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 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.