Spring Has Sprung!

It's May 17, already! We're enjoying all of natures colors - green flora every where, purple and gold finches, sparkling blue water - it's such an explosion of color after many months of living in a monochomatic world. Today it was overcast and windy with a high of 54 degrees. We spent the day cleaning cabins then headed to Fort Kent for groceries. We hosted our first spring fishermen of the season last week - Larry Converse, Greg Gordon, and Mike Carcia - all from Connecticut. They had a good week of fishing bringing in a 4 lb salmon, several other salmon in the 1 1/2 - 3 lb. range and several brook trout 16" and longer. But let me back track a bit and fill you in on what's been going on since the 1st of April...

On April 2nd we could see open water along the shore. Wayne snowshoed through the woods to take a few casts in the river, just because he could. Rarely is there open water this early in the season. Although he didn't catch a fish he enjoyed watching two bald eagles and an otter, and found a set of lynx tracks. The week of the 6th was quiet here at the lodge. Finances are very tight and we're scrimping and saving trying to keep up with the never ending stream of bills. A week of wind and rain and temps in the upper 30s and lower 40s did nothing to brighten our spirits. My journal entry from April 10th says we had about 12-16" of snow on the ground. The mouth of the river is opening wider, as if yawning after a long winter's sleep. On the 11th Wayne and I headed south to Brewer to attend the Maine Profession Guides Association banquet. On the way down we planned extra time to stop in Smyrna to visit the Amish harware store. If you have time on your way north or south it is worth the extra time and effort to visit this quaint community of Amish. The store contains many items in addition to hardware - they have a nice assortment of pantry supplies - flour, sugar, beans, herbs and spices; and boots, gloves, belts, purses and cutlery. I bought a new paring knife and a small bag of malted Easter eggs. A young man rang up our items on an old fashioned, hand crank cash register. The store was lit with sky lights and a woodstove was used for heat. The community also has a furniture store we've been told but didn't have time to visit it, along with a harness shop, tin roof manufacturing, and storage shed builders. Many of the homes had buggies parked in front with horses tied along side. On the way back to Interstate 95 we saw a horse drawn buggie driven by"grammy" with her grand daughter along for the ride. I fell asleep around Millinocket where there were still patches of snow. I woke in Old Town where the gress was greening - it was like I'd slept through winter! The banquet was a wonderful social event after such a long winter. We enjoyed renewing aquaintances with guides from all across Maine. Along with 14 others, I was awarded a new Marlin .45-.70 stainless steel guide model for selling $1500 worth of Super Raffle tickets last year. Now I have two of these special edition guns with the MPGA logo etched on the stock. One I will present to my grand daughter, Acadia, on her 16th birthday (in 2018!) We celebrated MPGA's 30th anniversary and honored many of its founders. Since the future of hunting and fishing belongs to our youth, we raised enough money at the banquet to send several children to Maine Conservation School this summer. A common theme throughout the evening's presentations was the importance of sharing our hunting and fishing tradition with today's youth. So, find a kid and take him or her hunting and fishing! On the drive home, as we wound our way toward Winterville, we came upon a yearling moose in the middle of Route 11. He did not want to share the road so we had to follow him for over a mile as he trotted along in front of us until finally "pulling over" and letting us by.

Easter Sunday was spent quietly beside the wood stove enjoying our malted eggs. Mike Michaud and later Ron and Travis Toussaint paid us a visit. I called home and got to talk to Nana Pat and Grandpa Armand too. It snowed on the 13th. By the 14th we were able to do a little raking around the lodge driveway to clean up a winter's worth of wood chips and bark. Juncos and house finches have arrived and are eating sunflower seeds from the feeders almost as fast as we fill them. We held our first-of-the-season ATV club meeting here at the lodge on the 17th. It was very well attended and we're all eager to get out on the 1,100 miles of interconnected trails in "The County"!

On the 19th we took our snowmobiles on the last ride of the season. We enjoyed a wonderful afternoon of riding under sunny skies with temps climbing to the mid 40s - in some places there was still snow to our knees! We rode until our tanks were nearly empty. We attended an Aroostook County Conservation Association meeting on the 21st with George Pooler, a fellow guide from Wallagrass. The mission of ACCA is to restore the whitetail deer herd in northern Maine. We enjoyed an informative presentation by Peter SeeHusen of Quality Whitetail Consultants and dealer of Whitetail Institute food plot seeds. After Peter's presentation I, along with others attending, were convinced that with a unified and concerted effort on the part of private and corporate landowners, we can establish food plots that will enable our whitetail to survive our long winters.

Through out the month Wayne and I continued working our part time jobs - he cooking at the nursing home and me learning graphic design at Paper Signs Ink. On the 24th and 25th I assisted Steve Daigle at the Top of Maine Trade Fair in Madawaska where he had a booth promoting his print shop. It was without a doubt the booth offering the most fun to attendees. We shared space with Judy Bossie (Moment In Time Photography) and superimposed portrait photos on various backgrounds, then printing 16" x 24" posters. It was a great family activity at the show! A downpour in the evening of the 24th and big wind on the 25th started breaking up our ice. It was the making of an early ice-out. It was interesting watching large plates of ice float by etched with last winter's snowmobile tracks. As soon as the lake opened up the loons moved right in! On the 27th we woke to calm water and sun sparkling on the LAKE! What a sight to behold after being iced in for so many months to watch the sun reflect off the ripples on the water! That same day Wayne started jacking and leveling cabin 4. It will be our winter home next season. We have been anylizing our expenses versus our revenue stream and have to make some tough decisions if we are to continue operating Fish River Lodge. One tough decision we made will be to close the lodge after Christmas next winter. We will move in to cabin 4 and continue winter operations, just without the lodge. We will continue renting cabins in winter and hosting guests with the exception being the "lodge" will be cabin 4 until spring. As we get to the task of remoding the inside of cabin 4 it will be done to accomodate us living there as well as being a central gathering place for our guests who want to visit with us. In addition, we will change our focus from providing lodging to snowmobilers and put more emphasis in our marketing efforts to attracting ice fishermen, cross country skiers, snowshoers, and dog sledders. We have partnered with Lindy Howe and Larry Murphy, local dog mushers, to offer 4-day and week-long sled dog schools where "students" will learn all aspects of sled dog training, care, and nutrition, and will go on excursions with a team of dogs during their stay. As much as we wish we could continue "business as usual", we must be nimble during these economically challenging times if we are to remain sucessful. Then of course, come spril 2010, we will move back in to the lodge through fall.

Anyway, back to spring "springing"! Here's a great story...The evening of the 27th was relatively warm so after dinner I went out on the deck to watch the "icebergs" float by. One in particular caught my attention. It's ragged edges formed a floe about 20 feet in diameter. There atop the "berg" were five unusually perfect "cubes" of ice. I pondered what "natural" occurance would result in five cubes on a berg? They were cut too perfectly to have occured naturally... suddenly it dawned on me...those cubes looked familiar...they were of the same sizes and shapes as the ice Wayne cut when we put our ice shack out on the lake back on January 4th! And as I looked even more closely I could see that they were left melting on that berg just as we'd layed them out to block the wind under our ice shack. At that moment I had gone out to watch icebergs and at that moment those cubes floated by on a westerly breeze, last touched by me in January! Amazing! Later that night when we let the dogs out before bedtime we heard Alli barking like only Alli does when she's alarmed. As Wayne started up the driveway he saw a cow and calf moose trot across our parking lot! They must have wandered down from the hill looking for a bite of tender grass.

On the 28th I began raking. I started out wearing a turtleneck and fleece but as temps rose I shed the fleece, then traded the turtleneck for a tank top! Temps soared to 68 degrees! I got our flower bed cleaned out and began raking around cabin 6 and across the front of the lodge. After two truck loads and five wheelbarrow loads of debris dumped on the hill the property was starting to look tidy again. I had to rake around a few snowbanks but they were melting fast! The ice cubes floated by again today, on an easterly breeze... Grace has rounded up collection of tennis balls. One was so covered in burdocks it was unrecognizable! I picked the budocks off and she joyfully rolled the ball down the hill next to the lodge, retrieved it, and let it roll again and again. Alli stretched out in the sun, oblivious to Gracie's game. Last count, Gracie's collection included 5 tennis balls in various stages of balding.

We declared official "ice out" on April 29. On the 30th I raked around the rest of the lodge, around cabins 5, 4, 3, and 2. That afternoon we took the canoe over to Pennington Pond. Wayne caught a couple 15" brook trout and released both. On the way home he asked what we were going to have for dinner? With the cupboards bare and refrigerator empty, we wondered why we hadn't kept at least one of the fish! We found a box of beans and rice and a couple pieces of frozen chicken. It was a good dinner and the trout are still in the pond to be caught another day. Back at the lodge as the sun was setting we were entertained by a large beaver "cruising" back and forth along the shore. I guess after spending so many months under "hard water" it was happy to swim where ever it's heart desired.

After working all day then going back to Fort Kent for groceries we stayed up late on May 1st finalizing our presentations and agenda for our guide study sessions. Earlier in the spring we canceled our usual guide course due to lack of interest. Then as May approached we were approached by more and more prospective guides from the area to help them prepare for the guide exam. Since Wayne and I have both attended guide schools and successfully completed testing requirements we agreed that we would hold a two-day "study group". We had seven participants who put us through our paces. Local trapper Jerry McLaughlin helped us on May 3rd when he gave an excellent presentation on trapping.

On May 5th I started "opening" cabins. Wayne put away our winter stuff...snowmobiles, plow truck, sled dog box, ice auger, snowblower, shovels, roof rake, and ice chisel, and tidied up around the shed by neatly stacking last fall's bear bait barrels then he put our dock out. Back to Fort Kent on the 8th for more groceries - this time to feed our first group of spring fishermen - yippee! It is the start of another year which always begins with spring fishermen! Larry Converse, Greg Gordon, and Mike Carcia arrived in the afternoon of the 9th. We love welcoming back our guests not seen in a year! They have become family - "Uncle Larry", "Uncle Greg", and "Cousin Mike"... We all woke to a heavy frost on the 12th. I got another couple of cabins ready. Russ and Carole Dyer and their son Danny arrived later that day to spend a few days fishing. Wayne put our boat in the water. The dining room was lively with conversation well in to the evening as we all shared "fish stories" and other tales. On the 13th I went on an excursion to Square Lake in search of fossils at Limestone Point. I brought Alli and Gracie along. We explored the point and found many nice specimens but left them for others to find although I did pick up two small ones to learn more about. I wish I knew more about geology - there are so MANY interesting rocks at Limestone Point! On the 14th I surfed the web and learned the fossils were the remains of an extinct class of echinoderms (starfish, sea urchins...). Their origins in the class Crinoidea. These sea critters spent their lives fixed to the OCEAN bottom (yes, this area was covered by sea water 500 million years ago!) There in the stone were the remains of the stalk columns, preserved for 500 million years, give or take.

