Day Trip

Day Trip

Here’s a good way to spend a fall day (if you live in Maine or New Hampshire. If not, it could be a way to spend any number of days just to get here.) Give the trees just a week, week and a half. Then drive towards Rangeley on Rt. 4. A few miles before Rangeley, you’ll see a sign for Smalls Falls picnic area. Pull in there. There is minimal walking to get to see some beautiful falls and pools. If you care to walk a little more, venture south from the main trail and very shortly you’ll see another set of falls in a small canyon. The way the water has sculpted the rocks there is picture worthy.

You could picnic at Smalls Falls or you could travel into Rangeley and have a bite at one of the local eateries. Then, take South Shore Drive (south of town) to Rt. 17. Driving south on Rt. 17, you’ll be treated to the finest kind of scenery. At Height of Land check out the view of Mooselookmeguntic Lake. (Seriously, I did not make up the name.) Take lots of pictures.

Tear yourself away from the natural eye-candy and keep going south on 17. About 9 miles further, there’s a turn on the right. Cross the bridge, and follow the Bemis Track (a dirt road passable by car) about 4 miles. There’s little turn out where you can park. The trail leaves the south side of the road. It’s marked with dark red blazes and it leads to Angel Falls, ninety feet of waterfall with a rock formation in the middle that resembles an angel’s wing. It’s a 15 to 20 minute walk one way. There are several stream crossings which can be tricky if the water is high, but that’s when the falls are most impressive.

You’ll be glad they invented digital cameras, so you’re not limited by the length of your film.

Me, Myself, & Irene

She came, she saw, and she turned out the lights. For three days. Oh, that Irene. They told us she would be trouble, and she proved them right. But she was some beautiful in spite of her bad side.

What do you do when you can’t play with your electrically powered toys? You get in your gasoline powered vehicle and drive to the coast where you see Irene’s spectacular aftermath. This posting belongs to Irene. Enjoy.

Live and Let Live

Many times, after a fisherman has succeeded in landing The Big One, it is the right thing to do to let it go. This is because you have already caught your limit, or the fish you caught is not of a legal-to-keep size, or because you’re a good sport and weren’t planning on having fish for supper.

Catch and release is about putting the fish back in the water to carry on with its fishy life. If you handle it like a big ole slimy bean-bag, it might just go belly-up and you will have accomplished nothing with your good intentions.

Here’re are some ways to catch and successfully release a fish:

1.Remember the biggest thing: Time is of the Most Importance. This fish has just participated in the fish equivalent of a marathon trying to avoid being landed. When you take him out of the water, it’s like you putting your head under water: no breathing going on. If you want to take a picture, have your camera or picture taker ready to snap away. There’s no time for setting up for a full fledged photo-shoot. Measure and weigh the fish, take his portrait and send him back to WaterWorld.
2.Use “circle” hooks. These hooks are not likely to be swallowed by a fish and will hook him in the mouth only, so you can easily and kindly remove it. It’s gonna do some damage if he’s swallowed it and you yank it out. Owie. If the hook won’t come out of the fish’s mouth, cut off the leader material and leave the hook. It will eventually disintegrate. Meanwhile, the fish has a cool lip piercing he can show off to his buddies.
3.While you’re getting all the proof and bragging information, it’s a good idea to wear cotton gloves. Cotton gloves protect fish slime. I know, it doesn’t seem like something worth protecting, but to the fish it is.
4.Playing a fish to the point of exhaustion (his) is not a good idea. Remember, the fish is Not Playing, he’s in a life or death struggle as far as he knows. You need to play him just to the point that he’s tired enough not to thrash all over the boat and hurt himself.
5.Netting the fish is the best way to land him. It’s much easier on him. If you use a rubber net*, it will support him and won’t scratch his scales off.
6.When you return the fish to the water, don’t just fling him over the side. Hold him upright in the water and move him back and forth to get the water flowing through his gills. He’ll swim away when he’s ready.

Be the fish, Grasshopper. It’ll help you catch ‘em, and it’ll help you let ‘em go free. Free! Free, I tell you!!…oh…sorry.

