Red River Camps

Life Jackets for Everyone?

2011-09-15T12:26:00.000-04:00

I'm of two minds regarding a proposal which would require paddlers of all ages to wear life jackets (PFDs) while on the water. Currently, PFDs are only required for paddlers aged 10 and under. (That, by the way, was one of the questions on my guide's test.)

Citing a spate of paddling deaths this year (some of which involved a victim who was not wearing a life jacket), State Representative Richard Malaby of Hancock is looking to change that. He submitted a bill as "emergency legislation" which, if it passes, could take effect prior to next summer. Rep. Malaby himself, however, acknowledges that the problem may have to do more with paddler education than PFD regulation. He says that the regulation would help to educate out-of-state vacationers with the "dangers" of paddling in Maine waters, which basically boil down to the fact that a lot of Maine water is cold. Really cold. Even in the summer. (Don't believe me? Jump into Deboullie in July- it'll get your heart pumping!)

On one hand, we have helmet and seat belt laws to protect us from ourselves, so I don't see how a PFD law would be any different. On the other hand, I usually find it awkward to paddle in a life jacket, especially since 90% of my paddling is done on calm water in which I swim regularly. If I'm paddling a river, or if it's choppy or whatnot, a life jacket is a given. Wearing one to paddle over to the Island to clean it every few days would be a little obnoxious.

That's just my opinion, though- what do you think?

More Moose in the Yard

2011-09-12T18:11:00.001-04:00

Moose are more-or-less a way of life up here. While they don't come through the yard every day, it's not an uncommon occurrence. Here's our most recent encounter- you'll have to forgive me for the cheesy captions. (Everyone enjoys cheese now and then, don't they?)

Ron: holy cow- moose! Moose: holy cow- humans!

Mama: eat your vegetables. Calf: do I have to??

The shortest distance between two points is apparently straight over the dock.

Don't mind us. Just passing through. 'Scuze us. Pardon us.

Oh! Did I get in the way of your duck picture? Terribly sorry.

What do you mean there's something wrong with my ear?

Really, it adds character, don't you think?

Did you order the duck? I don't remember ordering the duck...


giggle whisper whisper giggle

Hey- I heard that!

Every now and then, it strikes me how very lucky I am. I'm currently sitting on my deck listening to loons call back and forth between Island Pond and Pushineer while posting photos of moose walking across that same deck last week. I hope you enjoy them- kudos to Suzanne for getting the first half.

The Whitman Ridge Trail

2011-09-11T19:36:00.000-04:00

There was a stunning blue sky in T15-R9 today, so after taking care of quite a few things around Camp, I decided to hike the Whitman Ridge Trail (since I'd only previously hiked part of it).

The first half of the trail is great; it first brings you to two Perch Pond overlooks, right over the cliffs on the north side of the pond. The leaves are just starting to turn up here- there were a few trees that stood out like orange and red beacons, and the rest of the trees are turning that dull shade of green which means they're not too far behind. The trail then takes you to one of the ridge peaks without too much fanfare. You can certainly tell you're at the peak, but mostly because the ground all around you slopes downward.

The peak, however, is where I'm going to recommend everyone stop and turn around, at least until the crews can get back to the trail next year. Soon after the peak, it was obvious that the crews began simply preparing for next year's work, rather than performing a thorough trail cutting. I walked over a lot of cut branches, pushed a lot of uncut branches out of the way, and almost forged a new trail in places. The trail is pretty long; I probably followed it for about 45 minutes total before the cutting came to an ungraceful end and the ribbons followed shortly thereafter. I'm honestly not sure where I was at that point; I'd guess somewhere over Upper Pond.

The return trip proved to be more of an adventure than the trip there. Some of the ribbons that were obvious from one direction were out of sight from the other, and I had to backtrack two or three times. Sometimes I was following ribbons, but some times I had to watch for any sign that cutting had taken place. A few well-worn animal trails fooled me for a short way.

In all, I think the trail will be a great addition to the network already in place. For now, I'd recommend enjoying the views of Perch and Togue but turning at the top of the ridge. Better to wait for the crews to finish linking it up with the Ridge Loop Trail, which will probably happen by the middle of next season.

Happy trails!

Renovations!

2011-09-10T18:21:00.000-04:00

If you follow us on Facebook, you'll have seen these photos already. (And you'll know that I'm much better about updating our page there than I am at updating the blog!) The renovations have continued this year, but I think they're definitely at the slowing-down point. Here's what we did after Togue:

First, we added new hardwood floors to the loft in the Island. Goodbye, 70's era linoleum! The loft (and indeed, the whole cabin) is now light, bright, and welcoming. More and more, I want to move out to the Island myself.

After that, we put a new ceiling in the living room of Gardner to replace some more white acoustic tile.

We still have a bit more to do in Gardner (floors, bathroom, etc), but that will all have to wait until next year. Slowly but surely, we're making progress.

Absent Again, but Back with Amusing News

2011-09-09T09:51:00.000-04:00

This just in from Saro, Sweden: a moose was found stuck in an apple tree, apparently drunk from eating fermented apples. CNN has the whole story.

Once rescuers freed the moose from the tree, the moose laid right down to sleep off his bender for the rest of the night and most of the next day. I can only imagine what a moose-sized hangover must feel like.

Growing up Goldeneye

2011-08-14T21:02:00.000-04:00

Once again this summer, time has slipped away from me. Is it because I'm growing older, or is it true that time flies when you're doing something you love?

At any rate, there hasn't been an awful lot interesting going on in our neck of the woods. The Togue renovations continue; we replaced all of the cabin's interior doors with newly-built doors this weekend. I've done a couple of little landscaping things that I've been needing to do all summer. Other than that, though, it's been quiet as we gear up for a big few days this coming week. (We're feeding 36 on Tuesday and 27 on Wednesday! For us, that's pretty intense.)

So what better way to apologize for my long absence than by posting pictures? We're lucky enough to replace television with reality up here, so we've been watching the docu-drama "Growing up Goldeneye" all summer. In this week's episode, the Gang of Four has left the nest, and we haven't seen mama around for at least a week or so. (Apologies to all of our Facebook fans who have seen these photos already!)

And just to recap where the Goldeneyes started, here they were a little under a month ago:

A Shameless Request

2011-08-04T09:57:00.002-04:00

I recently discovered Intuit's "Love a Local Business" contest; they're giving away over $1 million in grants between May and September of this year. We're getting into the fray a little late, but there are still two $25,000 small business grants and the grand prize of a $50,000 small business grant at stake.

The contest is run like a lottery- every vote we get gives us one chance to be drawn in August or September. We're love it if you could go to the "Love a Local Business" website and cast a vote for us; each person is allowed to vote once in August and once in September. (You do have to provide your e-mail address, but Intuit promises it won't be sold or used for any other marketing purpose.)

The Neighbors Upstairs...

2011-08-02T17:55:00.000-04:00

I've been learning an awful lot about bats over the past couple of weeks. I have a sneaking suspicion that my attic has turned into a maternal roost this year, and I have to admit that I'm not too excited to have neighbors upstairs. I'd like to encourage them to leave on good terms, though, for two reasons. The first is simply that bats are pretty darn cool and are incredibly beneficial to the ecosystem. The second is more serious- little brown bats may soon be added to the Federal endangered species list due to concern about white-nose syndrome, a fungus which has killed over a million bats in the eastern United States over the past four or five years. (White-nose syndrome was confirmed in Maine earlier this year; previously, the state appeared to be fending it off better than other New England states.) The little guys need as much help as they can get.

So I did a little research and purchased a bat house from the Organization for Bat Conservation. The house is basically a box that's open on the bottom and has two baffles inside to create three vertical nesting chambers. This particular house claims to handle 300 bats, which is hopefully enough. (BCI also makes a 500-bat version, which we may look at next year.) They're pretty easy to make, but with all of the activity we have going on this year, I figured it would be easier to purchase a finished house instead.

Once we stain it a dark walnut or black (to keep things warm the weather turns cold), we'll mount it on the south-facing wall of the workshop. Then comes the fun part: we somehow have to convince the bats to move out of our house and into their house. That's when we add some caulk, PVC pipe, duct tape, and clear plastic to the equation.

Getting bats to move out of your house is (apparently) most easily done by excluding them from the house altogether. That means sealing off any entrance bats could use. That means sealing off any hole or crack greater than 3/8ths of an inch. Bring on the caulk.

Unfortunately, if you seal off every entrance point, you'll probably seal some bats in instead of out. Cue the PVC, duct tape, and plastic. Bats initiate flight by dropping from a height and swooping. When they come home to roost, they swoop below the opening and crawl inside. What we need, then, is a one-way door that they can swoop out of but can't crawl back into. (A bat check-valve, if you would.) A PVC elbow plus a short length of pipe aimed downward works great for this because bats can drop from it as they're used to, but it's slick enough that they can't find any purchase for crawling back inside again. Extending the PVC with a tube of clear plastic makes the door even more effective.

So that's my bat story for today. It'll be interesting to see how all of this research actually works in practice. I do know that it's nearly impossible to seal all of the cracks in a house in the woods, so hopefully the bat house is enticing!

More bat information can be found at Bat Conservation International.

Goodbye, July.

2011-07-31T19:25:00.002-04:00

This summer is passing in the blink of an eye. Before I know it, I'll be packing for the Great Southward Migration again.

