Paddlers on Haley Pond. (Jami Badershall photo) RANGELEY — With access to Umbagog Lake, Rangeley Lake, Mooselookmeguntic Lake, Cupsuptic Lake, the Richardson lakes, South Branch of the Dead River and Flagstaff Lake, this was an ideal location for the 10th anniversary celebration of Northern Forest Canoe Trail Inc. and its Paddlers’ Rendezvous.

The organization created and manages the 740-mile recreational water trail by the same name that stretches from Old Forge, N.Y. to northern Maine. Broken up into 13 mapped sections, the trail covers this region in two sections. The maps, which were completed in 2006, and a guidebook that was published this year are just a couple of the NFCT’s many accomplishments, says executive director Kate Williams of Vermont.

She also lists as accomplishments “building strong relationships with the communities along the trail from New York to Maine and establishing our three program areas — trail stewardship, community economic development, and connecting people and in which we coordinate paddling programs for rural youth along our route.”

“Overall, being a strong, grassroots, internationally recognized water trail at age 10 is a great thing!” she concluded.

Interest in the organization has continued to grow over the last decade with members from as far away as Hawaii.

Activities during the NFCT Paddlers’ Rendezvous included guided paddling trips, outings for families, gear demonstrations, presentations, covered birch bark canoe construction, paddling with kids, boat repair, map reading with GPS, kayak fishing and more.

Saturday, attendees and other paddlers anywhere along the trail were invited to take part in a “740 Miles In One Day” paddling event with the goal of logging enough miles to equal the length of the trail.

“Rangeley was a fabulous location,” Williams said, “and our partnership with the Rangeley Lakes Region Logging Museum and with Saddleback were both excellent.” Saddleback hosted an evening party for the group on Saturday with about 125 people attending.

“Also, Linda Dexter at Ecopelagicon and the team at the Rangeley Lakes Heritage Trust were terrific partners,” she added.

“All in all, there was a lot of energy during the day and evening on Saturday, and we consider the event a huge success!”

“I know we had people from New York and Massachusetts, and we also had some through paddlers coming through, one of whom was from Minnesota.

So, people came from far and wide,” Williams concluded.

With the Rangeley Lakes Region Logging Museum 30th Anniversary Logging Festival also happening this weekend, there was no lack of things to do for event goers.

Rebecca Schinas of the Rangeley Lakes Chamber of Commerce said that with both events going on this weekend, it was “bigger than ever” for Rangeley. “I think there was a synergy between the two events. There were hundreds of people in town all day on Saturday, maybe more than hundreds,” Schinas said.