Record Snow

Snow, snow, and more snow...It's Sunday, March 9th and we've received nearly 180" of snow (the old record of 180" was set back in 1955).

Our adventures since mid February: Ric and Kim Pau-Preto and Joe DeMoura enjoyed a wonderful week of riding through 2/16. Joe hit a deer with his snowmobile on the trail to Portage on 2/12. He tracked the deer, called a warden, and got to take it home for dinner!

The Eagle Lake Winter Rider's snowmoblie trail groomer got stuck off the trail south of the Carter Brook warming hut - in the middle of "now where", in the wee hours of the morning of 2/16. Also on 2/16, the Fort Kent cub scouts joined us for their 3rd annual ice fishing derby. A beautiful 17" salmon was caught while moms and dads made chicken stew and French fries for lunch. Wayne shoveled roofs, again. Cory Lathrop (Pittston, ME) and friends here for a dinner party. We were surprised when the Westons (W. Gardiner and old 4-H family friends) were part of their party! In addition to rib eye steaks, we served samples of Joe's deer.

The Webber family (Ron and Mim, their son Duane and daughter Dee, grandsons Tom Webber and Kyle MacPherson, and friend Colby Barnes) arrived for a week of riding on 2/16; Barb and Steve Ellis returned this year to ride too! Area trails in EXECELLENT shape at t he start of the week. Tom and Colby had a grand time...sledding in the rain, snowmobiling, recliner rides (old chair pulled by snowmo.), visits, and the first annual wreath burning. We finally took down our HUGE wreath that had hung in the lodge dining room since Thanksgiving - it made a fantastic "fire ring". I enjoyed spending time with all of the Webber family, especially filling the wood box with "uncle" Ron, dinner at the lodge on 2/21, and accompanying them on a ride to Madawaska on 2/22. They are dear friends (or rather more like family).

On 2/20 we watched a total lunar eclipse under crystal-clear skies!

Wayne attended the Springfield (MA) sportsmen's show 2/20-2/25. Rod Lebrecque helped him cover the booth for the 4-day show. A snow storm kept attendance down on Friday although there was lots of interest in our operation and he even booked a coulpe bear hunts :-) Wayne got home on 2/25.

Musher Rita Wehsler (Minnesota) arrived on 2/26 with her husband Bill and professional handler - Ed "Seagull" Dallas - to run the CanAm 250. We always look forward to CanAm week and seeing our mushing friends. Ed also stood as our Best Man when Wayne and I were married in Allagash during the 2006 sled dog races. Rita took her 12-dog team for a training run from Allagash to Fort Kent on 2/28 but missed a turn and ended up "misplaced" for a few hours out side of Eagle Lake. Snowmobilers went out to find her and sent her back in the right direction. Never a dull moment when running dogs! Kelly Cotiaux and John Lord stayed in cabin #3 with springer spaniels "Jibber", "Huntress" and "Sam." Kel is an annual spectator and one of the most enthusiastic. As a hunter and dog trainer herself she truly appreciates the athleticism of racing sled dogs. Another of the 250 teams stayed with us, Jaye Foucher (Ashland, NH) and her beautiful team of purebred Siberians.


Gail Swank (of W. Virgina and wife of race vet Steve Swank) and I helped head veterinarian, Nick Pesut of Presque Isle on 2/29. We varified vaccination paper work of the racing dogs during a mandatory vet examination. On the way home from Fort Kent Wayne and I saw our groomer fueling up at Bald Eagle - it's "unstuck"!

The CanAm races started on a snowy morning on 3/1 when nearly 90 teams left the starting line in Fort Kent competing in 30, 60, and 250 mile races through the northern wilderness. That night Ed, Bill, and I drove down to Portage to wait for Rita to arrive at the 1st check point. Teams began arriving in near white-out conditions. They rested in Portage for a few hours then headed off to Rocky Brook logging camps while we enjoyed a "white knuckle" ride back to Eagle Lake as 12" of snow fell. The race progressed toward Maibec logging camps and Two Rivers at Allagash on 3/2. Maine musher, Don Hibbs led much of the race but stalled outside Fort Kent Monday (3/3) afternoon when his team decided to take their own break. While Don rested with his team just miles from the finish line, Quebec musher Martin Massicotte passed him to take first place at 1:31 p.m., followed just 10 minutes minutes later by another Quebec team driven by Andre Longchamps. New Hampshire musher and 2006 CanAm champion Matt Carstens finished 3rd. Don arrived in 4th place, Mario Racine 5th, and our favorite musher - Rita Wehsler and her strong team wound up 6th. Her 6th place fisish did not accurately reflect the quality of her team - they were slowed when she had to haul two tired dogs in her sled early in the race and turned around to drop off another after leaving Maibec. If you've never experienced the thrill of the CanAm races, why not mark your calendar and plan a visit next year! Main Street in Fort Kent looks much like Anchorage, Alaska at the start of the Iditarod! For more information about the CanAm races visit their web site at http://can-am.sjv.net/ .

Wayne and I spent the next few days visiting with our mushing friends and attended the CanAm 250 banquet on 3/4. Jaye Foucher and her Siberian team hit a milestone in the racing world when they were awarded prize money for one of the fastest legs between Maibec and Allagash. Jaye finished 12th - CONGRATS JAYE! Rita and her Stoney Creek Kennels crew were scheduled to depart on 3/5 but a winter storm held them up - roads were closed in Quebec so they waited another day before heading back to Minnesota on 3/6.

We enjoyed a "taste" of spring on 3/6 and 3/7 under sunny skies and temps in the upper 30s. I took pictures of our cabins and lodge with snow up to the eves! We celebrated our 2nd anniversary on 3/6 with pizza from 4-Way Quik Stop, reading our anniversary cards, and enjoying a quiet evening at home. On 3/7 I attended a snowmobile club meeting of the Sly Brook Snow Riders. Bruce Labbe (trail master), Earl Labbe (groomer operator), and I (club president) went to present them with a check from the Eagle Lake Winter Riders and thank them for their assitance "rescuing" our groomer when the track broke and it slid off the trail in to 4' of snow. After attempting rescues with a grapple skidder (which bogged down in the snow just out of town and 16 miles from the groomer) and Ricky Saucier's unsuccessfully attempt to clear an access road with his giant snow thrower, the Sly Brook groomer operators came to our rescue!

Finally, after two months of early mornings and many late nights we caught a break; we got to sleep past 5:30 a.m.! Wayne and I enjoyed a couple liesurely mornings and the opportunity to catch up on calls, emails, bills, and correspondence on 3/8 and 3/9. Oh yeah, and more plowing and shoveling.

Today (3/9) we are digging out from yet another storm. We've gotten another 12+ inches of snow (it's hard to tell exactly how much fell because of blowing and drifting). I just pulled Wayne out of a snow bank after he got stuck trying to push snow banks back. We have finally run out of room to plow. The driveway is barely the width of a vehicle, the big rose bushes in front of the lodge are completely burried, snow covers many of the cabin and lodge windows, our propane tanks are completely burried, the dogs can climb on snow to the roof of the lodge, and I wonder if we've broken the old snowfall record yet?

If you LOVE winter, c'mon up and see us. We'll surely be riding snowmobiles through the month of April and in to May!