The Roll Dam campsite is a fine location from which to launch the brief trip to Lobster Stream and then to Lobster Lake. The AMC River Guide notes that “This is the smoothwater section of the West Branch [of the Penobscot River].”* The campsite, on the right bank, and the first mile on the river…
This relatively brief canoe trip makes about five of its six miles through the town of Gilead. Infrequent Class I rapids are involved; shallows where the river divides around several small islands require one’s attention. Launching is near Bridge Road off U.S. 2 in Gilead. The bridge over the Androscoggin is immediately apparent after entering…
Attean Falls on the Moose River and the nearby Attean Falls Campground are probably the biggest features that draw visitors to the township. For those taking the Moose River Bow Canoe Trip, this is the last campsite before entering Attean Pond. The Falls are basically a challenging group of rapids, usually successfully navigated by canoeists. …
This township in Oxford County was named for the original grantee, Josiah
Batchelder. It borders New Hampshire in the White Mountain National Forest.
Maine Route 113 runs north-south through the township. Portions of the road, also known as the Evans Notch Road, are closed during the winter. Access is then from Gilead in the north or from Stow in the south.
Evans Notch, in the southern portion of the township, is a deep cut among the White Mountains. It is a popular hiking location using the East Royce Mountain Trail to that mountain from two points on Route 113.
This portion of the Nezinscot River canoe trip begins in Buckfield Village and terminates in Turner Center Village. Entrance to the canoe launch area is off Route 117 (Turner Street) in Buckfield, just downstream from the bridge, where the the water is conveniently flat. Click on the circled village areas for related articles, and on…
canoe tripsThis is a pleasant, scenic, and sometimes challenging trip, on the Sheepscot River. Click on numbered canoe icons at right for video clips. The river at this point runs north to south for about six miles from the East River Road Bridge in Whitefield to Head Tide Dam at Head Tide Village in Alna.…
This section of the Sandy River provides spectacular views of boulders, rock-strewn shores, and high banks sheltering cliff swallows. Beginning in Phillips well below the bridge, the river passes through Avon and Strong before arriving at Farmington. It is populated with many class I and II rapids, and has frequent shallows, especially at low water…
Cundys Harbor is a village within the town of Harpswell, in the area known as East Harpswell. It is located in the southeastern portion of this sprawling coastal town, on Sebascodegan Island. In 1985 the Maine Historic Preservation Commission described it thus: “Cundy’s Harbor is a small fishing village on a narrow peninsula of hilly…
Ellis Spear (1834-1917) was second in command to then Colonel Joshua L. Chamberlain at the famous Civil War battle of Little Round Top at Gettysburg in July of 1863. He was born in Warren on October 15, 1834. Spear was graduated from Bowdoin College in 1858 and taught school in Wiscasset. Spear entered the Union…
Maine’s 20th Regiment, led by Joshua L. Chamberlain and assisted by his second in command Ellis Spear, played a major role in the victory of the Union forces on July 3, 1863 at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. This farming town with a wooded ridge was the scene of a pivotal battle of the American Civil War. The…
Yes, the Gray Catbird sounds like a cat in “normal” mode. But, being a relative of mockingbirds, it often imitates others or combines sounds of several species to create its own music. The one pictured here is typical in its preference for thick growth among the lilacs and its frequent visits to a bird feeder.…
According to the Audubon Society’s Field Guide to North American Birds, “The Bobolink was probably confined to the central grasslands originally, but with the settling of the Northeast it quickly spread into New England. Now with farms abandoned and the land returning to forest, the species is declining.” In Harpswell, a large portion of Mitchell…
Precipitation normals are calculated by taking the mean (average) of the precipitation in each month, over a thirty-year period. Sixty-one locations reported on this aspect of Maine’s climate for the period 1971 through 2010. Data reflects the average in the number of days with a minimum of .01 inches of precipitation for a location. See…
Here are the coldest to the warmest areas of the state, based on 49 reporting stations. Data, collected by month for thirty years, are calculated by recording the difference between the mean temperature for a month, and 65 degrees as the base temperature. (See detailed definition below.) HDD = heating degree days; CDD = cooling…
The following heating and cooling degree day normals by month for forty-nine locations in Maine, one aspect of the climate, are calculated by recording the difference between the mean temperature for a month and 65 degrees as the base temperature. (See detailed definition below.) HDD = heating degree days; CDD = cooling degree days; AP…
Relics of farmhouses hint at the glory days of Maine’s agricultural tradition. In remote villages, scenes of abandoned homes, churches, and vehicles mark changes in communities as populations ebb. The landscape is littered with these ghosts of Maine’s past, recalling a lost civilization but evoking questions of their secrets. …
Maine has had its share of notorious crimes, such as the 2003 mass poisoning in New Sweden. The Brady Gang was responsible for another. Its career ended in Bangor on October 12, 1937. Here is an excerpt from the Federal Bureau of Investigations account of their crime spree: During the latter part of the year…
(above) Fourth Machias Lake, rough beach, and boat launch site in Sakom Township (2013) Sakom Township, also known as T5 ND BPP, is certainly a “land of lakes.” Included within it boundaries are major segments of Sysladobis Lake, Pocumus Lake, and Fourth…
Fourth Lake Road in T6 ND BPP (2013) @ This township is just west of Grand Lake Stream Plantation. Its Fourth Lake Road leads to the interior, to nearby lakes, including Pocumcus Micmac for “at the gravelly place.” * Eventually the road leads to a campsite and boat launch at Fourth Machias Lake…
Panoramic View of wind turbines from U.S. Route 1 in Brookton (2013) Brookton is an unorganized township just south of Danforth on U.S. Route 1, one of its only two improved roads. The other, Forest City Road in the southeastern corner, passes by Brook Lake, half of which is in Brookton. A…