Maine Appalchian Trail Update

We started our trip with some long and challenging days. The rain and wet weather has been making otherwise mellow terrain a bit more difficult, but even so we're doing excellent as a group. Since then we have had a bit of a respite with the weather and we have found our groove and gained some momentum. The spirit of our group has remained high even in the challenging moments and people are adjusting well to our shift away from civilization.

The 100 mile wilderness is treating us right, and we're excited to continue on towards our Baxter and our destination of Mt. Katahdin.

Maine Coast Kayak update

We're a week into the trip and so much to talk about. Our group is full of charismatic and willing participants, and quick learners. Everyone has already become very proficient at maneuvering their boats and are all starting to paddle more confidently! The weather has kept us damp and sometimes soaked, but we have kept our great attitudes intact. We have paddled in blazing sun, rain, wind and thick fog - we're seeing all the coast has to offer in terms of weather. Well, maybe not all, but that's okay too.

Our meals are getting rave reviews, especialy the pizza and mexican casserole. Our group is also preparing to shift into the second phase of the trip, when participant will all start to make the decision about menus, route selection, navigation, and overall leadership. As leaders we are excited to already be moving in this direction after just one week. This part of our process really lets the participants take ownership for their experience.

So far our wildlife sighting have been a bint limited, except for lots of ospreys, gulls, and some deer tracks. Oh yeah, and we've seen a mosquito or two :) However in the coming days we'll be passing a known seal habitat, and some bald eagle hangouts.

We had a great success with navigation just this morning. The participants navigated through the fog to arrive at our resupply point. They led us safely and quickly each leg of the mornings journey and did so with surgical accuracy from point to point.

With fresh food and supplies we are excited about the next week and a half of our journey up the coast.

Thoreau Wilderness Trip checks in

"Well after 4 days rain, the clouds broke this afternoon just long enough for the sun and wind to dry out our moist damp clothing and gear. Hooray! Now we are tucked away in our tents as a thunderstorm passes. Tomorrow we celebrate our five week anniversary. As would be expected, we've developed quite a rhythm to our days, hemmed in comfort& solidarity in the face of challenges. This portion of our trip has been marked by travel on & between lakes. It is the travel between lakes where we pull out all our tricks. We paddle, pole, and sometimes portage to get where we need to go. In particular we have had three epic portages during the past two weeks: the tramway took us past an abandoned locomotives leftover from the 20th century logging operations, the three mile carry from Allagash Lake to Round Pond gave us ample opportunity to perfect our portaging strategy, and the 2 mile Mud Pond carry (very muddy). Here are a few highlight of the past two weeks:
We frogged and poled up Allagash Stream over the course of two days, stopping overnight at Little Allagash Falls for fantastic swimming and well deserved rest. This stream is beautiful.
Allagash Lake was our home for a magical three nights where the boys enjoyed a day long solo, we explored ice caves and tested our hiking muscles with a short hike up Allagash Mountain.
Chesuncook Village provided us with a double treat: The chance to stop in at the store for homemade rootbeer and fudge, and the opportunity to meet up with North Woods Canoe session 2. Gero Island was a wonderful place to spend a rest day, and was ideal for reading aloud Thoreau's "The Maine Woods" beginning with his 1853trip to the area.
Ciss Stream where Aaron promised all of the critter in the North Maine Woods live, and it delivered with two moose and so many bald eagles, and loons. Our moose count is up to 28!
Mud Brook, which flows out of mud pond, was perhaps my favorite place so far on this trip. The rushing water wide enough for only one boat, was lined with fragrant flowers and felt like a sleigh ride as it twisted and turned. No maneuvers were needed just a willingness to enjoy the ride.
I think that about covers it. We're excited to be heading downstream for a bit in the next few days on Webster Brook and the East Branch of the Penobscot... we will work with gravity for a bit! We will keep you posted!

Penobscot Whitewater checks in!

"when asked what is your favorite thing about whitewater kayaking. Trippers responded.....

Ana: "The ADRENALINE"
Lan: "Doing my roll and going in the rapids"
Malcom: "Surfing the on big waves, and flipping over."
Sam: "Going through the big waves"
Renat: " I like the thrill and the sense of achievement"
Sasha: "The feeling of acomplishment after conquering your fear of the rapids"
Desi: "The helicopter manuver- an epic and difficult move involving spinning one's paddle over his head."
Nico: "punching through holes on the horserace!"

I personally saw the group up there last week and they were paddling very well.
And the group was having a blast!

