Fall Rafting Adventures

PORT Outdoors officially kicked off the year with our Whitewater Rafting Trip this past weekend, and we had a great time! After school let out on Friday, we packed our van and headed up to The Forks for an evening of (chilly!) camping. Luckily, we were able to build a great campfire for s'mores, as well as to enjoy the hot tub and lodge facilities at our campground.

Saturday morning, we headed out bright and early to raft the mighty Kennebec River! It was a big water release day, which meant that we were able to run some more challenging rapids than usual. And once the sun came out, almost everyone in our group went through some of the "swimmer's rapids". We'll be sure to post some photos of the rafting action once we have them.

If you missed this trip, but you're interested in joining us for our next adventure, stay tuned for a hike of Tumbledown Mountain in early November!

Fall Adventures

We couldn't have had nicer weather for yesterday's final session of Trailblazers Sea Kayaking. We met up with an instructor from Seaspray Kayaking for a paddle out of Winslow Park. The teens learned a lot about eel grass and sea sponges, saw an egret and a great blue heron, and even tried a little bow walking. Everyone had a great time.
We leave this afternoon on our first PORT Outdoors trip of the year, whitewater rafting. We're looking forward to a fun, if chilly, evening at our campground and a great day of paddling tomorrow. Look for a post next week about our trip!

Trailblazers '09-'10

Yesterday was the first session of Trailblazers for the 2009-2010 school year, and we couldn't have asked for a better day! 5 middle school teens joined us for an afternoon of sea kayaking near East End Beach in Portland. After learning a few basic strokes, we were able to jump right in and explore the area around the beach. Highlights of the afternoon include seeing an osprey nesting on an old railroad bridge, navigating around the rock jetty, and playing a fun game of "I Never". We're looking forward to more paddling fun next Thursday!

Getting loaded into our kayaks.

PORT Outdoors Trips

Hey PORT Fans,

We here at The PORT are excited to officially announce two fall trips for PORT Outdoors!

Whitewater Rafting will be Friday, Sept. 25th and Saturday, Sept. 26th. We plan to leave after school on Friday and drive up to Caratunk, camping overnight at an activity center with pool and hot tub, game room, fire pits, and nice campsites for us. Saturday we'll raft all day, and then head back to Freeport. The cost to participants is only $40, which is a pretty sweet deal for rafting!

Tumbledown Mountain Hike will be on Sunday, Nov. 8th. We expect the views to be incredible, as most of the leaves will be gone by this time of year. Trails should be in good shape to allow us to summit this great mountain in western Maine, and we'll aim to have a picnic at the alpine pond.

For more info on either one of these trips, feel free to stop by The PORT! We're excited about this year's PORT Outdoors program, and can't wait to get outside!

Ice Cream Success

The 3rd Annual Ice Cream Social was a great way to kick off the school year, with more than 60 teens in attendance! Delicious ice cream was enjoyed by all, along with some good games of ping-pong and air hockey. Special thanks to our sponsors, Ben & Jerry's of Freeport!