Adventure Journal

Today is Saturday, and the weather is too beautiful to sit inside and work on the computer. So I decided to get the kayak out of the basement and go for a little spin on North Creek. Now I am considering running out to the store to get a fishing pole. Man I can’t wait for summer.

Here are some pics of the excursion:

A view of the creek from our yard. We live in a long, narrow valley with a creek that meanders from the head of the valley down to Tottman Cove. The creek is a good 5 feet deep at full high tide, perfect for a kayak or small boat. At dead low tide the creek bed is completely exposed, looking like a muddy ditch.

Getting closer, the excitement builds!

My equipment. Notice that the floating dock is not in the water yet.

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I suppose that you could call this a boat-ramp. But it’s really a muddy mess! The tide was at its peak when I went in the water, so I was able to set the kayak in the shallows (the muddy spot in the center of the pic), get in and shove off.

On the water!

I went North first, to see what there was to see. The creek literally zig-zags back and forth across the valley floor.

Here are a couple of shots as I was coming out into Tottman Cove. The wind was really blowing so it was difficult to keep the kayak going in a straight line. I rowed about 200 yards out into the cove where there were light swells, about 1 foot or so.

I didn’t take any pics because the camera is not waterproof, and I was busy balancing!

The weather is just perfect for this.

And then, coming home again. It was a little tricky getting out of the kayak, back onto dry land, as the tide had started going out and it was a little steeper at the shore. I managed to get the kayak and myself out of the water without getting too muddy or dropping the camera into the water.

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I took a walk to the Tottman Cove Preserve (part of the Phippsburg Land Trust) today at low tide. It was a beautiful Fall day, with temperatures in the upper fifties and mostly clear skies. I can’t get over how low the sun is at noon-time, compared to where it was when we lived in North Carolina. That is what happens when you go north!

Next I went around the rocks and walked up the muddy bed of North Creek. Not much to it at low tide! I will have to pay attention to the tide charts in the future so that when I start kayaking and boating I do not get caught out on the water.

I spotted a little bird, digging for its lunch. I did not see any little critters, but I saw plenty of the holes in the sand that indicate that a clam is down there, siphoning away.

Here is a hunting blind that looks like it got a little wind-blown when the remains of Hurricane Noel came through a couple of days ago. There were a lot of dog tracks around the sand in this spot, and someone had walked by before I did, following the tracks of a deer.

Finally, I took a shot of the marsh pond on my way back out. I am thinking that there might be some fun little critters in here come spring-time that will go into my native aquarium that I am planning on putting together. I will be coming back here soon with my kayak, to explore the cove and see what kind of trip it is from here up North Creek to the Cottage. At high tide, of course!

I also need to go back and find the geocache that I just found out is stashed here. (or was, as of Oct 2004)

Welcome to the first post of the Maine Adventure Journal. Having recently moved to Maine, I have decided to start getting back to the outdoors. I was very involved in Scouting when I was growing up, and my family was always camping, fishing, and doing “out-doorsy” things.

Growing up and getting a job seem to have gotten in the way of these pursuits, but now I have a chance to get involved in them once again. I will be photographing and mapping my adventures in order to share them with you all. If any of you have stories that you would like to share, I’d love to hear them. Send an email to stephen [at] hdbizblog [dot] com and we will arrange a guest-post for you.

I will be reviewing and writing about equipment, parks, and different regions of the state. Please let me know what else you may be interested in, and I will look into it. Have fun exploring and feel free to leave your own comments and suggestions.