My absence for the past week or so has been due to me just plain being busy. Sorry about that- sometimes life gets ahead of me, and I have to run to catch up.

In the good news department, however, our guys really came through for us, and we got Togue all buttoned up and cleaned up and spiffy for a group that arrives tomorrow. First, a quick reminder of what we started with:

And where we were two weekends ago:

And here's where we finished up this afternoon:

We still have a bit more to do to really finish it off, but it's in such better shape than it was at the beginning of the month! We'll put hardwood down on the floors, we're going to add a window to the pond-facing gable end, and I'd like to renovate the bathroom, but the major work is done. I have to say, I really like how the ceiling came out- it far surpasses that tile!

So goodbye, July; I hardly knew ya. But you were good to us, so thanks for that. Here's hoping August is similar but maybe sticks around a little longer.

The New Whitman Ridge Trail

2011-07-23T20:29:00.000-04:00

Our nice weather today (before our humdinger of an isolated thunderstorm) prompted me to take a quick hike up the new Whitman Ridge trail. The Maine Conservation Corps crews have been hard at work for a few weeks and have about a week and a half left to go in this stint. The new trail starts between Togue Pond and the road to Denny. It runs through the wood for a short bit before it crosses the road to Denny and continues up a second old road where I remember my parents cutting firewood when I was a kid.

Eventually, the trail splits off and starts winding around the southwest side of Whitman Ridge (or Whitman Mountain, depending on what map you look at). It stops at two very pretty overlooks over Perch Pond and continues on toward Upper Pond. I'm not sure yet where it ultimately stops- I ran into one of the crews and decided I probably shouldn't make a nuisance of myself. (Interesting enough, the fellow I talked to also wasn't sure where the trail was going to stop...)

The trail is definitely a work in progress, and I'm glad it's still flagged. (I had to look for flags a few times where the crews hadn't done much cutting.) I think it'll be a nice one when it's complete, although I have to make the same comment about this trail that I did about the Black Overlook to Deboullie trail: all of the saplings have been cut off at 1-2" above ground level. They make for fairly slippery and treacherous footing in hiking boots, but in my Vibrams, they're downright dangerous. They're low enough that they get covered by leaves and pine needles, and I have a nice bruise on the arch of my foot from one I stepped on today. I just couldn't see it, even though I was watching the trail pretty closely. I probably won't try running that trail until I'm a lot more familiar with it.

I also took a quick spin over to Crater Pond today- I had forgotten how pretty that pond is... And I stopped at the bog on my way back to endure ridicule from a deer- ptttttbbbb.

Guide's Test- the Whole Shebang

2011-07-21T22:45:00.017-04:00

I'm one of those people for whom early is on time, on time is late, and late is unacceptable. So I left Camp in time to get to Augusta well before 3:00 for my 4:00 test. I was below Sherman when I got a call from Gloria; IF&W had just called to say that the tests were going quickly today, and that if I could get there at 3, there'd be a good chance they could test me then. Sweet.

I arrived at the IF&W headquarters a little after 2:00. My alter ego took care of a couple of calls to Virginia, and I (we?) headed in. I checked in and apologized for being early for even the earlier testing slot, and the lady behind the counter (Marianne, I believe her name was) said, "That's ok. Would you like to take your written test while you're waiting?"

I had no idea that was an option- I was expecting to wait a few days or weeks and then take the test up in Ashland. I had studied for the oral exam, but there were plenty of things I still needed to review for the written. Still, I could always re-take it if I bombed... Sure, why not? She handed me the two test booklets (recreational and fishing), and I sat down at one of their little desk cubicles. I had finished the recreational test and had gotten about 9 questions in on the fishing test when they came to get me for my oral exam.

I was ushered into the testing room and greeted by two very nice gentlemen (whose names I've already forgotten- I apologize). Introductions were made, and the two examiners began organizing the testing papers and topo maps. I caught a glimpse of the map that I'd be using for the map and compass and lost person scenario.

No way... Couldn't be...

The papers shuffled some more, and the examiners wrote my name on the top of the exam sheets.

It was. I had to ask. "Are the exam maps generic for all of the tests, or are they specifically chosen for each test candidate?"

He gave me a funny look. Fair enough- it was a funny question. "We pull from a group of general maps. Why do you ask?"

Home sweet home. I was staring at a topo map of the Deboullie Township.

I told you serendipity ran in the waters of Red River. *grin* I explained exactly where on the map I live, and we all had a good chuckle. They decided not to switch maps on me, and I tried to calm my nerves. Map and compass was up first and got me off to a rocky start.

Unless you do something often enough that it becomes second nature, there are two ways to remember things- rote memorization and understanding. Rote memorization is faster to pull from the ol' filing cabinet in the brain, but it'll also fail you more often, especially when you're counting on it not to. Foolishly, my brain jumped right to it as I began the map and compass portion of the test. I first had to pull a true and magnetic bearing from the outlet of Gardner to the inlet of Fifth Pelletier. The true bearing was simple. Then I started shaking- do I subtract the declination from the true bearing to get the magnetic, or from the magnetic to get to the true??

I was sweating bullets. I had no idea where the line was drawn between fumbling because of nerves and fumbling because of incompetence. I had to avoid that line. Think, think, think.

My mind went blank, blank, blank. Numbers, options, and basic high school geometry jumbled in my head like cars on the DC Beltway. I couldn't get away from the rote memorization to the understanding!

Breathe.

On the Gardner quadrangle topo map, the declination is 18 degrees west; that means that a magnetic bearing of 360 (or zero) degrees equates to a true bearing of 342. Hence, to get from true to magnetic, you add the declination. I can't believe how long it took me to get back to that simple knowledge in a high-pressure situation. I'm still shaking a little because of it.

Comparatively, the lost person scenario went very well. (In fact, I think I can say that the lost person scenario went pretty well in general.) My lost person had accidentally taken a spur off of a decent approximation of the Ridge Loop trail and then sprained her ankle when she got down to the small pondlet between Galilee and Gardner.

On my wildlife and pfd identification exam, I missed the lake trout and almost called a bobcat a lynx, but otherwise, it was uneventful. I was amused to see that one of the "what type of pfd is this" flash cards showed the pfd's label- including the fact that it was a Type II (in small print). Always the honest one, I pointed it out to them. Sorry, future test-takers!

I do need to hone up on water rescues- I just don't deal with them a lot. I guess I'll be heading out into the pond this summer to flip some canoes over! That used to be a fun pastime when we were kids, and I bet it's still fun now that I'm an adult.

When everything came out in the wash, I passed the oral exam, nerves and all. My examiners were very kind and said that they would both be comfortable with me guiding their families, which I take as a high compliment.

I wasn't done, though. I went back out to the front desk, where Marianne told me that I'd passed the recreational portion of the written exam. That was pretty darn exciting- no matter what happened with the fishing portion of the exam, I was licensed. I sat back down and hammered out the remainder of the fishing exam. I'll admit that I didn't do nearly as well on the fishing written exam as I would have liked, but I guess it wasn't too bad for a spur-of-the-moment situation. I passed that as well, and I left IF&W with my two-category license and my spiffy patch.

Today was another good day. Thanks a million to all of the guides who took the time to chat about the test with me! I couldn't have done it without you guys.

Breakfast.

2011-07-20T12:02:00.003-04:00

It was a slow morning here at Red River, which gave me the chance to get out on the water to take some pictures before the weather turned a little stormy. Although Great Blue Herons are plentiful in Virginia, even near DC (my alter ego is working on one project that boasts a 41-nest rookery), they're a pretty rare sight up here. We're treated to it only a few times each summer, so I was pretty excited when I saw one fly across the pond.

I hopped in a canoe and stayed as far away from him as I could while getting close enough for my telephoto to see him. He was crouched in the sheep laurel, unmoving, for at least five minutes. Then he struck and came up with this:

Yum- trout for breakfast. From where I sat, it looked like a not-too-shabby 8 inches or so. He seemed pretty happy with it, too.

Unfortunately, I had my camera on automatic for the first several minutes I was watching him, so while the background foliage came out beautifully, he was terribly washed out. I had to play with the light levels in Photoshop to bring his color out a little better.

I smartened up after he took off from the shallows and landed on the downed spruce by the Island. With my camera on one of its manual settings, the heron looked a lot better, so I decided to bother him a while longer.

After about 20 minutes, he'd had enough of the paparazzi treatment, and he took off for the cove on the other side of the rock pile. On his way out, he was kind enough to treat me to this beautiful view.

I've also posted a few more on our Flickr photostream. It was a good morning in the Deboullie Township.

Four Days and Counting

2011-07-17T16:59:00.001-04:00

Wow- it's the middle of July already. I say that not because this summer is going so fast, which it is, but because July 21st is this Thursday. I have to be in Augusta at 4:00 that afternoon to take the oral half of my guide's exam.

I'm still waffling between happy thoughts and sheer terror. I've picked the brain of every guide that will let me, and they've given me some good advice and some things to study/research/remember. Based on all of those conversations, I should do fine, but part of me still feels brutally unprepared.

Most of the problem, I know, is in my head. For instance: by all accounts, the map-and-compass portion will want to find out if I can orient a line to both true north and magnetic north, do a back-sight, and maybe a couple of other minor things. In my head, though, the testing panel will want me to plot the best course from one point to another, and then back to the starting point, for multiple groups of varying ability. (Sure, the college kids can go over that 30% incline, but if you don't avoid that mountain and that swamp with the Elderhostel group, points will be docked.)

