Whitewater canoeing in Maine... lots of pics!

[Maine Finn]

Woo-hoo! That was a great weekend. I was unable to paddle with the rest of the group, but I designated myself official photographer for the weekend. Myself and my half-sized assistant, who may appear in several pictures, took well over five hundred pictures - I kid you not. Damn glad I bought a big memory stick!

Images deleted.

[memphiz]

Looks like you had fun...

*cries becuase nothing is photoshopable*

[Fintin]

i need to get a kayak...yes i know those are canoes....so many friggidy rivers up north...and in a few years my rents will be living in utah...

[Maine Finn]

Looks like you had fun...

*cries becuase nothing is photoshopable*

Don't cry, mate. There's a couple photoshoppable pics, but I didn't post 'em here. I'll PM one or two in a second.

I'll probably blackout faces, though. PerSec, you know. I don't have permission to post the good ones. :(

[memphiz]

Looks like you had fun...

*cries becuase nothing is photoshopable*

Don't cry, mate. There's a couple photoshoppable pics, but I didn't post 'em here. I'll PM one or two in a second.
haha , oh thats ok. Its funny to humiliate born-to-beraped :D

[Maine Finn]

A couple more.
Images deleted.

I remember the first time I paddled here, it was rippin'. The wave train several hundred yards below this spot was huge and went on for ever. My stern man and I dumped somewhere near the beginning as we tried to power through and I swam a good bit down the middle of the river. Man, that was the scariest thing. Every two to three seconds, a wave hit me. I was doing everything right - nose and toes up, on my back, paddle in my hand - everything except for swim. I never thought of that part. There wasn't time. I'd pop out of the water after a wave, catch a quick breath, and then get slammed again. I don't know how long I was out there, but I got trashed hard. The river always wins.

Too bad I couldn't go back and do it again. That was so awesome.

Whitewater hearts, baby! Woo-hoo! woot

[Ria]

woo!! woot That is awesome MF :D Only been white-water rafting once, I enjoyed it so much! Those pics bring back memories :) Looks like you had a great time :)

[Jack Mehoff]

no towel pics?

[memphiz]

click here (http://img23.photobucket.com/albums/v70/memphiz/DSC02285.jpg)



edit:stupid smily thing

[Maine Finn]

woo!! woot That is awesome MF :D Only been white-water rafting once, I enjoyed it so much! Those pics bring back memories :) Looks like you had a great time :)

Whitewater canoeing is so much more fun. It's definitely a hard-core group that I paddle with. If my knees hadn't been bothering me so badly this weekend, I would have been right out there on the water with them. Team Synergy all the way, man.

The best paddle I've ever had was down Millinockett Stream when it was rippin' some serious cfs. Holy CRAP that was an awesome day. The end of the run was a quarter-mile straight of Class III or Class IV whitewater. I can't remember exactly. My stern man and I swamped, saved it, but there was so much water in the boat that we just couldn't hold it up and we had to roll out. Oooooh jeez, that was a blast.

Good times, man, good times. I could go on and on with stories. It just one of those things you have to go out and do to understand.

[Haiw]

Did that kinda stuff twice (on calm water). Both times it meant a lot of swimming. :D

[Uncle Sam]

This one time...In canoe camp...

Nice pics... :D

[Dennis G]

looks like fun

I love the outdoors stuff woot

[Herrmannek]

Nice I like "kajaking" :)

[MolliG]

no towel pics?
http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/5082/MFTowel.jpg
Bit of a crappy attempt I know. MF if you want it removed just say.

;) :lol:

[Jack Mehoff]

*Right Click, Save As*

[Midtown]

BELETED

[Maine Finn]

no towel pics?
[Pic]
Bit of a crappy attempt I know. MF if you want it removed just say.

;) :lol:

rofl

That's wrong in so many ways....


