Colburn revels in special paddle down Penobscot Riverkeepers lend 28-foot canoe

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Sometimes I wish I were a bit more organized and had more time to plan and execute outings. For the past six months, it seems, work has taken over my life, leaving precious little other time to get out and about – or even think much about it for that matter.

My lack of plans worked in my favor June 1, however, when paddling friend Karen Francoeur called to tell me the Penobscot Riverkeepers were landing at the Bangor Salmon Club to share their knowledge of the watershed with Brewer Middle School pupils. I was invited to tag along.

The Riverkeepers teach youngsters about map and compass, nature, fly tying, fly casting and salmon migration, watershed dynamics and the history of the Penobscot Salmon Club.

Each group of students gets to paddle on the Penobscot in 28-foot voyageur canoes and learn about hypothermia and the reasons for wearing life jackets, tides and currents, the history of logging on the river, and the importance of the Clean Water Act and how it has helped clean up the river.

The 100-plus pupils broke into smaller groups, each with a volunteer speaker.

And who, do you think, was one of the featured speakers? None other than Charlie Colburn, 84, one of the club’s board of directors and raconteur extraordinaire. At one session he had some 40 or more of the youngsters circled around him as he held court in the parking lot sharing tales of his youth, encounters with a moose so large it would intimidate a Mack truck, and of shooting down one of the stars in the sky with his bow and arrow. Really. If you don’t believe me, just ask Charlie. He said you could count them and there’d be one less.

Colburn’s uncle, Walter Colburn, by the way, tied the original Colburn Special, a salmon fly of renown, made so mostly because Colburn fished it so extensively.

And while Charlie Colburn was in his element telling tall tales, he hardly was able to contain himself in anticipation of taking a ride in one of the Riverkeepers’ canoes down the river where he spent his younger years chasing the elusive Atlantic salmon. The kids boarded their big yellow buses and as they drove out of site, Colburn grabbed a life jacket and headed for the river just as fast as his 84-year-old legs could take him. (I tagged along behind eating his dust.)

Mike Maybury, his wife, B.J., and Art Taylor, all volunteers with Penobscot Riverkeepers, got us seated, balanced the load and off we went from the sandy beach just south of the salmon club on a tide that had just begun to ebb. It had been a few years, actually more than a few, since I’d paddled down past Eastern Maine Medical Center. The last time I was in a big ol’ river raft. I think being on the water is the only way to see the city.

For Colburn, who’d anticipated this trip for months, it was heaven. And while he didn’t do much paddling, he kept us entertained as we paddled down river, past places Colburn had fished as a younger man, past places he still walks today.

As we passed the city docks, Colburn’s daughter, Jane Helsley of Bangor, and longtime family friend Gordon Reynolds greeted us. Farther downstream it was as if we were paddling backward through time and yet into the future. The racino site was humming with activity, its huge retaining wall evidence of growth to come. Across the river and down we passed the cribwork behind Eastern Fine Paper’s abandoned mill, the site of a Cianbro project that will transform the past into a state-of-the-art modular building facility in the year to come.

We took out at Hampden Marina and cajoled three men working on a boat nearby to help us heft the 28-foot canoe atop Maybury’s Landcruiser. Their help was greatly appreciated.

The short trip took us only an hour, but it’s one hour I’ll remember for many years to come, and one I know Colburn will.

Nice view, long wait

A couple of Saturdays ago, on the spur of the moment, my wife and I decided to blow town, even if it were only for part of the day. We headed for the Penobscot Narrows Bridge observatory (I won’t go back until I hear the people taking your money at the gate have their act together. We waited in line in our car in the hot midday heat for a half-hour and there were only about 10 cars ahead of us!).

Nice view, though, after the bad start. And the elevator went all the way to the top after making only one unscheduled stop! The next day it quit altogether and folks had to walk down from the observatory. Hey, it’s new. They’ll get the kinks out of it. Did I mention the great view?

Kennebec excursion

It’s time, once again, for the annual Old Fort Western Fort to Fort Canoe and Kayak Expedition.

It’s a chance to celebrate and enjoy the historic 17-mile waterway between Fort Halifax in Winslow and Fort Western in Augusta. This year’s date is June 24.

“This is not a race and there will be no competition or prizes,” said Jay Adams, Old Fort Western’s director and curator in an e-mail. “… it is an opportunity to be on the water, paddling at your own pace, to retrace and re-explore the route that linked the Fort Western and Fort Halifax in the 1750s and ’60s and which was followed by Benedict Arnold’s forces in 1775 as they attempted to take Canada from the British at the beginning of the American Revolution.”

Launch time is 8 a.m. from Fort Halifax Park in Winslow, but participants are free to put in whenever and wherever they wish. The full Fort to Fort trip takes about five to six hours depending upon weather and current conditions and the pace at which you paddle. Water and snacks will be available at the halfway point at the Sidney boat landing. Augusta’s East-side Boat Landing is the final destination. From there, participants are invited to visit Old Fort Western free of charge.

A shuttle bus will take participants back to Winslow to pick up their cars as necessary. Shuttle service will begin at 1 p.m.. The last run to Winslow will depart Augusta at 4 p.m.. There will not be room for boats on the bus.

Be sure you have and wear an approved life jacket, bring plenty of water or juice to drink (no alcohol, please) and snacks to eat along the way. If you have a cell phone bring it along, too, to help out in case of emergency. Be sure you have a waterproof bag to put it in.

To help organizers phone Old Fort Western at 626-2385 or e-mail oldfort@oldfortwestern.org no later than June 22 to register your intent to participate.

For more information contact: Jay Adams, 626-2385

Paddle the mighty Narramissic

Here’s another recreational paddling event you might like. Paddle the seaward path of Orland’s favorite anadromous fish during the annual Orland River Day Alewife Run June 16.

The 2.5-mile paddle will take you from Craig Brook National Fish Hatchery to Orland Village via the Narramissic River. You’ll begin at the Alamoosook Lake beach at Craig Brook Hatchery at 8 a.m., cross the lake and wind downriver past meadows and wetlands.

If you’re lucky, along the way you may see bald eagle, beaver and bobolinks. There is one short portage around the Alamoosook Dam.

Paddlers will be accompanied by naturalist Cheri Domina and Francoeur of Castine Kayak. Those who want to leave a vehicle in Orland Village can drop off their canoe or kayak, paddles and life jackets at the hatchery and drive into the Village, where there will be a 7:30 a.m. shuttle from the FL Davis parking lot (next to the Post Office on Route. 175) back to the hatchery.

Kayak rentals will be available by calling Castine Kayak Adventures at 326-9045 by June 13.

For more information on the paddle (no registration necessary) call Domina at 469-2008. The Alewife Run paddle is sponsored by Great Pond Mountain Conservation Trust, Castine Kayak, Craig Brook National Fish Hatchery and the Orland River Day Committee.

Jeff Strout’s column on outdoor recreation is published each Saturday. He can be reached at 990-8202 or by e-mail at jstrout@bangordailynews.net.