Explorers check in from re-supply

"West Branch Explorers has proudly finished 43 miles of hiking through the 100 mile wilderness in the North Maine Woods. The group made great time arriving in camp most days by 3:30pm, which allowed for lots of time to swim, play cards, and enjoy each others company. Wet weather and muddy trails couldn't stop us from summitting Little Boardman and Whitecap mountains. Whitecap pushed us to our limits, and at the top we knew our biggest obstacle was behind us. The group is excited to leave the backpacks and mud behind us for the serenity of the river. Until Next time......" We just got a call from the group that all is well, and the river is very high right now. They are doing great.

Resupplies are starting to happen

We've just started the round of resupplies that marks the middle of the session. We should be hearing back from all of our trips in the next few days. As a quick update in the meantime we've heard from a couple groups and everyone is doing really well. All the groups are strong and the participants are having great trips despite continued weather challenges. I am happy to say that the weather for the remainder of the week looks to be favorable, so our groups should get a few well deserved rays of sunshine.

Stay tuned for more specific updates from individual trips.

Session 2 off and running

We started session 2 on Sunday with one of the most beautiful days of the summer. As of today(tuesday) all of our trips have headed out into the field and started their trips. The weather couldn't have been better for their start and we are hoping that they will all have clear skies and fair winds for their trips.
The trips that started with this session are:
North Woods Canoe
West Branch Explorers
Me. Appalachian Trail Hike
Maine Coast Kayak
Umbagog Whitewater
Penobscot Whitewater
Mariners Sailing

Stay tuned as we will be updating the blog as we get reports from the field.

T.W.T check-in after Resupply #2

The sun has finally come out in Northern Maine in force and TWT is loving it! We had an accidental sleep-in morning our first fully sunny day of the trip becuase the rain(our standard alarm clock, the pitter-patter usually starts when it is really time to get up) never fell! The best part is that amidst all of this sunshine we've been polling, pulling and paddling our way up the Allagash. We thought at our last resupply that our most challenging poling days were behind us; we were wrong. With high water after all the rain from the previous weeks, we've become intimately familiar with the alders & fallen birches & cedars that tangle together to form the banks. We stick close to shore to avoid the strongest current and wage battles against and within these wild banks for hours each day. One particularly challenging day, we pulled into camp exhausted and hurriedly cooked dinner and set up tents and tarps. Fed, we reflected on the absurdity of fighting gravity, laughed at a few of the more memorable moments of the day then were stunned to silence when a moose and her calf ferried into the eddy in front of our campsite and ambled into the woods just downstream. We are almost three weeks into the trip and this was our first moose sighting. Aaron and I were starting to believe that the mega-fauna of the north woods were conspiring against us and banding together to avoid being seen by us. Fortunately our mega-fauna drought is over and we've since seen 13 moose in the last four days. Some have been very cooperative and given us an extended viewing, some we've even had to politely ask them to move on so that we could continue our upsteam progress. As the moose sighting have increased so to have the human sightings. We are regularly crossing paths with groups coming downstream. We've received lots of questions and comments about our mode of travel and our reasoning for going "the wrong way", but mostly we've received high praise and approval for our commitment to a traditional method of river travel. It feels great to be recognized by the "river elders" for doing it the hard way.

So now, nearing the headwaters our days are punctuated by moose, loon, and eagle sightings, and we are not punctured by bugs, which have mostly disappeared. As for the group, we continue to be in high spirits, to laugh well and often at ourselves, and to immerse ourselves in this experience. We were delighted to pass both the Girls Allagash trip, as well as the North Woods Canoe group - both heading downstream as we poled up. As their trips near an end, we come to almost the middle of our experience. Despite, or perhaps because of the very different personalities in this group, we work, travel, and live together in fine fashion. Oohh,, and we play too :) today we had a group swim in front of our campsite - what fun!!. TWT 09 is taking this epic journey one day at a time, looking forward to more wildlife sightings, and lake paddling in the next little bit.

We'll be sure to keep you posted......