On the 14th we were hit with strong winds and gusts to 52 m.p.h. It was not a good day to be on the lake so Larry and friends decided to fish the streams. Their adventure began when they tried to get back to the lodge for dinner. The dirt access road was blocked by downed trees. Mike was prepared and had a machete in his truck. At dinner they shared pictures and video of each taking a turn with the machete to chop through the trees enough so they could be pushed off the road. That night at dinner we awarded "Honorary Logging Degrees" to Larry "The Logger" Converse, Greg "Eager Beaver" Gordon, and "Machete Mike" Carcia. They enjoyed a pretty decent week of fishing and weather; we enjoyed their friendship

I learned Grandpa Armand is in the hospital with pnumonia and a low oxygen count. These are the times when I hate being so far from "home". Please say a prayer for my grandpa. Even as he lays in the hospital he is curious to know what's going on up here at Fish River Lodge.

So here it is, the middle of May. The sun is setting and Wayne has just left to play basketball tonight. Tomorrow we are expecting Bob Dauback and a friend from Massachusetts, and Malcolm Charles will be arriving with a freind from southern Maine. They will be here to enjoy some fine salmon and brook trout fishing. Spring has definitely sprung here in the north country. Fishing season is underway!

Still in Winter's Grip

While many look forward to the first day of spring, we're still held tight in winter's grip. March in northern Maine is just the end of winter, not nearly the start of spring. And March for Wayne and I is also a time for celebration. On March 6th we celebrated our 3rd anniversary. He surprised me by sending a beautiful bouquet of roses to work and then we went to China Garden for dinner. We left for Fort Kent in a snow storm but by the time we finished dinner it had changed to rain. The roads were a mess and we were glad to get safely back to the lodge. Except when we entered the lodge it was full of smoke and the wood stove was "belching"! There was no chimney fire but Wayne climbed up on the roof and discoved our stove pipe had rusted through and water was dripping in to the woodstove making it smoke, the smoke was backing up in to the stove pipe and would ignite and "belch" smoke through the damper of the stove in to the lodge! We let the fire in the stove burn down and spent the next hour airing out the lodge. The next morning Wayne ordered all the parts needed to replace our old stove pipe.

Wayne decided to pull our ice shack off the lake while conditions were good. A series of cold days and nights in the single digits had hardened previous slushy conditions so he was able to easily pull the shack across the crusty snow with his snowmobile. The pull was easy across the lake but as he ventured up on shore and over a snow drift the shack lurched and tipped. Just before dark on the 10th I was in my office returning calls and emails when I heard Wayne open the kitchen door latch..."Hun, can you help me? The ice shack tipped over." "Tipped over?" I questioned, "Yeah, it's tipped on its side." he grumbled. I put on my snow pants, boots, anorak, and gloves all the while envisioning the ice shack leaning at an awkward angle simply needing to be pushed "level" as he pulled it with his sled. As we made our way around cabin 7 toward the beach all I could see of the ice shack was its roof facing us! It had tipped completely over and was laying on the downhill side of the drift! It was then I began wondering how he and I were going to right it alone, and if we did, what would keep it from toppling all the way over on its other side? When I asked Wayne what the "plan" was he suggested that as he pushed it upright I "catch it" as it came over. Hmmm. I contemplated the idea and while doing so could only imagine the pain of a broken arm or dislocated shoulder, twisted knee, or all of the above if the shack were to flip over on me. I decided not to catch the shack, rather I prefered to work along side Wayne and hope it didn't flip completely over the other way. If it did, we'd figure that predicament out next. As it were, we both pulled and then pushed and the shack neatly righted itself. Actually, it was too bottom-heavy to flip again. I though it might be a good idea to just leave it there on the beach for the time being. But after floundering in the snow we discovered it was sitting right on top of one of our rental boats! Plus it would be wiser and safer to tow it up on level ground.

Wayne celebrated his birthday on the 12th. I surprised him with a store-bought cake I picked up on the way home from work the night before and hid it in my truck. I also gave him a picture. It was a picture I took of Wayne fishing at the warden pool on the thoroughfare to Square lake. He is in his waders and reflected in the water. At work we "photoshopped" the picture to look like a watercolor. It is truly a piece of art! Wayne loved it! That night we began packing for our long anticipated ice fishing trip with a gang from Eagle Lake. In years past we've missed the trip because we were exhibiting at the Wilton Sportsman Show. This year we chose to "sit out" the show. With the downturn in the economy we suspect there will be few from western Maine venturing to Aroostook County to vacation.

Our trip began at 5:00 a.m. on the 13th when we woke to a chilly zero degree morning. By 6:00 the sky was brightening with the promise of a sunny day. Wayne picked up some fresh-caught smelt given to him by Ron Albert - Ron fishes for smelt every morning at 3:30 a.m. - he's retired. Then we met everyone at Tamarack Inn for breakfast - Mike & Geneva Michaud, Ron & Margaret Soucy, Justin & Denise Raymond, Reed Devoe & Morgan, brothers Ron and Dana Laferrier, brothers Bert & Cory Simard, Buck Labbe, Bruce Dube, Clayon Fournier, and Fred Michaud. We all had our MURS radios on and the chatter began! I'm sure if I had taped the conversations I could make a million selling it as a comedy show! We got on the Pinkham Road at Portage - it was in good shape most of the way. We took the 522 Connector to John's Bridge Road and it was glare ice. Wayne avoided a jack-knifed trailer with his quick hands! The road in to Barry Ouellette's logging camps was glare ice too, and so was the parking lot and anything that had been plowed! We all unpacked our gear and slip-slided as we moved in then departed for Ross Lake. Our small tote flipped several times on the icey lake surface but we managed to get everything in place and set up by 1:00 and lost only a partial bag of wine - which Fred all too eagerly finished emptying for us. With no fish caught in the first hour Mike declared it was time to move, so we all packed up like a bunch of nomads and moved, set up again, and started fishing again. We all had shelters of some sort on the ice and were glad for that. The wind was so strong we had to tie ours off our sleds to keep it from collapsing! When we tried to make sandwiches the wind would blow our bread out of our hands and ham off our sandwiches! By nightfall several togue and about a dozen whitefish were landed. Wayne caught a 17 1/2" and 18" white fish and I lost one. Back at the logging camp we enjoyed a big spaghetti feed then settled in to watch American Logger on Discovery - we even had satelite TV!

Saturday the 14th dawned sunny, cold and windy. We woke for a big breakfast prepared by Wayne and Clayton. No one lingered over coffee - we immediately loaded gear into frosty totes and climbed on to our frosty sleds for a day of fishing on Chamberlain Lake. First we had to cross Eagle Lake. Sleds were overheating due to the lack of snow cover on the frozen lake. We rode over as much crusty snow as we could find but it wasn't enough. Fortunately we gave the sleds a break just in time at the adandoned steam engines. What a sight to find two huge locomotives in the middle of the north Maine woods. Back in the day (1927) Edouard Lacroix, a Canadian logging industrialist, conceived the idea to haul logs from Chamberlain Lake to south-flowing waters. Eagle Lake flows north to Canadian waters, Umbazooksus Lake, 13 miles from Chamberlain, flows south to waters that would bring logs to mills in Millinocket. One of the engines was purchased used from Rutland Railroad, the other from New York Central. They and enough steel for a 1500 foot bridge across the Allagash were hauled in by Lombard haulers over the winter while the lakes were frozen. The new railroad was called the U&EL line (for Umbazooksus and Eagle Lake).

Justin Raymond (works for Irving Woodlands) took the role of tour guide and shared lots of information on the railroad and old days of logging. Clayton Fournier took a group photo of us at the engines and then we moved on to get set up on Chamberlain for another day of ice fishing.

The clear sky made it possible to see Katahdin rising to our south. What a sight to look over one shoulder at Katahdin and the other shoulder at a pair of eagles soaring overhead! It was a slow day for us but others caught togue and brook trout. We cooked hotdogs on the ice and the afternoon sun felt so warm when we could get out of the wind. It seemed much like a day at the beach - our shelters were cabanas as we "sun bathed" all over the ice. Chamberlain has to be one of the most spectacular ice fishing spots in all of Maine!

That night Wayne and Clayton put on their chef's hats again and made us a feast of grilled filet mignon, baked potatoes, and corn. An evening of stories, laughter, and card games followed. The younger guys went cusk fishing on Eagle Lake. Margaret and I went out to check on them and were amazed to watch a million stars in the clear night sky. We counted six jet liners pass overhead and wondered where all those people could possibly be going? One thing for sure, there are few more beautiful places in the world than where we were standing!

Sunday morning we "broke camp". The drive back home was over muddy roads softened by the rising sun as we left the logging camp. Further north the Pinkham Road was still frozen and light snow fell. That the roads are starting to break up indicates winter is slowly losing its grip. Back in our Town of Eagle Lake Ron and Margaret had all of us over to eat up our leftovers from the trip for lunch. Slowly our ice fishing adventure came to a close.

The week of the 17th we were very busy at the print shop printing and binding 250 town reports for Wallagrass, 200 targets and timing sheets for the biathalon, (and mailing) 1200 brochures for a fire wood company, 500 brochures for the university, and lots of FedEx returns for Radio Shack to name a few. Another ice shack mishap on the 18th. While Wayne was sanding the driveway the truck slid on an unsanded section and knocked over the ice shack again! no real damage to truck or shack and Wayne used the bull dozer this time to right it.

Wayne's work schedule has been cut back so he started "spring cleaning" the lodge on the first day of spring - he washed all the logs in the dining room and living room - I could tell as soon as I pulled in after work - I could see the shine on the logs from outdoors! He mopped floors, vacuumed and dusted. He spent a few afternoons ice fishing as the season came to a close and caught some nice salmon and brook trout.

On the 22nd Dave Despres and Cliff Fletcher (www.overthecliffproductions.com) came to spend a few days at Fish River Lodge to shoot an episode for their "Sporting Camps: Comfort and Cuisine" series. They were refered to us by Eldon Jandreau who is a dear friend, fellow guide, and taxidermist from Portage. They are also working on a documentary about moose and bear with Eldon.

That afternoon we took them out to ice fish. The day before Wayne had caught 5 brook trout and a salmon so we knew just the right spot to set our traps. While Cliff and Dave filmed we set out five traps. The wind drove us in to the comfort of Ron Toussaint's ice shack to keep warm. We watched and waited and checked each trap after the flag would go up but each time only our bait was stolen. Later they filmed an otter on the ice shelf at the mouth of the river. Had it been stealing our bait, or was there a large brookie under the ice? We would never know for sure. For dinner Wayne prepared a traditional chicken stew and ployes. He expertly played the role of "chef" explaining the recipe, preparation tips, and tradition as he was filmed. I made a "depression era" chocolate cake from a recipe handed down by my great grandmother Effie. It contains no eggs or milk and is a delicious and moist cake recipe. Finally at 9:00 we sat down to enjoy our creations with our new friends. Dave shared stories of his adventures around the globe and many stories from closer to home. His mother was born in Eagle Lake and he now owns a camp on Portage Lake.