(And if you cheekily refer to them as Hostile Elders instead, points will also be docked.)

So I'll take a few minutes each day to do a little last-minute cramming, but I'm just going to go for it. I do need to brush up on my coastal birds/ducks and a few other things that I never deal with, but I think I'll be able to at least make a worthy effort on the inland questions.

Which just leaves one matter to be resolved... What in the world do I wear?

Togue Progress

2011-07-16T17:54:00.002-04:00

We've made huge strides on the Togue project. The pine on the ceiling is half complete, and it looks really neat so far- very barnish and worlds better than the white tile:

If all goes well, the ceiling will be complete tomorrow. That's the easy part. The hard part will be *cough* rebuilding-the-wall-and-floor *cough*

The wall had to come out so we could jack the cabin up off the ground, and the floor had to come out so we could access the substructure. It should only take a couple of days to replace the wall and sheathe in the floor, and then once we add new hardwood, it'll be absolutely amazing. I'm also excited that we're replacing the old door with a window instead. The door never really worked anyway, and the window will let some nice afternoon light into the cabin. We'll eventually rebuild the crumbling fireplace chimney, as well, but that will be a future project.

That's all of our rebuilding news for today! It's been a pretty quiet day in the woods otherwise. We did have a gang of loons go crazy for fifteen minutes this morning; check out our Flickr set for a few more pictures. (While you're there, take a look around our other photos as well!)

It's Just a Duckling Time of Year

2011-07-15T21:06:00.002-04:00

I had another post written for today, but I'm in the mood to post some duckling pictures instead. (They grow up so fast. Other news can wait.)

Here's our resident mallard, which I mistakenly identified as a black duck the other day. (At least, I think it was a mistake. The two species interbreed quite a bit, resulting in very dark mallards, but I think these chicks have too much yellow in them to be black duck chicks. Anyone who knows the species better than I do can feel free to correct me in the comments!) If you click on the photo, it'll take you to a much larger version, as well.

I also found out today that Pushineer has a mama merganser with four chicks. I apologize for the bad photo; she was all the way across the pond, and even my amazing new telephoto lens couldn't zoom in that far.

We also had our gang of three loons hanging around the pond today. I'm not sure where they come from, but we see them around now and then. They're always three, and we know they're always the same gang because they do a crazy dance wherein they tightly circle each other in a clockwise direction for about ten minutes. Jack and Lily are nowhere to be found when these three are around.

I guess that's enough duckling and loon news for now! I'll put all these photos up on Red River's Flickr page, along with a few others we've taken recently. Enjoy!

Hiking News

2011-07-13T20:56:00.000-04:00

The State has been pretty busy up in our neck of the woods with two hiking-related projects. The first, which I only learned about last week and saw for the first time tonight, is a new parking lot adjacent to the existing lot at the end of Deboullie (the one that I, in all seriousness, refer to as "the crater"). So far, the new lot lives up to its predecessor's name; it's not dug into the hill nearly as deep, but I have very little hope that the slopes will be planted with anything. (The slopes of the original crater are finally starting to get some sparse moss and grasses on them after nearly a decade. As much as I want to, I have neither the time nor the money right now to plant them myself.)

Ostensibly, the new lot is for hikers, which leaves the original lot for fishermen. I'm skeptical, but we'll see how it all pans out and how they finish the road. As it stands, no one in their right mind would take anything less than a pickup over that shale, no matter how well the excavator smooths it out.

All told, though, the new parking lot is better than I feared when I first heard about it, especially if they bring in some dirt and finish the road. (In my mind, I'd originally placed the road several hundred yards down the existing trail, which I couldn't get over as being a Very Bad Idea.) The Conservation Corps also built a nice new trail from the parking lot to the Deboullie Mountain/Black Overlook trail split. The new trail doesn't have the same mud issue that the current trail (which follows the old road) has, but if mudpies are your thing, it looks like they're also leaving the current trail open.

The second project, for which I don't yet have pictures, is a new trail that starts near Denny Pond and winds up on top of Whitman Ridge/Mountain. I may try to pop over there tomorrow to see how they're progressing, and you know I'll post pictures once I have a chance to hike it.

Surprise! Even More Ducklings!

2011-07-12T19:18:00.001-04:00

Apparently, Mama Goldeneye isn't the only busy duck on the pond. One of the black ducks must have been jealous that they made it onto the blog yesterday, because she paraded her nine-duckling brood in front of the lodge this afternoon:

I don't know where these ones came from- there haven't been any black ducks hanging around the pond this year. These ones must have walked up from Pushineer. (Hard to believe, but they do it.) I still think both broods are young for this time of year, though. This picture was from June a few years ago:

And this was from the first week of July a few years ago:

I don't know if the black duck will raise her ducklings here on Island Pond, or if they're just passing through. With no loon chick this year, though, it's nice to have some ducklings to ooh and aah over, even if it's just for a while.

Ducklings!

2011-07-11T21:29:00.001-04:00

Here they are- Mama Goldeneye and her brood:

We're wondering if she lost her first clutch, since these ducklings look awfully small for the second week of July. The mallards, at least, are usually twice this size by now. She has had them diving already, though, so I assume she knows what she's doing.

Otherwise, it was a quiet day up here in the woods. It was so quiet, in fact, that my alter ego actually got a couple of hours of overtime, which takes some of the pressure off the rest of the week. I rarely get to say that on a Monday- it feels good!

First Tower Trip of the Year

2011-07-10T21:07:00.000-04:00

Since today was a beautiful sunny day (and a weekend, to boot), I decided to play hookey from my Camp duties and take a little run/walk/hike up to the Black Mountain overlook, across to the tower, and back down across the rock slide. I apologize that all of these photos are from last year; since this was my first time doing the hike with my Vibrams (those funny toe shoes) and I wanted to run a little, I didn't take my camera.

The Conservation Corps has done a great job with creating the trail (two or three years ago now) and putting up signage (which I believe went in late last fall or this summer). The first part of the trail, three-quarters of a mile or so, utilizes the old road up to the cluster of Black Ponds. After that, it crosses over a feeder stream and starts going up. And it goes up really well. It's not as steep as the old Deboullie trail was, but it's pretty darn close. It's worth it, though. At the top, you're treated to this:

(This is where I wish I'd carried my camera today. The sky was crystal clear and oh-so-blue.) From the overlook, you can also see Island Pond (right in the center of the next photo) and a trio of mountains that I think include Katahdin and Traveler in Baxter State Park. This is one of those things that I Should Know^TM, but I'll admit that I had to make my best guess based on where they lie in relation to Island Pond and the overlook, and then where they were from the Four Ponds overlook a little farther down the trail.

The next two (or so) miles over to the tower feel like ten. (One of our guests carried a GPS when he made the loop yesterday, though, and he said the signage was pretty close to spot-on. Who am I to argue?) The trail is nice and stops at some pretty views, but for some reason, the Conservation Corps cut all of the small trees off about three inches above the ground, rather than flush. I assume there's a reason for that, but a section of the trail on the back side of the ridge felt like running through a minefield, and I found myself walking good portions of it.

The tower, of course, is always a fun destination. It's still solid, and the cab is in pretty good shape, but the keeper's cabin beneath it is in need of some serious care. (Possibly more news to come on that later in the summer... Stay tuned.)

My Vibrams were great the entire day. I actually found myself coming down the mountain on the balls of my feet, rather than my heels, and I think it did wonders for my knees. (Before I get asked, no, I didn't run down the mountain. I'm foolish but not crazy.) I capped off the day with a quick jump into Deboullie Pond, and I'm happy to report that it's still cold. Island Pond, at least the top few feet, is warmer this year than normal, probably because of all the rain and runoff we've had.

My mom once told me that she does regret not getting out more during her time at Camp. I don't want to have that same regret later in my life, so as long as Gloria doesn't mind me disappearing for a couple of hours at a time, I'm going to make the most of as many nice days as I can. Hopefully, unlike today, I'll come back with lots of pictures to share.

Ever Onward

2011-07-09T17:31:00.002-04:00

With the Island in a good place (and in use for the next couple of weeks), we've turned our sights to Togue. Due to some scheduling conflicts, we won't be able to get the whole project done as quickly as we'd hoped, but we'll start making progress and see where we end up.

If you've ever been in Togue, you'll remember the distinct 70's vibe it gave off, with its white tiled ceilings, wood paneling, and couch upholstered with partridge. (Ahem- fabric with images of partridge on it. I feel I should clear that up right now.)

We're starting with that tile ceiling. It came down today:

There was a lot of strapping to deal with. We're going to make the ceiling more of a cathedral ceiling, so that had to go as well. (We'll recycle into new strapping when we put up the pine.)

As with the rest of the cabins, we'll put pine up between the rafters. (Unlike the rest of the cabins, we have actual rafters, rather than logs, to deal with here.) It'll take a few days to get everything looking how it needs to, but I'm definitely intrigued with the new barn-style feel this gives the living room. It's much more camp-y than the tile.

We left the dropped ceiling in the bedrooms to continue affording them some privacy, but we did replace the tile with pine. (My camera lens isn't wide enough to get a good picture.)

