 |
|
The first Northern Forest Canoe Trail
thru paddlers arrived today. Sunday May 22nd, 2011
Ardie and Sherry pictured after 24 days on the trail
 Disclaimer: since I only meet the paddlers that come to Northern Door Inn I can't say if they are the first of the season or if they are the fastest ever. Northern Door Inn Productions Presents The Incredible Hull A melodrama in three acts Act 1 Scene 1
The Greater Fort Kent area has no less than 4 river systems. Scene Monday May 23, 2011 the Northern Door Inn Fort Kent, Maine. I arrive at work at 8:30 AM and spot a kevlar canoe on a canoe dolly leaned up against the building. Since canoeists who run the St John or Allagash rivers never use a canoe dolly...this can mean only one thing. The first Northen Forest Canoe Trail paddlers of the season have arrived. I go to my work station in the lobby, fire up the computer and start doing managerial type stuff. Act 1 Scene 2 Northern Door Inn lobby 9:35 AM Two canoey looking people show up for breakfast Me "Did you just run the NFCT ?" Sherry "Yup. I'm Sherry and this is Ardie." Me "How long did it take ?" Ardie "We left at 3:30 PM on the 29th and got in yesterday at 10:30 in the morning." Me "Whoa that's quick." Sherry " We lost 3 days waiting for a canoe dolly to be delivered supposedly overnight" Me Throw mental calculator into gear. OK, 24 days elapsed time less three days waiting for dolly, plus the first and last days were less than half days. So 20 days of paddling. Fastest time ever so far as I know. These people must never sleep. Me "Are you waiting for someone to come to pick you up ?" Ardie "No we are going to paddle to Van Buren then walk to Fort Fairfield." Sherry "From there we pick up the International Appalachian trail and walk to Mount Katahdin then walk back to Georgia on the Appalachian Trail". Me "How stupid of me (slaps forehead) that's the only logical way to get home." Me "I noticed your canoe has a patch on the bottom." Sherry " We found it on a river bank in Georgia and brought it home. Ardie can fix anything." Ardie "Yup...so I fixed it." The Incredible Hull ...pre surgery
 Incredible Hull...post surgery....still heavily sedated
 Sherry "Once we get to Van Buren we'll see if anyone wants to buy it." Me "How much ?" Ardie "How about (dollar figure) ?" Me "Sold." Note to self: 40 miles, expect a phone call the day after tomorrow early in the morning Much hand shaking and telling of tall tales until the two travellers leave at 11:00 AM Act 2 Scene 1 Northern Door Inn 9:30 AM the following morning....Rrrring. Me "Hello." Sherry "Hi Carl it's Sherry...do you still want to buy a canoe ? We made terrible time we had a head wind all the way." Me Unable to think of anything original to say, I use a line from Maine humorist Marshall Dodge of Bert and I fame. "Dont you move a g*d-d****d inch, I'll be there in a bit over an hour." Me speaking into walkie talkie "Get up here quick, we're going to Van Buren to buy a canoe." Brother real loud "Are you insane ?? you already have 3 canoes." Me "There is no such thing as too many canoes." Act 2 Scene 2 Fosters Fuel Mart Van Buren 11:15 AM Money changes hands. Much shaking of hands and well wishing. I watch as Ardie and Sherry disappear into the distance walking to Fort Fairfield. Each carries only a tiny teardrop backpack. Act 3 Ready to return to Fort Kent
 Start scheming to convert canoe to a solo whitewater playboat. Kneeling pedestal seat, thigh straps, lots of air bags, bilge pump. Oh yeah....the old gal has a bright future. Below: Me, Incredible hull, the brother.
