DIXFIELD – Camaraderie, wildlife viewing opportunities and an inherent love of the Androscoggin River attracted about 15 people to Wednesday’s 12-mile paddle between Dixfield and Riley Dam in Jay.

Wednesday was the 11th day of the 20-day, 13th annual Androscoggin River Source to the Sea journey down the 170-mile-long river. This year is also the first in a few in which the entire river, not sections, are paddled from its headwaters in the Magalloway River north of Lake Umbagog in New Hampshire to the Atlantic Ocean.

“People are excited that the canoe trek has returned to the essence of its beginning,” organizer Barbra Barrett said prior to launching the group downriver from the Dixfield boat landing off Canton Point Road.

Unlike last year, which was plagued by rain, high water and bad weather, this summer’s journey has encountered sunny days and lower water levels.

For Dick Satter and Steve Priest, both of Bedford, N.H., and their friend Dundee Nestler of Sunapee, N.H., it was an adventure all on its own. Wednesday’s section was a first for Nestler, who underwent treatment for cancer last year.

Priest and Satter are in their seventh year participating in the trek.

“We do it for the camaraderie. It’s fantastic with the friends you meet,” Priest said. “We also believe in the area and the country and it’s a chance to get outside.”

While sitting in his red kayak in the river and waiting for the group to launch, Satter said trek participation taught him how to kayak enough so that he now teaches it.

“I’d heard about it over the years, but this is the first opportunity I’ve had to do it,” Nestler said. “Last year I underwent chemo and cancer treatment and only just now am I able to do this.”

While waiting for others to launch, the three men saw something they’d never before seen. Directly across from them, a cedar waxwing landed atop the straw hat-covered head of fellow paddler Pam Rousseau of Auburn.

Rousseau, a teacher at SAD 43’s Mountain Valley High School in Rumford, said the experience was unbelievable.

“This was the very first day that I’ve ever had a cedar waxwing on my head. It was just an amazing feeling,” she said.

Rousseau is no stranger to the trek, having done it three times.

Later, Barrett told them about other wildlife encounters this year with bald eagles, ospreys, moose and a family of mink.

“There were three mink that perched on a branch and it seemed like they were waving at us. It was the cutest thing,” Barrett said.

Barrett said trek participants learn each day about the cultural and environmental history of the river, its water quality, invasive species threats, and local land and river conservation projects.

Fifty people turned out for Tuesday’s 10-mile paddle between Mexico and Dixfield and at least 35 youths from the Rumford Group Homes will be paddling Thursday’s 8-mile trip from Riley Dam to Livermore Falls, where they will learn about the Western Paper Heritage Museum during a picnic lunch hosted by Verso Paper.

To learn more about the trek or to register for the remaining days, visit www.androscogginriver.org, call 527-2163 or e-mail [email protected].