Winter Hangs On

Rita and Bill Wehsler arrived on March 2nd from Tofte, Minnesota. Rita is a favorite to win the CanAm 250 one of these years. Bill will compete in the 60 mile race with some of their younger dogs. Jaye Foucher and her handler Natalie arrived on the 5th. Jaye will also be running a team in the 250 mile race.

Mild temps above freezing continued right through the month as northern Maine prepared for the CanAm sled dog races. Snow had to be hauled in, as it always is, for the Main Street start. But this year they also had to haul in snow for the parking lots where the 80 plus teams were staged. Race day on the 6th started with temps well below freezing but by 11:00 a.m. it had warmed to 41 degrees! It was perfect weather for spectators and by all accounts it was the largest group ever! After helping Rita get her team to the starting line I drove her and Bill's dog truck and trailer up to Lonesome Pine so it would be there when Bill finished. I stayed long enough to watch a few of the 30 mile teams finish and had a visit with Eric Saxon (Eagle Lake) and Jim Carter (Munsungan) then I was off to Portage. I stopped briefly at the lodge, long enough to load the ATV and grab some lunch, then I headed south. The Portage checkpoint was well staffed and word was out - teams would be arriving early due to fast trails. All teams had arrived, been fed and watered, rested, and were back on the trail headed to Rocky Brook checkpoint by 2:00 a.m.

I slept in on the 7th . Wayne worked all weekend. The race progressed to Maibec checkpoint then to Allagash. After Wayne got out of work we drove to Allagash to not only see the teams at the checkpoint, but to celebrate our 4th anniversary. We reminisced about our wedding day under the two fir trees next to the river, visited with friends we see only once a year during CanAm, and headed home.

Ed and Julie Dallas, our dear friends from Minnesota, sent us a special anniversary gift. Ed was our best man and has taken his responsibilities very seriously. He's always there sharing advice and keeping things light hearted! They sent us matching, hand crafted sling shots for our anniversary. It seems Ed was on a canoe trip in the BWCA with a friend who had whittled an 8-sided dice. Ed asked if he could make a sling shot. Well, what this gentleman created was not any old sling shot. He made two, identical works of incredible craftsmanship and artistry. The sling shots are made of laminated ash and walnut. They have beautiful curves and a fine finish. The ends are even fitted with copper. They will be treasured forever as a reminder of our friendship with Ed and Julie and of our anniversary. My goal is to practice with mine and kill a grouse with it this fall!

I was up early on the 8th to cover some of the teams at the finish line for our second event newspaper, "CanAm Chronicles". Matt Carstens (NH) won, Ryan Anderson (MN) finished only 15 minutes behind Matt. Rita finished a very respectable 5th, only two hours behind the winner!
There's lots of interesting information on the CanAm web site at http://can-am.sjv.net/ The site is most exciting during the race as you can follow teams as they progress along a virtual race trail.

I attended the musher's banquet with Rita and Bill on the 9th and they all headed home on the 10th. That afternoon, traveling through Fort Kent, you'd never know that just days before one of northern Maine's biggest winter events had been held. Life returned back to "normal" after our minds had turned to "mush" for a few days while Fort Kent hosted sled dog teams from North America and Canada.

We celebrated Wayne's birthday on the 12th - I brought home 3 dozen smelt so he could go ice fishing and I gave him some streamer flies and a fly wallet. That night Jerry and Sandy were up and we all had birthday cake for Wayne's birthday. They also dropped off 7 of our tanned beaver pelts. We will stretch them on hoops and decorate them with beads to make rustic wall hangings. We're also looking for a sewing machine capable of sewing hides so we can make beaver mitts.

On the 13th Wayne and I packed a lunch and took our sleds "off trail" riding. Trail conditions were amazing and the warm temps made riding very comfortable. We had lunch overlooking Eagle and Square Lakes at Three Brooks Mountain.

On St. Patricks Day Grace gave birth to three little German shorthair pointer puppies! We've given them Irish names: Conan (boy), Erin (girl) and Madigan (girl) for as long as they are here.

March 23rd it started snowing. It snowed all that night and the next day! We ended up with about 10" of heavy, wet snow. Winter is back...

This weekend Mary Heald and Dan Pinnette are bringing Ian and two of his friends up to ice fish before the season closes on the 31st. I'll let you know how we do... But winter is definitely going to hang around for a while!

February Thaw?