*Check out stevensnets.com for beautiful handmade rubber fish nets

Moose Encounters of the Iffy Kind

Many people would like to see a moose. They pay to go on “Moose Safaris”, riding in a vehicle around known moose hangouts. I’ve done that. I’ve seen more moose in a parking lot in the middle of town than I did on that outing. See, moose are notoriously unreliably. They are never where they’re Supposed to Be, like at the town of Stratton’s salt shed area, or posing beside Rt. 16 between Rangeley and Stratton, or doing moose things along Tim Pond Road, which is Prime Moose Watching Territory up by Eustis.

No. You are much more likely to encounter a moose when it most inconvenient. For example, once there was a Very Large (Trust me, they’re all Very Large) bull moose between me and where I was trying to go, which was into my house. I was carrying stuff and looking down, so I was able to get to within 15 feet of him before I realized my problem. At that time, I had a log foot bridge which crossed a brook in front of my house.
He was standing in the brook. Next to the bridge. Looking at me. I told him to “move along”, but he was not impressed. So I waited. Eventually, he meandered off through the woods and I could finish carrying stuff and go into the house.

Another time that is not ideal to meet moose is while riding a horse. Oh, I rode horses out west that took seeing herds of wild elk right in stride. But my horses are not so
blasé. In fact, they are very much against encountering a moose on the trail. So when my friend and I rounded a corner and found ourselves with our mounts almost muzzle to muzzle with a moose, it was Very Inconvenient.

When I was a kid, my family went camping “up-country” a lot. (We defined “up-country” as north of Moosehead Lake.) My father was an avid fisherman and he had his favorite spots out in the middle of somewhere that was up-country of up-country. To get back to the subject, one of his haunts was a little, shallow pond called Two Brothers Pond. That pond had to be the absolute best place to see moose. Not just a fleeting glimpse of one, but long leisurely viewing of 2, 3, sometimes more. Once, we saw a cow moose with twin calves and they hung around for a long time while we gawked. Nowadays, moose are so random. They are hanging around street corners, leaping through plate glass windows to crash a movie at the local cineplex, playing in traffic. Just once I’d like to see them be where I think they ought to be, grazing in the shallow water of Two Brothers Pond and being moosy.




Heat

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Having fun. Outdoors. In Maine. Read this blog and learn about all sorts of things pertaining to having fun outdoors in Maine. We’ll be here twice a month to share ideas, tips, and and other fascinating bits about stuff we’ve experienced and learned in our profession – which is Being Registered Maine Guides.

Heat

Well, it’s hot outside. Hot and Humid. This is not my favorite kind of weather, although I’ve heard plenty of people say they l-l-l-l-love it. Seriously? I think those people must be
l-l-l-l-loving it in a lounge chair near a beach, not going hiking or biking or fishing, or horseback riding or moving much at all, except bringing their cold drink to their lips.

Which brings me to the subject of this blog: Staying Alive and Hydrated while playing (or working) in the heat.* For myself, if I come inside from my morning horse chores at 7am drenched in sweat, that’s my cue to 1) hurry up and get all activities done before 10:00am or 2) screw it, just join the lounge chair set.
I’ve had some run-ins with heat exhaustion. Years ago, I learned that hydrating is not the same as downing half a dozen cans of soda. At a horse riding event (which, I might mention, is one of the hottest activities a person can engage in, especially if it’s the kind requiring “Show Clothes”) when the temperature was in the high eighties, with high humidity, I made the mistake of “hydrating” with soda. It didn’t quench my thirst, and whatever they put in there to sweeten diet soda, combined with the heat made me sick and faint. Not a good way to be while driving a truck pulling a loaded horse trailer. Another time, while hiking, heat exhaustion Set In. (Have you ever noticed how some things Set In, like heat exhaustion or hypothermia, while other things you just “get”?)
Anyway, that time, I just plain didn’t drink enough water.

