Skirafting the Pushaw
When Alejandro Strong of Packraft Maine says he has a slightly ridiculous idea, it usually means you’re in for a multi-sport outing that’s both unconventional and memorable. After a snow-starved winter that never really showed up, a late season storm offered the rare, perfect conditions for a fun outing: ski rafting. A test run for a larger adventure, we met Alejandro by a put-in along the Pushaw Stream at the Hirundo Wildlife Refuge in Old Town, Maine. We donned dry suits, strapped nordic skis to inflatable rafts, and paddled down the stream. At the take-out, our rafts and dry suits were stuffed into backpacks before we clipped into our nordic bindings and skied back over fresh snow to the put-in through a quiet section of forest that stood watch over the serpentine curves of the ice-limned stream.
