Damariscotta resident Laurie Chandler has completed several long distance canoe paddles, including two trips on the Allagash Waterways, one on the West Branch of the Penobscot, and a solo trek last summer on Moose River. This summer she tackled the 363-mile long Maine section of the Northern Forest Canoe Trail.
“This was the most ambitious thing I’ve ever done,” Chandler said.
Chandler made the trek, not for the personal satisfaction, but to raise money for a cause she is passionate about. A teacher at Great Salt Bay School, Chandler was deeply touched by student Lindsay Merritt and her losing battle with cancer. She researched children’s cancer, then started following some of the heart wrenching stories on “kids blogs with cancer,” and felt compelled to do something to help.
She took action, and for 30 days this summer, Chandler paddled, carried, and pulled her kayak through mud, around water falls and over downed trees and beaver dams; through wet, cold and hot conditions and battled black flies so thick several nights she crawled into her tent without supper.
Her mission called “Paddle for Hope” has raised $9574 for the Maine Children’s Cancer Program (MCCP). Her goal is to raise $10,000. “This has been a real community effort,” she said.
Chandler said she is amazed at the community support she has gotten for the project. Her church, the Second Congregational of Newcastle held a concert, the Bremen Union Church a bottle drive; her daughter Megan organized a silent auction at Skidompha Library, and friends and family have chipped in to hold fundraisers. Her class at GSB made and sold dog biscuits at the Pirate Rendezvous.
The 740-mile long Northern Forest Canoe Trail stretches over four states and Canada and connects the major watersheds across the Adirondacks and Northern New England, including 22 rivers and streams, 56 lakes and ponds, and 62 carries or portages totaling 55 miles. “The whole thing was beyond my scope,” Chandler said, so she settled on doing the Maine portion of the trail.
She started her month long trek on the historic waterway at Magollay River near Erroll, N.H. June 19. “It was an adventure of a lifetime, definitely a challenge,” Chandler said. She finished on July 18 at Ft. Kent on the historic St. Johns River.
The river corridor she paddled runs northeast, and she paddled mostly with the current. Chandler made about 15 portages with her 48 pound kayak and 50-60 pounds of gear, including two over five miles long. “Every time I couldn’t put it on wheels and portage, it was three trips,” Chandler said. She would carry her kayak, then walk back and grab her pack and gear. “I was really pleased with the wheels. Basically I just had to push or pull it. It was just like going for a five mile walk.”
The toughest part of the trip was the notorious Mud Pond carry, she said. It was a 13-hour day for Chandler. The day started out with a five-mile paddle before hitting the two mile long portage. Because of sticks, roots, rocks, downed trees and beaver dams, Chandler carried her kayak along the muddy trek. Mud Pond was aptly named, as she waded through ankle deep mud to open water. After making the trek once, Chandler had to return for the rest of her gear. She then paddled three miles to get to her destination for the night.
“I wasn’t sure I could finish what I wanted,” she said. “I finished the last few miles, making it to Chamberlain Lake, to the campsite I wanted. It took all I had. The Mud Pond carry was far harder than anything else. You’re walking through ankle deep or deeper mud, and pulling up and over about 40 downed trees. You just have to say I’m going to do it. I’m glad I did it. It’s the carry people always talk about.”
On another tough day, Chandler’s kayak was “stolen.” She sent a 911 message on her SPOT (satellite transponder signal) to her parents George and Joan Apgar. After a couple of exhausting days, she needed a break, so she called her parents, who were her support team, and they picked her up for lunch. She left her kayak beside Rt. 16, and when she returned her kayak was gone.
“I thought it was the end of my trip,” she said. As it turned out, a police officer found it at nearby Cathedral Pines campsite. Fishermen discovered the kayak and thought it had blown out of a vehicle so brought it to the campground in the hopes of finding the owner.
Chandler said her only regret on the paddle was not paddling the six and a half mile against the current section after Grand Lake Falls near Jackman. “I decided to have mom and dad drive me up, and I paddled down the lake, it was the same number of miles,” she said.
The decision was made after she hurt her back, pulling and tugging on her kayak, which had capsized and got stuck under a fallen tree.
Of the scenery and wildlife, Chandler said, “you just immerse yourself in it. I’ve got some really treasured memories.” She saw 22 moose, three deer and more bald eagles than she could count. Fortunately she downloaded her photos shortly before her Nikon 2-Series camera fell out of her Dad’s pocket and into the water. He and her son Taylor Chandler spent nine days out of 30 paddling with her, and an aunt joined her on Moosehead Lake.
She saw many “remnants of the logging industry,” including train engines rusting along Eagle Lake. In the man made Flagstaff Lake, she saw foundations on shore, signs of a former community that was flooded out.
One of the high spots of the trip was stopping at Forest Lodge where Louise Dickinson Rich wrote “We Took to the Woods.” Flyfishing guide Aldro French welcomed her in and made her feel right at home. Another highlight was stopping at Damariscotta residents Janie and Paul Hartman’s camp on Mosselookmeguntic Lake.
Chandler capsized twice during the trip, losing some of her gear. On one occasion she thought her trip was over, when her kayak was lodged under a downed tree in fast water on Dead River and she struggled to free it after scrambling to collect as much of her gear as she could. “I was not in any danger, but it was the coldest day of the trip. It was 50 degrees.” Exhausted from her efforts, she pitched her tent on a sand bar and settled in for the night.
Some of the lake crossings were in windy conditions, which made for tough paddling. The six-mile crossing at “Moosehead was probably the worst,” she said.
Chandler spent just four nights of the 30 day trip sleeping inside. She trained for the trip by pulling her kayak to one of six lakes and ponds within walking distance of her Damariscotta home, and by walking and weight lifting.
Through it all she remembered the children and their stories she had read online. Their trials and triumphs she held close to her heart. Their struggles, strengths, and smiles pulled her through the most difficult and trying days.
“The children we are all helping were close to my mind the whole time. No matter how tough a day I had, I knew the challenge was going to be done. The children struggle day in and day out,” Chandler said.
To donate to Chandler’s Paddle for Hope campaign to benefit Maine Children’s Cancer Program, make checks payable to MCCP and mail them to Laurie Chandler at 16 Pinkham Road, Damariscotta, 04543.