It was when I started bike riding (when bike riding set in?) that I really learned to take care of my body’s need for liquid replacement. I learned that it’s not enough to take a few sips of water every now and then. Even if it’s not hot or I don’t feel thirsty, I’m still losing water. I learned not to wait for thirst to…oh, I can’t resist: set in, but to drink at least every 15 minutes. And for every 15 miles or so, I try to finish my Trek Across Maine water bottle (28 ounces). When it’s very hot and I’m stupid enough to be on a long ride, I find I need something more than water to help replace the electrolytes I’m losing. I drink Gator-Ade either full strength or mixed with water. I know when I need Gator-Ade when it tastes good. If I don’t need it, it tastes sort of like flavored salt water to me.

So to sum up:
1.When it’s hot and humid, try to avoid strenuous activities after 10:00am. Better yet,     try not to move much at all.
2.Drink before you’re thirsty.
3.Drink water mostly.
4.Sometimes drink a sports drink.
5.Most of the time, things that Set In are not Good.

* Disclaimer: This is not a scientific or even a very well researched article. It’s just what I found has worked for me.

tonde guide service

Having fun. Outdoors. In Maine. Read this blog and learn about all sorts of things pertaining to having fun outdoors in Maine. We’ll be here twice a month to share ideas, tips, and and other fascinating bits about stuff we’ve experienced and learned in our profession – which is Being Registered Maine Guides.

The "Brother Guide" on the Lower KennebecThe Other Guide and friend on the Lower Kennebec

Deerflies and Blackflies and Ticks, Oh My!

It’s so great to have summer arrive so we can do all those summer-y activities, like biking, kayaking, and hiking. I’ve found biking and kayaking to be mostly* bug-free, but hiking? Well now, that’s a whole nother story, my friends.

Here’s what I’ve learned:

1.Blackflies are at their peak in the late spring, but they are notoriously unreliable and may swarm you any time they feel like it.
2.You can outrun blackflies. Really. Keep moving at a brisk pace(preferably a gallop). Don’t stop for a drink of water. Don’t stop to rest. And for the love of God, don’t stop to pee. Swarming will occur.
3.Outrunning blackflies makes for a strenuous hike. If you’re climbing a mountain, keep your fingers crossed that there is a strong wind blowing on the summit, so you can at least take a moment to look around.
4.Bug dope works a little, but you can’t put it everywhere blackflies like to go. Like in your eyes, up your nose, and in your mouth.
5.Nets work. They are hot and almost as annoying as blackflies.
6.Deerflies may only be outrun in a car at approximately 46-52mph. I’ve noticed they can stay on the car windows up to these speeds, depending on weather conditions (wind, pounding rain).
7.You cannot take your car on most hiking trails.
8.Bug dope: nope.
9.Nets: not so much.
10.Deerflies use teamwork. Several will fly madly around your head, strafing you and keeping your attention. Meanwhile, one who is apparently in the special forces, will land on you with great stealth and bite you through your bike shorts.
11.Don’t wear bike shorts hiking.
12.Someone once told me, that if you run over a rattlesnake, you’d better skid on it to make sure it’s dead. Ditto for slapping deerflies.
13.Last year, I tried some sticky stuff on my helmet while horseback riding. That worked pretty good. Two drawbacks: 1)They don’t die there in the sticky stuff; they just stick there and buzz. 2)I don’t want to wear my helmet for hiking.
14.What are ya gonna do? Just “woman-up” and go hike.
15.Ticks.
16.Eee-uww.
17.Long sleeves. Long pants. Tucked into your socks. Hat. Net. Bug dope. Don’t beat the bushes.
18.Or, check every part of yourself and your clothes when you get home. (My friend’s nephew found one in his belly button.)Ticks take 24 hours to get comfortably embedded in your hide. (I’m not sure how they time this.)
19.When you find a tick and you will, send him to the Really Fun Water Park also known as The Toilet. He’ll have a great ride!
20..Next time, lions and tigers and black bears? Nah.

*Blackflies and ticks, not a problem. However,you’ll have to be really fast to outrun the deerflies. See #s 6 and 10