My Book!!

One opportunity that the blog has brought me is the co-authoring of a guidebook, Paddling Southern Maine! It is something in which I take a lot of pride! My writing partner, Sandy Moore, and I have created a book with 54 amazing trips that are within about an hour of Portland! Our motto as we wrote the book was wanting to 'get people to spend the day on the water and not in their cars!'

If you want more information on our book please click on the image of the book below.

Sandy and I are available to attend/present various functions/events. Please email me at mainekayakgirl@gmail.com for more information!

Thursday, July 28, 2022

Prong Pond, Greenville, Maine


 


Body of Water:  Prong Pond, Greenville, Maine - Maine Gazetteer Map 41 C3



Important Note: On the map, next to Moosehead Lake, Prong Pond looked like a small place.  It covers 427 acres according to maine.gov  It took me more time than I anticipated to explore all of the nooks and crannies!  (Totally worth it by the way!)

Directions: From the center of Greenville (Intersection of Lily Bay Road, Rt 6, and Pritham Avenue) 

Drive North on Lily Bay Rd (towards Lily Bay state Park) for just under 7 miles.  

Turn Right onto Prong Pond Rd. 

Take first right (follow sign) down a narrow dirt road to the boat launch.  


Note: This is moose country  - go slowly!  The dirt road to the boat launch is narrow and has BIG potholes.  Be careful!


Parking: There are only a couple of places close to the launch that looks like dedicated parking spots.  There are signs along the west side that says no parking, private property.  Please remember to respect that.  I was the only person there when I arrived ,but when I left there were a few other vehicles that people had just made fit in this area.  A bit above the launch area is a separate parking area.  

EEK I forgot to get pics of parking, sorry!

Launch: the boat launch is designed in a loop so that people can drive around then back their boats down the grooved cement ramp.  The launch is wide enough for a vehicle and there was some space off to the side to 'park' my kayak while I parked the truck after unloading my kayak. 



 



Fees: None

Bathroom: None

Wildlife: On my visit I saw a lot of birds including loons and red winged blackbirds.  I saw beaver lodges and so much habitat that I imagine would be home to deer and moose.  (The person who recommended this spot said there is often wildlife.)  This place felt so untouched; I imagine a lot of wildlife calls this place home!

Notes: I LOOOOOOVE this pond!  I was headed to the Moosehead area for a conference and was excited to possibly have the chance to paddle in that area.  I had posted in one of the facebook kayaking groups I am in and asked if anyone had any suggestions and someone named James suggested Prong Pond.  

I googled it and saw the shape of the pond and it seemed there were a lot of nooks and crannies to explore... my kind of place!  

(Map from Google) 

I can now say, after a ride on the Katahdin, Moosehead Lake is beautiful. And I Am sure some people would wonder why I didn't paddle there if I was in that neck of the woods.   Moosehead is too big for me... when I kayak I like places with few to none power boats and like places where seeing wildlife is likely.  

Prong Pond was perfect!  There are a couple of structures, camps/homes, on Prong Pond that are barely visible from the pond, but for the most part, I would say that this pond is almost...untouched! 

I got on the water around 8:00 a.m. To be honest I would have loved to be on the pond earlier - you all know I loooove being on the water as the sun comes up... but the night before I was over two hours from Prong Pond... so having gotten on the road before 6 a.m. to launch by 8 was pretty good.  

When I arrived the water was so calm.  I looked across the pond and was really excited to be there.  I saw a couple of islands, some big boulders and even from the launch could see that the landscape varied along the shore.  
 
There were places with thick evergreens...
 
 
Places with views of the hills!



There were huge boulders!

 
And some exposed roots...


 
 
An important note... there are many boulders in this pond and I admit I ended up 'brushing' against or up on many of them!  I was so interested in everything around me I wasn't always watching the water and did not see the boulders that were just under the surface!  

When I launched I debated which way to go... left or right... I decided to go right... I stuck to the shore so that I could explore it all! (In the map above, the green dot is the launch site... so when I launched I headed southeast.)  

The reflections were incredible.  I took a lot of photos and videos as I was taking it all in!  One of my favorite areas was the 'arm' of the pond that shoots out towards 9:00 (If it was a clock)This seemed to be prime moose habitat.  I did not see any, but would not have been surprised to have seen one at any moment!  
 

