Crossing the Penobscot by Bucksport

What does it take to make a good moment?

Almost nothing.  I was sitting in the shade in front seat of our car, drinking an icy drink, windows open to let westerly breezes in, pleasantly exercised by a recent paddle about Bucksport Harbor, when I thought, "it doesn't get much better than this."

And really it doesn't.  It's not that Bucksport is an amazing paddle, there aren't any small islands or waves(though at certain points in the tide cycle there can be some very challenging conditions just upstream from the fort).  There weren't even any buzzards today.  But there were some lovely sights:

The new Penobscot Narrows Bridge, opened in 2006, and the footings of the old Waldo-Hancock Bridge.

Fort Knox:  After the British were successful in capturing Bangor and surrounding towns both in the Revoluntionary War and the War of 1812, Fort Knox was built overlooking the narrows.  Built between 1844-1869, but never used, Fort Knox remains as an impressive site and a terrific place to explore.
(To the left is Fort Knox in Prospect,  right is the Verso Papermill across the river in Bucksport)

The house at the Ferry Boat Landing just above Fort Knox.  What a classic house this is, and such a lovely siting. This is a fun video from 1925 of the ferry in action.

We saw seals and osprey, which avoided the camera.  Further up river were these high cliffs, providing some shade.  On a hot humid day, shade has a lot of appeal.

An old dock and its rotting components, appealing in its decrepitude, and a great resting spot for cormorants. 

Just south of the Verso Paper Mill, a new dock had attracted its own crew of bird life.  New dock or old, birds are appreciative of any perch.  this one had cormorants, seagulls and a few osprey.

A few boats lingered in the harbor.   This boat was up in Bangor for a week or two, there it was named the "Zee Whiz."  That name has been painted out, and it may be in the process of being renamed the "Sebago." It had a prior life as a ferry to Fire Island, but I don't know what it's new plans are.

Bucksport Harbor and its surrounding area has far more history associated with it than this short post mentions.  Still my key take away from this paddle, was enjoying my local environs is one easy way to build  happy summer memories.  I hope you're enjoying summer paddles too!

Summary:  Launch Verona Island.  Looped down to the bridge, across to Fort Knox, up to the power lines, down to the abandoned dock, back along Bucksport Harbor.  6 miles.  Launch 8AM, finish 11:00, one stop  High 10:15AM.  (The Google earth above is a shorter journey, the abandoned dock is maybe a half mile further upstream.)

Late to the New Year’s Day Paddle Party

    New Year’s Day we were able to get out paddling!  I’d like to say this is a time honored tradition, but in reality we’ve just lucked out with two warm still January 1^st’s in a row.

   This year we headed down to Bucksport, neatly avoiding the issue of tide rips just north of the paper mill by launching at low tide.  We paddled along the backside of Verona Island a bit before looping the harbor.

   Below are some of my favorite shots of the day (and some related trivia):

    Foam on the water, steam in the sky.  The paper mill is barely visible in this shot, though it's steam rises over the hotel.  I always enjoy asking folks to name the paper mill in Bucksport.  Initially built in 1928 as the Seaboard Paper Company, it’s had five owners since, listed in this Maine Ahead article.  

   Mooring Gears.  I’m not sure what company provided these gears, but they are huge and I love them.

   Looking across to the old Prospect-Bucksport ferry landing.  Before there was the Waldo Hancock Bridge, a ferry brought five cars at a time across.  There’s a film of the old ferry in action at the Maine Memory Network.  (Page opens to a photo, the film clip is lower)  Unfortunately I can’t quite read all the signs on the clip.  

   A different angle on Fort Knox.  In 1887,  Sergeant Leopold Hegyi  became sole guardian of Fort Knox.  His duties included walking the grounds each day to assess the condition of the fort.  That assignment ended in July of 1900 with his passing, but his dedication to the fort continues to keep the hopes of ghost hunters alive.  

   Heading back under the double bridge span to Verona Island.  The old Waldo-Hancock bridge (in green and rust) has been re-purposed as a peregrine falcon and osprey nesting site.

   It was wonderful to be on the water on New Year’s Day.  The lighting is always very dramatic.  And I remember thinking how much better my back felt as the trip went on.  But, alas, that was apparently an illusion, because when I went to get up on Tuesday, I discovered I couldn’t walk without staggering.   So I've spent the week on various home remedies, and things are much better now, and hopefully will be for the rest of the winter... 

Halloween Tour - Bucksport Silver Lake

Basics: Silver Lake: Located on Silver Lake Rd, which is McDonald Road in town.  From Route 1: north on Route 15 beyond Bangor Savings and Bucksport Post Office. Dirt ramp, limited parking, no facilities. (Bathrooms are available at both ends of the harbor walk in downtown Bucksport.) 6 miles.