The month began in typical winter fashion...daytime temps at or below zero, breezy, peeks of sun that provided mid day warmth as days grew longer. The second week of February ushered in mild temps in the 30s. A saw whet owl perched in a tree along side Old Main Street watching morning commuters pass beneath. I saw it on my way to Fort Kent on the 9th. Wayne and Grant installed a new cupboard in cabin 1. It gives us lots more storage space this winter and I think our guests will like it come spring. We enjoyed watching the Olympic Games from Vancouver and looked forward to evenings in our cabin seeing all the Olympians compete. We've been cooking up the remainder of last fall's bear meat. We've had stews and loins. The tender, rich meat is a delicious treat at the end of a winter day.

On the 13th Wayne and I took advantage of unseasonable temps and drove over to Spud Speedway in Caribou to watch vintage snowmobile racing. The old sleds, difficult to steer, careened around (and sometimes off) the track providing spectators thrills and spills! We hope these races become part of their regular winter schedule because it was a lot of fun to watch and a great family outing.

Fort Kent hosted our own "Olympics" of sorts, the State Class C ski meets the week of February 15th. We were honored to have Freeport's Marriconeag Waldorf School students, parents, and coach staying with us during the meet. Although the lodge was closed for the winter we couldn't deny "our athletes" the opportunity to watch the Olympics during their stay. Each afternoon we'd fire up the old woodstove so the Marriconeag School skiers could gather 'round the big TV to watch their favorite Olympians compete and to take advantage of our dining room to eat dinner together. While we have a "soft spot" for our local skiers, we couldn't help but hope our friends from southern Maine competed well in Nordic events - Zoe Chase finished 2nd in her class - Nicely done Zoe! Throughout the meet our print shop published an "event newspaper" called "The Pine Journal". We covered the meet with photos and stories from both Lonesome Pine and 10th Mountain venues.

Our skiers departed on Wednesday which gave us a day to clean cabins and get ready for the arrival of our favorite snowmobilers. Duane and Tom Webber (Cundy's Harbor, ME) have become some of our most loyal clients. I grew up with Duane hunting, skiing, and making so many memories over the years that he is more than a friend, he's like a brother as we've shared life's ups and downs. His parents, Ron and Mim Webber, are lovingly called "Aunt Mim and Uncle Ron" although they aren't really relatives. Now Tom, Duane's son, is of another generation adding to the memories and strong bond between friends. Duane graciously agreed to bring Acadia up during their stay so I could spend some "quality time" with my grand daughter. On the 18th they called me at work from Portage so I could meet them at the lodge - perfect timing as I followed them down Old Main Street!

Every one got settled. Acadia found new friends in Duane and Tom and suggested we go check on them. Our visit led to a Chinese checkers game - Tom kicked butt!

Wayne ice fished on the 18th and brought home another fat brook trout. We finished cleaning cabins on the 19th. Acadia played on the lake with Alli and Grace, went sliding, then helped us by hauling bags of trash up to the dumpster with her sled. After we got our work done we took our snowmobiles for a ride to Portage for a late lunch. Other than bare ground in the logging operations, trails were in remarkably good shape given the lack of February snowfall. In Portage we rode through the deer yard and saw about two dozen deer! We continued on to Stockholm and Cross Lake before finishing our 110 mile ride. Acadia was a trooper, preferring to ride two-up behind me. I worried about her falling off but her good balance kept her safely and snuggly behind me, although I had to keep reminding her to hold on around my waist - she was too comfortable back there!

Eagle Lake Winter Riders, led by Pierre Plourde, hosted snowmobile drags on the lake on the 20th. There were hundreds of spectators, most rode in on their own sleds to watch. The club ended up running qualifying and the race on the same day due to worries conditions on the lake would deteriorate the second day. It was an amazing event and huge success - plan on it for next year! That afternoon, after watching the races, Acadia and I ran to Fort Kent for groceries. We watched a fat raccoon cross the road - spring is in the air!

The night before Duane, Tom, and Acadia left we had a marathon of Chinese checkers before bedtime. It was a melancholy morning for me when Acadia, Duane and Tom departed on the 21st. Tom is thinking about going to UMFK to study criminal justice in hopes of becoming a game warden some day. It sure would be a treat to have Tom attend school in Fort Kent!

I took a walk with Alli and Grace on the 28th. The lake is in great shape for snowmobiling, walking, skiing, and ice fishing. Snow in the woods is "rotten", compacted ice granules. When temps are cold it can be walked on, when temps warm it is walked in. I walked through the woods without snowshoes by staying on an old snowmobile track Wayne left a month ago. There the snow was firm enough to walk on. Step off the track and snow was well over my knees!

Although it has been a mild month we've enjoyed our share of winter activities...snowmobiling, ice fishing, sledding, walking on the snow... We better enjoy it now for it will all be slush and mud in another month!