Forty-five paddlers, including a number of serious trash collectors, made their way between Mexico and Dixfield yesterday on the Androscoggin River Source-to-the-Sea Trek. Weather-wise it was the most gorgeous day imaginable. Too bad we only did 10 miles!

And speaking of the number 10, yesterday was the 10th day of the Trek's total of 20, which began July 6 in Lake Umbagog and will finish July 25 at Fort Popham, on the Gulf of Maine.

Yesterday's Androscoggin River Source-to-the-Sea Trek began with unloading cars and getting ready at the Mexico boat launch, which is actually on the Swift River, just upstream of its confluence with the Andro.
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Getting started yesterday on the Swift River, a few dozen yards upstream of its confluence with the Androscoggin.
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Forty-five paddlers, in 15 tandem canoes and 15 solo kayaks, made their way down the Androscoggin River yesterday. NewPage paper company's Rumford Mill is in the background.
SCOTT ANDREWS PHOTO

About half our numbers comprised employees of the nearby NewPage paper mill, which provided a picnic lunch in Dixfield.

Several of our paddlers were members of the Pulp & Paperworkers' Resource Council, a pro-active national enviornmental group. Rumford members have been active in pulling trash from the Andro for years.

Scot Grassette drew laughs when he conducted a mock auction of items he and his cohorts had recently hauled out of the river, including an automobile engine, a shopping cart, bicycle, baby carriage and chemical containers. But it was no joke: These items really came out the Andro, and as we paddled along yesterday, the PPRC crew hauled out a bunch of tires and another shopping cart.

Scot Grassette conducts a mock auction of items he and fellow members of the Pulp & Paperworkers' Resource Council have pulled out of the Androscoggin River.
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Wanna buy some trash? Closeup view of a truckload of trash that was recently hauled out of the Androscoggin River by the Pulp & Paperworkers' Resource Council.
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Scot Grassette is a forceful spokesman for the Pulp & Paperworkers' Resource Council, a national organization with an active Rumford chapter.
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Scot proved to be an effective spokesman for the PPRC's goal of balancing jobs in the paper industry with environmental concerns.

Two other PPRC members with us yesterday were Deano Gilbert and Fran Dragoon, who paddled the organization's officially lettered green canoe. They've been with us for years.

Yesterday a friend and I got out on saltwater for the first time this season when we paddled the New Meadows River in the West Bath-Brunswick area.

I haul my kayak up to the New Meadows a couple of times each summer, but for paddling pal Cherie Perkins, yesterday marked a first.

Paddling pal Cherie Perkins, pictured shortly after launching her kayak yesterday in the New Meadows River.
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It's a long estuary on a north-south axis and it has many attractive islands. Due to the strong breeze from the south that kicked up some chop in open sections, we put in at Sabino on the West Bath side, which is several miles from the open ocean.

Cherie paddles across the New Meadows River yesterday.
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After paddling past the red daymark near the entrance to the Sabino area, we crossed the river, continued past Bragdon Island and stopped for lunch at one of the attractive little islets marked "Three Islands" on the chart. It's one of my two favorite lunch stops in the New Meadows.

With a rapidly rising tide and not much beach to haul up on, we tied our boats to a line which I anchored with a couple of large rocks. By the time we'd finished eating, both boats were bobbing at anchor.

Kayaks float at their informal anchor at Three Islands.
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After lunch, we paddled north past Indian Point up into the Gurnet area, stopping at Iron Island, which is another good lunch spot. By the time we returned to Sabino, thunderclouds were evident, and it poured by the time we reached Brunswick on the drive back.

Cherie enjoyed her first day paddling the New Meadows River.
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