NORRIDGEWOCK, Maine — A year ago, Chris Morgan of New Hampshire had an idea: Travel the Kennebec River by paddling from its source to the sea, starting at Moosehead Lake and ending where the river feeds into the ocean.
Snaking south from Moosehead Lake, the Kennebec flows a crooked path past Skowhegan, Augusta, and Fort Popham before flowing out into the ocean.
When Morgan’s friends heard he would paddleboard all 170 miles of the river, the distance wasn’t what they questioned, it was the stillness of the water.
Morgan, a whitewater paddler of eight years, said his friends understood once he explained the timing.
"They're like, 'Why do you want to do that?' Well, it’s the 25-year anniversary of the Edwards Dam coming out,” Morgan said.
Demolishing the dam made the river safer for people and animals, now Morgan sees the anniversary as a small celebration for all the work completed since 1999 to restore rivers across the country.
While a seasoned paddler, Morgan has been taxed by the weeklong journey along Maine’s third-longest river.
"It’s funny when we're paddleboarding in the gorge with the white water, we're moving so much. Your legs hurt, your core hurts, your shoulders kinda hurt, and now my legs are fine, and my back is just screaming," Morgan said.
Sore muscles are not Morgan’s only company. He has two companions, Jessica Sterling and Stew Hickley, who are friends and experienced paddlers.
The trip which began Saturday, is not simply for fun, or pure celebration of the Edwards Dam removal, it is also about making the river more accessible. The Kennebec is the only one of Maine’s five longest rivers to not have a designated paddle trail documenting the put-ins/take-out points and camping areas along the banks.
Although camping locations are not plentiful, Sterling said the river is ready to be enjoyed.
"You don't have to do an entire source to sea but as we are proving that is absolutely doable and you can have a good time doing it," she said. "But there's something for everybody on this river."
Highlighting the Kennebec’s offerings and encouraging people to enjoy it is a growing effort for Skowhegan and surrounding communities.
Kristina Cannon, president and CEO of Main Street Skowhegan, coordinated a paddle event to increase awareness and support for the source-to-sea paddle in the community. Fifteen others donned lifejackets to join Morgan, Sterling, and Hickley for a five-mile paddle from neighboring Norridgewock to Skowhegan.
This short paddle trip is part of a larger effort Cannon is leading, to make Skowhegan and the Kennebec an outdoor recreation destination.
"I think that the more that we promote the Kennebec as a recreational resource the better off we are all going to be from a tourism perspective [and] a local economic diversification perspective," Cannon added.
As part of the traverse, Hickley hopes those at home hearing about the source-to-sea traverse think more critically about the interconnection between all water.
"We kinda get tunnel visioned a lot with what's right in our backyard. We have to realize what's in our backyard is affected by what's upstream and what's in our backyard is affecting downstream," Hickley said.
The paddling trio is scheduled to complete their journey on Friday floating out onto the Atlantic near Popham Beach.
For those in awe, Morgan emphasized that traveling the Kennebec from start to finish isn’t necessary. However, it is a great place to learn.
“It’s amazing for it,” he said. “There aren’t many places in Maine better for it.”