Ten canoes, 21 kayaks, 40 paddlers, three bald eagles and one minature papermaking machine. Those were the key numbers from the 10th day of the 10th anniversary Androscoggin Source to Sea Canoe (and kayak) Trek.

We started from the Mexico boat launch and ended at the Dixfield boat landing -- both hand-carry sites. Distance was about nine miles, and with a strong current, we easily paddled it in about three hours.

As always on this segment, lunch was a freebie, supplied by the NewPage paper mill in Rumford. The educational presentation was by the Pulp and Paper Workers Resources Council, which represents the plant's employees, and included a four-foot-long paper machine (a real one is a city block long) and a demo where kids could make their own sheet of paper.

The P&PWRC has been a fixture on the Trek for several years, and they even have a canoe lettered with their name. They represent active outdoors enthusiasts -- skiers, fishermen, paddlers, etc. They ran a big trash cleanup on this section of the river a couple weeks ago.

P&PWRC is committed to keeping the Androscoggin healthy, but they're also very obviously concerned about keeping the NewPage mill running. Their logo is a balance scale with the opposite sides labeled "environment" and "jobs."

Two adult eagles plus their offspring provided the day's avian excitement.

For details on joining the Trek, logon to www.avcnet.org/arwc.

Below are a few pictures I took of today's Trek segment.

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