 The End
No canoes were harmed in the making of this melodrama Cast of characters
Ardie Arden Olson adventurer Sherry Sherry Olson adventurer Me Carl manager Northern Door Inn Brother Pete maintenance man Northern Door Inn Incredible Hull yellow kevlar canoe of dubious parentage oops: disregard the above description and read on Yesterday I received the following email I'm trying to identify the "incredible hull" canoe in your story posted on the NFCT website. I think it's a Mad River Canoe Kevlar / Airex Explorer. To confirm, you could look under the right rail at the stern for a Hull Identification Number. I'm interested because if it is a Mad River it's a boat I designed and this one looks looks like it has had quite a life ! Look forward to hearing from you. Cheers Jim Henry Founder, Mad River Canoe My reply
Hi Jim
You were right...I have hull # MAD5X818K788-KA. I assume the KA at the end stands for kevlar airex, do the last 3 digits (788) mean it was manufactured in July of 1988 ? At one hundred bucks....I think I got an OK deal. Oh, and by the way....I'll update the website taking out "dubious parentage" and change that to " a battle scarred veteran from America's finest canoe makers ". Carl Jim replies Hi Carl,
Congratulations. Definately a kevlar/airex Explorer made in Vermont, July,
1988, I think they sold for about $2,000 in '88. Now they are about $3,200
and made in South Carolina, foam core but not airex. I will dig out a set of
MRC decals for it if you would like, need a mailing address. You got a
treasure.
Cheers, Jim To read Ardie and Sherry's trail journal Click here Postscript
This story should have been entitled Incredible Hull 2 Here is the story of Incredible Hull 1 About 25 years ago I was paddling the Souadabscook Stream near Bangor with Chuckie, ( a non swimmer ) this was his second time in a canoe. After running a 4 foot ledge drop at a bad angle we wound up with a substantial portion of the Souadabscook Stream inside the canoe (this is not generally desirable). Chuckie was screaming "pull over RIGHT NOW". It seems Chuckie had to answer an IMMEDIATE call of nature. Perhaps this was due to kneeling in a very wobbly canoe half full of 38 degree water. I will never know if Chuckie soiled himself since he was wearing brown Carharts. A few minutes later Chuckie was yelling "come check this out". There, in the riverbank brush was a green fiberglass canoe bent into the shape of the letter ell. At the time I was paddling an ark of a canoe (a 20 foot Flewelling cedar and canvas freighter built here in Northern Maine). Although my paddling partner thought I had lost my mind, we threw the hull over the gunnels and I brought it home. It was literally bent into the shape of a right angle. Once I drilled out the rivets and took off the aluminum gunwales it popped back into shape and it looked like I had myself a nice little fiberglass whitewater boat 16 feet long. I took a saber saw and sawed out a two foot by two foot chunk of splintered glass. Next I waxed up some poster board and carefully fit and taped it to the outside then laminated a 3 layer patch of glass on the inside. With a new set of ash gunwales it was ready to go. It looked really weird though, all green with a see through glass patch. My buddies called it the spawn of Satan. It served me well for many years until, in a fit of insanity, I traded it for a shot gun, I still regret that.....the shotgun doesn't paddle worth a hoot ! I never did bother to find out who built it, but I'm pretty sure it was made in Canada since it had a large red maple leaf decal on the bow deck. If you have any
Comments Perplexities Anxieties Questions Nastygrams About this story or canoeing in general Address them to carl@northerndoorinn.com Take your time and rummage around this site
there is a ton of info on canoeing in northern Maine 
Water levels vary widely and not all rivers
are runnable at all
times. Call the hotel
for details. We monitor water levels every
morning through the US
Geological Survey web site.
Prices can be as low as $18 per day but will vary depending on the outfitter and type of trip. Click on any of the rivers below for alot of useful information. St Francis River St John River Allagash River Fish River Here are some local outfitters we reccomend. Call and tell us what you have in mind and we will put you in touch with an outfitter who will best meet your needs. Allagash Guide Service One of the best guide
services in the
area, hunting and fishing expeditions.
Ask for Sean Lizotte. Canoe
rentals available. Adventures in Maine Guide Service Allagash River and Saint John River canoe trips Pelletier's Campground Allagash canoe trips and canoe rentals Dave Kelso Master Maine Guide Dave is a former Maine Game Warden and offers guided canoe / kayak trips. Here are links to other areas of interest to canoeists Northern Forest Canoe Trail This is a 740 mile water trail thru New York, Vermont, Quebec and Maine. Definitely not for the faint of heart, some of the portages are as long as
six miles. Last summer, 4 parties
who had done the whole trip stayed with
us. I wish I had had the presence of mind to take their pictures. Canoe race schedule  just about every weekend from late March until early October. |