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The first year of the race saw nearly 100 registrants, not bad for a new event in Maine’s already robust spring canoe race series, organized by the Maine Canoe and Kayak Race Organization (MaCKRO). A stretch of water that has always flowed through town, suddenly thanks to Chris’s determination, had filled with boats and people. Crandall Park, one of Millinocket’s charming but sleepy green spaces, looked like a packed concert venue with multi-colored watercraft lining the sidewalks (a scene that has quickly become an annual tradition).
In May OSI provided the Bureau of Parks and Lands (BPL) Lands staff with training in sustainable trail basics. OSI was thrilled to provide this workshop. Personally, I am beyond excited to share new thinking and approaches to trails with land managers. As a born and raised New Englander, our legacy of recreation does not always fit with what we know about sustainability. Since land managers are continually tasked with more to do and less to do it with, it is always refreshing to see an agency take a hard look at their trails with new knowledge.
Turning a well-thought-out plan into reality takes more than shovels. The first step to trail implementation is quality design and layout. This spring, OSI was asked to provide phase 1 design for Loon Echo Land Trust (LELT) on their Rolfe Hill Forest property.
The OSI Katahdin Region Trail Crew (Crew) kicked off at the beginning of May and my stoke levels are high for our 2025 season! Crew Manager, Kevin Stewart, and I led a brief training to acquaint the new employees with our practices, worksites, and team. Many returning crew members bring their knowledge and skills back, helping our new hires learn and grow.
While the winter has kept me busy with prep for the upcoming season, I was excited to get some miles on the boots so early. OSI kicked off in the Katahdin region with a project in partnership with The Nature Conservancy (TNC). While there were no big backcountry hikes, we did help facilitate a day in the region looking at trail development sites.
Writing this first OSI Trails Blog for 2025 while watching spring snow come down between warm days reminds me that while we are eager to get out there, it’s not quite trail season yet! Which means I’ve got time to write to you all and let you know what exciting things lay ahead for OSI in 2025.
During that summer, I started to see how much potential these small-town areas for tourism and reinvention. The community supported and grew a gear library, one of the many resources that became a catalyst in the area. There are new trails and programs, opportunities, and resources that didn’t exist only a few years earlier. The momentum of all this happening, being a part of this building, is what kept me in Millinocket.
Through KROC we are working with other non-profits, businesses, municipalities, and individuals, to bring trails, gear libraries, programs, and events to life. At the core of this is the shared belief that the outdoors can have a profound impact on youth wellbeing, and the future vitality of the region.
My whole life I have loved the outdoors but I have never appreciated my own backyard like this. There was one evening on the overnight paddling trip I went fishing with my coworker. As I sat in my boat in the middle of the river I could see my students on the shore. They were running around, their shadows dancing on the riverbank. Their laughter carried across the water to me and I realized these kids were forming memories and connections they will never lose. I felt grateful to have had similar outdoor opportunities which have turned into my passion for the outdoors.
The rise of gravel biking offers a promising alternative to many would-be cyclists that worry about sharing roads with distracted drivers or tackling overly technical trails. Gravel riding makes it easy to get off the pavement and into the big outdoors where you can ride two abreast and chat with a friend, smell the big pines, or stop to watch a turtle ease into a stream at the edge of the road. Bikers can scan the wetlands for moose, dunk their heads in a stream, and maybe ride just fast enough to outpace the deerflies and mosquitos-- all without the worry of regular traffic. Exploring rural areas becomes more comfortable and sociable than ever before. It turns out that gravel riding in Maine has grown in popularity for a few good reasons.