As always, more to come as the project goes on.

Culture Clash!

2011-07-06T07:08:00.003-04:00

Last night, the History Channel aired "How the States got Their Shapes: Culture Clash," featuring Maine and Northern Massachusetts. Take a look; the Maine section starts right at the 12:00 minute mark. Congratulations to my mom on her nationwide television debut!

(The embedded video seems to be having an issue. Until I get that sorted out, you can access the original on Hulu here.)

It's the Fourth of July!

2011-07-04T18:15:00.000-04:00

Happy Independence Day, everyone!

I'm back from my trip down south. My meeting in Virginia went well, and my cousin's wedding in Camden was absolutely beautiful. If we ever start hosting weddings here at Camp, I hope we can create something similar. (Luckily, I got lots of great decorating ideas yesterday.)

We also fixed our satellite problem this afternoon, and we didn't even have to deal with a visit from a technician. (Whew!) I think our problem was a combination of water in the feedhorn and a mis-alined dish. I guess that's what you have to expect with a wet, windy spring and summer. Everything seems to be working great now, and we're keeping our fingers crossed it stays that way.

In other news, it looks like we have some baby goldeneyes! The crazy duck dance we saw a few weeks ago must have indeed been due to chicks jumping from one of the pine trees on the far side of the pond, even though we didn't see them do it. I've only seen one chick so far, but some of the guests have seen the mother with a pretty large brood.

More on the LURC Debate

2011-07-02T10:53:00.000-04:00

I haven't posted about anything political in a while, so I guess it's time to wade back into the fray. (I say that mostly because I'm sitting at the airport in Detroit on my way back to Maine, so I don't have any actual Camp news to post.)

This legislative session, a bill was introduced to abolish the Land Use Regulation Commission (LURC). Ultimately, the bill lacked legislative support, and lawmakers retreated from it. However, the Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Committee passed (7-5 along party lines) one of two proposed amendments to instead form a study group intended to make recommendations to the legislature next January.

Debate on the subject included a majority report proposed by Republicans and a minority report proposed by Democrats. Both reports include thirteen (13) members, but the breakdown is different. (I'll italicize the differences.) The minority report includes three members of the Senate (two Republican and one Democratic), four members of the House of Representatives (two from each party), two county commissioners, one major landowner, one statewide conservation organization, one regional planner, and one member representing the outdoor recreation/tourism business. The majority report includes the Department of Conservation, two residents, one major landowner, one minor landowner, two county commissioners, one sportsmen's representative, one statewide conservation organization, one regional conservation organization, one member representing the outdoor recreation/tourism business, one economic development representative, and one regional planner.

While I think the breakdown of the majority report study group is fine (although I reserve judgement on the actual members until we see who they are), I do have some concerns with the fact that the only mention the amendment makes of LURC is in one passage that "ensure[s] that any recommendation which entails the elimination of LURC provides an effective transition process, including a plan for LURC to complete any pending work or transfer it to relevant agencies." The remainder of the amendment focuses on reforming governance and "increased self-determination" in the Unorganized Territories. (Self-determination usually requires some manner of governing one's self, so I'm not sure what they're going for there.) The minority report amendment seems much more balanced in its focus on reforming and improving land-use planning in the Unorganized Territories, including a focus on improving the relationship between LURC and landowners.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I don't believe the counties, especially Aroostook, can take on the burden of effectively governing the Unorganized Territories. The Unorganized Territories are a land mass (and a huge one at that) belonging to the entire state, and they should not be governed piecemeal along county lines. They need an overseeing body, and that overseeing body must be able to pull resources from across the state. Yes, LURC needs to be updated to be more effective, streamlined, and efficient, just like any other organization created 40 years ago. No, it does not need to be abolished.

I apologize for ranting about this. When Governor LePage's LD1 proposal came out in January with the provision to open no less than 30% of the state's Unorganized Territory to unspecified development, it raised my hackles. That being what it is, I do hope the Commission picks me to be one of the study group's two resident members.

Hey, anything can happen.

As a side note, did you know that Maine's Unorganized Territories comprise over half the state and yet have only 9,000 year-round residents? (There are, of course, many additional seasonal residents, including yours truly.)

Red River's Online Presence

2011-07-01T20:43:00.000-04:00

I have a shameless request for folks reading this blog.

We've been trying to increase Red River's online presence through the blog, Facebook, Flickr, Google, etc, and the effort has been paying off little by little. (For instance, both Google and Yahoo now list internal sitelinks under search results for Red River, although you guys probably don't find that as exciting as I do.) We still have quite a bit more to do, of course- we have a few videos from guests that need to be posted, our Flickr account needs to really be organized, and we need to add maps and other references to the website.

At this point, though, we could use also use your help.

So here's my request. If you've enjoyed a stay with us in the past and you have a few minutes to spare online, please pop over to Google Maps, Superpages, or Yellow Pages and post a rating and/or review. We'd really appreciate you all sharing your opinion with both us and potential future guests. It helps us learn what we're doing well and what we can improve on, and it helps future guests decide that Red River really is where they'd like to spend their next vacation.

And as always, if you have photos or videos that you wouldn't mind us sharing across the 'net, please feel free to send them our way. Many thanks in advance!

One More Island Post

2011-06-30T20:46:00.000-04:00

If you've ever been out to the Island, you've seen initials and names carved in the building from everybody and their brother. Some of them are actually pretty old, which is neat. On the corner by the porch swing, though, there's another kind of graffiti of which, at this point, I know neither the origin or the meaning.

Someone, at some point, nailed the numbers "194" and a symbol that looks vaguely like the Appalachian Trail logo into the log ends:

From the placement, it looks like the 194 should have been a date, with one more number at the end. I don't know what the AT or TA might represent.

On the opposite corner of the porch, the initials C.A.D. were nailed into another log end.

Everyone loves a good mystery. Once I figure this one out, I'll (of course!) let you know.

The Island Renovation

2011-06-29T20:17:00.000-04:00

As promised: pictures of the completed loft on the Island!

We also put up the new cedar mantle, which dresses the fireplace up nicely. We'll have to find a big piece of artwork to put above it:

I really can't thank the guys enough for doing a great job on the cabin so far. (I'm tempted to move out there myself...) We have a few more projects to take care of in the future over there (some new cabinetry, a bathroom renovation, etc), but at this point, I think we're ready to move on to rehabilitating Togue. You know I'll keep you posted on that progress as well!

Satellite Internet

2011-06-28T22:11:00.001-04:00

Sorry for the silence; we're having a little trouble with our HughesNet internet connection, so we've been offline for the past few days. I'm actually writing this from Shin Pond as my alter ego is on its way to Virginia for a meeting and then back to Maine for my cousin's wedding this weekend. We'll either get the satellite fixed just as soon as I get back, or we'll order a whole new dish. I did get on the roof this afternoon, drained some water from the feedhorn (probably the result all of the driving rain we've had this spring), and very slightly re-adjusted the dish. No luck yet- our signal did improve, but we're still not connected. Our weather has been great for the past few days, but I've read that our connection can also be affected by, among other things, the weather at HughesNet headquarters in Germantown, MD.

Part of me is hoping that, since our problem cropped up randomly the other morning, it's the result of a problem with HughesNet itself that will spontaneously resolve while I'm gone. (Hey, I'm an optimist. How can I be anything else with this weather??)

More updates to come over the next few days as I travel. We finished the loft on the Island, so you know I'll post photos!

Wild and Native Brook Trout on Google Earth

2011-06-24T09:24:00.001-04:00

A good friend of Red River pointed me toward a great Google Earth application from the Maine Council of Trout Unlimited.

TU's Maine Brook Trout Waters Interactive Map lets users zoom into any water in the state to find out if it's a wild or native fishery. (Notice that the majority of the ponds in the Deboullie township are native or wild brook trout fisheries; only Perch, Mud, and South Little Black don't carry either designation.) The application also gives access to additional information such as size, maximum depth, etc, as well as photos and other cool features.

You'll need Google Earth to access the application; it's definitely worth a look.

I'm Not a Runner.

2011-06-23T20:17:00.000-04:00

I've always been one of those people who will only run for one of two reasons: either I'm chasing something or something is chasing me. Running for its own sake or for the sake of fitness never made sense to me. Until now.

Before I made the migration from Virginia to Maine this year, I bought a pair of Vibram Five-Finger TrekSport shoes. Those are the funny ones that look like gloves for your feet- I had both a coupon and a gift card to use, so why not give them a shot?

My completely unbiased opinion is that I adore running in these shoes. My feet naturally react to rocks and obstacles (instead of feeling like I'm wearing a plank on each foot). I'm a lot less worried I'll catch a toe on a stray root, and even my stride has changed. I just feel light in them- they really do feel close to barefoot while still protecting for the soles of my feet. (I've stepped on some pretty sharp rocks in them without a problem.) In short, running in these shoes makes me feel like a kid again, and it's a lot of fun.

The first time I finished a run around Island Pond (although there was just as much walking as running because of all the water on the trail), I immediately wanted to turn 180 degrees and run back around the other way just for the sheer joy of it. I can tell you truthfully- that's never happened before. I've now run the Island Pond trail several times, the trail to Upper, the old road up to the cluster of Black Ponds, and the trail to the Deboullie rock slide. Who knows, maybe I'll even try a run on the mountain before the summer is over.

