Fifty Shades of April Gray

I welcomed April by listening to the first geese of the season winging and honking northward through the fog. They must have spent the night on the Fish River for the rivers are the only open water in these parts at this time of year.  It was also the day I began migrating south through Presque Isle, then Unity to pick up my friend Mike Duni, then on to Enfield, Connecticut for the night before reaching our final destination at Tailwater Lodge in Altmar, New York.

Fifty shades of April gray at Fish River Lodge.

I left behind fifty shades of gray - naked trees, melting snow, and crusty lake ice for the sudden contrasting vivid hues of blue sky, green grass, and yellow daffodils to the south. The wintry north I left in Maine caught up with me and welcomed me to New York like an old friend. From the start, my steel head fishing trip went from a much anticipated adventure to an "extreme" fishing expedition.  We endured unseasonable sub freezing temperatures for the entire five days. Some days the sun shined, most other days the wind blew and it snowed. If I had a dollar for every guide I cleared ice from on my rod I could have paid for the trip but that was the worst of it. Although a sudden drop in water temperature all but shut down the fishery on the Salmon River the trip will always be remembered as an "Epic Extreme Steelhead Adventure".

Steelhead fishing on the Salmon River, Altmar, NY.

At Tailwater Lodge the guides (Michael Derosa and Rocky Rockwell of Zero Limit Adventures) are first-class, the staff friendly and responsive, rooms wonderfully appointed, the restaurant and food delightful, and the good times with friends old and new created a memorable experience that can not be replicated. The Woodbine Group's vision for creating a first-class lodge from an abandoned school is a remarkable reality that must be experienced - there are no words that adequately convey the attention to detail incorporated in to the building and experiences provided there. Those who hunt and fish as many years as I have understand that the measure of a trip isn't in filled tags or creels but in the quality of the experience.  This was one of my most memorable and rewarding fishing experiences having shared it with friends, learned new skills, endured challenging conditions, and discovered real gems at Tailwater Lodge and Zero Limit Adventures. I have already planned a return trip next year so I can share the adventure with others.

Tinker meets Quill Pi

While I was away Tinkerbelle had her own adventures when she met and taste tested a "quill pig" for the first time. In the capable care of Jared and Sarah Ashley, Tinker did what Tinker does best.  She investigated...sights, smells, and sounds. On the morning I left New York, Jared and Tinker left for a visit with the veterinarians of North Country Animal Hospital in Caribou so they could remove a face full of quills from a porcupine!

Our annual Maine Professional Guides Association banquet was held in Brewer on April 9th.  Ken Winters and his grand son Buddy, Wilson Hess, Mike Duni, Kelly Cotiaux, Jared Ashley, and Elliot Mitchell shared the Fish River Lodge table with me for an evening of friendship and fellowship among guides and others who support the guiding industry. Senator Susan Collins and Ken Elowe of US Fish & Wildlife were keynote speakers at the event.

Moose tracks.

April is a month that really tests the grit of northern Mainers.  While our friends and family to the south are raking lawns and watching robins pluck a meal from the earth we are still enduring the wrath of winter under a blanket of snow with temperatures in the teens and twenties most days.  March winds from the south finally arrived up here in April and began loosening winter's grip.  Our April showers won't arrive until May and in the mean time the days tested my patience for simply waiting for bare ground when there is so much work to be completed before welcoming my first guests next month. There is nothing to be gained from anticipating or complaining so I looked for the smallest of blessings and embraced the last days I spent with Old Man Winter. I began taking walks without snowshoes, shed a layer by going outdoors without bundling up in a heavy winter coat or wearing mittens, watched the rivers start yawning open, and listened to the geese as they flew by.  I enjoyed reading stories left by the tracks of the animals nearby - moose, deer, fox, grouse, rabbit, fisher.  They'll continue leaving their stories behind when the snow is gone but they're much harder to read.

Sue and Darlene on the bank of the Allagash.

On the 16th word was spreading fast through "The Valley" that the St. John and Allagash rivers might move.  The Allagash had been jammed for over a week but unseasonably warm temperatures predicted for that day had everyone anticipating a rapid melting of the snow pack which would run in to brooks and streams which would run in to the rivers which would cause water levels to rise and eventually break jams and loosen ice from shorelines so the rivers could finally shed their cloaks of ice.

I met my friends Darlene Kelly Dumond and Sue Underhill Kelly at Two Rivers Restaurant.  They would be my "river guides" for the day. After breakfast and coffee we headed out to inspect the Allagash.  We found streams running fast as the morning progressed and conditions changed rapidly. The three of us basked in the sun on the river bank until lengthening shadows whispered of the passage of time.  We'd reminisced, shared tales of our winter adventures, discussed new romances, and solved some of the world's problems.  Suddenly it was 4 p.m. and the St. John began to run! I'd never experienced the river opening and starting to run.  It was so exciting to see the power and speed of ice moving, grinding and churning its way toward the St. Lawrence.  We ran down to the Narrow Gauge in my pick up to watch ice cakes pass by, then down river to the Albert's in St, Francis to watch again until the river ran free.  All along the way were folks waiting and watching.  This is a much anticipated event, a social gathering, an annual rite of passage to those who live near these northern Rivers.

"Papa" Tyler Kelly watching the Allagash run again.

