WILDS OF MAINE

THE ART OF POLING
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CANOE POLING?! Didn't they ever tell you not to stand up in a canoe? Well that's just an old wives' tale. Tell Harry Rock that, well known National Canoe Poling Champion. Well, we put it together in a little different way - we're not into speed. We prefer grace and control. Take a loaded canoe down a week long shallow river trip with the "Wilds of Maine" and you'll be thankful you've learned how to pole.

So what do we do at a poling clinic? Lots! We start out with a little history - about getting food and supplies up to the logging camps in northern Maine a hundred years ago. We talk you through all the basics, pole types and lengths preferred and why, where to stand in a canoe, what the various strokes, plants and pushes are used for and what effect they have. We put you in a canoe in flat water, demonstrate all the motions with you, repeating them over and over again. Then its on to moving water to really get the feel of it all, and we keep "kicking it up a notch." Before you know it you'll be wondering what all the fuss was about standing up in a canoe. Then, you'll be dying to get out there doing it - maybe even more than the paddle (right Phil?).

Having learned this from another old Maine guide more than 20 years ago, I can say that this is my favorite way of travel in a canoe. Come and share the experience and join the limited ranks of guys carrying big sticks, or the elite group of "chicks with sticks."
 

Photos by Anne Marie Cunningham, Susan Warner, Dane Goins & Dave Conley

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