Ultra Light Hike Update

Here is a note from the five week Ultra-Light hike.
"The drive in the mini-bus with our driver Patrick passed quickly on our way to the North Adams, MA area to begin our hike. After dividing up our food and really packing our new packs to capacity with 9 days of food, our hike began. It was soon apparent that our group was incredibly well-matched in terms of hiking abilities, and that has allowed us to cover some considerable terrain (about 85-90 miles as of this Saturday) with nothing but the short list of standard hikers’ issues like blisters and the occasional bump and scrape. We’ve seen quite a few other people, both day hikers and Appalachian Trail or Long Trail thru-hikers, but never had to worry about crowded campsites. The terrain has included lots of hardwood forest with open understory, some meadows, ponds, and short segments on logging roads. Our first night gave everyone the opportunity to see one of Vermont’s true wildlife beauties as a small black bear made an appearance at our campsite – everyone was very excited to see it! We’ve also seen a ruffed grouse with babies, another small baby bird (probably a white-throated sparrow) sitting in the middle of the trail, garter snakes, and red efts. Some mountaintops have fire towers and even those with a little fear of heights have been braving at least a couple flights of stairs to get above the treetops and enjoy the 360-degree views. Weather has varied from bursts of sunshine to heavy rain. We’ve only had to perform one lightning drill while on the trail since we’ve been getting early starts to get over summits before the afternoon thunderstorms roll by. We roasted marshmallows over a stove on July 4th and everyone got a pair of red, white, and blue glowstick glasses as part of the celebration. Seth had a birthday on the 6th and received a Rubic’s cube after an inspirational birthday reading, so we’ll see if our combined efforts can solve it before we complete the trail. Spirits are high all around and days are spent engaged in silly conversations, playing “The Celebrity Game”, busting out into random songs, and even enjoying some occasional silence. Mornings start with a guitar wake-up and days often end with some group singing after evening chores are done. The group was empowered to self-organize a system for getting all group chores (campsite setup, water, cooking, cleaning) done and have done a great job. Food bags get lighter as every day passes and we’re gradually getting into some more rugged terrain as our bodies are toughening up. Todd had the A-Team theme song blaring as he pulled up for our resupply and the transition was very smooth. 10 days down and 20 to go…Canada or bust!!!"

Mariners Check In!!!

Mariners 1 Blog 1

The laughter subsides on the Guillemot as a late sunset fades into the night. Her crew of five participants, two leaders and one plush toy duck named ‘Kumar’ are safely tucked in under tarp and boom, while the rocking of light waves helps them rest for another days sail/row. With a crew of all teenaged females, the laughing, notes and hair braiding (even of Jeremy the male member of co-leader pair on board) is almost endless. The girls hail from as far as Cali, as classy as New York and Boston, and as classic as Old Town. They made a contract at the start of their trip to always do everything together and stay positive, and they do. From the first day off Chewonki neck, the girls took to their daily roles and daily schedule with ease. This is a run down of the daily duties of the crew:


Times flex Events: In no order
6:00 Wake up
Weather Check
6:30 Tents + Gear = packed + ready/loaded (based on weather
Breakfast
Morning Stretch
8:00 Boat Packed
Final Checks
Sails up
TRAVEL TIME
4:00 Arrive
Scout Island
Sails Away
Gear Transfer to Island
Dingy moved above high tide
Break- debrief sail
5:00 Camp setup
Tents up
Cooking area w/ tarp
Groover Place
Skill Seminar
Rest Hour
6:00 Crews
Cook meal
Write in journal & log for day
Clean
7:30 Debrief
Next day over view
Storm Proofing
9:30 Lights Out


And the ladies rotate through these positions each day allowing for a change and growth is leadership and learning on the boat:

Skipper
- Direct responsibility and operation of vessel and crew from sun
up to sun up.
- Meet with instructors and navigator to organize the day.
- Always know location and direction of vessel (delegate –keep
big picture)
Navigator
- Record in log book (Date, location, weather-from meteorologist)
- Meet with skipper and instructors to organize the day
- Use compass and navigation tools
- Know location of vessel at all times
- Keep “Tiller-Person” informed on where to be heading and dangers ahead
Scribe
- Daily entry in group journal
Meteorologist
- Listen to Weather Radio with instructors and report to skipper
- and Navigator
- Know wind, weather, tides for the day
Bosun
- Keep Ship it tip top shape
- Teaching knots/learning knot



The girls where in high spirits when last seen on the 8th of July, through the rain their songs could be heard as the cleaned up breakfast and stored gear below the deck. They had clocked 25 nautical miles the day before, a distance that has become the norm on their sailing days. The list of amazing things these girls have accomplished as a group and as individuals is hard to express in the blog post, but know that these ladies are not land lovers no more. They crave the winds from the South West, and love the rain because it rinses off their gear. They love the natural wallpaper of their ‘groover sites’ and have no problem picking up jellyfish. They row the boats while singing Disney Songs and teach each other their native languages and words ( “Wicked” “Hella” “ensconced”). They know the parts of the boat, and how to read wind and chart. Las chicas del barco se divierten y están a salvo, eso es toda esa semana puede pedi

Fair wind to you all!

Photos from Umbagog

Here are some pictures from the rapid river. Seems to me that they have plenty of water to have fun on!!!