To have shared the experience with Darlene and Sue was simply epic! After watching the St. John run and then settling on the bank of the Allagash in front of Two Rivers Restaurant to enjoy our take-out dinner of beans and hot dogs, I couldn't help but reflect on the many eyes and souls who too had anticipated and experienced this annual passage of winter to spring.  What I had no way of knowing at that moment was the Allagash was about ready to run too!  No one could remember both the St. John and Allagash running on the same day.  This truly was epic!

Allagash River moments before it begins to run.

We could see the Allagash's water level rising but the ice was not.  Eventually the river and pressure beneath would dislodge ice chunks jammed up stream so they could nudge and break apart the sheet ice stretched from one bank to the other. Like the rumble of a distant train and as slowly as the tide rises, the ice began to shift. We could see a wall of jumble ice up river piling up against the sheet ice.  Then the sheet ice began to move, twist, crumble, grind, rumble, and flow.  There are no words to describe the beauty and power of ice moving for the first time since it had frozen tight in winter's grip.  It is of contrasts: exciting, yet peaceful, powerful in it's strength but graceful in it's movement, quiet and serene until one listens for the silence but hears the rumbling and grinding and hissing of ice and water running by.  Being present to watch the river run was something I had chased nearly every spring I'd lived up here but I had always missed it by days and last year by as little as a few hours.  This year I was blessed to witness one of the north country's most epic battles between winter and spring, solid and liquid, endings and beginnings.

Eagle Lake from the top of Dube Hill.

Any excuse to get outdoors this time of year and I'll make it!  I enjoyed raking, cleaning the grounds, hiking, brushing winter coats from the horses, and going for horseback rides.  Moe and I enjoyed many adventures checking the trails for snow melt, and climbing hills to overlook Eagle Lake to check on ice melt.  Riding gave me a great excuse to get out under a bright spring sky!  This spring I was able to get some good rides in before my days became filled with spring opening chores and the stress of trying to do everything at once. The window between the snow and ice going and and my first guests coming is very small.  It always seems like there is too much to do in too little time but I always manage to be ready to greet them with clean cabins, running water, docks at the shore, tidy grounds, and renewed enthusiasm to begin another season!

Yearling moose with fur on neck and shoulders
rubbed off due to tick infestation

There is nothing that will relieve stress or rejuvenate my soul like a ride on a dirt road in my pick up with the music up loud!  It's even more enjoyable when shared with a friend. Woods roads were snowed in well in to April but as the month drew to a close we were able to get further and further in on them to look for moose, bear, and grouse. We're seeing lots of winter tick-infested moose but it appeared many will survive. Bear will soon come to roadsides to feed on spring grasses but grouse were already plentiful. We've all remarked that we are seeing more grouse this spring than any one can remember.  If we can enjoy a relatively dry and mild nesting season it will be a banner year for grouse hunting in northern Maine this fall!

"King's Pine" at the Ashland Lumberman's Museaum.

April marched on, snow banks retreated, and I began to rake bare spots where I could find them... behind cabin 5 and then cabins 2 and 3, the flower bed, at the "Welcome" sign, eventually in front of the lodge and waterfront.  Afternoon sunsets came later and although temperatures were cool, there was much warmth in the late April sun. If April arrived like a lamb on a mild foggy day, she also left like a lamb.  We woke on April 30th to 26 degrees but the day soon warmed under bright sun.  That day my friend Elliot Mitchell, who is a logger, cut down the rotting yellow birch that had forlornly greeted guests to Fish River Lodge.  Some of the old birch is laid to rest down over the hill; the salvaged trunk and branches were cut in to logs for fuel for our camp fires this summer. The removal of that tree was a big improvement to the entrance of Fish River Lodge!  After a week of working long hours and then cleaning up our mess we packed a picnic and headed in to the North Maine Woods to rejuvenate our spirits.  We stopped to see the "King's Pine" at the Ashland Lumberman's Museum. These special trees were declared to be the property of the King of England because by the 17th century Great Britain had depleted its forests.  They looked to the tall, straight white pines of Maine for the masts for British ship builders for the Royal Navy. These pines were identified by the "arrow" cut in to them.

Umsaskis Lake, North Maine Woods.

We drove all the way out across the Allagash at Umsaskis Lake toward Ross Lake Camps but couldn't get in the camp road.  It was still snow-covered!  We did stop and fish a couple streams, because we could, but the water was flowing very high and fast. Game warden Dave Milligan stopped for a good chat while we were fishing. We'd started our day in Wildlife Management District 3 and by day's end we'd driven through the North Maine Woods across Wildlife Management District 5 and in to 4. We had seen two bear (one was collard), lots of deer, a couple moose, and dozens of grouse.

Deer in North Maine Woods.

There is concern for our moose herd due to winter tick infestation.  Maine's biologists have collared moose up here in Wildlife Management District 2 and are studying winter mortality.  They have learned infested calves loose as much as 25% of their body weight and nearly half of all calves in a given year can succumb to tick infestation.  So, while mild winters have been good for our deer herd, our moose will suffer the consequences.

The last day of April was delightful; I was blessed to share it with my dear friend in the woods of northern Maine. Now I'm turning my attention to opening Fish River Lodge for the 2016 season, welcoming new guests to the Fish River Lodge family and greeting those who return. Boats will be launched, big fish and little fish will soon be caught, new memories made, and adventures shared. We welcome spring to northern Maine as we begin another chapter!