Serendipity

2011-06-22T19:44:00.002-04:00

Serendipity follows me wherever I go, along with its little sister, Coincidence. I've been somewhat accurately described as living at the junction of lives; it almost doesn't matter where I am, I either bump into someone I know, or I get talking to someone and find out that I went to the same high school as their nephew, or something equally as random. I think it's genetic, because it happens to my mother as well, and now I think it's also contagious.

For instance, we have three parties here in Camp this week. (I'll call them Groups #1, 2, and 3.) They booked at different times; they're from different cities; and they should have nothing in common. When Group #1 arrived a couple of days ago, we got talking to them and happened to ask how they heard about us. It turns out that they first heard about Red River from a lady who works at their eye doctor's office, who just happens to be the wife of one of the members of Group #2.

Tonight, as Groups #1 and 2 were eating together in the dining room, a few members of Group #3 walked onto the dock to go fishing. One member of Group #2 turned to the other and said, "don't those guys look just like..." and proceed to name off exactly who they were. Serendipity struck again, and it turns out that the members of Group #3 (who are all family members) grew up diagonally across the street from the members of Group #2. They hadn't seen each other in 20 years.

So, unbeknownst to us, this week has become one giant reunion. Serendipity is either contagious or it flows in the waters of Red River.

Happy Solstice!

2011-06-21T21:06:00.000-04:00

So from here on out, our days just get shorter and shorter! (It's a little sad to think about it that way, isn't it?)

There's not much of note happening up here in the woods- we have quite a few new faces in Camp right now; the trails are all still wet; and blackfly season is in full swing. So I'll leave this post short and sweet, and I'll end on a couple of pictures of our latest sunset of the year.

A Brief History Lesson

2011-06-20T21:00:00.001-04:00

I promise this will be the last post about the Island for a week or so. I didn't have a picture of the completed end wall over the fireplace when I wrote last night's blog post, so here it is:

The left-hand window hasn't been trimmed in pine yet, but I like the contrast so much that, once it is, I'm going to stain them both a darker walnut color to match the beams. Everything else will just receive a clear coat to protect it from darkening too quickly.

I've been asked about the cabin's history as a dance hall, which I mentioned in my last post. To be honest, I don't know much of that history myself, but from what I do know, prior owners (back around the turn of the last century, when the camp was still private) moved a piano out there over the ice one winter. Over the summer, when friends and acquaintances would stay for weeks at a time, they held dances and other social gatherings on the Island. As far as I know, the fireplace is original to the cabin, but I don't know if the loft is as well. I wouldn't be surprised if the original floor plan was completely open (better for dancing), and the loft was a later addition as the cabin was renovated to accommodate sleeping and cooking.

I also don't know what ever happened to the piano; I assume it came back across the pond some subsequent winter.

The Island Renovation, and a Confession

2011-06-19T19:07:00.002-04:00

More pictures of the Island ceiling, fireplace, and loft. I can't tell you how much I'm in love with how this brightens up the inside of the cabin. I'm itching to get the mantle installed and to lay the hardwood in the loft, but this is such a great, great start to bringing the cabin back to its former glory. (I have no plans to use it as the dance hall it once was, but it would be a nice one!) The end wall in the loft isn't finished yet, but once it is, I have a feeling it's going to be just like a tree fort up there; the lighter ceiling really helps draw your eye out to the windows. The bathroom renovation will probably have to wait for next year, since we have some important mainland upgrades to do this year as well. One step at a time.

And now, the confession. I was trying to figure out last night why I'm so stressed about my guide's test to the point where I fear it more than I feared the 8-hour, 40% failure-rate Professional Engineer's exam, and I think I finally landed on the answer.

I'm terrified of being a fraud.

I grew up right here every summer, about as deep in the middle of the woods as you can get. I vividly remember one day when I was four or five, I was walking up to the laundry room on the top of the hill in a little blue-and-white striped dress, and I was thinking to myself how I lived the most amazing life of anyone I knew, and that I had better well appreciate each day that I was so lucky to spend here. That four or five year old gave me better advice in that one day than several other years of my life gave me combined, and I have indeed remembered to stop every now and then to just appreciate what my life has been graced with. That being said, the wise child turned into a fairly normal teenager who turned into a very busy adult. I didn't use every teaching experience I could have as I grew up; I didn't turn every question into an answer; I didn't identify every bird I heard singing; and I didn't focus on being the person that I now think I should be.

In July, I'm going to be tested on those unanswered questions, those birdsongs, and those experiences I had but may not have recognized. As foolish as it is, I've turned this one test into an affirmation of my entire life in the woods: whether I deserve to be here at Red River or whether I'm just playing house while my parents are away. Unlike the PE exam, this test isn't just for work. It's for everyone who, if I fail, will look at me and wonder what I've done with that sage advice I gave myself all those years ago. And it's for me, who will ask the same question.

Still Wet.

2011-06-18T20:52:00.004-04:00

Yes, siree… I said it yesterday, and I’ll say it again. When it rains, it pours. We had six downpours today, with halfway decent weather in between:

My poor-man's rain gage (a water glass on the porch railing) tells me that we got at least another inch today. The last time I was out at the rock pile, the water over the big rock (which usually sits less than four inches below the surface) was up past my elbow, and it's certainly higher now than it was then. Still, I'll take this over last summer's dry weather any day.

Besides, how can you argue with a day that gives you something like this when it's over?

It was the most spectacular double-double rainbow I've seen in a long time. The main rainbow ran through the color spectrum twice, and there was a double above it. Wow. (The camera didn't capture it as well as I'd hoped.) [After looking at the picture below a little closer, my double-double rainbow is actually a double-TRIPLE rainbow! I brought out the colors a little in Photoshop, and you can just faintly see a third band of purples below the second.]

In other news, the Island renovations are still in progress! We got half of one end wall done, and it looks spectacular so far. I can't wait to get it finished and get the new cedar mantle in place.

And here's a comparison of the new wall to the old wall. What do you think?

I'm back!

2011-06-17T19:59:00.002-04:00

A thousand apologies for the long absence. I had to take a trip to Florida for a very dear friend's wedding, and my alter ego had to make a week-long stop in Virginia. When I got back, there were a million things to take care of, and the weather has made sure that our internet connection has been spotty.

I know. Excuses, excuses.

There isn't much new going on up here at Camp, so I'll just do a quick round-up of interesting stuff.

First off, I finally got the new date for my guide's license oral exam. I have until July 21 to do all the studying I'm going to do. At 4:00 that afternoon, I'll be standing in front of a table of experts down in Augusta sweating bullets while trying to sound calm, collected, and knowledgeable. (I'm going to hope for the best but prepare for the worst; that tactic usually seems to work pretty well.)

Our weather has been wet, wet, and more wet. We've had plenty of sunny days, but when it rains, it pours. This afternoon, right after I snapped the picture below, we got about an inch in fifteen minutes. Before and after, the weather was great. I've run the trail around Island Pond a couple of times since I got back from Virginia, and it's like training for a triathlon- half the time, I'm running, and the other half, I may as well be swimming. Unfortunately, we did get a perfect storm of cloudy days and mountains of laundry last week, and we had to turn the generator on for a few hours to get everything done. (All told, though, turning it on once a month isn't too bad!)

We did have an interesting phenomenon the other day that I can't yet explain. Sunday morning, we looked out the front window of the lodge to see seven goldeneye ducks flying around one of the large pine trees on the other side of the pond. I was surprised, since I hadn't seen more than the one pair of goldeneyes all spring; I'm not sure where the rest came from. They took turns perching in the tree and examining/entering a cavity about 40 feet up. Goldeneyes are tree-nesters, so we first assumed there must be a predator going after the eggs/ducklings, but we didn't see anything else emerge from the cavity. Then we thought that maybe the ducklings were getting ready to take their first big leap of faith, but we didn't see any ducklings emerge, either. The flock of adults flew around for a solid hour without any indication that anything else was going on, so if we see ducklings in the near future, I'll be sure to post pictures. Otherwise, it'll just remain a mystery.

So that's the scoop on my extended absence; I'll try to get back into the swing of the blog now! It's good to be back.

The Hummingbird Whisperer

2011-05-30T20:38:00.001-04:00

It seems like everyone is a whisperer of something nowadays. There are dog whisperers, horse whisperers, ghost whisperers... I'd like to introduce you to Gloria, our Hummingbird Whisperer.

We have a lot of the little guys this year, and for some reason, the feeder right outside our door is the happening spot in hummingbird world. Our feeder has ten perches, and it's rare that they're not all taken up, with other birds waiting to get in. There are typically 20 or 30 hovering around the doorway. It's actually a little dangerous stepping outside sometimes; with no Air Traffic Controller, the birds buzz the tower pretty close.

As a case in point, I filled the feeder at about 6:00 PM this evening (about as full as you see in the picture here). It's now 8:30, and the feeder is nearly empty. Strangely enough, we have two other feeders in direct sight of the house feeder, and we only have to fill those once every day or two.

I was up at the top of the hill two nights ago trying to figure out if I was listening to a car drive up the driveway or a boat over on Pushineer. As I walked down the hill, I realized that it was neither; I was listening to the hummingbirds swarm that one feeder. The sound has pretty much become a constant in our life when we're in the house.

There are lots of different hobbies in this world. Some people scrapbook. Some people fly fish. We feed hummingbirds.