Fort Knox: Entrance Fee, flush toilets. Plenty of parking most days.

The actual date of this trip: September 15; I saved posting until now because of its haunted theme.
Carol Olivieri Schultz, in her book Ghosts on the Coast of Maine, claims there is a female ghost seen about Silver Lake on foggy nights. She makes the case that this is the ghost of 1890’s murder victim Sally Weir, seeking to have her skull reunited with her body. Sally’s skull still rests in an evidence drawer. Silver Lake was created in the 1930’s and apparently the lower end used to be a cemetery. When the dam was built the old bodies and monuments were moved. But were all the old bodies found?
We started with a quick walk along the southern shore of the lake. Crypts such as this one hidden in the woods help to verify the tale of an abandoned section of the cemetery.

We launched our boats from the official boat launch further up the lake, and began our paddle by heading north into the wind. It’s been a dry summer and the water in the lake was low.

Silver Lake would make a good substitute for Black Lake, the setting for Lake Placid, the movie (best movie about Maine ever!) Like the fictional Black Lake, Silver Lake has cattle along the shore,
and lots of stumps popping through the lake.

In fact, Silver Lake could well be an old forest burial ground.

Though the water was low we could make it behind the large island easily, and flew on the wind down to the south end. From the water, no tombstones were visible.
There was however a cute peninsula (which may sometimes be an island) near the cemetery.

It had a well build pier of stones on the shore, and a nice windbreak/back rest near a fire pit and would make a pleasant place for lunch.

Across the Lake, and Street was a newer cemetery, but looking closely I saw several older stones. Perhaps that’s where the old corpses were moved when the lake was put in?

They moved the stones; but did they move the bodies?

If you’re in Bucksport, you should take a minute to check out Buck Monument. You'll find it on Route 1, across from the Hannaford grocery store. It’s a monument many people have read about somewhere and it’s singularly unimpressive in real life. A quick stop there will help make you a more cynical person.

For Knox shrouded in obligitory creepy Maine fog

Ghosts, ghouls and more have been spotted at Fort Knox, as have brave knights, civil war soldiers and much more, mostly at events arranged by the Friends of Fort Knox.

Center Courtyard

Fort Knox was built to defend the Penobscot against a third invasion from the English, and though it’s never been fully manned, thus far it has been successful.

With a fine mix of granite, red rock and brick, and endless rooms and hallways, Fort Knox is a great place to explore.

Be sure to check out the river as well. Seals are often spotted in the fast moving currents of the narrows.
Seasonally, for an additional charge you can ride to the top of the Penobscot Narrows Bridge.

Map of Silver Lake

  A final interesting link for Strange Maine, and their story about the unsolved murder of Sarah Ware

Bucksport Maine – Big Birds Aplenty

One buzzard, ugly. Three buzzards, a warning that something dead is nearby. But a dozen buzzards? Fascinating. What brings them to Bucksport/Verona Island? Bucksport’s main industry is Verso paper, there are no seafood or meat rendering plants there. So why do over a dozen turkey vultures hang out on Verona Island?

I thought it might be a rookery, and checked the trees for nests. Turns out Buzzards don’t build nests. They nest in hollow trees, caves or thickets, just laying two eggs on the ground. They hide the nest, since the sharp smell of regurgitated carrion makes it easy for predators to find the helpless chicks. There was no odor with this batch, and no small chicks either. The eggs are laid early in the season, by now the chicks have hatched, grown and are flying.
I wondered if the turkey vultures might feast on shellfish. I can’t find any reports of that, but they do eat some shore plants. And they are social animals. Apparently this group is happy on Verona Island, just south of the boat launching, roosting in the dead trees at night, and flying off to scavenge by day. (Turkey Vultures on Wikipedia)The buzzards also kettle about on the wind, the video is below.

Other birds in the area; herring gulls, cormorants, osprey, blue heron and a loon.
We headed down under the bridges helped by a northwest wind. In no time at all we’d made it to Odom’s Ledge, where, as I hoped we saw plenty of seals. Actually I’d hoped to find a few calm seals; but what I saw was nearly a dozen nervous seals. As a whole seals do not care for kayaks, generally abandoning their ledges long before we can see that they are there. Other boats don’t seem to bother them, but kayaks disturb some primal memory of sharks or other predators. For that reason, the first two weeks of June, when seals are pupping, we avoid any ledges or known seal hang out. Pups nurse only for two weeks, disturbing even one feeding can be harmful. In some locations, Castine, Stonington, Naskeag harbor, seals seem to adapt to kayaks and will linger on the rocks.