On the 23rd they filmed the ice road which connects the two sides of town in winter. It cuts a 45 minute trip down to 5 minutes! While venturing off the ice road Wayne broke through the snow and got stuck - Cliff and Dave enjoyed another adventure filming Wayne and Ron Toussaint as they unstuck the truck. Later Wayne, Cliff, and Dave met me at work and we drove over to Larry Murphy's "Valley View Kennels" so they could film Larry and his dog team. We have teamed up with Larry to offer dog sledding adventures and figured the show would give us both excellent exposure when the series aires. That night for dinner they filmed Wayne making his scrumptious rosemary roast pork loin, oven roasted Aroostook potatoes, and maple glazed carrots. I made an apple crisp for dessert. The next morning we bid Dave and Cliff well with their show and made plans for a reunion in the summer, with Eldon, Dave, and Larry along with their families.

On the 26th I attended an Aroostook County Tourism meeting and learned that we have mapped 1,100 miles of ATV trails! This is exciting and we're hopeful will put Aroostook County "on the map" bringing ATV riders in from far and wide.

The weekend of the 28th we exhibited at the Presque Isle Fish and Game Club's sportsman show. We always look forward to seeing friends old and new, especially after the show on Saturday when Lila and Carroll Ware and the Club host a social and dinner at the Northeastland Hotel. This year we had dinner with Yvan and his partner from Domaine Pipmuacan, a hunting and fishing lodge located on Lac Richard, 100 miles north of Chicoutimi , Quebec. Another thing we enjoy about going to and from the show is seeing the deer in Ashland and Portage. We counted more than two dozen each day during our commute. I also saw my first robin in Eagle Lake on Sunday morning. While we were at the show, Dave Kelso, a local friend, caught a 37", 17 lb. togue! He brough over pictures and video to show us on Tuesday.

We got another storm and 8" of snow on the 30th. We still have about 18" of snow on the ground although it is melting fast and at least two feet of ice on the lake. The last day of the month Rocky Bard (friend from Wallagrass) presented us with a gorgeous, handcrafted shelf with moose antler hooks for hanging coats and caps. He tells us he made the shelves all winter and is now giving them to family and friends. We were honored to be counted as a friend and proud to hang his shelf in the lodge.

March is like having a favorite uncle come to visit - the kind that makes us laugh with his antics. We look forward to his arrival, enjoy his visit, but by the time he leaves we are weary and glad to see him go... It rained all weekend and April showers are a good sign that warmer weather is on its way! By the end of April we will be counting the days (or hours!) until Eagle Lake is free of ice and we can begin welcoming our first spring fishermen!

The Best is Yet to Come

Where have you been? Too cold for ya? As I re-read my January entry I realized all that talk of cold probably scared some of our winter friends away. Although it was cold in the lodge, our cabins are better insulated and are warm in winter. Only Wayne and I, in an old log lodge not at all "winterized", tough out the coldest days huddled near the woodstove. But we've gotten used to the cold and it is only when temperatures plunge well below zero that things get chilly indoors. That's why we always greet the arrival of February with open arms and welcome the warmer, longer days she brings. Early in the month I was very busy working at Paper Signs Ink, helping design and print brochures and banners for Joel Guimond's Track Down Kennels and Sean Lizotte's Allagash Guide Service. They headed down to Harrisburg, PA for a 10 day sportsman show. They returned with reports of lots of interest in our region. Scott Cyr (who helped us guide bear hunters in September) brought some friends over to ice fish on the 6th. While the fishing was slow they did hook on to several brook trout over the weekend. Between cooking at the nursing home and snow storms Wayne continued shoveling roofs. HAPPY BIRTHDAY HEIDI - my sister turned 46 in Colorado on the 10th. Wendy Beaulieu (Lewiston, ME) and a friend spent a long weekend with us, arriving on the 13th. Wendy was born in England where her dad had married and decided to raise a family after the war. Wendy moved to the States 17 years ago and decided to come to "The County" to see the land her father loved so much. They took a day-trip to Grand Isle, the town he grew up in. Wendy seemed to love the area too - I guess Aroostook blood runs in her veins too. Long-time guests Steve and Barb Ellis (Windham, ME) were back this year to snowmobile. The riding was excellent although Barb came down with a "bug" and rested in bed a few days. We enjoyed meeting a group of four couples who rode in from the Limestone area over the long Valentines/President's Day weekend. Larry and Tina Huckins, Larry and Gayle Rector, Laurin and Sandra Peers, and Craig & Christa. The ladies choose a destination every winter where they ride in on snowmobiles but don't have to cook. We were fortunate they chose Fish River Lodge this year. We had a great time meeting them and enjoyed their stories and good humor. To give you an idea of the humor we enjoyed, Larry Huckins wrote in the guest book "my wife ran over me with her sled this morning!" True story - apparently they hadn't gone 1/4 mile from home when Larry rolled his sled and right behind him came Tina, who drove right over him as he wallowed in the deep snow! Later in the ride her saddle bag popped open and she left a trail of underpants. No one was injured and they all made it here in one piece.

Throughout the month Wayne used the ice shack after work and caught lots of smelts. On the 21st we got to go ice fishing together. Wayne packed lunch and we decided to drive the truck out to the shack rather than take the snowmobiles. It was 15 degrees with gusty wind. We started up the ice road to the camp and had only gone about 1/2 mile when we were stopped by a stuck truck. It seems the ice road had turned to slush in several stretches along the road and the more it was driven over the worse it got. Coincidentally, the slush spots were in the same places some people had chosen to ice fish in the days before. Folks drive on to Eagle Lake from "away" and use their vehicles to keep warm while they fish. No problem, except they drill their ice fishing holes in and right next to the ice road. They enjoy a day of fishing, go home, and leave us with a ruined section of ice road as lake water floods up through their holes and soaks the surrounding area, turning snow to slush and ice road to mush. So, we returned to the lodge, packed our lunch in to the tote and took the sleds down to the shack. We caught smelts for bait and fished for brookies. By nightfall we had caught three brook trout, the largest 14". We helped Jim and Cheryl Jandreau move to their new house on the 22nd as a big storm rolled in. I enjoyed an unexpected day off on the 23rd when the storm hit. Steve called to tell me to stay off the roads and take it easy at home. No problem, although I didn't stay off the roads. I took Gracie and Allie for a ride through Quimby Village to see how much snow had fallen. It was an interesting trip - the road hadn't been plowed and there was about 8" of snow on it! Back at the lodge I stoked the woodstove and enjoyed the relaxed pace of the day, read some, and took care of Wayne while he was sick with that stomach bug.

Sometime in the night on the 25th Rita and Bill Whesler (Tofte, MN) and Jim VanHouton Alamogordo, NM) arrived. I saw straw from their dog truck in the parking lot on my way to work. We weren't expecting them until later in the day! They must have made good time driving out from Minnesota for the CanAm sled dog races. Rita is a perennial favorite for the race. She is the first woman to complete the grueling 250 race course, finished 2nd in 2007, 7th in 2008, and is expected to win it one of these years. Her mentor, Jim VanHouton, is a legend in his own right. He trained the winning 1966 Fur Rondy team driven by Joee Reddington and owned by US Army General Carver; he raced famed New England musher Doc Lombard in Alaska and beat him; was a friend of legendary Alaskan dog musher George Attla; and helped establish the 1st Iditarod by coordinating efforts with the US Army to assist in putting in trail and building bridges for the race. He is also a “retired” sled builder and built the sled Bill will drive in the 60 mile race. Wayne got them settled in cabin 3 and shoveled more roofs. After dinner Rita, Bill, and Jim came down to the lodge to visit. Rita presented us with a pair of beautiful pottery bowls decorated with moose.

With another mid-week day off on the 26th and nothing planned. Rita invited me to run dogs with her - an offer I couldn't turn down! It was Thursday before the race and Rita wanted to give the dogs a chance to "stretch" after their long ride and loosen their muscles before the race. We drove over to Lonesome Pines Ski Area to run the dogs on the Heritage Trail (a railroad bed turned multi-use trail). We got Bill's team on the trail first then proceeded to hook up all 12 of Rita's racing dogs. They barked and banged in their harnesses, anxious to get going. They were definitely the strongest team Rita's brought to Maine! About a mile from the ski slopes the dogs remembered where the trail came up from the route 161 crossing and surprised us by taking a quick "gee" turn and ending up in someone's back yard and on their woodpile before we could get them stopped in all the confusion! We had all we could do to turn them around and get them back on the trail - they wanted to run! The rest of the trip went well and we saw Jason Barron (Iditarod veteran from Montana) running his team; they looked good too. Being a former sled dog racer is like being a recovering addict! Racing gets in your blood and given an opportunity, I can't say "no" to the offer of a sled ride behind a team of dogs. I am definitely a recovering dog addict! That night we had dessert and a beer with Jim, Rita and Bill in their cabin and "talked dogs". We're all excited for race weekend, anticipating a good showing by Rita though none of us discussed it.

Friday before the race was MISERABLE! Temps warmed to 46 degrees and it rained. While the sun still shined I volunteered to wash windows outside at the print shop - any excuse to enjoy the warm temps, even if it was ruining all our good snow! It was 40 degrees when Wayne and I went to bed at midnight. We woke Saturday morning to a stiff breeze and temp of 20, by midnight it would drop to -11, a 50 degree temperature change in 24 hours! Everything that had been plowed was a sheet of ice! At the race start we helped Rita get her team ready - Jim had the stomach bug and was so sick he could hardly get out of the truck. Rita gave me the honor of riding her sled to the starting line as she helped lead the team, assisted by CanAm volunteers and an ATV attached to her sled to hold the dogs back. ...10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1...off they ran down Main Street in Fort Kent, taking the first of many steps down the 250 mile race trail. After packing the truck and wishing Jim well, we returned to the lodge. Jim headed to Lonesome Pines to wait for Bill to finish his 60 mile race. By 1:00 that afternoon we were loading our ATV and I hit the road, headed to Portage to help John Kalaeta and Gee Landry at the Portage check point. It is always a busy check point being the first one in the race. Teams are still relatively bunched up and somewhat running as a pack with only hours separating the first and last teams. This year it was a particularly busy check point. We had 9 teams parked before sun set and all of them in by 7:00 p.m.! By 8:00 p.m. we began guiding the first teams out, using our ATVs to control the speed of the teams and keeping them to a walking pace to the checkpoint exit. There they were counted down and released to run to Rocky Brook logging camps, the next check point roughly 50 miles away. I had a chance to visit with Rita after she fed her team and learned Bill placed 18th in his race after loosing his team and walking 5 miles to catch up to them! While he snacked them on the trail and was returning to the sled he stepped off the edge of the trail and went to his waist in snow! The dogs lunged, pulled the snow hook and off they went! At least Bill has an interesting story to tell of his first race! All teams were out of the Portage checkpoint by 1:00 a.m. except one. I was relieved of my duties but chose to stay and watch the CanAm video with other volunteers working the "late shift". When I got home at 2:30 the temperature had dropped to -11. We woke early the next morning to check race progress on the internet. Rita was expected at Maibec check point any minute! When she arrived she was proclaimed the race leader and projected winner! Calls came in to the lodge and we called friends in Minnesota to discuss the race and Rita’s progress. Bill came down to the lodge to check her progress and we shared the good news with him. Then we learned Jim had been admitted to the hospital. He'd become dehydrated and required 3 bags of IV fluids! He would be fine but they wanted to keep him for observation. Being in the hospital must be torture for Jim - he's a dog addict too!