Weathering the Storm

2011-05-29T15:42:00.001-04:00

It's still raining up here at Red River! This Memorial Day weekend has pretty much been washed out, although we're expecting only partly cloudy skies tomorrow. Even with all the rain and fog, we've made it this far without turning the generator on. (I haven't let poor Tanisha charge her iPod or Nintendo, though. Sorry, Tanisha!) Today, our voltage is hovering the 48.5-50 range. From my understanding of the system, our batteries turn themselves off when they hit 44 volts, so we have a decent way to go yet. Hopefully tomorrow will be partly sunny as expected, and we'll get our full charge back. When it's overcast, we pull in between 150 and 350 watts, which is enough to run the lights, if nothing else.

Since it's been so wet out, I've had our guys putting up the ceiling in the Island instead of doing outdoor projects. It's amazing how well it lightens the cabin up, and it's not even finished yet. We're also going to do those two end walls and add oak to the floor of the loft, which will make a huge difference.

Trilliums

2011-05-28T20:48:00.001-04:00

I went for a quick run last night and saw the strangest trillium ever. (So of course I had to take a picture of it when I got back to pick my camera up.) Something must have happened to it just as it was budding, because it's perfectly symmetrical yet severely stunted.

Other than the fact that it's only about two-thirds of a normal trillium, it seemed fine. Neat stuff.

The Island

2011-05-27T06:16:00.000-04:00

It'll be a thundery, rainy Memorial Day weekend at Red River. Luckily, Gloria and I cleaned the Island before the storms really started, and I got a sneak peak at the beginning of the new ceiling, as well as the new front door. The door looks great- Cary did an awesome job, as always, and I think the ceiling will look right at home. A lot of folks who heard I was putting a new ceiling in were worried about losing the rustic charm of the cabin. I think that fear is unfounded, because it looks both rustic and spectacular so far. It'll also really lighten the cabin up a lot, especially once the two end-walls are complete as well. We also have a new cedar slab mantle, which we'll hopefully install next week.

This weekend is also going to put our solar power system to the test. The guys ran a few power tools yesterday; between that and laundry, it was the first time we didn't end the day with full batteries. We'll see if we can balance our demand with an overcast day today and tomorrow!

This Year's Cabin Renovations

2011-05-25T17:42:00.001-04:00

It'll be another big year for cabin renovations at Red River.

We picked up a shower basin and plumbing fittings for the bathroom of Denny today and will get a start on that tomorrow. After the bathroom, we'll just have to install the stove and gas lights and add some furniture.

We also picked up enough pine to do the walls and ceiling of the loft on the Island. We'll do the whole ceiling and the fireplace wall eventually, but we won't have time to get everything done before the Island gets busy for the season. (We're not covering the log walls, mind you; just the unfinished walls in the peaks.) We also purchased subflooring and new oak for the loft floor, and we're building a new front door. The existing door has charm, but it's also about a foot out of square, and its latch is a death trap for unsuspecting shoulders and elbows (depending on how tall you are). Also in the Island's future is a bathroom with a new tile shower similar to the one we're building in Denny (once we see how Denny's turns out). The Island will be an ongoing project, but it'll be good to get a start on it this week. As always, I'll post pictures as cool things happen.

Togue is going to be this year's big news. The far wall is slowly rotting because it sits directly on the ground, so we're going to jack the entire cabin, add new sills where needed, replace the floors in the living room and fourth bedroom, take out the old acoustic tile, and add pine to the newly-peaked ceilings. I'm also hoping that one of our guys can perform some much-need rehabilitation on the fireplace and stone chimney.

In solar news, this afternoon turned out beautiful after a cloudy morning. We pulled in 13.5 kWh, and it probably would have been more if our demand could have kept up with what the sun gave us.

The Kitchen Opens Tomorrow!

2011-05-24T21:03:00.002-04:00

Day three without the generator was another gray one, although the clouds broke in the afternoon. We pulled in just over 5kWh of energy, and the power system had no trouble keeping up through laundry, lots of vacuuming, running the mixer, and me working on the computer all day.

We spent the day gearing up for our first American Plan guests tomorrow- getting the kitchen set back up, baking some cookies, and doing a little interior decorating in the dining room. One thing I love about being up here is that everything has a story. On the far wall, we hung a bobcat mount that was trapped by Gloria's late husband; my brother's handmade snowshoes (I'm not sure if he knows I have those); two paddles that were a gift from a couple who comes every year (who also did the majority of the paintings throughout the dining room); and a sign made by a member of a group that has literally been coming to Red River for generations. Above the door to the kitchen, we hung a chickadee carved by another of our guests. It's wonderful to have such talented friends!

Over dinner this evening, we were discussing how difficult it was to lose all of the "stuff" and the stories connected with it when the old lodge burned, but I think we're making a good start on adding stories to the new building. It just takes time.

A Somewhat Exciting Gray Day

2011-05-23T21:29:00.000-04:00

Seems like we've had a few gray days this spring! This one is interesting, though, because it gives us, right off, a glimpse into how our solar/battery system works when the sun isn't shining (to compare to yesterday's sun).

Here's how the last two days shaped up:

Yesterday (almost full sun, but the system wasn't turned on until 10:30 in the morning)-
We pulled in 11.88 kWh of energy from the panels;
We did two full loads of laundry, pumped some water, charged the house batteries, used some power tools, and ran the dishwasher; and
At 5:30, the batteries were in float, and we were still pulling in over 500 watts of power. (Float is that period of "maintenance charging" of the basically-full batteries.)

Today (very overcast)-
We pulled in just under 3.5 kWh of energy from the panels;
I charged my computer, we charged the house batteries for a few hours, and we had the phone and wireless internet turned on;
For the majority of the day, we were only pulling in about 350 watts of power, but we were in float for several hours of the day.

Pretty big differences!

In other solar-related news, our new SunFrost fridge has been completed and is on its way from California. It's scheduled to arrive next Monday to replace the old propane Servel we've been using. We'll see how it interacts with the battery bank; it's supposedly the most efficient fridge on the market today, so we should be all set.

We're Solar!

2011-05-22T19:38:00.003-04:00

We did it! Mike from Green Earth Energy brought in an awesome crew, and the job was done by noon today, a full day before I expected everything to be complete. They were top-notch; very knowledgeable, friendly, efficient, clean, and just a good crew all around.

Gloria and I spent the afternoon turning things on and off, and plugging things in, to see the numbers on the charge controller go up and down. In this picture, you can see that we're pulling in about 2.3kW from our 2.8kW panels, or almost full power.

I learned today that our batteries have three modes of charge- bulk (super charging), absorptive (charging, but not too much, because they're close to full), and float (just maintenance charging). It'll be fun to watch the charger to really learn how the batteries respond based on their voltage and the strength of the sun.

We ran a couple of loads of laundry today, dryer included, and discovered that sunny days can really charge our batteries back up quickly. (We also rediscovered that a standard household dryer uses ten times as much juice as almost any other gadget we have in Camp. The inverter jumped from about 0.46 kW with the washer running to 6.5 kW with the dryer running.) The inverter can handle just about any load we can throw at it; our water pump, dishwasher, and dryer didn't even make it blink. Typically, we just have a couple of lights on or a computer charging, so we usually draw less than 500 Watts of power unless we're actively doing something that requires electricity.

I've also added a few more photos of the installation to our Flikr photostream. I'm looking forward to seeing how the system performs over time, and whether we decide to add another line of batteries, or some more panels, in the future. I'll keep you posted!

Water, Sun, and Fire

2011-05-21T06:22:00.003-04:00

This weekend is full of excitement.

I got our second check valve installed downstream of the water pump yesterday, and the water held fine last night. What a relief! A plan is in the works for a new pumphouse; once we can get that completed, I'll take the first check valve out and see what the problem is. (As it stands, the check valve is behind the pump and very difficult to access.)

The solar installation team is in Camp for the weekend. They built the battery box and installed the inverter yesterday, and (if all goes well) they'll install the panels and wiring today. Hopefully yesterday's sun returns soon! We were a little worried about the peak of the dining room roof shading the panels (which will be over the kitchen) in the afternoon, but when we looked at it yesterday, the peak doesn't get in the way until at least 5:00. At 5:00 around here, the sun isn't strong enough to provide meaningful power anyway, so we're in the clear.

We also have our usual crew of handy men coming in today to start a few little projects in the cabins and a good family friend in with his bushwhacker and chainsaw to help do a little post-winter maintenance. All in all, we have a crew of about ten guys in this weekend helping us gear up for 2011, so what better time to do another small but meaningful project- enjoying a nice bonfire to finally get rid of the rest of the debris from rebuilding the lodge? I know a lot of our guests will enjoy not seeing that this year.

In my final news this morning, I saw a nice-sized black bear on my way to town yesterday afternoon. Unfortunately, he was barreling across the road, so I wasn't able to get a picture. I did get a picture of the sunset, though.

This-n-that, and our first guests of the season!

2011-05-19T19:12:00.002-04:00

It's official- the 2011 season has begun. As our first guests of the summer, we welcomed back some great folks who have stayed with us a couple of times. It's almost hard to believe that this will be our third year up here after taking over from my dad, but in a way, it's almost hard to believe that it's only our third year, as well. As always, there's nowhere else on this earth I'd rather be, even when things are hectic (and gray) like they are now.