Update From Thoreau Wilderness Trip PART 1

Here is a post from the group. Right now they are poling, paddling, portaging and frogging their way up the Allagash Wilderness Waterway. Here is what they have to say:
" After Putting in at Moody Bridge on the St. John River due to low water, we experienced weather the next few days that brought the water up two to three feet. From night one, our four trippers were remarkably efficient and seamless at working together to set up camp and cook meals. Our week on the St. John was marked by a peculiar weather pattern: Spitting rain off and on all day from wake up trough our paddling day, and the sun would appear (albeit briefly) as soon as tents and tarps were set up at out evening campsite. The St. John was lovey and remote with a plethora of wildflowers, and everything from flatwater to class three rapids. Our days were relatively short and gave us plenty of opportunities to hone our paddling skills, and practice poling skills. Once in Allagash Village we indulged in vanilla ice cream cones (yum) at the local diner and heard stories of the way things used to be from a local woman who came out on her porch as we walked by. We then began our epic poling days, heading upriver on the Allagash. Happy for our practice sessions on the St.John poling proved to be challenging and initially frustrating for some, though we have moved past all that to find our rhythm in these upstream days. On the whole we are appreciating the quiet and subtlety of our new skill."

Umbagog update

The Whitewater kayakers on Umbagog lake just had their resupply over the weekend. The group is doing well amidst the heavy doses of rain. Their skills are progressing wonderfully and they are right where they should be.

Here are some highlights from out trip so far:

*We've seen Loons all over the lake.
*We've had Bald Eagle sightings everyday
*There is a Great Blue Heron fishing in the cove regularly
*We've had regular sightings of a family of 4 Otters.

*Most everyone in the group has accomplished their kayak roll, and many have even done it in moving water.
*With all the water we've experienced tons of water on the river, with lots of big waves.
*We just did the Umbagog Olympics(an annual tradition). Events included log rolling, frisbee games, and and iron chef competition for lunch. The kids made such a great meal that we opted to skip dinner that night.
*We've also put all the energy to good use by cutting up downed trees from the winter storms. We figured we've chopped and sawed at least a cord of firewood all by hand.

Overall the trip has been fantastic and we are looking forward to having the river come down a little. Once that happens the group will be moving up the river and will hopefully culminate our experience by running the river from the top.

Update from the Boatbuilders

It's day 7 of straight building and we are putting these boats together at lightning speed. A week ago our boats were stacked neatly in piles of lumber in the back of Bill's truck. Bill is the designer of our boat and is helping us get started with the process of building. As of today we have eight boats that technically we could paddle, would be mostly waterproof, and would get us to our destination in Brooklyn Maine. Although they would float, we've opted for a more reasonable approach and are going to spend the next 7 day coaxing our boats to a higher level of perfection. We've got lots of sanding, epoxying, sanding, epoxying, varnishing, sanding and painting in our future. The group is doing wonderfully and is truly enjoying the experience of watching their boats take shape.

Although the rain has been steady since we started the group morale is high because everyone really loves building boats.

Zach says " It's the only thing I've ever made!"
Ian says "it like a fancy sports care that you really want"
Tyler says "it's by far the nicest thing I've ever made"
John says "it's Christmas all over again"
James says " I'm either workin' on my boat or helping someone else with theirs. I love working with my hands"

North Woods Canoe is Thriving!

Whew!! North Woods Canoe has busted a move. We started down the West Branch of the Penobscot and worked on our paddle strokes. We saw a lot of moose and stopped in at Chesuncook Village to gorge upon home made root beer and fudge. It was a good thing we bought some extra goodies as a motivation for a long day of frogging up a stream. After we left Chesuncook we spent a day headed up "the Horserace" towards Round Pond and Caucomgomic Lake. ( Yes, you read correctly we pushed our boats against the current and battled slippery rocks all for the view from Caucomgomic Dam. And because its the only way to get to where we needed to). It was a great and rewarding first challenge for the group.

We have just completed a 3 mile portage and everyone did a fantastic job and really pushed personal limitation. It is amazing to think that we move 6, eighty pound boats over such a distance and still managed to keep laughing and singing along the way. We were so proud of the group!!

Tomorrow is July 4th and our resupply. We all look forward to hearing from friends and family!

Best wishes to all of our friends and family.

Penobscot Whitewater Girls Trip

Despite the rain, the girls' spirits are high. Yesterday(July 1) they paddled their first set of class III rapids and they all did so with smiles on their faces. The sun made an appearance that afternoon so we took advantage of the warmth and went for a group swim at our beach in front of the camp site. We have probably the best campsite on the whole river!! Overall the the trip has been fantastic. We are quickly turning this group of amazing young women into enthusiastic kayakers. We've already heard talk of, " I'm definitely going to do Umbagog next year", or " I'm gonna do Northeast rivers!!". A good sign that these girls are gung-ho about paddling.
The might Penobscot is our backyard and we are eagerly anticipating our trip to the Seboomook River in a couple of days.