Throughout the weekend we enjoyed visiting with four adventuresome ladies from The County who stayed with us for a mid-winter "get away". They shared stories of their travels around northern Maine camping and canoeing together. Karen Umphrey (trip leader and registered Maine guide) is from Masardis, Carole Wilson, Sharon Lester, and Debbie Adams are all from Presque Isle. Sunday night they invited me to cabin 1 for and extended Happy Hour. It started daily at 4:00 p.m. at the lodge, Sunday it spilled over to 6:00 p.m. The sporting camp business is mostly a man's world. I welcomed the opportunity to have some "girl time" and laugh and share stories with my new friends while Wayne played basketball - a Sunday evening ritual for him through the winter months.

The race continued through Sunday, the 1st of March and in to the wee hours of Monday morning. Rita departed the Allagash check point at 10:45 p.m. Sunday and ran through the night. Her team slowed and she ended up placing 3rd, just hours behind race winner Matt Carstens of Whitefield NH and Jason Barron of Montana. Rita was thrilled with her finish and knows what to do next year to improve. She has attained "elite musher" status and earned the respect of her fellow mushers, although we have known for a long time that she is capable of winning too! Monday night we celebrated at the lodge and then Tuesday night attended the awards banquet at Lonesome Pines. I always enjoy race weekend as it gives me an opportunity to renew friendships with fellow mushers. I've not raced dogs since 2003 when I finished the 250 then sold my team in 2004. But in my heart I will always be a dog musher. I am able to give back to the mushing community by coordinating our Eagle Lake race in January and volunteering at the CanAm. Someday, since I still own all my mushing gear - sleds, harnesses, ganglines, snow hooks, the works - I hope to have a team again, someday. If not for racing, for the sheer joy of running dogs! Rita, Bill, and Jim packed up, said "so long", and headed back to Minnesota Wednesday morning. We were sad to see them go but look forward to next year when they will return for another shot at winning the CanAm 250!

It's March 8th. Today Wayne and I took advantage of the unseasonable warmth and went snow shoeing. The phone is ringing when we return - we answer hoping the call is from snowmobilers, ice fishers, cross country skiers, or snowshoers looking for winter lodging. Dog mushers welcome too! Rather, the phone has been ringing a lot in the past few weeks with calls from spring fishermen and summer vacationers but that's okay too. I guess everyone has cabin fever and is looking forward to the longer, warmer days to come. But winter isn't over yet. Some of the best days of winter occur in March. Snowmobiling will continue in to April and the month of March offers excellent off-trail riding opportunities. We can ice fish on Eagle Lake right through the end of the month - imagine ice fishing with temps in the 40s, or snow shoeing and cross country skiing in your shirt sleeves! C'mon up - the best is yet to come!

Baby It's Cold Outside!

HAPPY NEW YEAR! We woke the first morning of 2009 with a wind chill of -30 and a "ground blizzard" blowing across the lake all day. A few hearty souls were out ice fishing. Wayne cooked at the nursing home; I stayed home and caught up on 4th quarter accounting. We celebrated our New Year quietly around the woodstove. On January 2, I began working exclusively for Steve Daigle at Paper Signs Ink. It is a print shop in Fort Kent. We produce everything from business cards and forms, to wedding invitations, banners of all sorts, booklets, brochures, vinyl signs, memorial candles and book marks, CD covers, and even photo reprints. Steve has begun teaching me the finer points of Adobe Photoshop - the design software he uses. In addition to FedEx shipping and helping maintain his accounts, I am now learning the art of design. I enjoy the challenge of learning new software and the creative outlet it provides. I'm finding my work fills the huge void left now that the lodge is not busy. The down-turn in the economy is really hurting those of us i the tourism industry this far north. If you think the economy is bad where you live, it is worse up here for sure. We had no overnight guests in January.

We hosted our last holiday dinner of the season on the 3rd when the Roy family joined us. Earlier in the day brought in the door to the ice shack so I could repaint and lettered it with Wayne's name - it is officially ours. After installing the freshly painted door we hauled our shack to the mouth of the Fish River on the 4th and set it up among our "neighbors", there are nine of us in the "Shack Village" now. Most of the snow on the lake had blown off so it was quite slippery as we worked to position the shack in just the right spot. We used ice blocks from the hole Wayne cut in the ice with his chain saw to build a wind break under the ice shack then we used our pack basket to haul snow from a drift and dump it around and on top of the ice blocks to keep the cold and wind from coming up through the hole in the floor. We fished for a few hours and caught about a dozen smelt. There was 18" of ice at the mouth of the river.

On the 9th we hosted a "Woodchuck Bash" and invited all who helped us bring in our wood. With lots of food, drink, laughter, stories, and card games we were up until 2:30 a.m.! We all obviously had a case of cabin fever and enjoyed the opportunity to get together, cut loose and have fun. Then the next night we hosted the ATV club for a pot luck supper and annual meeting. About 40 members came. First we celebrated a small vistory - the Town of Eagle Lake now allows ATVs on ALL town roads! That's right - you can ride throughout the community on your ATV to access trail heads and in-town services. We all agreed we must ride responsibly and monitor ourselves and others so we can retain this privilege. After our business meeting we all enjoyed sampling the variety of foods brought for supper.

I "undressed" the Christmas tree on the 12th while Wayne took Pat Deignan (St. Francis, ME) and Jim Lortz (NJ) ice fishing. I visited with Jim's wife Sandy until they returned just before dark. They left with a 17" brook trout. The tree stood naked in the dining room for several days until Wayne hauled it outdoors awaiting our annual tree-burning in February.

"Rush Hour" in Eagle Lake occurs around 6:30 a.m. as trucks and snowmachines head up the lake seeking the best ice fishing spots. Later in the morning, on my way to work I marvel at the new moose tracks left from the night before. Trails are draped across the hillsides like garlands, strung from one group of saplings to another, showing where moose have been feeding.

Off and on it snowed during January with each storm leaving 8-12". And the cold continued. For a week straight temps hovered at -10 and below with the coldest reading on the 16th when the thermometer dipped to -45 (I have a picture of a thermometer reading -45!) Many in town could not get an accurate reading as their thermometers only registered to -20! We learned how to tell the temperature outside by the amount of frost inside...when the nail heads on the wooden lodge doors frosted to a height of 2 feet or so it was around -20. When they frosted half way up the door or more the temp was -30 or below; the translation: 1 foot of frost for every 10 degree drop in temperature below zero. We woke to skim ice in the shower and dog water bowl in the kitchen several mornings. Our water froze and each morning we'd wake early enough to get it thawed for showers or laundry. The refrigerator was no colder, nor warmer, than the kitchen itself for a few days and the woodstove struggled to close the 90 degree gap between the the temperature outside (-35) and the temperature inside (55). At night the old lodge would bang and pop as the ground heaved with the deepening frost. Wayne and I slept on the futon in the living room where we could be nearer the woodstove. We contempleted building a temporary loft in the living room for our mattress and sleeping up there until spring. The cold just wouldn't break. I was so glad our sled dog race would be held the following weekend when we hoped temps would be milder.

Finally, the cold broke on the 19th. Its amazing how easily the lodge heats when outside temps are above 0! Sled dog race preparations continued...on the 22nd Wayne and I were hanging the 16' x 4' race banner - comical sight watching us struggle as it flapped in the breeze until it was secured - when we were approached by a friend requesting we try to call Mike Michaud on our MURS radio. Mike had been "missing" since 11 a.m. It was almost 9 p.m.! Since Mike has a history of malfunctioning vehicles while in the back country we became concerned. It was cold and windy with a windchill around 15 below. I tried Mike on the radio but got no response so we went over to check with his wife, Geneva. She told us Mike left the house with his snowmachine in the back of his truck and was assumed to have gone looking for moose antlers. While Mike is quite capable of taking care of himslef and getting out of any jam, we still worried. We told Geneva we would drive to Portage and try to call Mike on the radio from there, then it occured to us that Mike was probably sitting at Dean's in Portage enjoying a glass of wine! We all agreed we'd wait a bit longer before sending out a search party. At 9:30 our phone rang...it was Geneva...Mike was safely at home...he'd never been in any danger, he'd gone to his ice shack on the lake and didn't tell anyone!

We never got the loft built - we were too busy! With us both working "real jobs" and maintaining the lodge in winter, and me running the snowmobile club and orgainzing the Irving Woodlands Mad Bomber sled dog races, we were left with little if any time for ourselves. Wayne has shoveled the lodge roof three times already this winter - we've received about 100" of snow.

