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!
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!
Labels: January 2009
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