 
The shores of this area were very marshy... and I saw hundreds of pitcher plants!  I have seen a few of them in other ponds, but I have NEVER seen so many in one place...I think, if I had to name this area I would call it Pitcher Plant Passage!  

If you are unfamiliar with pitcher plants... they are pretty fascinating  - they are a carnivorous plant... kind of like the Venus flytrap.  I saw them along the shore in other marshy areas on this pond as well, but this part was just astounding!  (I think I may make a tiktok video just about the pitcher plants I saw here!)  there is only one pitcher plant that is native to Maine.  Learn more here! 


 


I kept paddling and enjoyed more forested areas and then into areas that were 'boggy'... I love the trees in boggy areas... they have such a different texture!  In those areas I saw some signs of beavers, but did not see any of those busy builders! 
 



 
As I got to the southwestern most part of the pond the temperature was rising!  I was glad I had brought enough water!  I admit that at that point I realized this pond is bigger than I expected... in my defense - Prong Pond, compares to Moosehead Lake is SMALL... but... compared to other ponds, it is BIG!  It's all about perspective!  
 
It was so hot that my camera got overheated...and some of the photos show it... like this one... 


As I paddled back towards the launch, I knew, from the map, that I had another area to explore... the right leg of the map... and truth be told... as the temp was rising.. and my arms tiring, I thought about bypassing it and heading straight for the launch.. but I also REALLY wanted to see what may be there.. and I am glad I went!  It was beautiful - definitely had that remote feeling.  I loon kept diving around me- I love watching them underwater.  

This area was another area where there MUST be moose!  I mean... there was grass in the water that they like... part of me wanted to stay there and just wait for sunset.. but my conference was starting around 5... so I could not stay... but you can bet next time I am in this area I am gonna either get there by sunrise or... enjoy sunset!  

This was an incredible spot!!!!  If you are in that area - go there... NOW (or the next time there is daylight!)  If you are not from there... it is worth the trip!  

Here are some more pics - I apologize that some of them have a funky glow because of the overheating of my phone!!

This was one of the boggy areas!





There were also MANY Irises along the way.  I didn't get the photo I wanted, but this was close!


Saw this little froggy hanging out!
 
Again, I loved the diverse landscape...

 
It was so calm and so fun to explore so may places



























Again - this was a beautiful spot... I will be back!!

Monday, May 9, 2022

A Pristine Pond...

 



Body of Water:  In order to learn about this pond, Turner Pond in Polermo, and get directions, you need to email me, mainekayakgirl@gmail.com I don't keep too many places top secret, but this place... hush hush!
 
Directions: Gotta ask me!
 
Parking:  Side of the road
 
Launch: gradual, gravel/sand after a short driveway.

 
Fees:  none
 
Bathroom: none
 
Wildlife: Loons, beavers, snake, hummingbird, deer, and likely so much more!

Notes: I got a chance to paddle an AMAZING place last summer.  It was so amazing... felt so untouched... that I have debated about how much information to share about it.  The launch is public... but it is surrounded by private property with A LOT of signage indicating it was private property.  My friend and paddling buddy, Donna, was with me.  We spotted some 'locals' sitting on their porch and Donna asked them about the launch.  

We learned that the people who own the property around the launch got very sick of finding trash and other things in that area.  The land was being disrespected and so they posted that the property is private.  The launch is part of a fire road and therefore accessible by the public, but I debated about using the launch because the people nearby had obviously tried to deter people from using it.  When we were getting off the pond a father and son were getting ready to launch to go fishing... that made me feel better about having used it... so if you do go here... be super mindful of your presence (as we all need to be always) and park at your own risk.

When I say pristine - i mean ... there was no trash anywhere in the pond... there were indications that other people are there at times, but we saw no other humans!  






How cool is this Rock island?




 

Pup's gotta nap when she's tired!



 

Jerky in a kong bone? Yes please!

 

Time for lunch? Did you say lunch? I think you said lunch!




 

Fresh wild blueberries!

 

This snake was a big one! At first I thought it was dead... but it was very much alive!









This place was incredible. Truly a hidden gem!!  I hope to get back there this summer!