Hermannek-
Kayaking is for wimps. Real people canoe. ;)

[Herrmannek]

Hermannek-
Kayaking is for wimps. Real people canoe. ;)

Canoying is for old farts and small children :)

[Maine Finn]

Hermannek-
Kayaking is for wimps. Real people canoe. ;)

Canoeing is for old farts and small children :)

Aside from a couple exceptions, the folks I paddle with are far from that.

[Herrmannek]

Aside from a couple exceptions, the folks I paddle with are far from that.

No self-respecting monkey would sit in one of that canoes :)

[Maine Finn]

Aside from a couple exceptions, the folks I paddle with are far from that.

No self-respecting monkey would sit in one of those canoes :)

We're not monkeys... we're bettah than that.

http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/5404/DSC02156.JPG

[Herrmannek]

Aside from a couple exceptions, the folks I paddle with are far from that.

No self-respecting monkey would sit in one of that canoes :)

We're not monkeys... we're bettah than that.

Betahh than monkey? How come? We are big black, and have ****in big red BUTTS...

[Midtown]

MFC? is that your name?? Monkey ****ing cocanut?

[Maine Finn]

I posted the following quoted material on my LiveJournal this morning. It's a break-down of the weekend as best I could remember.


Yee-hah, baby! Awesome weekend. Even though I didn't paddle at all, I still had a pretty good time. Between the two of us, Katie and I took over five hundred pictures. Five hundred. She's a better photographer than I am. I smell a Christmas gift...

But anyway. Friday night was okay. Took pictures, laughed at people. I pulled on my poly, grabbed a jacket and my "No Fear" helmet, and took a newbie out onto the lake to work on strokes. After going through the whole set once, he decided he was going to jump out of the canoe (we were in one of the hogboats) because he was already wet. I started to say "Wait, I'm not set up - " but he was already halfway over the gunwhale. I flicked my paddle out to low-brace, but I wasn't quick enough and couldn't save it. Over I went. I came up sputtering lake water. "You dork." I said as I flipped the canoe back upright. "Hold onto this side." He did so as I swam around to the other side and hauled myself back into the boat. I braced and kept it as steady as I could whilst he heaved himself back in as well. We worked our way back to shore carefully, emptied the boat of water, then hopped in, and paddled back out. He jumped back out once we were a dozen yards or so out, but I was better prepared and at least held a low-brace before slipping out of my thigh straps. We were back in the water a second time. I righted the canoe again, grabbed the bow painter line, and struck out for shore. My partner held onto the stern painter and let me drag him and the boat along. Erica paddled up and took our paddles for us until we could empty out the water. When this was accomplished, she said "Hey, Fiz. Come get your paddles."
"Okay," I said, and started to wade out to where she was waiting.
"I'm kidding! Hold on," she said, and paddled over. Greg and I took our paddles and off we went a third time. The poor guy was shaking and cold by this time, so I took him to the beach where the camp was and let him get out. I wanted to practise my rolling a little, considering that I'd failed to manage it twice in a row. It didn't go well. But considering I was paddling solo in a tandem boat, I guess I shouldn't have expected too much. My last attempt in the tandem was the best. I managed to stay in the boat after going upside-down and was able to get it back onto its side before losing my thigh straps. The closest I've come to a successful roll. I took the hogboat back in and swapped it for an Ovation, which I had less luck in, perhaps because I was tired and a little cold by this point. After a few tries, I gave up and took the boat back in. Everyone else had since taken their boats back up to the trailers and gone to get changed. I tossed my helmet and jacket into the boat, waded out a little into the lake, and then dove in. A nice, short swim to help me relax a bit before getting changed.

The few OTers that were there Friday night hung out in the back of Chev's truck and talked. A couple students and TAs came and went. Nothing really special. Just friends killing time. After debriefing, we gathered in front of McLaughlin's truck and shot the breeze some more. Man, it was just plain cool. Listening to the stories about backing up to the drive-thru window at Burger King, getting kicked out of McDonald's for throwing knives at seagulls in the parking lot, and other things. Then the group scattered to go to the dam and look out over the lake at Mount Katahdin. I wandered around a bit, then unrolled my ground pad and sleeping bag in the back of Chev's truck and went to sleep.