But not Odom’s Ledge. Here the seals tumbled into the water, but then they became curious, surfacing high to keep an eye on us, then splashing loudly back into the water. (Not that I was able to capture any of those hi-jinks on film.)
Heading back from Odom’s Ledge the steady wind quickly became a drag, so we crossed from the Verona island side to Stockton Springs to find some wind shadow.
On that side we found a wonderful calm eagle sitting in a tree. Across the Penobscot a young eagle came screaming, heading for the same branch. I thought there might be a branch breaking incident, but the mature eagle took off, abandoning its perch for its offspring. The next time we saw the mature bird, it was sitting in a white pine.




We did not circumnavigate Verona Island because I find the back side dull; I love the high walls and current of the main channel, along with the scenic bridges, fort and town. On the main channel, the current can reach 4 knots going downstream, never as much on an incoming tide. On the back side the incoming tide fills from both sides, and is never all that helpful. On this day we launched at just about dead low, had absolutely no trouble going downstream against an incoming tide with the strong wind to our backs. Going back on the lee side was cooling. The wind was still there and the incoming tide barely noticeable, though I’m sure it assisted us.

We launched from the Verona Island Boat Launch. Parking for about 10 cars, rarely more than a couple cars there, no facilities; but public facilities are available at the Bucksport Harbor and private facilities at a myriad of stores and fast food restaurants.
Launch 8:20AM, finish 11:10AM, Low 8:19AM 9 miles.

Bucksport Harbor

A lot of variety in a small area. We launched from the boat ramp on Verona Island. No facilities there. Bucksport has public facilities in its harbor area. It is possible to land and use them, or drive over. Private facilities are available in several stores and restaurants along Route 3. There is not a lot of parking at the boat ramp, but we’ve never seen much of it used. It is sometimes closed for town events.
We launched at low tide, 9:09AM. I was hoping to see the bottom, but rain a few days ago left the water silty. In fact it was not a terribly promising day, the sky was gray. The temperature was reasonable though and, if it was a bit humid, at least there was a comforting breeze.
As we launched a large crowd of buzzards took off from the trees. We’d seen them in other years. Unlike the three temporarily upstream feasting on a deer, these ones seemed to have a colony on Verona Island. They circled by the hotel a few times, then headed on over the town, to who knows where.
Hoping they were not an omen, we crossed over to the canoe and kayak dock on the Bucksport side. At low tide the dock is resting on the bottom. At all tides the dock rides high above the water. It’s probably fine for canoes, but kayaks might find it challenging to exit there.
Then we paddled through the harbor taking time to admire the beautiful boats. We’ve also landed at the far side of Bucksport Harbor, in the area behind the public dock. It would be pretty muddy at low tide, but it’s OK at other tides.
In fact, I think this was our first time visiting the area at low tide. There are several pier structures in the harbor used by osprey, on other trips we felt we paddled right along side them, this time though they were high above.
There was a good crop of osprey though, as well as cormorants at all stages of maturity.

Beyond Bucksport Harbor is Verso paper, a bright spot in the Maine economic scene because they added 200 workers for the summer. Two of the workers were outside for breaks, but the rest were inside busily working.
We went just shortly beyond Verso, to see the start of some beautiful cliffs.

Usually we go further to abandoned piers, but the currents in the harbor can be tricky, especially just north, where the ledge juts out into the river. I know at some high tides we’ve ridden through on a current which is stronger than we’d like to try paddling against. Just after low tide the current was slow, but building.
On the Prospect side of the harbor sits Fort Knox, a huge granite fort built to protect the Penobscot and, in particular, Maine’s lumber from English raids. Twice before the fort was built the British had claimed land up to Bangor. But never since. It was not that the Fort was effective, for it was never fully manned or used for anything but training.

Just before the fort this playful mink ran along the shore. She ran up and hid under a rock, but peeked out the different sides.

Fort Knox has a variety of festivals held at it, re-enactors from the civil war, pirate days, haunted tours, SCA events, paranormal and Scottish Tattoos to name a few. Friends of Fort Knox keeps the schedule.
But during the week, it is more likely that the bridge observatory is the draw. At least we saw no one moving about the Fort and several cars headed to the observatory.

It’s fun to be on the water looking up at the Penobscot Narrows Bridge. As a child we’d climb hills and look down on the toy cars. This was rather the reverse with small motorcycles and RV’s crossing overhead. The Winnebago headed to the bridge observatory was halfway down, and was like the Tonka model my children played with for years.
We crossed back to Verona at the bridge, as two deer pranced along the far shore. Then it was back to the landing.
6 miles.