Sometimes a great adventure is right under your nose – and all it takes is for someone to point it out to you, because we all know it’s hard sometimes to see the obvious.

Such was the case last Thursday evening, when a ragtag group of 16 kayaks and two canoes paddled on an incoming tide from Turtle Head Marina in Hampden to the city docks in Bangor and up Kenduskeag Stream by the light of a nearly full moon.

I was the guest of the Maine Outdoor Adventure Club (known by members as “Mowack,” not by the letters). The club started a Bangor branch last year, the offshoot of the vastly popular MOAC organization in Portland that’s been around for a while. While the Portland club has hundreds of members, the Bangor one has a more intimate 60 members. On the first Tuesday of each month, they get together at Cadillac Mountain Sports in Bangor and talk about the outdoors, often with an invited guest. Next Tuesday, for example, Dick Parker, a Master Maine Guide, will give a talk on the Global Positioning System with the help of materials provided by the Map Store in Old Town.

There is always time set aside at the meetings to talk about and organize weekend activities such as bike trips, paddling adventures, ski trips, hikes, white-water rafting trips, potluck suppers or more complex undertakings, such as a two-week trip to Alaska next July.

And then there’s the Web site, where members may check out a calendar of trips and outings and sign on if they’re interested. You can even seek out others who might be interested in a trip you had in mind – sort of an instant list of friends, a network if you will. The group welcomes all ages and abilities, and for a $20 annual membership fee it’s a bargain. From my limited exposure to the club, I can tell you the members are friendly and everyone shares a love of the outdoors.

Friend and MOAC member Kathryn McGloin, coordinator of Substance Abuse Prevention Services at the University of Maine, invited me to join the group on last week’s full-moon paddle. McGloin was the trip organizer for this outing, and she didn’t have to twist my arm too hard to persuade me to go.

After shuttling cars we launched into the moon’s reflection on the Penobscot River, counted off (so we would have a means of knowing whether we all arrived), turned on our flashlights (one paddler rigged up a candle lantern on his bow), and rode the incoming current northward. As darkness enveloped us, streetlights and illuminated buildings became our navigation aids. Bangor and Brewer take on a new and different perspective when viewed at night from the water in a kayak.

It seemed only minutes had passed when we paddled past Bangor’s waterfront. The spirit of adventure pushed us onward and up Kenduskeag Stream to the Franklin Street bridge, where we rafted up and had our picture taken by fellow paddler Brad Ryder of Cadillac Mountain Sports. From there we made our way back to the city’s docks, where most of us took out. Four folks opted to paddle back to Hampden.

While this trip was a short one by many paddlers’ standards, it proved to be fun and it provided a different view of our recreational offerings that we often overlook. Thanks, Kathryn, for inviting me to participate!

Want to know how fast summer disappeared? Fall migration outings are already under way, and others are coming right up.

The annual hawk watch at Acadia National Park began Aug. 26 and will continue 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily, through Oct. 15, at the summit. There will be a bird expert and a volunteer or two on hand to point out the incoming birds. Be sure to bring binoculars along to get a good view.

This will be the seventh year for the program, which has met with wide public acceptance – some 3,000 people watch the migration annually. I went one morning last September and passed a very enjoyable morning watching the birds glide by on thermals.

I was told at the time that the middle weeks of September are the best for watching these birds because that’s the peak time for their southern migration. It’s not necessary to get there at the crack of dawn, since the birds wait for the sun to warm the air near the ground and cause it to rise. When I watched on a September morning last year, the most frequent sightings were between 10 and 11 a.m.

If you’re looking for some good raptor viewing, hop on down to Acadia National Park, drive up the summit road of Cadillac Mountain and look for the hawk watch sign in the parking lot; it’ll be near the North Ridge Trail. You’ll see the gathering of bird-watchers perched on the granite ledges. If it’s rainy and foggy, however, skip it; there’ll be no program.

If you’re looking for a local group to go raptor watching with, check out the Fields Pond Nature Center schedule. Audubon’s Penobscot Valley Chapter President Bob Duchesne is leading a trip from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 15, to a knob below the summit of Beech Mountain. He’ll help you identify incoming raptors as they overfly the area. Check with the center at 989-2591 for details.

While you have the nature center on the line, ask about the Sept. 29 pelagic birding trip into the Gulf of Maine on Sept. 29 to seek out storm petrels, gannets, jaegers and shearwaters and a trip to Borestone Mountain on Oct. 6-7 to watch for migrating hawks.

Or if you’re looking for something closer to Bangor, ask for details on the 8 a.m. Sept. 8 nature walk at Penjajawoc Marsh with Bruce Barker to check out songbirds and waterfowl getting fueled for their migration.

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