paddle. pedals. pen.

  • Katahdin: A Winter Ascent

    Katahdin: A Winter Ascent

    My pulk sled, laden with five days’ provisions, threatens to pull me down the hill I’ve been laboring up for the past quarter mile. I lean forward, dig in with my mountaineering snowshoes, and summon all the strength I can muster to lug this tremendous burden to the top of the hill. Read more

  • Portaging and Paddling the Debsconeag Lakes Loop

    Portaging and Paddling the Debsconeag Lakes Loop

    The Abenaki word Debsconeag, meaning “carrying place,” aptly describes the Debsconeag Lakes Wilderness Area, located southwest of Baxter State Park. Managed by The Nature Conservancy, this pristine parcel of land is home to remote ponds linked by a network of portage trails winding through mature forest. After years of dreaming about paddling here—inspired by the Read more

  • Ocean Meets Mountains

    Ocean Meets Mountains

    It’s a rare and memorable experience to hike above treeline on a windless, blue-bird day and look down on a bank of clouds. But the show we had on Sunday was beyond compare. Soon after reaching Thunderstorm Junction, as we started to ascend Mount Adams on Lowe’s Path, the undercast transformed into ocean. Crashing waves Read more

  • Embracing Slow-Motion Travel

    Embracing Slow-Motion Travel

    //a paddling journey with friends on the US-Canadian Border// “Will the campsites be obvious?” The question comes from one of the canoes at the back of our little flotilla and has been directed at me—I planned this trip. I assumed they would be, but I admit, after paddling for several hours and not seeing any, I’m not entirely Read more

  • Winter in 10 Photos

    Winter in 10 Photos

    January 2: Short days, long shadows January 7: A splash of color on the pond January 21: Early morning ski in Maine’s 100-mile wilderness January 28: Skiing through snowflakes in the County February 5: High noon in Tuckerman’s Ravine February 11: Blue bird day on Isolation February 20: Skiing in Baxter State Park February 22: Read more

  • 7 Reasons Why Your Next Backpacking Trip Should be a Paddling Trip

    7 Reasons Why Your Next Backpacking Trip Should be a Paddling Trip

    This article was originally published on goeast.com. There’s no question that hiking and backpacking offer rich rewards, but they come at a cost. Sore feet, muddy trails, and long days wearing backpacks. Why not switch it up? A paddling trip offers a lot of the same benefits as backpacking (nights in beautifully wild places, moving Read more