Saturday morning came early. There were only a couple people down by the fire, so I sat with them for awhile and wandered about until it came time for breakfast. Then it was loading gear and piling into trucks to head for Grindstone. At the put-in point, we studied the lack of water and I helped get boats ready. Someone found some underwear hanging in a tree and tied it to the bow of one of the boats as a decoration or a "good-luck" piece. I snapped a picture or two of the "ceremony". Then it was off to the take-out point with the trailers, where myself and the one adult not paddling were left to watch the vehicles and wait for the group to arrive. I climbed into the bed of McLaughlin's truck, curled up in the small bit of space amid the gear and boxes, and took a nap. Not long after waking up, I dragged out the two food bins and set up for lunch. Upon seeing the first paddlers drift round the bend in the river, I dug out my camera and waited. Doug and Foraker made a bet that Foraker wouldn't be able to roll successfully within five minutes. If Foraker could do it, Doug had to make him dinner that night and breakfast the next morning. He didn't make it but not for want of trying. Lunch came and went, then we loaded back up and headed for camp. Once back, boats were unloaded and the whole lot went out onto the lake to work on strokes. I changed into my semi-dry clothes from the day before and helped a couple of boats that had dumped just off-shore. When they were out of sight around a point of land, I pushed the Synergy that was left on shore into the water and paddled around a bit before beaching it and running down to the dam to investigate the cause of the air horn. It was believed that the horn meant the gates were being opened. That was not the case this time. I must have made quite a sight, with my red rescue vest, yellow helmet, and black paddle, running down the dirt road to the dam. I crossed the dam and picked my way along the opposite shore for a ways before turning back. To free up my hands, I shoved the paddle shaft under my vest, so that the T-grip stuck out over my right shoulder and the blade stuck out near my bum. I ran most of the way back to camp like this.

Debriefing that night started early and ended late. Savage asked us to describe our most memorable experience. It was spent telling stories and sharing memories of Good Times gone by. The quote at the top of the entry originated there. Chris couldn't find his pants and was told they had been stuffed in the back of Bob's van. We had a good, long laugh at that, as it came out of the blue. When at last it came to be my turn, I had little desire to speak. I mentioned paddling down Millinockett Stream last year with Neil, and how he paddled standing up in calmer water along the way. I also mentioned the winter trip where Roger broke a sled over my head as I was flying past him on the sliding hill. Several others laughed and pitched in on that one, having been there to see it. The four seniors in the group got a chance to speak at the end, about how much they had learnt and done and seen within the programme. Good times. Good times.

Sunday was much the same as Saturday. Get up, eat breakfast, pack up tents and such, load gear, clean up camp, then head out to Abol Bridge. We got to the parking lot at the bridge around ten, but for some reason, the group did not get underway until around eleven-thirty. Katie and I stayed behind, took pictures of each other dancing in her mum's truck, played cards, and listened to the radio. Finally, around two or so, the drivers were shuttled back and we were off to the take-out point. Once there, it was more waiting and loading boats onto the trailers. Katie and I took more pictures. There was a group of rafters on the river as well, and we used their flat-bed trailer as a kitchen until we were told that the rafting group was within sight. The "kitchen" moved promptly to the tailgate of McLaughlin's truck.

We got back to school around five thirty, a good deal later than usual. There were a few parents waiting near the building for us. Gear got unloaded, people hung around for awhile, then gradually left. I promised Katie that I would show her how to make a movie out of the "dancing pictures" on Wednesday. Finally, around six-twenty, my ride showed up, I said goodbye, and the weekend was officially over.

[Herrmannek]

MFC? is that your name?? Monkey f*** cocanut?

I deny I had any kind of ****** intercurse with cocanuts... ;)

[Midtown]

spoken like a true politician

[Maine Finn]

Bump.

Thread is fixed now.

For the record, I'm not a part of the programme that runs the canoeing trips anymore. Lack of interest on my part, for all that I've said about enjoying the activities.