... Posted April 14, 2013 Share Posted April 14, 2013 (edited) Cundy, Dingley and Beyond!This past weekend, Rob Folster and I completed our first kayak camping trip of the 2013 season. I will admit, the weather forecast over the previous week made the planning a challenge, but we tend to understand Mother Nature and she seems to tolerate us. So we launched from Bethel Point Road at 10:34AM on Saturday. The goal was to paddle up the eastern side of Sebascodegan Island and camp on a MITA island in the northeast corner. Although we anticipated wind and waves, both were less than expected and the journey was very enjoyable. As we paddled up New Meadows River, both the land and water were absent of humans. All the houses appeared to still be in hibernation from the long winter. The trees were absent of leaves and their branches gave a haunting appearance against the gray sunless sky. In sharp contrast to the lack of humans was the abundance of water birds. Most appeared to be paired off and enjoying the lack of boat traffic. There was also a pair of harbour porpoise enjoying the day as they broke the surface of the water over and over again. It is hard to describe how special it feels to be paddling at this time of year.We arrived at our camp site around 2:00PM and noticed the significant damage from tree falls. The winter season was not easy for this island however we found our favorite tent sites no worse for the wear. After setting up the tents we decided to explore the island on foot and hiked the trails around the island. There was tree fall damage everywhere.As is our style, we both had several new gear items to test on this trip. Rob had his new boat and a four season tent to try out and I had a new sleeping mat and bag to test. Saturday night the temperature dipped down to the low 30s and it felt cold, but luckily our gear served us well.Although this was the earliest in the season for both of us to kayak camp, we were pleasantly surprised by how much there is to enjoy camping at this time of the year. Our bodies and gear also seemed to emerge from winter hibernation with no bumps or bruises.As we paddled back to the launch site Sunday morning, all I could think about was checking my work calendar and finding a way to squeeze in one more camping trip before the end April.Warren4/14/13 Edited April 14, 2013 by Warren Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prudenceb Posted April 15, 2013 Share Posted April 15, 2013 I'm really happy you guys were finally able to get out, and that you had what sounds like a magical wknd!pru Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brambor Posted April 15, 2013 Share Posted April 15, 2013 Good to see that the camping season is already starting. Jeff and I were also able to get out this weekend to a MITA island in Caso Bay.Water was cold. Layers were hot. Conditioning was...nonexistent.I struggled to make the 7 miles to the camp.Although I got 1 inch of snow around my house from a an overnight storm. The snow was just about gone from the islands. We saw a lot of flattened grass from snow. Saturday actually turned out to be a nicer day than Sunday. Sunday morning return trip featured a few rainy drizzles but all in all it was just suffering for me to get back into paddling shape after a 4 months hiatus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
... Posted April 15, 2013 Author Share Posted April 15, 2013 (edited) Rene,It is good to read that you and Jeff got in some camping this past weekend. Looks like you had a great site to set up your tent. We should go into a PM thread and share details. Campers can never have too many places to visit.By the way, did you and Jeff spot any eagles, hawks or osprey on your travels? I was hoping to see at least one raptor on the New Meadows River, but no luck.Like yourself, my paddler's body is a work in progress, but I have a 15 to 20 miles per day, 6 day trip coming up and the body had better be ready or perhaps a bottle of Advil will be in my day hatch!Warren Edited April 15, 2013 by Warren Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave M. Posted April 15, 2013 Share Posted April 15, 2013 Great trip reports from both of you. Though I did not go camping this weekend a small group of us had a pleasant but windy paddle on Sunday in Plum Island River. Due to a slight navigation error, we had to paddle 8 miles without a stop. I would like to echo Rene's comment about conditioning. I barely made the lunch break at 8 miles with 3 more back to the launch site. Even after lunch the last three were a struggle. I plan to do more biking and paddling to gat back into shape. None-the-less, it was fantastic to be on the water again Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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