Duct Tape.

I have a feeling I'm going to enjoy the Wilderness First Responder course.  It only took the textbook until page 33 to first mention applying duct tape to an ailing patient (in this case, to an open chest wound).

You're in good hands.

Voting Closes Soon!

Just a reminder that if you haven't voted for your favorite photo yet, you only have until the end of the day Monday.  We've received over 150 votes so far!  Thanks to everyone who has sent me a vote; you guys make these things fun.

 

(This was a sunset over Pushineer Pond last year.  It has nothing to do with the contest; I just think the post would be dull without some sort of pretty picture to look at.)

Wilderness First Responder

While trying to sort out my First Aid re-certification with the Red Cross, I came across Wilderness Medical Associates (WMA), a company based in Scarborough, Maine, that offers a variety of training classes from First Aid through EMT and Advanced Life Support.  WMA offers classes throughout the country, and I was lucky enough to find a Wilderness First Responder course about 20 minutes south of me in Virginia during the second week of March.  I think it's a great idea to have a little more advanced medical training than standard First Aid offers.  Injuries do happen; my parents had to deal with quite a few of them over the years.  When it comes down to it, if anything does happen in or around Camp, I'm pretty much in a first responder position whether I'm trained or not.

My textbook came in the mail today, so I've started a little light reading.  We've been warned that we'll face "grueling 9- to 11-hour days," and I can't wait.  By the end of the class, we'll have learned how to respond to injuries and illness ranging from hypothermia to lightning strikes in an environment where standard rescue may be a long time coming.

The class certainly won't give me as deep a knowledge as an EMT course, but it'll give me a good understanding of the basics without needing to change careers, and it'll give me one more layer of confidence.  I'll keep you posted on how the course goes!

Winter Sojourn

Well, I'm back in Virginia after my quick trip into the woods.  I'm a day late, but here are pictures as promised!

First off, they've kept the roads very clear about half way in to Camp because the logging crews are still working.  It was almost like a trip in during the summer, with ice instead of loose gravel.  We were able to take the truck to within about ten miles of Camp.  We followed the grader part of the way:

Unfortunately, once we got to the trail, we had some trouble getting the second sled started, so we ended up only taking one (plus a tote sled).  We piled the tote sled up with our snowshoes, lunches, gear, and shovels, and off we went.

The blue sky continued all day for us.  I couldn't have asked for a better one.

Thank goodness for snowshoes, because the snow was still up to my waist in most places.  Here's a picture of the back field, where you can't tell we still have logs piled waiting to be used in some of the cabins:

We ended up taking five loads of wood out to the Island; hopefully it'll be enough to get us through May and early June this year!  A couple of shots from those trips:

(The entire day had a blue-and-white theme.  I'm sure you've noticed.)

There really wasn't enough snow on the cabins or the lodge to worry about, so we gave the lodge roof a cursory pass with the roof rake and called it a day.

On the way back out, we stopped at Pushineer:

Many thanks to Jim for heading in with me and to Ralph and Cindy for the use of their sled!  It was a great trip, and now I'm looking forward to May.  It'll be here before we know it!

Teaser Shot

I couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day to make a run in to check on Camp.  Take a look:

I'll post more about the adventure when I'm back at my own computer tomorrow.  I'm looking forward to May- it's right around the corner!

Have a great weekend!

I hope everyone enjoys their Presidents' Day weekend, whether it's long for you or not.  I'll post pictures from my trip when I return next week; probably Wednesday.  Until then, here's one from Thanksgiving of this year.

An Oldie but a Goodie

And now, for your Friday distraction-from-work pleasure, I give you a bear with phenomenal rhythm.

Check out the USGS for more information on the Northern Divide Grizzly Bear Project out in Montana.

Sorry for the slow posting recently. Life has been full, but not of things related to Camp. (February is always slow in that arena.) Like I said earlier in the week, I'll be taking a little bit of time away from the computer starting tomorrow. I'm really looking forward to my trip to check on Camp; it's always nice to get back to the Real World to recharge the batteries.

Halfway through February...

February is always a long month, it seems, so I'm pretty excited that we're already halfway through it.  That means, though, that you only have two weeks left to vote for your favorite photo in our photo contest.  I've received over 120 votes already, which is absolutely fantastic!

In other February news, I'll be taking a couple of days away from blogging this weekend.  I'm taking a quick trip to check on the snow at Camp, and I won't have my computer with me.  When I get back, though, I should have plenty of pictures to post.  The weather is supposed to stay partly sunny, so it should be a good trip!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hope you get to spend it with the ones you love dreaming about summer adventures.

