Teacher plans Devil’s Head Canoe Climb

CALAIS – What do Dartmouth College, canoes and Devil’s Head have in common?

Fun, fun, fun.

The first Devil’s Head Canoe Climb will be held at 11 a.m. Sunday, March 5. A rain date is planned for Sunday, March 12.

The idea began with Calais High School science teacher David Winski. His son attends Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H., and the college’s adventure outing club on occasion will carry a canoe up Mount Washington. “This is just something that happens every once in awhile. They do it as a challenge for outing club members,” he said.

Winski said that while driving to school one morning he passed Devil’s Head Park and an idea popped into his head. “All of a sudden it hit me, why don’t we have a race. We will call it the first ever Devil’s Head Canoe Climb,” he said.

He enlisted the help of St. Croix Valley Healthy Communities and Washington County Community College’s adventure recreation and tourism program.

“The event will include a fabulous amount of springtime fun as participants will carry a canoe along the 11/2-mile climb to the finish line dressed in a variety of entertaining costumes,” said Heather Henry, St. Croix Healthy Communities school coordinator.

There is a $10 registration fee. Teams must be co-ed with two to four members. All funds will be donated to the Calais Waterfront Walkway projects. The money will be used for more work on the walkway.

“You can use either a canoe or tandem kayak for this,” Henry said. Participants can bring their own canoes and kayaks.

Participants are urged to dress in outlandish, fun costumes.

There will be a party at the top with popcorn and hot chocolate for participants.

Billie Jo Hamm of St. Croix Healthy Communities said they plan to rent a machine to pop the corn in her office, not at the top of Devil’s Head. “I think it’s going to be great and we’re going to get youth teams involved with it,” she said. She said the adventure was not limited to Calais residents, and people of all ages were invited to participate. There will be competition in four age categories with prizes.

Organizers promise lots of fun. “What a spectacular sight that will be [of canoes and kayaks going up Devil’s Head] as well as a lot of springtime fun,” Henry said.

Entrants will receive a T-shirt with the “First Annual Devil’s Head Canoe Climb” on it. The group is looking for sponsors to help pay for the shirts. Sponsors’ logos will be on the shirts.

Located on U.S. Route 1, the 340-foot-high Devil’s Head is the highest headland in the state north of Acadia National Park.

It is believed the Passamaquoddy may have used Devil’s Head as a fishing and occupation site at intervals between the early Ceramic period, more than 2,000 years ago, up to the early 1800s.

Indians had their first contact with the French in the same area. In 1604, French explorers Sieur de Monts and Samuel de Champlain and an expedition of 78 men settled nearby St. Croix Island. The French abandoned the site after a harsh winter killed more than half the men.

The Passamaquoddy Tribe called Devil’s Head “Kwagustchusk,” or the dirt mountain, because of its deeply eroded frontage.

Its current name is derived from d’Orville’s Head, named after Sieur d’Orville, one of the Frenchmen who lived on the nearby island for a few months in 1604.

Today the 315-acre site is a popular hiking trail. Two years ago, the Maine Conservation Corps and volunteers built a 1.5-mile gently climbing trail there.

For information call Hamm at 454-0761 or Henry at 454-7787 or e-mail Henry at pokylake@ccpwireless.com.