January 23rd - race weekend. I took the day off from work to run last minute errands for the race. I was able to stay on schedule right through the day. Roay Roalf, Buck, and Roger Fournier had worked all week putting in the 50 mile race trail to Moose Point Camps. Dick Devoe had organized work crews for the Friday night driver's dinner and Sunday awards breakfast, Mark Berube had his Search & Rescue teams trained, mushers were arriving in town with their teams, our sponsors were also in town and as they say, "the train was leaving the station." With all preparations behind us, the race and all its associated activities were about to begin! The sponsors enjoyed dinner at the Tamarack Inn while the ATV club hosted a public spaghetti supper at the elementary school with a driver's meeting following. After the meeting many of us went to a social at Tamarack Inn to meet the sponsors. Race day dawned sunny, windy, and chilly. The local Wesget Sipu blessed the teams with a drumming ceremony and prayer before the start of the race as many spectators gathered around. By noon all teams were on the trail. Wayne and I helped at route 11 - the only road crossing of the race. Then we drove our snowmobiles out to Hewes Brook Road to monitor the distance teams and make sure 30 mile race teams made the turn around to head back to Eagle Lake. From there we rode in to Moose Point Camps to await the arrival of the first teams. Brent Reynolds, the owner of Mad Bomber hats (one of our race sponsors) entertained us with stories of his adventures traveling the world and zanny excapades with boyhood freind Scott Reihl. Visit http://www.madbomber.com/ to read of Brent's exploits. Brent is a character - we all enjoyed sharing the evening at Moose Point with him. He also generously donated hats to each musher, and mittens and special leather Mad Bomber hats as prizes for the race. He outfitted the Drake sisters (all 6 of them!) with gorgeous white Mad Bomber Hats and bestowed on them the title "Mad Bomber Girls". We left Moose Point just ahead of the last team to leave the check point at 9:30 p.m., stopping along the way to visit with each Search & Rescue team. It was -20 and a long, cold ride back to Eagle Lake. We arrived just in time to see first place musher (and CanAm champion/Yukon Quest finisher) Martin Massicotte of St. Tite, Quebec cross the line with his strong team of Alaskan huskies. Visit http://www.eaglelake100.com/ for more information about the race...All teams finished by 4:30 a.m. - the earliest finish in the race's 5 year history! By the way. I too have a Mad Bomber hat. I wore it as I checked in finishing teams and was impressed with the warmth of the hat and the comfort of the rabbit fur lining. If you don't already have a Mad Bomber hat, get one!

Sunday morning was the awards breakfast. Before handing out trophies, prizes, and purse checks I did my best to recognize each and every volunteer who had helped make the race a huge success! We're already looking forward to next year and agreed ours is "The Biggest Little Sled Dog Race in America".

The cold returned on the 26th with temps plummeting to -35 and below. Oh, the cold is getting old! It only took 15 minutes to thaw pipes the morning of the 27th (versus 40 minutes the morning before!) On the 28th we woke to -15, by 2 p.m. it was zero and at nightfall it was a balmy 18 degrees. Warmer temps brought snow on 29th, we woke to 10" of fluff. Wayne bought a new snow scoop on the 30th to replace the broken ones. We were lucky to get it, one of only three remaining at Quigley's in Fort Kent. Joyce Jandreau drove to Presque Isle to buy a few necessities and a new snow scoop but Walmart and Lowes were all sold out. She did manage to get one (of five remaining from a shipment of eight) in Caribou. "Word on the street" is there are no shipments of snow scoops to northern Aroostook for the rest of the season. Bummer. Given how easily they break, someone could make a small fortune selling well constructed snow scoops in February and March! As the month came to a close friends came together again. On the 31st the guys got together to shovel each others roofs. It seems it was a big weekend for roof shoveling. Everyone we talked to the following week told of clearing snow from their roof too! While Wayne shoveled roofs I designed our summer brochure. I sure enjoyed reviewing photos we'd taken over the years of big fish, canoeing, kayaking, hiking, riding ATVs, camping, kids swimming, and all of us around the camp fire. That night we attended Geneva Michaud's 50th birthday party at the American Legion. On a cold January night we ate, drank, and were merry!

I'm glad January is behind us. I used to love winter, when I lived in southern Maine. Our first season in Eagle Lake I would excitedly ask when we'd get our first snowfall. Always the response was the same and spoken with dread..."Oh, it'll come." Now I understand. Maine winters are long and cold. Northern Maine winters are longer and colder. It makes us appreciate the warmer days of February even more. On my way to work the other day I listened to the weather radio and learned the average HIGH temperature for the month of January had been zero. Baby it's cold outside!

In a winter wonderland

Our last clients of 2008 (Joe and Cindy Fitzpatrick, RI) left on December 6. Read "Oh Deer" for our adventures hunting big bucks the last few days of muzzleloader season... Since then our pace has slowed, a bit. Wayne is cooking for Northern Maine General and I too work part time for NMG, in an adult day program in the morning and for Steve Daigle (Paper Signs, Ink in Fort Kent) in the afternoon. Wayne and I meet back at the lodge in the evening around 6:30 for dinner and to return the day's calls and emails (which explains why it may take a few hours or a whole day for me to get back to you!) Shippeng FedEx packages for Steve, scanning photos for various Christmas printing projects, and putting together calendars kept me busy right through Christmas eve. When we're not "working" I'm helping organize the Irving Woodlands Mad Bomber 100 sled dog race (http://www.eaglelake100.com/) and doing my best to keep the Eagle Lake Winter Riders snowmobile club operating. We rely on volunteers to work on trails and run grooming equipment but the bulk of the work falls to a handful of individuals, all so we can enjoy safe and scenicly beautiful winter travel through the woodlands

It wouldn't be Christmas if we didn't host annual company Christmas dinners. This year groups form Norstate Credit Union, Ricky Saucier's, and Chopper One (Raynold Blair) enjoyed the lodge and Wayne's excellent cooking for their gatherings. We hosted the Fish River Rural Health board's strategic planning meeting and dinner too. We take great pride in all the positive feedback we receive from guests visiting the lodge and dining with us - I don't know who gets more pleasure from dining at Fish River Lodge, our guests or us for hosting them!

On the 9th I picked out our Christmas tree, which was easy. It was the tallest one Bruce Dube had on the lot. That night Wayne strung lights on it as I set up other Christmas decor in the lodge then we both decorated the tree, which is only slightly smaller than the one at Rockefeller Center! It is all of 8 feet tall, perfectly shaped, and all lit up adds a festive glow to the dining room. On the 10th I woke to find it layed out across the floor. It seems "Trouble" (really is his name!) the lodge cat tried to climb the tree as we slept. The floor was littered with broken ornaments, all can be replaced, except the very special one that has hung at the top of every tree I've decorated...a blue-tinted glass bell ornament that once hung on my great grandfather Carl Smith's trees. Seeing that broken ornament broke my heart. I alerted Wayne to the mess he'd find when he got up and then I went to work with a heavy heart. Wayne righted the tree and redecorated it and securely fastened it with string to the wall so it would not topple over again.

The spirit of giving was strong at Fish River Lodge in December. I believe a bunch of elves fell off Santa's sleigh during a training run on December 12. I came home from work to find Grant Shook, Tony Dube and his tractor, Lucien Dube, and Cheryl and Jim Jandreau cutting and splitting wood with Wayne. They'd surprised him by organizing a work-day. What they didn't plan on was sleet and freezing rain that day but despite the miserable weather they turned out and made a HUGE dent in the 4 1/2 cords of wood piled on the hill. While some bucked up the 4 foot logs others split it on the wood spliter then loaded it in the bucket of Tony's tractor so Tony could deliver it to the lodge deck where he gently dumped it under the eves. With brief breaks to dry clothes and gloves, the crew worked steadily until dark. Jim, Tony, and Lucien returned on Saturday and were joined by Roy Roalf and son Buck. They finished off the pile by 12:30, just in time for me to return from Fort Kent with sandwiches and beer. We had a small celebration but planned a bigger "thank you" party for after the holidays.

Bill Beecher (TX bear hunter) surprised us with a very generous gift. He sent two Cuddyback trail cameras! Wayne and I have wanted to buy trail cameras but always our money gets spent on some other unexpected expense. Bill even included "bear proof" boxes! We can hardly wait to get them out to experiment photographing wildlife - THANK YOU Santa Bill!

On December 19th we hosted NMG day program participants at the lodge. Some halped make stew and ployes for lunch while others enjoyed our taxidermy, playing cards and board games, and making puzzles. They made me promise they could come back in the summer to swim and fish...I promised!

On the first day of winter, baby it was cold outside! Thermometers in Eagle Lake registered between -33 and -38! We woke to a COLD lodge and could see our breath in every room. Wayne and I stoked the woodstove and huddled around it drinking coffee until we could no longer see our breath then headed to Presque Isle to do our Christmas shopping. The truck started hard! Then, as we drove out to route 11 we wondered if the truck might fall apart! The seats were hard, the springs and shocks stiff, the chasis and frame rattled. All along Old Main Street and Route 11, all the way to Presque Isle, we saw dozens of vehicles with hoods up and jumper cables attached. It was a rough morning for anyone or anything to get started.

On Christmas eve Wayne and I played cards next to the woodstove until a light snow began falling. We put on our coats and boots and gloves and with Gracie and Alli bounding up the road ahead of us we walked to the public beach. Across the street from the beach we quietly enjoyed Rella Pelletier's lighted nativity and remembered why we celebrate Christmas, then we walked out on to the lake to play fetch with the dogs before returning to the warmth of the lodge.

Christmas morning the wind howled outside under unsettled skies but it was mild with temps topping out around 25 degrees. We liesurley enjoyed our coffee before opening gifts sent from Ed and Julie Dallas (MN). They sent us "Welcome to Fish River Lodge" pillow cases - Wayne and I will buy new bedspreads to compliment them and use them in cabin 3. In the Dallas package we also found moose and bear dice games, survival cards, and a donation toward our "thick balogna, bear bait, LP gas, firewood, winter fishing tackle, bird seed, new lodge pool table, beer fund". We made calls to thank them and wish family and friends a Merry Christmas. After breakfast we lost power due to the wind. Wayne spent much of the day shoveling the lodge roof while I got caught up on laundry and visited with Santa Bob Macomber - he brought over a load of homemade fudge and candies! At nightfall we packed our bags; after I got out of work on Friday we headed downstate to visit mom and dad, Miranda and Acadia, Kaitlyn, nana Pat and grandpa Armand. Ron and Mim Webber stopped by mom and dad's while we were there to pay us a visit! Our stay was way too short. I miss my family SO much, especially during the holidays! Waving so-long to grandpa brought a tear to my eye. He's 96 years old and I never know when my visit will be the last. But he sure looked handsome in his new forest green Fish River Lodge cap!

Throughout the month of December we've enjoyed several snowfalls and have received about 50" so far with 24" of hardpacked snow still on the ground. Every December I marvel at the beauty of the landscape here in northern Aroostook. Trees are often draped in fresh snow, the mountains wrapped in their own white blankets. Animal tracks ring the landscape like a string of pearls. On the coldest mornings everything near open water is covered in ice crystals. The snow and ice sparkle like a million diamonds! Never have I enjoyed such winter beauty as I have since moving to "The County".

As the month began to wind to a close, ice shacks lined up in formation at the public beach. Soon the procession will move in single file, escourted by snowmobiles and ATVs, to assemble loosly at the mouth of the river. The age-old tradition of ice fishing is long anticipated as soon as the first ice forms on the lake. This year we get to start January 1, two full weeks earlier than years past. Wayne and I bought our own ice shack, a Christmas present of sorts to each other. We're looking for an appropriate name for our tiny, but tidy, shack...I like "Hole-in-the-lake Lounge" Send us your ideas... The ice shack chess match begins on December 31 as they are jockeyed for position. When ice thickens at the mouth of Fish River shacks are "leapfrogged" closer and closer to the river currents..."Play-by-play" goes something like this...Lucien Dube boldly places his shack on the edge first, then Mike and Clayton make a gutsy move closer, and Ron Tousiant sneaks in a middle-of-a-weeknight surprise. Friday morning his shack perches closest to the advancing ice shelf!" The game goes on until the mouth of the river is buttoned up and stops all strategic shack shifting.

