Yesterday, the incoming tidal surf at Blue Hill Reversing Falls was challenged by a group of paddleboarders and kayakers. Some of the surfers won – for a while:.

Some lost – after a while::

Perhaps more interesting than these talented paddlers is the geological rarity in which they were surfing. According to some researchers, Maine is the only state that contains this type of powerful whitewater that reverses with the tides; and, we have eight such locations in our State.

This type of falls occurs when the bedrock forms an inclined channel of just the right width and depth between two bodies of water, at least one of which is strongly tidal. There also must be just the right height difference between the two bodies of water to produce fast surges in both the rising and falling tides. (archive images):

Apparently, during the last Ice Age, Maine’s protruding coast was under a glacier cover longer than the coasts of southerly states. The moving ice here scoured much of our coast down to its granite bedrock, deposited boulders, and had a furious meltdown via rivers and other waterways that gouged geologic anomalies seen nowhere else.

(Brooklin, Maine)

In the Right Place: Tides of Joy