any white water near Bangor this week?

[johnfrombangor]

is there any little stretch of white water near bangor in mid summer? (I mean barring a heavy rainfall?)
even just one drop somewhere? on the stillwater or penobscot (by an old mill?)
if not, what's the closest one we could drive to?
Kenduskeag is pretty dried up (19 cfs, and only 2.9 feet high). any ideas?

[johnfrombangor]

other than blue hill falls, I mean

[cdalton]

There are a few places where the lower Penobscot has nice (maybe up to class II) rapids. One place is at the upstream end of Ayers Island in Orono. You can put in below the island at the boat ramp on Union St then work upstream, lining along the east bank (river left) when you get to the rapids, then turn around and run them.

Another place is on either side of the Birch Islands near Greenbush. The scenery on that stretch is gorgeous. I think there's also whitewater in the channel east of Indian Island, but I've never gone down that way.

While the whitewater isn't super hard, self recovery would be challenging because it's such a big river.

[johnfrombangor]

thanks chris, where do you put in for the birch islands? (that's the islands in the V of the "Peace Sign" at Greenbush, right?)

[cdalton]

[... all we are say-ying ... is give peace a chance ...]

Yes, I think that's it. There's Sugar Island, the big round one, and then several islands downstream. The middle ones are the Birch Islands.

If you're exploring the area, there are great maps at the Penobscot Nation's site:
www.penobscotnation.org/DNR/GIS/downloads/mapstodownload.html
All those islands are part of the reservation.

I usually put in at the Greenbush boat ramp (picnic area beside US 2) and go upstream. If you have time and can shuttle, Passadumkeag or Howland are also possible. If you feel like putting miles on the odometer, you can go all the way from Howland to Old Town without a portage.