The water was placid and the breeze still. The bird boxes on the lake's northern edge were vacant and it appeared the dignified home on the eastern shore was unoccupied too.

If there was wildlife watching us through the forest, we couldn't tell. If the fish underneath could see the yellow tandem kayak, we'll never know.

We were alone on a small western Maine lake ringed by the green undulating low-lying hills  of the White Mountain National Forest, and it was good.

Yes Virginia

Chances are you've never heard of Virginia Lake, and maybe not even East Stoneham, Maine. But the nearly 130-acre lake is a pristine languid paddle; a half-day to do nothing if nothing is defined as lounging about in a kayak or canoe and watching the clouds float by.  In a summer that has seen record rain and fast-moving rivers, flat-water paddling has been appreciated by those who float.

Virginia Lake is a back woods lake found off a combination of back roads linked to Route 5. Parking is very limited on the dirt Virginia Lake Road and there was only one other paddler out on the lake for a short while after we launched by a stream that went by a stone foundation that was either an old dam or mill site.

Nice house

Though it would be nice to write about finding a pearl of paddle that didn't have any waterfront development, it can be written there was only one home on the lake, one that seems to have grown over the generations. Nothing fancy, the handsome home was nearly hidden until we paddled by, noting the extensions that elongated the digs.

Boggy baby

The northern shore had boggy vegetation and swamps found in many regional lakes but the southern shore was the bigger surprise with a sandy beach that had its share of mottled dead leaves that may have drifted over courtesy of the wind. The beach, on the edge of the woods with its downed trees and ferns, had a used fire ring and flattened vegetation in spots indicating that someone, or something, had recently spent the night.

Exploration only led to dead-end trails and boggy areas. Instead of being walkable buffets for the mosquitoes, we opted to return to the tranquil waters for the paddle by the oaks, conifers, birches and maples in a lake off-the-beaten path.

One Tank Away

East Stoneham is:

*157 miles from Stoneham, Mass.

*165 miles from Rockport, Mass.

*117 miles from Rockland, Me.