Katahdin Experience

     When I was 19 years old I was given the chance to go on a canoe trip into the Maine Woods. At 19, I too had read Thoreau and was influenced by his words. The trip began floating down stream for two days. The third day, we spent pulling our canoes upstream, the 4th day, we spent  1/2 the day camped by a small dam and took turns jumping off the dam to bob up down below. It was exhilarating to fall through the water, be pushed down and then forced to the surface. It is an experience I will never forget and it introduced me to the power of water. Continual energy just waiting to be harnessed and used. The place we were at was known as Twin Ponds. At the time, all I knew  was I was in the wilderness and it was a trip of a life time.  The other 1/2 of the 4th day we paddled across the pond and camped. Our gear had been soaked by a summer shower and we needed to dry out. I will not forget the water in the adjoining canals that we traveled. 10 feet of water, crystal clear, fish so big and plentiful, moose at the edge of the ponds, and black bears at the dump in Katahdin Land.

     Friday, we met a 1 ton truck and trailer and we loaded up and headed through some of the wildest roads I had ever seen. One lane, with grass so tall that we could reach out and pluck it, roads that looked like a car had never traveled them. The most impressive was the variety of wild flowers and how they were so beautiful. Some of those flowers I had never seen before and made it a point to look up after I returned home. When we reached our destination and put our boats back in the water, we traveled to an Island camp ground. It was at this boat dock, that I received my first introduction to Mt. Katahdin.

     As we unloaded and prepared to strike out across the water, I could not help myself from being memorized by this huge white capped mountain. I had to ask some one what the name of this mountain was, because I had never seen it before. If you haven't guessed by now, it was the majestic Mt. Katahdin that I was experiencing. It stirred my soul to see it's majestic strength and its awe striking beauty. Even now my spirit stirs of that magnificent impression left in my mind and heart. As I paddled the canoe across this long lake, I kept looking up at this beautiful, majestic mountain and praised God for creating such natural beauty for me to experience. I wanted to remember that day for an eternity.

     I would also like to share with you information about how I spent my summers. I had to work my way through private school and my summers were spent working at Camp Lawroweld in Weld, Maine. Mt. Blue State Park was at the far end of the lake and I spent my summers working on the water. I was a lifeguard and swimming teacher. I spent most of my days down on the water looking at the magnificent and unique mountains found there. Mt. Blue, Little Jackson,Big Jackson, Tumbledown, Blueberry, and the others that surround Webb Lake. At an early age the mountains became a   part of me and I looked to them for strength. They remind me of the Higher Power that created them and how He leads us. It makes me cry inside that all these mountains are being used to create wind fields that are seen for over 50 miles. The Weld Area is being inundated with to many mountains being covered in wind turbines. We have to stop this destruction, These are God's Mountains and they were not put there for Man to destroy. Maine's mountains are a natural wonder that needs to be protected from destruction. These are the same mountains that people come to see and bring their tourist dollars to support Maine's economy. What will we have when the mountains are no more? We will end up with higher electric bills, no awe striking mountains to impress the people, no new industry because of the high electric and China will be burning our coal.

     We have our own natural resources and as a Nation we should be using them. When did it become Maine's responsibility to make sure there was enough electric going to Southern New England and why is Maine allowing out of state people to control what Mainer's pay for electric? I say, if the southern  part of New England wants more power, then Maine has a right to make them pay for the upgrades to lines and to reduce our electric bills. Why should we be giving up our natural resources for their metal machines?