MaineToday.com | PaddleME: Sunny day on Saco River

Scott Andrews, a Registered Maine Guide from Portland, began messing around with canoes and kayaks as a child in Oxford County. He enjoys both saltwater and inland paddling and frequently leads canoe and kayak trips for the Maine Outdoor Adventure Club.

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August 01, 2007

Sunny day on Saco River

Two friends and I paddled down the most popular section of the Saco River yesterday. We purposely picked a weekday to avoid the crowds, but we couldn't avoid all the trash that they left behind.

Jonathan Keck and Cherie Perkins are two friends I met through the Maine Outdoor Adventure Club, and we've frequently paddled together over the past decade.

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Jonathan Keck paddles stern yesterday on our trip down the Saco River.
SCOTT ANDREWS PHOTO

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Cherie Perkins paddles her 12-foot Walden down the Saco yesterday.
SCOTT ANDREWS PHOTO

Soon after launching at Canal Bridge (Route 5) we noticed many hundreds of cans -- mostly beer cans -- littering the river bottom and tossed up on the banks. And walking on the Saco's famous sandbars and swimming off the beaches was treacherous due to the large amount of broken glass.

And the trash pile left on one of the sandbars was really gross!

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Trash pile left on a sandbar on the Saco River yesterday.
SCOTT ANDREWS PHOTO

I've been paddling the Saco in the Fryeburg area for more than 20 years, and yesterday was the worst I've ever seen in terms of trash.

I don't want to sound too negative. The water was still clear as ever and those of us paddling yesterday had a pleasant trip.

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Paddlers enjoying yesterday's superb weather on the Saco River.
SCOTT ANDREWS PHOTO

Several of the sandbar campsites were occupied.

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Campsite on the Saco River in Fryeburg.
SCOTT ANDREWS PHOTO

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Cherie glides past a campsite.
SCOTT ANDREWS PHOTO

Posted by Scott Andrews at 12:14 AM

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Comments

It's hard to understand the mentality of people who paddle a beautiful river like the Saco and leave their trash behind to desecrate it. They obviously have no respect for nature or for other people.

Posted by Lee
August 2, 2007 11:26 AM

I feel your pain. This weekend will be the third year that my friends and I tube, or better yet - float, down the Saco. Every year we end up with a nice collection of cans and bottles. The upside: a cleaner river and gas money.

While we do our share of partaking in various beverages and having a good time, we also do our best to put our empties in a trash bag and pick up any we might see floating on the wayside.

If you bring it - take it back with you! There is no curbside trash pickup. Please....pick up after yourselves so that others behind you can enjoy.

Leave the river better than you found it.

Posted by LIz
August 2, 2007 06:36 PM

LOL You post as if the people who litter will read it and learn! They don't care they won't be back til next year and we will have it cleaned by then. Here is a thought. There is a select group making good money off our river. How about they volunteer their employees to cruise the river every so often and clean up. I am sure they could barter for more help. They could hand out trash bags and set up trash dropoff points along the way that they could maintain. Seems only fair. Not saying their clients are the problem, just that they have a vested interest in a beautiful river.

Posted by
August 3, 2007 10:00 PM