This can be an anxious time of year for midcoast Maine whitewater paddlers. Although whitewater paddling opportunities statewide continue throughout the spring and summer, the season here is short — and the midcoast whitewater racing season is even shorter, focused on the period last week of March and the first two weeks in April.
The local whitewater race season opens with the St. George race on March 28, continues with the Passy Race race on April 4, and concludes with the Marsh Stream race on April 4.
Snow on the ground is money in the bank that can lead to good paddling when it melts later. A fast melt due to unseasonably warm termperatures or heavy rains is like spending all that money at once. A slow melt due to cold temperatures and a lack of rain leads rivers to remain low or even frozen. And that’s the situation we are in right now.
According to NOAA charts, the average snow depth in midcoast Maine is 10 – 12 inches. In the woods as recent it is still more than that. The water equivalent of our snow cover is 6 to 8 inches. So there is plenty of “money” in the bank — and the makings of a great whitewater season.
However, the rivers seem a little slow to open up this year. The average flow (9 year mean) for the Ducktrap River for March 17 is 75 cubic feet per second. In comparison, the present flow on the Ducktrap is about 25 cfs.
The St. George and Passy River offer relatively easy whitewater, most of it Class 1 and Class II interspersed with sections of flatwater. For this reason, they are great rivers for those eager to get into the sport but without much canoeing or kayaking experiene. Information on the St. George and Passy Races is available from the Waldo County YMCA website.
The entire Maine canoe and kayak race schedule is at www.mackro.org/ MaCKRO (The Maine Canoe and Kayak Racing Organization) sponsors a 10-race whitewater, or “downriver” series, and a nine-race flat-water series. Mackro has a goal of bringing more young people into the sport. This year has developed it’s equipment loan program and has expanded categories / awards for young and first time paddlers.
“We’re trying to pull off some really nice awards, including nice championship sweatshirts, gift certificates … and only those people — new members and youth — who do at least five of those races can have their names put in a drawing for an Old Town Canoe,” Jeff Owen, club president, says in a recent Bangor Daily News article. Owen goes on to say that some races are sponsoring high school divisions, and others have begun offering prizes to children even younger than that.
For me, paddling in the St. George, Passy, and Kenduskeag Races has become a yearly ritual and a marker of spring. This is the best time of year if you are a midcoast Maine paddler. There is nothing quite like entering a stretch of whitewater with the sunlight sparkling on the river and the snow still deep in the woods.
Sure there is mud in the driveway and frost heaves in the roads. But those won’t be getting much of my attention. I’ll be out running the rivers, enjoying the snow all over again, as it melts and makes its way to the sea.