Fish River Lodge Journal

Journal entries from Fish River Lodge, Eagle Lake, Maine. Adventures in hunting, fishing, trapping and running a sporting camp in northern Maine.

Sunday, March 8, 2009

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!

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