With bugs and fishes,
The Folks at RRC

Rebuilding Denny, Part III (Reconstruction)

(Also see Part I and Part II.)

Denny's reconstruction started with the same new pine ceiling we added to most of the cabins last year and new (square!) window frames. We kept the windows themselves since they were in pretty good shape.

We gave the bathroom a new plywood floor.  (The floor isn't crooked; it's an optical illusion in the photo):

After that, we built a new porch!

And even better than the new porch, we put in new oak floors.

And it made sense to add some log facing to the bathroom as well:

And then we finished it all off with new porch railings and steps:

We have more to do next year, but we're well on our way to having a functional cabin again.  I can't thank Cary, Kendall, Ray, Randy, and the boys enough- they do great work.  As we finish things off next summer, I'll keep you all posted on our progress.

Guide License, Part II (So Close!)

(Also see Part I)

When you apply for your Maine Guide license, they warn you that the process for new applicants can take 6 months to a year.  So I made sure to send in my application in January to give myself the best chance of testing during the summer when it's most convenient for me.

I'm heading up to Maine over Presidents' Day weekend to check on the roofs and get a few other things done.  (Bear with me.)  I can only get a few days away from the office at this point since I'm taking a Wilderness First Responder course during the second week of March, so I had to decide between a few days before Presidents' Day and a few days after.  I finally decided to fly up on February 19th and stay a few days after Presidents' Day.  I ordered my tickets a week or so ago.

I got a letter in the mail today from the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.  "Oh good," I thought.  "They're letting me know they received my application."  Unfortunately, that was only part of the truth.  The letter requested my presence in Augusta to take my oral exam on February 16.

Nooooooo!!!!!

I can't believe the timing.  Had I gotten the letter a week earlier or been able to book my tickets a week later, I could have gotten the oral exam over with.  As it was, I was able to contact the State and request that my test date be held off until May or June.  I guess, if nothing else, it gives me an extra couple of months to study.  Guess I should probably use them wisely!

The Maine Fishing Guide on Google Earth

The Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife has a new tool for folks looking for place to fish in Maine called the Maine Fishing Guide. The tool uses Google Earth to help guide sportsmen to just what they're looking for.  There are layers for specific fish (for instance, our Arctic Charr), sporting camps (including, of course, your favorite place and mine!), and a host of other options.

If you already have Google Earth, you don't need to do anything special to use the Maine Fishing Guide; just download the file from the link above.  Those without Google Earth will have to download the program.  (Like most of Google's software, the program is free.)  It's definitely worth a look.

Unfortunately, the marker for Red River is pretty far off where it should be.  I've contacted the state, and hopefully it'll be corrected the next time they post an update.  (They warned me, though, that the next update could be a year down the road!)  So if you look up Red River on the Maine Fishing Guide, rest assured that we're still on Island Pond. 

Here's a screenshot of the Guide set to find Arctic Charr:

Jack and Lily, Part VI

(Also see Parts: I, II, III, IV, and V.)

Right around the end of September, Lily and Emma were in the cove next to the dock.  Lily was teaching Emma to run across the water while flapping her wings furiously: a precursor to flight. (Jack had been absent for several days; I assume he was getting ready to head south.) Lily showed Emma a full takeoff and headed down toward Pushineer.

That was the last we saw of her for over a week.

Nature is pretty cool. With migration-time coming soon, Lily left Emma to learn to sink or swim, if you'll pardon the pun.  Here's Emma on her own.  Notice how big she's gotten!  She'll keep her grayish coloring for two to three years until she fully matures.

Lily did come back for a few days but left again soon after that.  We never did see Emma take off, but we last heard her on October 10 and didn't see her on the pond after that, so she either flew away or walked away. (If you've ever seen a loon walk on land, you know there's a reason they don't, if they can help it!)

I did see her over on Denny Pond on October 16th, so I assume that she did learn to fly and that she's enjoying her winter down on the coast.  She'll probably spend the next few years down there while she matures, but we're looking forward to seeing her again when she comes back home!

Squirrel Control

Living so far out in the woods, we tend to share and share alike with the local wildlife.  Most of the time, it's not a problem.  We do, however, have problems with red squirrels getting into the cabins and stealing our bedding for their own.  We once had the blankets and bedspreads folded up nicely in one of the cabins, and one of the little guys chewed all the way down through the stack.  We ended up with blankets that had eight holes each.  Not amusing.

One of our guests forwarded this to me, though, and I think it might solve our problem.  We'll simply train the squirrels and keep them so busy that they won't have time to go after the bedding! 

I think we're on to something.

