Russell's Writings

This fall we're going to take the Kennebec River Brewery on-the-road to a number of Brewers Festivals in Maine and New Hampshire.

First up is the Maine Lakes Region BrewFest  on September 26, at Point Sebago Resort, Casco, Maine.

On October 3rd, we'll be at The Redhook Brewery, in Portsmouth, for the New Hampshire BrewFest.

The following weekend we'll be on the Maine coast at the Fourteenth Annual Acadia Oktoberfest at Smuggler's Den Campground, Southwest Harbor.

We round out the fall events with the Maine Brewers Festival, November 6th & 7th at The Portland Expo.

Come on out and check-out fine craft brews from many New England brewers. We'll have trip getaway drawings and your favorite KRB beers on tap.
 

Seven year-old Hayley Desjardins is the daughter of previous long-time, Northern Outdoors employee Mike Desjardins. Hayley has a rare bone marrow disease called Aplastic Anemia (she is now in remission).

Last September we held a very successful fundraising event and bone marrow drive for Hayley and her family. We added over 300 people to the National Bone Marrow Registry and one of the registrants at the event turned out to be a positive match for a someone who needed a transplant. As only 3 out of 10 people that need bone marrow transplants find a match we need to do everything we can to increase the odds and start saving move lives.

So, this Sunday, September 6th, 2009 we're going to hold the 2nd Annual Hugs From Hayley Bone Marrow Registry Drive at the lodge at Northern Outdoors.

The process is very simple, if you are between 18 and 55 and in good health, all you need to do is take a very simple cotton swab of your mouth, there's no blood, no pain and it's free! So please come participate between 2pm and 8pm at Northern Outdoors, in The Forks, join the Bone Marrow Registry and give the gift of life.

For more details please visit www.dkmsamericas.org
 

Last week we hosted our first guests doing a Hut-to-Hut hiking trip on the new Maine Huts and Trails system. The huts and trails are located between the Carrabassett Valley and the Kennebec Valley.

Our guests came all the way from the Caribbean to Maine last week! Erik and Ada, originally from the Netherlands, are currently living in St. Maarten. They told me they wanted to escape the summer heat of the Caribbean and experience a classic New England vacation. They planned their trip to include the weekend in Boston, exploring the coast of Maine and, authentic backcountry hiking in Maine’s North Woods.
 
Erik and Ada are enthusiastic European hikers it seems. They are both avid adventurers who have hiked in many locations including Scotland, Wales, France, Nepal and Dominica. They liked the Hut-to-Hut trip for its simplicity. After a night at Northern Outdoors, they were shuttled 90-minutes to the Poplar Stream Trailhead for the start of their 25-mile, three-day hiking journey, with their first overnight at The Poplar Stream hut and the second night at the new Flagstaff Lake Hut. From the Flagstaff hut they hiked back to the Kennebec Valley. Erik celebrated their hiking success and being the first to navigate the new Valley to Valley route this summer, with a couple of KBR pints, and Ada with two cups of green tea! 
 
Ps. Erik and Ada definitely got their wish to escape the heat of the Caribbean. It rained solidly the first two days of their hike, but they were well fed and well cared for by Maine Huts & Trails staff.  We are pretty excited about this new way to explore the western mountains of Maine. Guided and Self Guided Trips are offered from July to October for individuals and small groups. Custom programs can be developed for colleges, organizations and corporate groups – call 800-765-7238 for details

 

If you are planning to travel to the Can-Am  Bike Fest in St. Agapit, Quebec, in August you will need to be aware of the current requirements for crossing into Canada and back into the U.S. Listed below are a couple of helpful details:

Traveling into Canada. 
As of June 1, 2009 anyone arriving in Canada by land needs to show a passport or equivalent travel document such as a NEXUS card. For more specific details see the following website. http://gocanada.about.com/od/canadatravelplanner/qt/drive_border.htm

Returning to the U.S.A.
As of June 1. 2009  U.S. citizens entering the United States by land are required to have documents that comply with the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI), most commonly a U.S. passport, a passport card, a trusted traveler card such as NEXUS, SENTRI or FAST, or an enhanced driver's license. For more information see the Department of Homeland Security website.

Tickets for the event are available at the front desk at Northern Outdoors. The full schedule for the three-day event can be seen online at the Can-Am Bike Fest website.
 

With nothing but rain the past month here in New England, at some point you have to just say, “Enough-is-enough,” and get out and enjoy yourself regardless of the weather forecast.

Denis Fortin and his hardy crew of twenty or so motorcyclists from the Quebec, HOG Chapter did just that and braved the rain today on their annual ride south to The Forks.

Denis is no fair weather rider; last year he rode over 18,000 miles throughout eastern Canada and the U.S. This year he’s already traveled to Arizona and California with his wife and as the founder and president of the Can-Am Bike Festival he is hoping to attract over 10,000 motorcyclists to St.Agapit, Quebec for his inaugural bike festival aimed at bringing riders from Canada and the U.S.A together for three days of riding and festivities in August.

Northern Outdoors will be a destination for a daily ride for Festival goers and is designated as a lunchtime stop and meeting place for U.S. riders heading north to the event. For more details check out the motorcycle touring section of our website and www.CanAmBikeFest.com /us

 

Maine is a paradise for outdoor enthusiasts. We enjoy four very different seasons to fish, hike, ski, snowmobile, raft and generally revel in the great North Woods. As president of an outdoor company I get to play outdoors all year-long and when I’m not working I can often be found hiking, biking or exploring with my family and friends – it’s all good - summer, fall, winter there’s never a dull moment. There’s just one season I’m not so keen on – bug season, it generally starts around Memorial Day and lasts through until the first week of July. It’s not that you can’t go out in June, it’ just that you’ve got to make extra preparations to cover up, lather on the bugspray and prepare to get chewed.

