Take advantage of the last few weeks of summer and head to Readfield for a leisurely 6-mile exploration of Lake Maranacook’s North Basin. Dotted with three large and three small islands, the basin provides superb end-of-summer swimming, birding and gunkholing among islands.

The shoreline is lined with cottages, but the islands have very little development and provide tantalizing early hints of the foliage colors to come in September, mixed with tall white pines towering over the water.

A hundred yards into our outing we looked over to a shoaly area of marsh grasses and saw 30 Canada geese splashing and beating their wings in late-summer joy.

We paddled the 3 miles down to the railroad trestle at the southern end of the basin and turned around and sat awhile. Towering cumulous clouds were rapidly forming north of the lake, mixing with dainty veils of cirrus. It was mesmerizing; a skyscape changing minute by minute. We heard the high-pitched calls of a pair of eagles. It took a few minutes, but we eventually located them high in a pine on the western shoreline. We would later hear another pair at the northern end of the lake, but would be unable to pick them out of the wall of evergreens.

We stopped in the shallows near one of the smaller islands for a swim. We sat in the water and watched the early afternoon sun lower westward toward the encroaching clouds. Pockets of pink false foxglove mixed with the shrubs and grasses along the shoreline. An osprey nest, just yards above us, now sat empty.

As we paddled in the shadows of one of the larger islands we drifted by two collapsing summer cottages teetering down toward the water. How many years ago had lucky summer visitors enjoyed the crackling of a fire in the hearth on a cool summer night, followed the next morning by the appetite-stirring aroma of bacon on the griddle? How many sudden shouts of joy had filtered out through those now-decaying windows at another Red Sox win snatched from certain defeat in the ninth inning down at Fenway. Summer nostalgia was alive and well in our canoe.

We paddled to the northern end of the basin to check out the Readfield Town Beach and Park. A couple of local moms and their kids were playing in the sand. The weathered picnic tables under protective wooden roofs had seen their share of watermelon slices and hot dogs and hamburgers hot off the grill these past few months, but today they looked locked in to the inevitability of blustery cold fronts soon to move down from Canada and pass through this magnificent Kennebec River lake country.

Looking for a unique way to enjoy a delicious Sunday brunch? The Weathervane Restaurant has a favorable reputation with the locals for serving up good food in a warm and caring atmosphere. The Weathervane is right next door to the town beach. Paddle to brunch!

Consult the DeLorme Maine Atlas and Gazetteer (map No. 12) for help in getting to the public boat launch on the Winthrop Road (Route 41) in Readfield. This spacious launch site has a great vibe to it, and is a nice spot to hang out and view blue herons in the marsh across the road.

Maybe the real reason we wanted to paddle here was the post paddle stop at the Kents Hill Orchard Apple Shed for their famous cinnamon swirls and other baked delights. We nursed the goodies along from a picnic table on the grassy knoll behind the bakery, enjoying the spectacular view of the cone of Mount Blue in Farmington and the distant ridgelines of the high peaks of western Maine. It was hard to head the car down the hill and back to reality. Combining our outstanding three-hour paddle with the mid-afternoon mountain views our sentiments were the same: “What a grand state we are lucky to live in!”

If you really want to make a productive post-Labor Day adventure out of it, stop in at Lakeside Orchards in Manchester or Kents Hill Orchard and “Pick your own.”

Michael Perry is the former director of the L.L.Bean Outdoor Discovery Schools and founder of Dreams Unlimited, specializing in inspiring outdoor slide programs for civic groups, businesses and schools. Contact: michaelj_perry@comcast.net

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