On the last day of the year, Wayne and I renewed our guide licenses, registered our snowmobiles, and bought our combination hunting and fishing licenses for 2009. With my wallet completely empty we'll call our licenses and registrations purchases a belated Christmas present AND birthday presents for 2009!

January will bring longer days for us to to enjoy this winter wonderland. We'll ice fish, snow shoe, and snowmobile, then lug wood, shovel and plow. We'll endure the coldest temperatures of the season and the most beautiful landscapes and count our blessings from 2008 and look forward to our hopes and dreams for 2009. HAPPY NEW YEAR from this Winter Wonderland!

Oh Deer!

Opening day of resident firearms season for deer began November 1. After several calls from “well wishers” the night before, Wayne and I headed out while it was still dark. We drove over to Little Goddard Ridge to hunt a familiar piece of woods where we had found deer sign earlier in this fall. As the sun brightened the sky the wind picked up and blew gusts over 30 m.p.h. It was a miserable morning to hunt. Deer hunker down in the wind and the few we were hunting would have to be kicked out of bed if we were going to have any luck at all. Hunting an area of hundreds of acres when deer aren’t moving is futile so at 10:00 we met for coffee and resorted to plan B – scout other areas and maybe get a chance at a deer. We found two other promising areas off Beaver Brook Road and met Henry Jolly (Woodland, ME). Henry shot a 258 lb. 8 point buck last year in that area and we were hopeful when we found fresh sign of some does and bucks. We hunted behind the lodge the following week and found very little evidence of deer. The small herd that normally lives back there dwindled to just a few deer after last year’s tough winter. We decided to leave them be.

We put deer season on hold for a few days to re-shingle cabin 8. It took a couple of afternoons to complete since we both work through mid day. A day of rain delayed it’s completion but we had it all done before Mary Ann Bergeron and Eric Fancy (Addison, ME) arrived for a few days of late season grouse hunting. Mary Ann has been to Fish River Lodge before as an instructor for the Becoming an Outdoors Woman Fly Fishing Weekend. The rainy weekend they were here to hunt didn’t dampen their spirits. We enjoyed nightly visits with them during their stay. Mary Ann tied and brought with her some beautiful Gray Ghost streamer flies and Heather Es from and an old recipe. She presented them to Wayne to try next spring. Joe and Tony Fiala (brothers) and son-in-law Jeff Wagner (all from PA) arrived for a week of deer hunting before Mary Ann and Eric departed. Joe and Tony used to stay here when Fish River Lodge was named Camps of Acadia and Virgil and Jayne Bogard owned it. We were thrilled they returned and shared many stories of the good ol’ days of hunting deer in The County. Mike Saucier and Doug Wing (Caribou, ME) were in for a half week semi-guided hunt. By week’s end only a few deer had been seen but Mike and Doug had honed their deer hunting skills. Wayne, Mike, and Doug watched a huge buck cross the road as they were eating lunch one afternoon – with their mouths full of sandwich all they could do was watch as the buck tracked a doe Wayne had seen cross three hours earlier! The buck never looked up and ambled across the road and disappeared before they could get to their guns. Moral of the story: eat sandwiches outside the truck no matter how cold it is, with sandwich in one hand and gun in the other!

We received our first tracking snow on Veterans Day. We were all hopeful and try as we might to cut a fresh track, NONE were found in Pennington. Wayne cut a track off Beaver Brook Road but gave up after he found where two coyotes were in pursuit of the buck and had chased it all of 300 yards before Wayne quit tracking. Although there were no deer hung after two weeks of effort, we made many memories of the “one’s that got away” and shared many laughs and stories together. We had cabins to clean for our next week’s hunters on the 15th so we didn’t get out. The Jalbert family (MA) arrived first followed soon after by Charlie Sayers, Smitty, and Bob. Charlie brought us some of his apples - I'll turn them in to dessert later in the week! We got the arriving hunting parties settled in to their cabins just before the Bombara family arrived. Charlie Sayers and the Bombaras had hunted here many years ago too and have recently returned as loyal clients. The Jalberts also hunted here many years ago, this is their first year back since the Bogards turned over ownership. It seems Fish River Lodge had lost many loyal clients over the years after the name changed from Camps of Acadia. Finally, they are returning and that makes us feel very grateful, honored, and proud to have them back. The Jalberts are a family of hockey players, thus we watched the Bruins in the evening and got to know the family better (there were five generations of Jalberts staying with us passing along "the tradition"), we listened intently to their stories of the old days. The week presented tough conditions – more windy days than not with gusts of 25-35 m.p.h. for three days straight! Gloria Curtis (with her husband Nick were former owners of Crooked Tree Lodge; Gloria now cooks for Mike Brophy at Red River Camps) and Diane Chouinard (current cook at Crooked Tree) were our honored guests for dinner. Vinny, Sal, and John Bombara as well as the Sayer party used to hunt at Crooked Tree until Nick passed away and Gloria had to sell. Last year we started a tradition where Gloria and Diane join us and our hunters for dinner. It is a time to reminisce. This year Gloria and Diane brought dessert – cream puffs they’d made and they were scrumptious! They topped them with caramel and chocolate sauce. The conversation and dessert almost made up for the dismal week of hunting. Vinny and his brothers Sal and John, and nephew Matt are like family to Wayne and I. Each year it is as if “Uncle Vinny” has arrived with cousins Sal, John and Matt!

Rather than hunt, Wayne started bucking up and splitting the 5 cords of wood delivered on the 9th. Progress is slow after working all day and then coming home to bake desserts, bread, and cooking dinner before serving our guests in the evening. Not to worry though, we will pick away at it and get it cut and stacked in due time. Our hunters enjoy our efforts when they sit down to dine. Wayne cooks up delicious meals including Swiss stuffed chicken cutlets in white wine sauce, New England boiled dinner, chargrilled sirloin steak, rosemary encrusted roast pork loin, and his famous meatloaf and gravy. They enjoy my homemade desserts too! In the mean time we cut and split enough wood to keep the woodstove going and lodge toasty warm!

On the 26th it snowed about 6” before turning to sleet and freezing rain. The wind was wicked! We guessed this would be the snowfall that lasts until spring. Wayne made good progress on the wood pile Thanksgiving week. Miranda, Acadia, and friend Dave McLaughlin (Topsham, ME) joined us for the Thanksgiving holiday. Wayne hunted in the morning. Acadia and I baked pies and we all pitched in to prepare the big feast in the afternoon. We made cranberry sauce from the berries sent out from Minnesota by Ed and Julie Dallas. A funny turkey story…I didn’t have time to shop until Wednesday afternoon. All I could find were frozen turkeys – the label says 3-4 DAYS to thaw! I need mine thawed TOMORROW! I left it on the counter for an hour while I put away groceries and got Miranda, Acadia and Dave settled in "Guide Camp" then we soaked it in the sink in cold water until bed time. We stored it in the refrigerator until noon on Thursday, then ran cold water on it until 1:30 when it went in the oven in time to cook for dinner at 6:00. I hadn’t read the cranberry sauce recipe before preparing it. Another funny story…the sauce had to chill for 8 HOURS after cooking to set! We would be serving in less than 3 hours! We put the cooked berries in a large bowl in the freezer and stirred it every 15 minutes or so and, like the turkey, it was done just in time to serve! Tyler Gagnon, Grant Shook, Paula Pelletier, and Tristan joined the rest of us for dinner. Acadia had us all making snowflakes out of coffee filters. Every one who visited the lodge over Thanksgiving now has their own snowflake hanging in the dining room.

The last day of firearms season fell on the 29th. Wayne and I left our Thanksgiving guests to spend the day on their own. We were hopeful the ½ inch of fresh snow and calm air would present at least one of us an opportunity for a deer. After trying to cut a track on the branch road we were hunting, and finding none, we sat watching crossings all morning, from dawn until late afternoon. Nothing. We were surprised and disappointed to have nothing cross in front of us. Back at the lodge we made turkey stew and ploys for dinner then Miranda, Acadia, Dave, and I headed to Fort Kent for the annual tree-lighting and visit from Santa. Acadia thinks Santa lives in Fort Kent! For the past four years we have had snow on the ground for this event. It really gets us in the Christmas spirit watching children play in the snow while carols play on the PA system until the tall fir tree outside the town library is lit. Children gather around the tree and gaze wide-eyed at the colorful lights until sirens announce the arrival and Santa and Mrs. Claus on the town fire truck! Children line up for a visit with Santa and each are given a small gift. The sights and sounds fill hearts with joy!

Saturday before muzzle loader season opened Joe and Cindy Fitzpatrick returned for their second year of hunting with us. Joe hunts, Cindy loves the snow. She faithfully trudges along with him each day he hunts. They are a delightful couple and enjoyed dinner in the lodge each night of their week-long stay. We got to hunt with them Friday, the next to last day of muzzle loader season.

We woke to snow that accumulated about 2 inches. A stiff breeze blew all day and the temperature was a chilly 20 degrees. Joe and Cindy went in the woods to hunt. Wayne sat in his tree stand and I sat on my stool (built by Darren Page, Dexter, ME). I love the stool! Darren designed it for the still-hunter. It has a built-in pack for sandwiches, a drink, and miscellaneous hunting gear. It folds open and has a comfortable cushioned seat attached. It has a shoulder harness and can be worn on your back while walking and then taken off and unfolded to sit on. I set up next to a fir tree along side the road overlooking a crossing at 35 yards and another crossing at 70 yards. I’d sat about 2 hours and was nearly frozen trying to keep my fingers warm and control my shivers. I was contemplating getting up to take a walk when I heard a faint grunt which caught my attention. Moments later I hear a rustle and looked up just as a buck poked his head beyond the small firs lining the road in front of me. All I could see was his head and neck, he dared not proceed beyond the ditch. As he stepped in to the ditch he looked down wind, right at me. I didn’t move and hoped I blended in well enough behind the fir to conceal my identity. The buck was tense and continued to stare, trying to figure out the shape behind the tree he’d passed so many times. Rather than raising the gun and surely spooking him, I waited, long enough to count his points (8), admire his handsome face with the white-ringed eyes, and his tawny neck with the large, white throat patch. I tried to relax my muscles and control my breathing. I waited and watched, hoping he too would relax and step out or look away. He didn’t. He pushed himself backward out of the ditch and disappeared. I heard him wheel around and that was it. Knowing he would move down-wind of me I turned to face the opposite direction, hoping he wanted to cross the road badly enough to make a move below where I now stood. I heard him blow. I was busted! Since he busted me I figured he would work back in to the wind so I grabbed my stool and hoofed up the road about ¼ mile and set up on a knoll at the edge of the road down wind of another crossing. At 10:00 Jim Dumond, a friend from Portage, drove in. I told him what happened earlier and he graciously backed up, turned his truck around and drove out. At 11:30 I was froze again and walked back to the truck to tell Wayne my story. After eating lunch and warming up I went in the woods to track the buck, thinking he may have bedded down and my only hope would be to jump him out of his bed. He did just what I expected, including working back in to the wind. I jumped him and another deer out of a ticket. I didn’t get a shot but I learned a bit about him. I went back out to the road side and sat until dark. We met Joe and Cindy at home and quickly prepared dinner for them. After dinner we said “so long until next year” – they will leave in the morning and we will be hunting.