So when I heard about Insect Shield clothing I had to try it. I ordered a couple of bandannas to start and they seemed to work, my neck didn’t get munched, so I ordered more; some socks, a shirt, a tee-shirt – the works, I bought clothing for my two young sons and it does the job. Insect Shield clothing is treated with a man-made version of a natural repellent found in chrysanthemum flowers. The treatment lasts for up to 70-washes and protects against mosquitoes, ticks, flies and no-see-ums. Now I’m not for a moment suggesting that Insect Shield clothing will save the world (although if you check out their Global Health Efforts you'll see they are doing their bit!), but anything that makes bug season bearable and enables more people to enjoy their outdoor adventures has my support.

Give it a try for yourself, you can find it locally in Maine at LL Bean’s or for a list of national retailers go to www.InsectShield.com, it just might make your next Maine family vacation that little bit more comfortable.
 

We've been thick into the ATV world for the past couple of days - hosting Taera McLean, and her camerman Doug, from DirtTrax TV as they film a DirtTrax TV segment on riding in Maine. Yesterday Jim Yearwood (Snowmobile trailmaster, ATV enthusiast, founder of our KBR brewery, and one of our owners) guided the group to Greenville and today they headed out to the new Moxie Falls trail. 

In this photo you can see Taera, doing her morning introduction with Jim Yearwood, in the background speaking to Joy and Alyssa Harvey from ATV Maine. We invited ATV Maine to join the filming to give their perspective on the developing statewide ATV Trail system and current issues effecting the sport here in Maine.  (see last summer's blog interviews with Jim Lane for more info on ATV Maine.)

This afternoon, I checked out the course for the fun run component of the upcoming Kennebec River Brewery, Raft ‘n Draft weekend. With all the dry weather we’ve had this past few weeks I have to report there’s not a lot of mud in sight, although Wednesday and Thursday it looks as if it will rain, so things could change dramatically.

The 3.7 mile run starts in the campground at Northern Outdoors at 10.30am and winds north along The Forks Area Scenic Trail for about 1.85 miles. The first section is undulating with some nice views of The Kennebec River. The course then crosses route 201 and climbs a steep dirt road for what seems like an eternity, but is in fact just 0.9 miles and an elevation gain of just over 500 feet.

Finally, it’s all downhill, back to The Forks Resort using the ATV Trail. Be advised, this last section is rocky, muddy, slippery and steep, but once back at the lodge there’s plenty of hot showers and perhaps a cold handcrafted beer as a fitting reward for your morning run. See you on Sunday. 

The Maine whitewater rafting season is underway and now with the Memorial Day holiday weekend comes the unofficial opening of Maine's ATV Trail System. Reports from riders in the area this weekend are that The Forks Area trails are generally in good condition with just a couple of wet spots. We had over twenty five riders stop in off the trails for lunch coming from Solon, Bingham, Rockwood and Greenville.

The connecting trail from the Boise Road to Northern Outdoors will be closed through the week due to an active logging operation and is only open on Saturday's and Sunday's and Monday May 25th. Riders leaving from Northern Outdoors will need to trailer their ATV''s a short distance to access the trail system during the week. 

Area ATV Trail Maps are available at the main lodge at Northern Outdoors. We are also working to get them online.

Please remember riding on private land in Maine is a privilege, our rural economies and lifestyle depend on your respect for private property.

Have fun, ride responsibly, ride safe, and respect private land.
 

We are pleased to announce that the Kennebec River Pub & Brewery is included in the new Maine Beer Trail which debuted on May 11th.

The purpose of the Trail is to entice visitors and residents of Maine to recognize the vibrant micro and craft brewing industry found throughout the state. The Maine Beer Trail brochure, with a map of the state's breweries and brew pubs, is available at The Kennebec River Pub & Brewery, as well as at Maine Visitor Centers and participating breweries and brew pubs (we’re at stop number 6 on the map, located just below Moosehead Lake). Downloadable brochures are available from Northern Outdoors' website and from the Maine Brewers' Guild website.

To celebrate the new Beer Trail, and craft brewing in general, we will be hosting a number of Brewery events this summer. The first event is less than two weeks away, our RAFT n' DRAFT n' MUDRUN on May 30th.  Raft the Dead River at the "Wicked Fun" level of 5500CFS, then return to The Forks Resort Center main lodge for a Pig Roast, brewery tours, beer tasting, and live entertainment on Saturday the 30th. Then if you are up-for-it, bring out your "inner athlete" and run for laughs and zany prizes in our first ever 4-Mile Mudrun/ Walk/ Crawl on Sunday morning, May 31st. 

We think it’s a magical combination, whitewater rafting and fresh brews handcrafted on site – come up and join in the fun.
 

We kicked off the 2009 Maine Whitewater rafting season today with a trip down the Dead River with 56 adventurous souls.

After weeks of preparation it's always nice to get the first trip of the year on-the-water.

Now we can look forward to three more Dead River trips in May, whitewater guide training which starts on May 14th and our first ever Raft-n-Draft event on May 30th sponsored by our very own Kennebec River Brewery. There will be beer tasting, live music, a pig roast, brewery tours, did I mention the beer tasting? rafting on the Dead River and for those with any energy left on Sunday there's a 4-mile mud run/walk/crawl to celebrate spring in Maine.

In addition to rafting we're also gearing up for spring fishing, our new hut-to-hut hiking program and the arrival of Maine's ATV season at the end of the month.

So, don't sit around lamenting the woes of the world, grab a paddle, your hiking boots, a fishing rod or your ATV keys and get up here to The Forks to shake off the winter cobwebs and start to enjoy the benefits of Maine's great outdoors.