• Font Size    

Featured Slideshows

2009 Celebrity Deaths, July-Dec.
E-mail

Close Window E-mail This Page

NJ Kayaker Fastest To Paddle 740-Mile Trail

Required fields are marked with an asterisk(*)

The information you provide will be used only to send the requested e-mail and will not be used to send any other e-mail communications. Read more in our Privacy Policy

Send E-mail

   Print     Share +   
Jul 6, 2009 11:09 am US/Eastern

NJ Kayaker Fastest To Paddle 740-Mile Trail

FORT KENT, ME (CBS) ― A New Jersey man has become the fastest solo kayaker to paddle 740 miles over the Northern Forest Canoe Trail from New York to Maine.

It took Mike Stavola 32 days to complete the journey from Old Forge, N.Y., to Fort Kent, Maine.

The 59-year-old real estate agent from Medford Lakes, N.J., says he took up kayaking two years ago because it was easier on his knees than hiking.

To finish the trail, Stavola says he survived 25-mile winds, walking 75 miles, and a moose who tried to crash his camp site.

Northern Forest Canoe Trail officials say there have been other solo canoeists and one solo kayaker to finish.

In June, 67-year-old Gil Whitney of Lakeville, Maine, became the first solo kayaker to finish. It took him 57 days.

As of the last census, Medford Lakes had a population of at least 4,173.

Twitter

Twitter 

(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

TODAY'S MOST POPULAR STORIES

© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.