The last day of muzzle loader deer season was even chillier, 15 degrees, but thankfully no wind. We went right back in to hunt the same area. We saw where deer had crossed out of the piece they were in yesterday afternoon so I sat hoping to catch them coming back in. Fifteen minutes after I sat down I heard a buck grunt. The sound came from not 50 yards across the road and in to the woods from where I sat! Knowing Wayne was on foot, I wondered why he would walk in my direction but I figured the grunts were his quirky way of saying “good morning” as he passed by. I just shook my head. I sat shivering until 8:30 and looked longingly at a little mound across the road from where I sat. The sun was shining on it, it was surrounded by a few small firs and saplings…rather than shivering in the shadows behind a frosted fir I chose to move across the road to enjoy a little warmth from the sun. But before setting up I had to satisfy my curiosity from earlier. Was it Wayne, or was it a buck that had grunted? I found where a buck walked in a skidder trail toward the road, stopped, then turned and went back the way he came. I didn’t find any Wayne prints. I figure the buck heard my foot steps squeaking in the cold snow as I came up the road. He stopped, listened, then social grunted and after getting no response, turned and went away. I should have grunted or bleated back! I heard a distant shot at 10:00 but that was it. I met Wayne at the truck for lunch at 11:30 and told him of the shot I heard. We decided to drive in that direction as we warmed up to see if there was a hunter needing help hauling or loading a deer. We found no vehicles or evidence a deer had been dragged out so we headed back for our afternoon hunt. Just as we turned in the branch road Wayne spotted a deer at the crossing I sat on yesterday! I got out of the truck, tucked a cap in my muzzle loader and snuck in front of the truck, sat down, steadied the cross-hairs on the bucks shoulder and squeezed…the gun “popped” and fizzled but didn’t fire! I got up to take Wayne’s gun but the buck turned and went back in. We were dumbfounded! The powder must have had moisture in it! We drove on and there he was again! He’d run up the hill and crossed on the rise! I went in and tracked him through and over and under some hellaciously thick stuff not fit for man or beast! Off the road about 200 yards I heard a deer break and run. I didn’t see it but I couldn’t see my hand in front of my face either! I let him go. Everything happens for a reason…I had two chances on the same buck in two days. I guess the reason I was not to take that buck was he had business to attend to. He had a few more does to breed and some growing to do before next fall. I made a date to meet him at the same crossing next year!

Deer season ended yesterday. Wayne and I are completely beat. We’ve been hosting hunters since the end of August and we’ve enjoyed every minute of it. We’ve forged wonderful friendships with our clients, witnessed some beautiful moments in the woods, and created some amazing memories. As darkness and snow fall outside my window this afternoon it is like the stage lights are being dimmed. Another hunting season comes to a close, the curtain drops - the lake froze over last night. Winter is nearly upon us. The remaining month of December is a time for celebration. We’ll decorate the lodge for Christmas, host a few dinner parties, and get caught up on all that has gone undone since hunting season began. Then, like black bears, we will do our best to slow our pace, sleep more, and endure another long winter. Until I write again Wayne and I wish you and yours a very merry Christmas! May the beauty of nature and spirit of Christmas bring you joy that lasts throughout the New Year! …and may your days be merry and bright…

Of Moose and Grouse

Bear season was behind us as we quickly turned our attention to moose. While Bill and Kathy Bernier (Bradley, ME) were wrapping up their two-week vacation, Kathy helped us “turn cabins over” in anticipation of our soon-to-arrive moose hunters. We had a brief visit with my daughter Miranda, and grand-daughter Acadia at the end of bear season. Miranda sighted in my trusty .30-.30 before her one night sit over a bait; she didn’t see a bear but looks forward to putting in more time next year. Acadia and I scouted moose and found several cows as the sun was setting. Emery Deabay (Bucksport, ME) and friends got in some late-season fishing.

Friday before the moose hunt (September 19th) Wayne and I drove over to zone 5 for one last look. A very large bull left foot prints for us to find, confirming “plan A” for the Webber party opening day. Saturday We had a surprise visit from long-time friend Vlad Vladimiroff (former owner of Bulldog Camps) and Jack McDonald (who I hadn’t seen since high school!). As we visited I realized it was probably all those wonderful memories of time spent at Bulldog that planted the seed of owning sporting camps in my head. The Philbrick party (Thorndike, ME) were our first moose hunters to check in on Saturday. Jack and Helen Ruby (Bowdoinham, ME) surprised us with a visit on their way to Allagash on Sunday morning. They presented us with a “conversation piece” – an old leather shotgun shell belt once belonging to Slovakian rum-runner George Soloski of Lisbon, ME. The belt was complete with an assortment of old and colorful cardboard shotgun shells. We hung it proudly in the lodge. Jack and Helen hunted moose with us in 2005 and had a zone 1 permit this year. Ron and Mim Webber (Cundy’s Harbor, ME) arrived with their son Duane, grand-son Tom, and friends Henry and Colby Barnes. Colby successfully hunted a cow moose with us last year. The John Sibley party (Bradley, ME) and Burgess party (Hermon, ME) were all in camp by Sunday afternoon.

Ron and Mim and “the boys” joined me in the lodge Sunday night to review “plan A” for Monday morning. Wayne would be guiding brothers Gene and Earl Burgess under the watchful eye of Earl’s son-in-law Doug Bean. We were still waiting for Mark Power to arrive for his hunt. He was drawn from the alternate list at the last minute and didn’t arrive until Monday night.

With introductions complete, let’s go moose hunting!

Wayne and I were up early, as we are every morning of “moose week”, to cook breakfast and pack lunches for our hunters. The morning was PERFECT! The air was crisp and calm. Predawn stars twinkled and frost glazed the landscape as we headed out of camp. We raced south to Ashland to beat the crowds at the 6 mile gate. On the way in I passed, then met at the gate house, an old friend from my time at Bowdoin…Art Korandanis! He had a zone 5 permit too. We wished each other well and as I exited the gate house I realized we were lucky to be the first in the group to check in. By the time we were back on the dusty road there were at least six other vehicles behind us waiting to get through the gate! We were right on schedule, ahead of rush hour traffic. My heart sank when we turned down the pre-selected branch road to hunt only to find a pick-up truck parked in the middle of the road and a bunch of hunters walking up the road well ahead of the vehicle. Expecting the worse (they were blocking the road), I waited. One very kind gentleman returned to tell us his 12 year old grand-son had a bull permit and they’d just seen two young bulls in the road. They were hoping for a shot. I told them of my plans and asked if, when the scenario played out, I might pass them and get quickly in to place at the end of the branch road and minimize any interruption to their hunt and mine. It was exciting watching in anticipation as their hunt unfolded. It was soon clear the young bulls got away, but there were many more days and moose ahead. The sky was quickly brightening. We parked the truck and Mim loaded her .30-.06. We walked up the road and in to the clear cut where I planned to call. We were located on a slight rise overlooking the cut with the road behind us and rising sun on our right shoulder. Foliage was peak – the glow of the rising sun on the mountains in the distance and frosty leaves around us provided a picturesque backdrop for what would unfold. It was chilly standing on that knoll. I shared my fingerless mittens with Ron as the sun drove the night’s cold down on us. Between making occasional calls and listening for a response we shivered and waited…after 40 minutes of calling with no reply my mind toyed with turning to “plan B” but I hated to leave the area with such a nice bull hanging around. Then a very faint “uuurf”, and another, and…we had a bull coming! Ron and Mim could hear him coming too. As he neared the cut he walked straight toward the sound of my call which brought him to the edge of the cut, directly across from us. The woods he stood in were thick with a tangle of firs, nearly impenetrable to a bull moose. As predicted, he turned down wind of us and moved through the trees. We had not yet seen him but his calls marked his location and movement. I figured he would appear from a peninsula of birches where the woods opened up a bit and he could work from down wind about 180 yards below us. Mim saw him first. I asked “Is he a good one?” She said “yes, he’s a good one.” Then I saw him. He wasn’t the big one I hoped to call but he was a good moose. I asked her if she would like to enjoy watching this one and try for another later. She decided this was the bull she wanted. I called again and he came right toward us, our breath rising. He stopped and looked, trying to discern the shapes on the knoll, to him we were moose. He continued toward us and once stopped to thrash some maple saplings. He kept coming. I told Mim, “If this is the moose you want take a shot when you’re ready.” She whispered, “I’m shaking too much to shoot.” I reassured her that she had time to settle down and to enjoy the moment, take a deep breath, and then take the shot when it presented. With the moose now 70 yards away and closing in on us she fired a single shot with her .30-.06 that dropped the bull in his tracks. We watched his breath rise from the raspberry bushes that hid his body. At about 7:20 a.m. on opening day Mim’s moose hunt was over. She was SO excited! The hunt had been picture perfect. In our minds it plays like a scripted piece of cinematography. Although the hunt unfolded “dream-like”, it was real and we had witnessed and enjoyed the moment, the memory now already etched in our brains. With her rifle ready in case he should get up and run, we approached the moose. Ron placed the coup de grace as we stood over the bull. I made an offering to the moose, thanking him for all his gifts –the nourishment he would provide, the memory of the hunt, and time shared with friends. We expected “the boys” to arrive at any moment, figuring they’d heard Mim’s shot, then Ron’s. We began walking back up to the road to meet them but they didn’t come. Back at my truck we radioed them and learned they’d missed a turn in the early morning darkness but were on their way toward us. We met them and showed them the way to Mim’s bull. With Henry rigging lines and blocks, Duane insisted on gutting his mother’s moose – I obliged. Tom and Colby captured the event in pictures. By 9:30 we had the bull loaded on my truck and were headed to the tagging station in Ashland. Arriving at Gate-Way Market confirmed what those who have hunted moose already know…it is an “event”. There were spectators, news crews, other hunters and guides, trucks pulling in and out from under the scales. There was a certain festive feel as we milled around sharing our stories and admiring some of the largest racks as they came in. Mim’s moose weighed 763 lbs. with a 44” spread and 9 points. Compared to the others, it was a respectable moose and sure to be excellent table fare. We dropped the moose off with Windham Butchers in Ashland for cutting and headed back to the lodge, wondering what kind of morning Wayne and his hunters had. Meanwhile, Duane, Tom, Colby and I took a drive over to the state property across the lake to look for bear. Duane hunted while I took Tom and Colby for a drive on the woods roads looking for game. I did my best to set a good example and promised I wouldn’t get Duane’s big red Dodge pick up stuck. Henry was cooking dinner when we got home. Wayne arrived soon after; we had our own hungry hunters to feed. Wayne gave me a run-down of his day…to start, he was calling in a bull when a truck load of cow hunters drove in to ask if they’d seen anything and spooked the bull they were calling! They moved to another location and called in a small bull but couldn’t get him to step in to view for a good shot. You see Gene was hunting with a traditional Hawken .50 cal. shooting “punkin’ balls”. Wayne had to get the bull inside 50 yards for a clean kill shot. It would be a challenge but Wayne was up for it. The Sibley party called to say they got a bull that morning, similar in size to Mim’s.