Rebuilding Denny, Part II (Deconstruction)

(Also see Part I.)

I assume everybody knows by now that, no, we didn't rebuild Denny as a giant log pile like I jokingly suggested in Part I of this post series.  We did, however, have to do some substantial work to it in order to make it habitable again.

First, we removed the old front porch.  It was getting to be a bit of a safety issue.  On the right side of the picture, you can see that the logs that once made up the porch wall are basically crumbling away.

Then, we removed the floor on the inside, all the way down to the log joists.  Denny always seemed fairly high off the ground to me, but that proved not to be the case.  The joists were in surprisingly good condition, though.

Then the real fun began.  We had to remove a few logs that were crumbling out of the walls.  To do that safely, we had to jack the entire cabin a foot or two off the ground:

Once all was said and done, the bathroom hung a few feet out there in space.  We shored that up as well- I just don't have a picture.  It's in pretty good shape overall, so it'll be easier to refurbish what's there rather than build a new one.

That's about it for Denny's deconstruction.  I'll tell you about the reconstruction in a later post.

Moose Permit Lottery

While I have no desire to bypass summer entirely and move right into fall, I wanted to let you know that the 2011 moose hunting permit lottery is open. Interested hunters can go to http://www5.informe.org/online/moose for instructions and to apply.

This year's application deadline is May 13, and the lottery will be held in mid-June. The Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife expects to award 3,205 permits this year.

Best of luck to those who enter!

Jack and Lily, Part V

(Also see: Part I, Part II, Part III, and Part IV.)

Here's a fun fact that you never thought about before- loons actually make great parents. Just the day after my embarrassing paparazzi episode (that nobody knew about until I shared it with the world), Jack and Lily brought Emma out to eat at the rock pile. I think Jack could just sense my presence at that point, because I again couldn't get near them even from shore. (The rock pile isn't that far from the point behind the Little Cabins.)

The fact that Jack hates me notwithstanding, watching the three of them was pretty neat. Jack and Lily would swim as a unit, sometimes close, sometimes fifteen feet apart, and always with Emma between them:

Sorry for the black-dot photos.  Trust me, the little black dot between the two larger black dots is Emma.  =)

More later!

2011 Fishing Licenses

Just a quick reminder that 2011 licenses are now on sale through the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. You'll need a license before your trip next summer, and the easiest way to get one is to log onto https://www.informe.org/moses/, where you can purchase and print your license from the comfort of your own home.

The Department also publishes "Maine Fish and Wildlife" quarterly magazine online; it's worth a read and might even help stave off cabin fever this winter.

Jack and Lily, Part IV

(Also see: Part I, Part II, and Part III.)

Before I start, I'll just note that I decided to call the chick Emma.  There's no particular story behind the name, and I don't know if the chick is a boy or a girl, but Emma is what stuck.

Anyway, three days after Emma hatched, I hoped to get a couple of pictures of  "the new family next door."  I paddled out around the left side of the Island, nice and slow, near the shore where I wouldn't be in the way or be a threat.

Jack was having none of that.  He popped up ten feet from my kayak and gave his now-famous "Get off my porch" call.  He dove and came up just on the other side of me.  Dive, call.  Dive, call.  Repeat as necessary.  Lily and Emma made for the other side of the cove.

I know when I'm not wanted, but I also know that I'm stubborn.  As reassuringly as I could (and, of course, without knowing what might actually be reassuring to a loon), I paddled back around to the front of the Island.  Jack seemed satisfied; proud of himself, really.

I kept going around the Island, thinking I'd try to catch up with Lily and Emma in the larger part of the cove (again, where I wouldn't be in the way).  I didn't make it far; I heard a splash right behind my stern.  When I looked back, Jack was diving and crisscrossing in my wake.  The yelling started soon thereafter.

Defeated, I headed back to the dock.  On the way, I had my most brilliant idea of the day.  Since Lily and Emma were in the cove, I'd simply walk the loop around the pond and play paparazzi from the shore.

The first part of the walk was uneventful.  I stopped at the outlet to take a couple of pictures of dragonflies:

 

And then I made my mistake.  I walked over to the water.

(I'll note right now that this story is 100% true.  I am not exaggerating in any way.)  Jack saw me on the shore, and he came right over.  He started sassing me and stuck within about 20 feet of the shore. 

"Crazy loon," I thought, and I headed into the woods where the trail splits from the road.  The trail swings away from the water for a while and then comes back to the shore.  When I got back to the shore, Jack was looking for me.  As soon as he saw me again, he swam to 20 feet in front of where I stood and called.

