Back on the river!
Standing guard
Great Glen Trails started the paddling season off strong with 3 trips this Sunday and Monday. I took the first crew of 5 down the Androscoggin and Sue took the next two groups. Sunday was a beautiful day with lots of birds and bugs about. We did see a Bald Eagle a couple times, but just the sun and the water were enough to make me happy.
Our typical put-in for the 1/2 day river trip is Shelburne NH and we drift into Maine and take out in Gilead. Quite a few other people were out enjoying the river this weekend, in fact more than I have ever seen on this section in my life! Usually we have the whole 7 mile stretch to ourselves. No Moose, Bear, or Otters on this trip although we often do see these animals in and around the river.
All in all, a great start to what is shaping up to be a busy paddling season. I have two new Guides coming on board from Colby College and then of course Sue, Eric, and maybe even Darron will be helping out. Great Glen offers White Water Kayak instruction, Full Day River Trips, and the very popular 1/2 Day River Trip. I'm headed out fishing for a couple days, see you downstream!
- Nate
Comments
Re: Back on the river!
by Sue W
on May 29th 2008, 7:47 am
It was great to be back on the river again for me , too. I kind of forgot over the winter months just how relaxing and scenic the Shelburne to Gilead section of the Androscoggin River is. Both of my groups were composed of first-time kayakers. They used our kayaks with rudders, and were able to control their boats easily within a short amount of time. The water was at a very nice level, with very few shallow spots to avoid grounding, and an easy pace to allow novices time and room to manuever their kayaks.
My trip highlights included meeting and enjoying some new customers and teaching them to paddle, and seeing a flotilla of tiny, fluffy merganser chicks with their mother. I've never seen such young merganser chicks. We also saw a bald eagle high in the sky, (I was glad it wasn't taking a bead on the little chicks,) and cormorants. Absolutely lovely way to spend a warm spring day!