Tuesday Wayne and his party were up and out of camp early; another frosty morning, perfect for hunting moose. I got “the boys” out of bed to go call moose. We ended up talking to a bull that answered our call but was trailing a cow. He wouldn’t leave her so we never got a look at him. On our way back to the lodge we passed Ron and Mim headed south. The boys loaded their gear and were on the road soon after. Their departure was bittersweet. They are more like family than friends. I relish the time spent together and am always sad to see them go, but we all shared the excitement of Mim’s hunt and the memories created along the way. No more moose today.

Wednesday brought milder temps with a high of 70 degrees. Fall foliage was peak. I spent the morning cleaning cabins. Wayne’s party hunted a 2 mile branch road in the evening, calling all the way. I scouted and found two different large bulls while they were out, still no moose.

Thursday morning Wayne, Gene, Earl, and Doug were back trying to call one of those large bulls. As morning temps rose and they decided to quit and walk out to the truck, two loggers stopped to tell them they’d just seen a large bull cross the road! They went back in to call but the bull never came. That evening the Philbrick and Power parties were down to the lodge. Things had gotten pretty quiet after Tuesday, few were seeing moose. At this point the thrill and excitement of moose hunting begins to fade. Hunters arrive full of anticipation but as the week wears on the enjoyment of the hunt becomes more like work. They start wondering if they will become a statistic, one of the 25% or so that go home with an empty tag. To be honest, getting up at 3:30, hunting all day, eating dinner at 9:00, and doing it all again and again is exhausting. The guide becomes “coach” and works to keep his sports “in the game”, maintaining their enthusiasm. Another warm day challenged our hunters.

Friday brought another mild day. The Philbrick party got a small bull in the morning. They were happy to have found success and were ready to go home after a week of hard hunting. Wayne’s clients and Mark Power still had unfilled tags. The clock was ticking, time was running out. This was Gene’s fourth moose hunt and he’d yet to fill a tag. He was feeling rather unlucky. But, Wayne and I have learned we NEVER give up and that everything happens for a reason (although the “reason” is not always clear). Dinner was quiet but our hopes were high that tomorrow would be “the day” and Gene’s luck would change.

We woke to rain Saturday morning with mild temps; miserable weather for hunting moose. Wayne and I decided to “double team” ‘em. We resorted to road hunting at day break. Wayne and Gene, Earl, and Dean loaded in one truck; me in another. With our radios we could keep in close communication as we checked each branch road, leap-frogging our way cross country. At times I would stop and call and around 11:00 I got a response. I ran back to the truck, radioed Wayne and he brought Gene down. We stood in the rain calling and listening to a reply but it turned out to be just another bull trailing a cow – he just wouldn’t leave her. We had lunch and it was obvious we were all feeling a little defeated. Wayne had tried everything he could think of all week and time was slipping away. We drove back toward Eagle Lake and had one or two other locations to try before dark and the end of Gene’s hunt…I put my medicine bag around my neck and asked for a moose for Gene. At 78 years of age and after three other unsuccessful moose hunts, he deserved to take one with his trusty Hawken. We drove on… As we crowned a hill on Blackstone, I couldn’t believe what stood in the valley. The dark form might be our sacrificial moose. It was too far away to tell for sure if it was a bull or cow. I watched as Wayne pulled over, got out with his binoculars and confirmed antlers. He motioned for Gene and instructed him to follow directly behind. They walked slowly down the hill, grunting to the bull. The bull turned and began walking up the hill toward them, closing the distance from over 150 yds, to more than 100 yds, then 70, 50, Wayne knelt down and later told us that he asked Gene to take the shot. Gene wanted the moose closer, Wayne grunted again, the moose walked stiff legged, rocking his head from side to side. I was starting to think this would all end in self defense! At 30 yards Gene fired his .50 cal. “punkin’ ball” and the moose fell. It was 3:00 p.m. and shouts of relief and jubilation filled the muggy air. Dean turned toward us with a very wide grin. We all joined together to admire the moose and I quietly gave my thanks to this beautiful bull who had given himself to a very grateful hunter. The 41” rack with 14 points was impressive to those of us who watched Gene and his traditional muzzle loader end his 6-day hunt. Back at the lodge that night we enjoyed Earl’s “Moose Gitin’ Pie” (an apple pie baked especially to celebrate a successful hunt – I asked Earl what they would have done with the pie if they’d not gotten a moose. Earl replied. “We would have eaten it alone in the cabin.”)

More rain Sunday, which means its skinning day – it always seems to rain when we have a deer or moose hanging on the game pole to be skinned. We delivered the skinned moose to Jim Albert in Fort Kent for cutting. Gene, Earl, and Dean will return to pick up the meat after we’ve frozen it for them. We said “so long” to our new friends. They will return in the spring. Their hope had been to get the moose early in the week and spend the rest of their time fishing for salmon and trout. But everything happens for a reason and we think this time it was because Gene and Earl deserve another trip for some fantastic spring fishing!

With two weeks between moose hunts we had some work to do! We spent the rest of the next week cleaning cabins, doing laundry, and making beds. Wayne and Grant shingled the roof on cabin 3. Where did September go?

Kelly and Aaron Landry joined us for a week of grouse and duck hunting. Aaron did quite well “collecting” an assortment of duck species. Dave and Mary Kressner (So. West Harbor) spent a few days with us and shared a bottle of their home made “Quiet Side” merlot. We enjoyed their company and hope they return for another stay. Lou Gagnon (Henniker, NH) and Brian Boucher (Hubbardston, MA) came up to hunt grouse for a few days – come to find out, our Alli descends from Lou's line of GSPs. Russ and Carole Dyer (Bowdoinham, ME) with their setters and Barb and Cary Haupt (Tenants Harbor, ME) with their cockers made their annual trip north to hunt grouse. Linda and Wayne Testa (CT) paid us a visit. They used to stay here years ago – we hope they will return for a summer vacation next season. Vicky Foster (Brimfield, MA) brought friends Sally and Mark Snyder (Salem, CT) and Mike and Sue O’Donnell (Stafford Springs, CT) up for a week of bird hunting. They hunted over griffons and GSPs. We’ve had quite an assortment of bird dogs hunting our northern Maine coverts! Birds have been spotty and we’ve found few woodcock. Some days you find good numbers of birds and other days not so much. But always we enjoy working our dogs on grouse!

Scott Cyr loaned us his trophy mounts to display in the lodge until he gets settled in his new home. We hung them in the dining room, on “Scott Cyr’s Wall-of-Fame”. Stop by and see his beautiful 55” bull moose rack!

One morning we woke to find a bull moose “chasing” a cow across the lake! At times his entire head was underwater! This got us excited for the start of the second week of moose hunting which began October 13. Malcolm Charles (Rome, ME) was up to hunt with his three sons and their friends. Deanna and Steve Brown were also up to hunt moose with their daughters Nicole and Megan. Steve showed up with a bad back and after Monday morning’s hunt he ended up in the emergency room in Fort Kent with a ruptured disc. The family went home late Monday night and never really got to hunt. The good news is their cow permit will be reissued for 2009 and they will return next year. Malcolm’s hunt lasted through Wednesday. They enjoyed a very exciting hunt and were extended invitations by locals who wanted them to hunt moose in their fields! We woke to rain on the 16th, moose skinning day! Wayne helped Malc and Co. skin their moose and bring it to Jim Albert for cutting. They dropped the moose off around 8:30 and had it back here in Malc’s freezer before I got home from work at 1:00!

More cabin cleaning, Wayne hauled up our docks and the boats. We managed to squeeze in some bird hunting and have been lucky to bring home at least two grouse each time we hunt. We’ve enjoyed grouse alfredo, sautéed grouse, and grouse pizza (pizza dough topped with barbecue sauce, sautéed grouse, green peppers and onions, and topped with pizza cheese – YUM!) One day I got my chores done by 11:00 and headed out with Gracie and Alli (our German shorthaired pointers) to “go get dinner” is what I told Wayne. It was a slow day of hunting, sort of. It would have been more productive if my shooting had been better. Anyway, I missed 5 birds in one covert but picked up a bag of “new” potatoes left in a farm field after a recent harvest. It was 2:30 and I should have had dinner by then, but I didn’t – I only had potatoes and I still needed grouse. On to another covert, and another, and finally, just before dark I had two birds! I was determined to come home with dinner and I did!

We’ve gotten out on a couple ATV rides. One ride took us to Second Wallagrass Lake and a stand of cedar trees where Mike Michaud showed us the 7th largest tree in Maine – an ancient cedar with a girth measured by four of us standing finger tip to finger tip to get our arms around it! The cedar is old, its bark peeling and many braches twisted. It is not very tall and is slowly dying. I am glad to have stood in its shadow. The hardwoods have been naked for a month now, only beech leaves shiver in the crisp breezes. We got our first snow on the 22nd and have had many frosts before and since. Sun rises are always colorful this time of year. I enjoy watching the sun peak over Pennington Mountain and the geese fly down from the river each morning. We made a batch of moose jerky from left over meat scraps. There's nothing better to carry while deer hunting!

The month ends as we looked forward to another “opening day” – this time it is November and deer season! Carole Dyer sent me Leon Gorman's book _L.L Bean, an American Icon_; I'm anxious to start reading it when things settle down and I can relax next to the wood stove. Ed Dallas called from Minnesota, Shawn Pelletier called from Washington, and Duane Webber called from “some where” on I95 on his way to Dixmont – all called to wish us luck on the last day of the month, the day before deer season starts.. We’ll need it. The deer herd took a beating last winter and spring. We’ve found little sign and where there were good numbers of deer to hunt last year we are now finding evidence of only a few.

Looking ahead to another hard winter and back at that old cedar I am reminded of a quote from Douglas Wood’s book _Things Trees Know_: “Sometimes all there is to do is endure.”