"Creepy loon," I thought this time, and I kept walking.  Sure enough, Jack kept pace with me.  He stopped calling, but he kept one eye on me the whole time.  (Lily and Emma were, at this point, well out of danger's way on the other side of the cove.)  He followed me all the way around to the back side of the Island.

This is the embarrassing part of the story.  Somehow, I had to outwit a loon.  (There, I said it.)  So when I had the chance, right after a small stand of trees that shielded me from the water, I stopped.  I not only stopped, I ducked down so I was sure he wouldn't see me.  I actually played a deranged game of hide-and-seek with wildlife a tenth my size on the side of a trail in the middle of the woods.  Thank goodness we don't have neighbors.

In my mind, Jack then went from crazy to creepy to downright psychotic.  When he realized that I should have re-emerged from the trees but didn't, he called.  He then went 30 yards down the shore, turned around, came back, and went 30 yards back the way we'd come.  He then did the entire circuit again, down 30 yards, turn around, back up 30 yards, even more slowly, watching the shore the entire time.  Never let it be said that a loon isn't thorough in its investigations.

Satisfied that I'd either given up on the hunt or I'd been eaten by something bigger myself, he left me alone.  I realized this would be just about my only chance of the day to get any pictures, so I ever-so-slowly made my way closer to shore.  Unfortunately, even after half an hour, Lily and Emma never did come back over to where I sat, and this is the best picture I was able to get:

 

(Note that Emma is swimming in this picture.  This is 3 days after hatching, from what we can tell.  The shadow on the right-hand side is me still trying to hide behind a tree.)

All in all, it was a good day with our new neighbors.  More to come later.

Regulatory Reform in Maine, Part I

I apologize in advance- this is a political post.  I try to stay as far away from politics as I can, especially controversial politics in a public forum.  However, when politics directly affects Red River or the North Maine Woods, I consider it fair game.  On January 26, the LePage administration published its Phase I Regulatory Reform proposal, ostensibly in an effort to make Maine more "business friendly."  As a small-business owner myself, I hoped to see some streamlining on the list, some innovation, and some great new ideas (maybe regarding tax reform or incentives).

The proposal, however, made my blood boil.  I've put off writing about it for a full week because it makes me angry every time I look at it.  Of the 63 bullet points in the proposal, maybe seven are an effort to streamline regulation, zero are innovative, zero are great new ideas, and well over fifty of them are simply rollbacks of environmental protections, many of which were put in place with bipartisan support over the last decade.

As an example that hits close to (my) home, the LePage administration wants to "require that not less than 30% of the LURC jurisdiction be zoned for development."  If that doesn't make every single sportsman reading this post cringe, I don't know what will.  Based on this proposal, it appears that the administration has forgotten that tourism (which, in Maine, depends on clean air, clean water, and natural character) brings to the state somewhere around $10 billion in goods and services yearly, in addition to $400 million in state and local tax revenue.  According to the Maine Office of Tourism, between 140,000 and 176,000 people are employed in the tourism industry, making it Maine's largest industry.

The administration claims that each of the points in the proposal came directly from the "red tape listening sessions" they held with business leaders around the state, but it now appears that, at least in part, that may not be the case.  Truly, there are very few things on the list that I can see helping small business; many of them, however, would greatly help large, multi-state companies.  For example, at least a few of the bullet points suggest rolling back Maine's environmental protection regulations to match the Federal government or EPA regulations.  Since a business only has to know and comply with the most stringent regulation, however, these provisions would only streamline the workload of those businesses that work across state lines.

I'll try to take a closer look at some of the points that would have direct impacts on my neck of the woods in the next few days and explain my concerns about them.  Until then, I'll post the actual bullet points after the jump so you can form your own opinion.

And just so I don't leave you with a bad political taste in your mouth, here's a nice picture of Deboullie from last year.  Ready to go fishing yet?

Voting is Open!

That does it, folks!  Entries for the 2011 photo contest are closed.  We had a great turnout, with 19 photos entering the running.

The fun continues, though, because now you get to take a look at all the entries and send me an e-mail with your favorite.  Please, please only send me one vote per e-mail address.  I'm not a vote-counting machine; I'm just one girl.  I'm going to delete duplicate votes from single addresses before I tally everything up.  That being said, though, please feel free to cajole your friends, Romans, and countrymen into voting for your photo (once) as well.  Voting stays open until March 1; at that point, I'll post the top 5 to be judged by our panel of experts.  (To keep things fair, I'll stay out of the judging altogether.) 

Best of luck to everyone who entered, and a warm thank you for making the first half of our first photo contest a rousing success!