We got our generator re-installed and our water pumping, but we've got an issue with (what I think is) our check valve that should keep the water from flowing back into the well. It's just not doing its job, so I'm having Gloria bring in a second one tomorrow, which I'll install between the pump and the well. (The current check valve sits between the pump and the water tower, all the way in the back of the very small pump house, and it's pretty hard to get to.) With any luck, that will solve our problem, and we'll once again be able to hold water in the tank overnight.

Otherwise, our water system seems to have weathered the winter fine. I've fixed a couple of small leaks here and there but haven't seen any big problems. Once I get a little time this weekend, I'm going to trade out four of the last five water heaters in the cabins for tankless versions- that'll be pretty exciting. (Sometimes I'm reminded just how much of a geek I really am.)

My final piece of news is that the solar installation begins tomorrow and will last through Monday- that'll also be pretty exciting! Here are our batteries awaiting their new home. (These things are substantial. Depending on whose literature you look at, each one weighs just about as much as I do.)

Solar Update

2011-05-15T21:31:00.000-04:00

Our solar project has officially begun. Sixteen batteries were delivered today, and the drawings for panel placement, wiring, the battery box and inverter, and all the rest of it were prepared. Much to my dad's chagrin, the panels will go on the main roof of the lodge since it has the best exposure and structural support. The 12 SOLON Black panels will take up the majority of the roof over the kitchen. (At 235W each, the panels will supply just over 2.8kW of energy to the battery bank; kind of like a 2.8kW generator running for 4-8 hours each day.)

We were initially worried that the peak of the dining room roof would shade the panels too much in the afternoon, but a closer inspection indicates that only one of the panels will be partially shaded by the peak for about an hour before the sun sets behind the ridge anyway. Perfect!

The installation is scheduled to begin next Friday and last four days or so; in a little over a week, we'll be solar-powered! (I will, of course, post pictures during the installation.)

Northern Flicker

2011-05-11T19:15:00.000-04:00

If you haven't visited the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's All About Birds page, I recommend it, especially in conjunction with a good bird book.

All week, I've been listening to a bird that sounded an awful lot like a Pileated Woodpecker. The only problem is that I haven't seen any Pileated Woodpeckers in this neck of the woods recently. (I did see one down at Shin Pond last week, though.)

At any rate, my bird book alone wasn't helping. I could hear them (and from the sound, we have 5 or 6 hanging around), but I couldn't see them. That's where All About Birds came in; they have sound clips for the vast majority of birds they have on file, and they have a lot of birds on file.

I finally saw a Northern Flicker on one of the birch trees in the yard this evening (thank you, NWF Field Guide to Birds of North America) and found out from the Cornell Lab that it does make a call very similar to that of a Pileated Woodpecker. One sound clip even names the call the "pileated" call. Mystery solved! Of course, I have friends for whom that would have presented no mystery whatsoever, but for the rest of us, it's good to have the resources at hand. Happy birding!

Our Neighbors

2011-05-10T20:35:00.000-04:00

It was a drizzly day here, so there's not much interesting to report! The clouds finally parted a little this evening, though, so I channeled my inner Jennie Appleseed (if you'll pardon the terrible pun) and got some wildflower seed spread down by the pond. With luck, we'll be able to get a nice buffer around the pond within a couple of years.

We have a very skittish pair of Goldeneyes on the pond right now. As soon as the door opens, they take off to the middle of the pond and don't come back until we go back inside. We also have a pair of black ducks and a pair of mallards who know the routine and don't mind our company. I also saw Jack and Lily again for the first time tonight. At least, I assume it's them. I was sitting on Upper's porch when I saw them, so I didn't get a good look. Maybe tomorrow.

I have mad driving skillz, and Red River has electricity!

2011-05-09T20:56:00.000-04:00

It's been a busy couple of days here at Red River. Yesterday, I decided to put my Trailblazer to the test and make a run for the hill. My first attempt, yesterday morning, was 100% futile- I got stuck less than 50 feet from where I started. Yesterday afternoon, though, while being serenaded by pop hits blasted by some folks picnicking at Pushineer, I actually made it the whole way in to Camp. The final run wasn't without incident, though. I got as up close and personal with this stand of silver birch as physically possible without actually hitting any of them:

(That tire track is my driver's side tire. My passenger side is the track that grazes the spruce tree.)

And this is how the hill looked after I finally made it in to Camp- it wasn't pretty, but it did the trick. The snow on the left-hand side of the road was still about 18" deep.

At any rate, I made it in, and I went back over the road a few more times just to be sure. That led up to Dad and his friend Dwight being able to bring the old generator back in today. They were able to fix it to the point where it should last us a while longer and put off the expense of purchasing a new one. So happily, Red River now has power! I'll get the water hooked back up tomorrow or Wednesday, and we'll be in business.

Spring is progressing well; the ice went quickly once it started:

May 6, 2011

May 8, 2011

May 9, 2011

That's all the news for now. I plan to pull some of the canoes out tomorrow and maybe take a paddle over to the Island to see how it fared the winter.

First Spring Update

2011-05-06T20:00:00.003-04:00

I’ve officially made the move to Camp, although I’m somewhat limited by the fact that we can’t get the generator in over the road yet. We’re still looking at a good foot or two on parts of the road, especially the hill. On Thursday, I only made it to within sight of the St. Francis Road (some of you will know that as the big hill you have to climb to get to the farther ponds); I got stuck several times in what I will henceforth affectionately refer to as “the Gauntlet.” I got myself out today with the help of some gravel, cooler temperatures that hardened up the mealy snow, and good old Brophy determination.

Thanks to a couple from Fort Kent who had tires on their Bronco that my 10-plys would envy, I made it all the way to the base of the hill today. This is a huge win in my book because it means that I don’t have to walk a mile or more (round trip) for anything I’ve forgotten in the car; I only have to walk down to the bottom of the hill. (For instance, tonight’s “emergency walk” was precipitated by the fact that, without cheese, a grilled cheese sandwich is just a couple slices of toast. As tasty as grilled cheese is after a couple hours of yard work, it’s hard to justify walking a mile for one.)

Camp looks good so far. We had some damage to a few trees over the winter; two in the back field are half as tall as they used to be, and I need to move some large limbs from Galilee’s roof. Otherwise, everything seemed to fare quite well this winter.

The ice is going out of the pond pretty quickly; we’re expecting it to be gone by next week, and I already saw a fish rise in the small area that is clear near the shore. I’ve also seen over a dozen ruffed grouse and a couple of spruce grouse on my walks back and forth to the car, several sets of moose tracks (but no moose yet), and quite a few ducks and loons that have already come back. All in all, it’s shaping up to be a good year.

I’m sorry there are no pictures with this post. My camera’s USB cable is (you guessed it) in the car.

Wild Women of the Woods

2011-05-03T23:32:00.001-04:00

Unfortunately, the road in to Red River still isn't quite passable. We tried it again today, just because I'm chomping at the bit to get in there and get the spring cleaning started. I brought Mom with me this time for her first trip back to Camp in about ten years.

I wasn't going to try the last mile of the road without more gear than we had, so we stopped in the same place as Sunday's trip and pulled out the snowshoes, even though it doesn't look like there's a lot of snow left in this picture.

Closer to Camp, there's still a foot to eighteen inches of snow on the road. It's starting to soften a lot, even compared to Sunday, so it should go pretty quickly from here on out.

The ice on the pond is starting to darken up as well, so it should start breaking up in the next few days, and the pond should be open by next week. It started raining while we were there, which will get it melting faster. We spent a few hours just looking around- it was Mom's first look at the new lodge and all of the renovations we've done on the cabins. (I think she likes our new benches, too!)

On our way back to the car, we stopped at the Pushineer bridge. Pushineer is also starting to clear, and Red River is still running high. One of these days, I'll get over to Deboullie to see what the larger ponds look like.

Back at the car, we were as wet as drowned rats, but what a fun day. I'll try the road again in a couple of days.

We Made It!

2011-05-01T17:25:00.002-04:00

...sort of.

The main woods roads are easily passable; they were plowed all winter, so there wasn't much snow to melt. The smaller woods roads are passable if you're a little adventurous. Once we got in sight of the Deboullie town line, however, we ran into this little problem:

With the three of us (Dad, Gloria and me), a comealong, a couple of shovels, and a little bit of time, we managed to get Dad's Explorer back on the road. Surprisingly, we came within an inch or two of the stump (beside the tire in the photo), but we didn't hit it, nor did we need to pull the Explorer out with my Trailblazer. It was pretty obvious, though, that we weren't going to proceed by car, at least not today. There's still a good 18-24" of snow on the road between the town line and Red River.

There was no way I was getting within a mile of Camp and not actually getting to Camp, however, so I pulled out my snowshoes and took a quick stroll while Dad and Gloria went in search of moose antlers on the Stink Pond road. (No luck, though- the snow is also thick on that section of road.)

The Falls below Pushineer are running pretty well:

And there's almost no snow in the Camp yard except in the driveway:

The pond, however, is still frozen over. The ice was about 8" thick off the end of the dock, although you can see in the photos that it's starting to melt a little around the edges.

It was another absolutely gorgeous day for a snowy trip in to Red River. Unfortunately, without a passable road and with the generator out town, our hands are still tied with regards to getting up and running for the season. Dad is optimistic that we'll be able to drive in by this weekend, and I'm going to pop up once or twice during the week, especially if the weather stays nice.

