Sheepscot River Spring Run, 2012!

Well folks, I don’t want to make anyone green with envy here, but things just fell into place for my honey and I to get on the Sheepscot after the big rains of April 2012. What a blast!! The conditions should be PERFECT for more mellow canoeing/kayaking this weekend. Perhaps even a little fiddleheading? Enjoy the photos.

Here we go, folks! It's time to paddle the Sheepscot River!

Scotty's psyched!

Bethie's psyched!

Some water coming over the dam in Head Tide

Hydro power, for sure

We just love paddling this river!

The Sheepscot River, one of my most favorite paddles in the state of Maine!

Washington Pond Paddle

Wow, what a great day for a paddle! We headed to Washington Pond in Washington, Maine for a fantastic day on the water. The conditions were great, and we saw all sorts of wildlife: countless turtles (literally! it was weird…) feeding osprey, eagles, loons and an otter sighting to finish off the day. It’s a great paddle in a very pretty part of the state. Go do it!

A very cool beaver damWe saw countless turtles, so much fun!

Here we go!We found a beautiful marsh brimming with turtles, fish, and osprey.Washington Pond offers lots of islands and inlets for exploring

We saw countless turtles, so much fun!

Washington Pond offers lots of islands and inlets for exploring

We found a beautiful marsh brimming with turtles, fish, and osprey.

Super Sunday Sheepscot Paddle!

Scott at the put in, Head Tide.

This Sunday we were fortunate enough to the water level, the weather and the tide all on our side to enjoy a lovely spring paddle from Head Tide to Sheepscot Village on the Sheepscot River. We weren’t 200 yards downstream when we spied a fox scurrying along the riverbank, and about a quarter mile or so downriver we spied a bald eagle studying us from high atop a pine tree. It’s such a bonus to experience wildlife on these paddles!

Scott and Jim enjoying some slow water.

The crew for our paddle was my husband Scott, myself, Jim Hines, Jon Hayden and his son Brett. There were broad smiles throughout the trip!

One really cool feature of this particular paddle is watching the river’s progression from a narrow, fresh water, wooded environment to a brackish, wide open, salt water marsh setting – all in a two-hour paddle.

Brett Hayden rides in the bow of his dad's canoe. This is an excellent paddle for families of all ages. Photo courtesy of Jon Hayden.

And of course, no paddle is complete without a little reward of great food and delicious beer!! Scott and I hopped down to one of our favorite ‘after paddling’ spots, Sarah’s in Wiscasset, to enjoy the great food, great beer, and our buddy Greg behind the bar!

Sarah's in Wiscasset is one of our favorite after paddling spots!