Sunday, August 19, 2001
Five Kezar Ponds in North Waterford:
Magic in miniature and more awaits
canoeists in the west
Copyright © Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.
This is an outing with many diverse features. Buffalo burgers at world famous Tut's General Store in North Waterford, the Mud Pond fen, and the spectacular Kezar Falls Gorge. Add the many nooks and crannies of the four ponds that can be explored by canoe (Jewett Pond is inaccessible by boat), the backdrop of rolling hills surrounding the ponds and diverse bird life, and you have the makings of an enjoyable two-to-four hour exploratory.
Follow the Lovell/Five Kezars Road for three miles from Tut's and Route 35 in North Waterford. It turns from pavement to dirt. Keep going straight until you see the unnamed pond on the right. There is a rough boat access spot on the southeast shoreline.
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The Mud Pond fen is on the eastern edge of the unnamed pond. Quickly you are swallowed up in a dynamic world of organic matter. Stop paddling and just sit and observe. Much of the magic is in miniature: sundews, orchids, pitcher plants.
Pitcher plants sport a solitary waxy-looking purple flower up to a foot high. These plants have made intricate adaptations in order to successfully feed themselves. They are carnivorous, subsisting on a diet of unfortunate insects who have found their way into the pitcher. Downward pointing hairs stop the insects from climbing back out. The narrow confines of the walls eliminate escape by flight. The insect is a meal in the making once the enzymes start the breakdown process.
Larches with their feathery green needled branches dot the fen. These trees are one of the few evergreens that lose their needles. They turn a brilliant yellow in the fall, rivaling the red maple in splendor.
To get to Kezar Falls Gorge paddle into Middle Pond under a small concrete bridge and head down to the outlet on the southern end. Walk through the woods a few hundred yards on the east side of the stream. You will come to an open ledge with a chain link fence around it. The views down into the gorge are spectacular. It is like looking down into a giant piece of pottery, with the sculpted walls smoothed by centuries of ceaseless water flow. The water is jet black in the shadows, lending it a bottomless feeling. You could be in a slot canyon in Utah, but the fragrance of balsam fir brings you back to the beautiful reality of Maine.
The ponds do have some cottages on them, but each pond also sports undeveloped shoreline as well. Check out Tut's for an ice cream or fancier fare; it is a western Maine institution.
See Delorme Map #10.
Michael Perry of Freeport is former director of the L.L. Bean Outdoor Discovery Program and founder of Dreams Unlimited, specializing in multi-media programs about the outdoors.