointing, the event drew some 50 folks who had not attended in the past, newcomers as they say. That’s good news, since 50 more people now have the safety message.

Our core group of planners soon will be doing some Monday morning quarterbacking and preliminary planning for next spring’s event. Our consternation is not knowing why people who attended in the past did not attend this year. Maybe you can let me know and I’ll pass it on.

In the meantime, contemplate this letter received by Karen Francoeur, owner of Castine Kayak Adventures and one of our core group planners. It comes unsolicited and I don’t intend to embarrass the letter writer. I think it explains why those of us who help with this symposium do what we do.

“Karen,

“Simply a note to say ‘Thank you.’

“I had just spent the a.m. at a Harley Davidson rally in Hermon and at the Northeast Logging Expo at Bass Park. I then wandered into the YWCA to the Paddle Smart event.

“I was a bit hesitant, out of my element. You noticed my reticence. You were invitational. I may have simply made a circle within the Y and then walked out the door. I chose to stay.

“The program was excellent. My wife and I have kayaks and have used them at our inland waters camp for four years; however, I have always known something was missing. Safety!

“Our PFD’s are usually stored behind the seats. We, at times, kayak alone. This is why I asked the question about being out of your kayak, alone, 75 feet from shore, wind blowing out, swim or stay with the craft?

“I learned from your expert demonstration and instruction as I stated, ‘to not place myself in a predicament that I would not be able to resolve by myself.’

“I intend to purchase better fitting PFD’s and paddle floats. Equally important, practicing self-rescue is now in the plan.

“Wishing you great paddling and fair breezes.

“Don Grillo.”

That’s the kind of response that makes all the work on this event worthwhile. Happy paddling, Don.

Hiking season approaches

Tuesday, while contemplating the weekend’s events, my hiking consultant, Brad Viles, rang me up to see how things were going and to report on his weekend’s trek to “his section” of the Appalachian Trail over at Caratunk near Pleasant Pond. Every spring he heads over about this time to check on the trail’s condition and remove blowdowns. He’s known in trail parlance as a “maintainer.”

His section begins atop Pleasant Pond Mountain. In the valley between it and South Mountain there were still patches of snow, he said. He also reminded me that last week he’d called to tip me off that parts of Baxter State Park’s trail system on Katahdin were still snow encased and there would be delays in opening some trails. The majority of the park’s trails opened last weekend.

Other than some snow here and there in the Caratunk woods, Viles reported, there was very little winter damage – a couple of blowdowns were all that he had to clear. If all goes well, he’ll be back this weekend or next to touch up the trail blazes and have his section ready for the first southbound hikers looking to do the north-south traverse.

Viles passed along the tip that it’s a good time to drag out your hiking gear, tent, sleeping bag, cook kit, stove, poles, etc., and make sure everything’s ready for that first outing. Cooking gear should be cleaned off and stoves refueled and cleaned. (That mac ‘n cheese from last year should be good and dry, don’t you think?) Now’s a good time to light the burner and make sure you get heat. Don’t forget to restock your matches and/or lighters.

Don’t neglect your footwear. Those old boots may have taken their last journey, particularly if you threw them in the closet wet and dirty after your last outing.

It would be a good time to evict any creepy-crawly critters that may have taken up residence in your sleeping bag, tent, or backpack. Check things for wear and tear and seam seal your tent and fly seams you’ve been neglecting. Do you use a footprint for your tent? Do you know where it is? It’s a good time to drag it out.

I don’t think you need any reminder about raingear. If you haven’t been using it this spring, you’re probably an amphibian and don’t need it.

On the water

I’ve had a couple of opportunities this week to get in some paddling time. Monday and Tuesday evenings after work I headed out to Pushaw Lake. Since about two weeks ago the water level had dropped nearly two feet to its more usual levels. When the Penobscot River was running high, the lake level was up, too.

A beaver has been busy at Moose Island. He greeted me with a loud slap of his tail as I approached the island Monday evening, then swatted the water again as he retreated. He’s been busy stripping bark from a cedar tree not too far from the sandy beach (which is again exposed thanks to the water level dropping). On the southern side the beaver lodge is sporting new exterior woodwork.

A flotilla of cormorants, 15 in number, shyly scoped out me and Francoeur, who joined me for Tuesday evening’s paddle. As we got within 100 yards, they beat wings and departed en masse. Aside from a few ducks and some rock and roll band trying to blow the windows out of a house, the lake was pretty peaceful, which is why early-season evening paddles out there are fun – particularly before the mosquitoes come out. I think that window of opportunity has come to and end, though.

The only thing missing on these two evenings was my eagle friend, Eddie. A couple of weeks ago I noticed him and possibly a mate flying over Moose Island.

Earlier in the month, Mother’s Day weekend, my brother, Dan, and I headed back to our childhood home in Winchester, Mass., to spend the weekend with our parents. Dan had a business trip and had suggested a few weeks before that I bring a couple of kayaks down and we could paddle from the Mystic Lakes in our hometown to Boston via the Mystic River, then up the Charles River for a ways.

I’d scouted some of this route on a previous trip, but there were a few mysteries. Two big questions involved locks at Amelia Earhart dam on Mystic River and the Charles River locks next to the Museum of Science. A voice in the security camera box at the Massachusetts State Police station next to the locks had assured me that there was no problem – just blow a horn, two long, two short, and the gates would open – even for a kayak.

Turns out that’s all it takes. It feels a bit lonely in there with just two kayaks, but the water rises and the gates at the other end open and off you go.

We saw mallards, swans, geese, herons, gulls, and cormorants on our Mystic River leg. Other than some gulls and amphibious ducks carrying tourists who quacked at us, there wasn’t much wildlife on the Charles. But there were people – all sorts of people – and traffic galore up both sides of the river.

On this trip I exchanged the typical scenery of pine trees and pink granite for bricks and mortar and a plethora of bridges of every description. On the Charles alone we passed under the Longfellow, Harvard, BU, River Street, Western Avenue, Weeks, Anderson, and Eliot bridges. On Mystic River there were about a dozen, the scariest, in terms of deterioration, was the bridge carrying Route 93 into and out of Boston.

We ended our 15-mile expedition near Arsenal Playground at a small dock in the river where Charles River Canoe and Kayak rents boats. I saw two trailer loads of boats on shore and, as we paddled closer, saw the small dock and a couple of guys sprucing up the kiosk and doing some painting. I had a grand conversation with owner Ralph Boynton, who has paddled extensively in Maine. He offers all sorts of paddling skills clinics and trips. If you’re headed that way, check out www.paddleboston.com for a complete list of offerings.

For information on the Charles River Watershed Association and paddling opportunities check out www.crwa.org.

Lest you think I’m totally out of my gourd for suggesting a paddling opportunity around Boston, check out the June issue of Backpacker Magazine. (It arrived in my mailbox after I made this trip.) There on page 33 under the headline of 60 Minute Fixes and a picture of a pretty blue tandem kayak you’ll see biking, hiking, and paddling suggestions for Beantown. The paddling section suggests, “Slide your kayak into the wide, sluggish Charles River near Harvard Square and paddle under the low-slung stone bridges between MIT and the tree-lined Esplanade. Herring make their way upstream through fish ladders beneath the stark new white suspension bridge come spring – and striped bass show up to feast on them. Rent a boat ($14 an hour) from Charles River Canoe and Kayak…”

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