Maine Outdoors offers a variety of trips and custom adventures. Last week I had an excellent morning on the water on a custom trip. I was asked if I would do a special birthday gift trip for my neighbor Keith one of the owners and winemaker at Sweetgrass Farm. The trip was to be a surprise and on the upper stretch of the Medomak River. The river is the back boundary of the farm property for a long stretch and an area I had not paddled in a long time. The surprise part was easy I simply showed up at the house Friday morning with a canoe loaded and ready.
We launched off of the Shepard Hill Road in Union and headed up river. This stretch is very winding and we paddled a long time to get to the corner of the farm property. There the river straightens out and heads through the woods a ways before coming into more marsh. We were able to paddle a short way up into the Pettengill Stream and Marsh but it quickly became too narrow for the canoe. Returning to the river we were able to travel as far upstream as the Skidmore Road in Washington by crossing a few beaver dams and deadfalls.
The scenery was amazing in places mostly because the Medomak is a sandy watershed with high steep banks. It also does not have much water in the summer so it sees little in the way of canoe traffic. Making the river feel remote and wild.
Our wildlife sightings consisted mostly of a brood of mergansers that we passed in both directions. Momma merganser played the injured distraction perfectly both times while the little ducks hid in the grass. We also passed two broods of geese travelling together and were treated to the injured adult ruse on a large scale. Must be my week to run into travelling broods of geese (story of another goose family here).
Three hours on the river in a stretch that few have seen were a great adventure. I need visit that stretch more often.
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