August 1974 would end with the approach to the Kennebec River, first with a 20 mile day from Breakneck Ridge LT to Pleasant Pond LT. As would be the norm for Maine, it was a wet day, and my boots were constantly wet. On the last day of August, we crossed the Kennebec early in the morning with no problem. My journal reported “Big .2 Mile! More like 400 feet or perhaps up to 600 feet. Got up to my crouch or pant legs. No sweat….Dried out in sun on west bank especially boots and sox.”
The actual river gauge for that week shows the trend. The river was flowing about 3000 CFS just north of Caratunk, slightly higher than the norm for the date (the Triangle). Caratunk, is the Abenaki, first nation’s name meaning “forbidding or crooked stream” and interestingly enough Kennebec is “level water river’ or long quiet water.”
Posts