Today's the Big Day!

2011-04-30T04:24:00.000-04:00

The Great Migration (of 2011) is underway! I'll be in Maine this evening, which is always a nice feeling.

Unfortunately, I received this from the North Maine Woods in my e-mail yesterday afternoon:

We know grass is green in central Maine, but winter conditions still exist in most of NMW region and in the KI JO-Mary Forest. Any roads not plowed over the winter months are still impassible due to snow depths. Ashland area still has up to 12" of snow in the woods. Further west there is still up to 24" of snow.

Campsites on St. John River and Allagash are snow covered. Ice on most Allagash Lakes is winter solid. Ice at Ross Lake is still +20”.

We'll see how this bodes for my plan to get in to Camp. Looks like I may need to add some more options to the poll. ("June" might be applicable.)

I'll keep you all posted- enjoy your weekend!

Two Days to Go

2011-04-28T12:26:00.000-04:00

Just a quick little post as I sit here on my lunch break. I can't believe I have less than 48 hours to finish packing, double-check my project list, and head north. It's been a frantic week down here; I'm looking forward to collapsing at the "finish line" Saturday evening. Unfortunately, the finish line isn't actually Red River. From what I understand, the smaller woods roads are still impassable, so I won't be making it in until Sunday at the earliest, and more likely the middle of next week. Just the same, I can't wait to get to Maine.

The last few things we ordered for the cabins have arrived; we're all ready to install the new tankless water heaters and put the new quilts on the beds. We haven't made a decision yet on the new generator, so once we can reliably get into the woods, we'll bring the old one back in to get us started. (It still runs, just not efficiently. It should see us through a little while longer.)

So you probably won't hear from me tomorrow or Saturday unless something newsworthy happens. After that, though, things should get pretty interesting around here!

@Hungry_Birds

2011-04-27T06:57:00.001-04:00

I don't use Twitter myself. I think our shrinking attention span is a sign that we need to get outside more, not an indication we should stop using more than 140 letters at a time. But @hungry_birds is just too funny not to share.

A Latvian magazine titled "Ir" also thinks Twitter is for birdbrains, and I mean that in the most literal sense possible. Ir set up the @hungry_birds Twitter account, smeared a standard computer keyboard (still attached to the computer) with salted bacon fat, and left the rest to history. In the winter, between about 5AM and 4PM GMT each day, birds flock to their very own internet cafe for a snack and a quick tweet. (I just love how this post comes with its own built-in puns. It makes my job so easy!)

You can see the birds typing their thoughtful messages on Ir's webcam or join over 2,600 people following @hungry_birds on Twitter. Unfortunately, now that spring is here, Ir has taken down the bacon-covered keyboard, but it wouldn't surprise me if they replaced it with a more summery variant.

Say what you want, but I bet the birds' messages make more sense than some tweets from real people.

Trout Unlimited Photo Contest

2011-04-26T06:24:00.000-04:00

There are only four days to go before the Great Migration, and I don't have a lot of RRC news to share. It seems like as good a time as any to pass along this opportunity (especially since, according to the last poll here on the blog, folks are more interested in photographing trout in Maine than anything else). Trout Unlimited wants your great fishing and stream photos for their 2011 photo contest.

Entries are due May 1, which doesn't give entrants a lot of time, but photos can be quickly and easily uploaded to the TU website. So if you're sitting on that perfect stream shot, now is your chance to show it off. The grand prize winner will be featured in the 2011 TU calendar.

Good luck to any of our friends who enter!

Five Days to Go

2011-04-25T06:11:00.000-04:00

More appliance updates!

A couple of years ago, we traded out the water heaters in Upper and on the Island for battery-ignition tankless heaters. They take up less room, are easy to operate, and don't waste propane when the cabins are unoccupied. Yesterday, I purchased four more: one each for Togue, Denny, Pushineer, and Gardner. (The water heaters in Galilee and the Little Cabins are still in good shape.) We'll swap those out this spring and have them ready for our first guests.

My next anticipated purchase is a booster pump (a Shurflo or similar) for both Denny and Upper to increase the water pressure in the showers on the top of the hill. I haven't looked at water pumps since my Hydraulics class in college, though, so it's going to require a little more research. I have a feeling we'll rig each bathroom with a "shower switch" that will start the pump. The pump will draw water directly from the water tank, and voila! Good pressure on the top of the hill.

So with five days to go before we get this spring started, we're definitely not resting on our laurels, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Generator Update (6 Days to Go!)

2011-04-24T15:53:00.002-04:00

After a couple days of research, I think we've narrowed the list of potential new generators down to three contenders: the Kohler 14RES, Briggs and Stratton 15kW, and Cummins Onan RS13A. They're all pretty comparable in terms of energy output, noise level, and price, so we've enlisted the help of Green Earth Energy (who is also installing our solar power system) to help us come to a decision. GEE has installed quite a few LP generators as part of solar power systems over the years, so I'm confident they'll be able to point us in the right direction.

For my part, I'm still leaning toward the Kohler; the 14RES was recently re-worked and now comes with a non-corrosive housing as well as a limited warranty for off-grid situations (which was not the case with their older models).

I've been asked why we're looking at such a big generator now that we have the solar and battery system in the works. The answer lies in how we intend to use it. Since large electric devices (specifically the washer and dryer) will drain the batteries pretty quickly, we plan to get all of our washing, etc, out of the way while we're letting the generator top off the batteries. Even though we'll only run the generator sporadically, it'll have a pretty large load on it each time we do: 8-12kW based on some quick calculations. At the very least, we don't want to get a generator smaller than 8kW since that's what the inverter is sized to handle. For most brands, the next step up from 8 is the 12-15 range.

Six more days until we're back in the real world!

Kids' Fishing Day

2011-04-23T16:23:00.002-04:00

It's nice to see kids making sure to get their parents outside now and then. Today, I helped out with a kids' fishing day, put on in collaboration between the Northern Virginia chapter of Trout Unlimited, the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (DGIF), Reston Association, and Wetland Studies (the company I work for). Yesterday, DGIF stocked about four hundred 8"-18" rainbow trout in Snakeden Branch, one of the streams we restored in Reston a couple of years ago. Today, about 50 of those trout came back out at the hands of almost 200 kids between 2 and 8 years old. (Okay, their parents helped a little bit, too.)

What a blast. Some of the kids had never seen a trout before, let alone caught or held one. They were fascinated as Sarah and Beth (our two fish-gutting mavens for the day) showed them how to clean fish, taught them the males from the females, and let them get up close and personal with the leftover fish heads. Even the girls got into it, which was great to see. (I do think it helped that we had two ladies at the cleaning station. You can't go wrong with positive role models!)

Kids, keep getting your parents outside. It's good for them.

Power Woes

2011-04-22T06:46:00.005-04:00

The day after we got the good news about the solar power system, we got some frustrating news about the generator. It seems that the parts to service the generator just aren't available. To have them made will run us just shy of $5,000, before the labor to then service the generator with the new parts.

That put a damper on my day.

Woods folks are never wont to be bummed out for long, though, and we always have a backup plan floating in our minds somewhere. I've started looking into the possibility of purchasing one of the newer generators on the market, which would run us approximately the same price as the parts for the old generator. Since we're installing the solar/battery system and will no longer need the generator for 6-8 hours a day, this is the perfect time to switch to a generator that runs cleaner and more quietly and also produces cleaner power.

I'm looking into the Kohler line of generators, but if anyone out there knows of another, please tell me. We only have a few days to make a big, big decision. The current diesel generator produces 13.5kW of power; Kohler's line runs anywhere from 8.5kW up to 30kW. They're sold as backup generators, meaning they switch on if the power goes out, but I've also seen them listed on several solar power sites as good off-grid options. My big question will be whether we can turn it on and off without using the automatic switch, since we use less power than a typical residence and neither need nor want it supplied continuously every time the power goes out.

The other question will be the warranty and longevity of the system. The reviews are good; Kohler is apparently easy to work with, but they also only cover the systems in a backup situation, not off-grid. Their 12kW generator costs approximately $3,500; if it lasts for 10 years, it's more than paid for itself, just based on the price of parts for the Lister engine we currently use.

There are other benefits to purchasing a new generator, as well. They're very quiet; the Kohler 12RES is rated at 65dB at 7m, or just louder than a vacuum cleaner. Can you imagine?? The Kohler also runs on propane, rather than diesel. Propane burns cleaner and doesn't have the same long-term storage issues that diesel does, and it would make us a one-fuel camp.

Beyond that, though, I'm not an electrical engineer, and it takes me a while to run through all of the calculations regarding voltage, amperage, charging, and instantaneous power that flood the generator discussions on the solar forums I've found online. My guess is that any modern generator will provide as good, if not better, charging power than the old Lister, so it really comes back down to longevity.

What a day.

Solar Power Update

2011-04-21T06:13:00.001-04:00

We received our first grant installment from Efficiency Maine yesterday! Hooray! We'll receive two more payments after this: one at 80% completion and the other upon final inspection.

The system components have been ordered, and we're planning for an initial site visit during the first week or two of May to make final decisions regarding placement, mounting, etc. As long as everything arrives from the manufacturer in good order, we'll begin the installation a few days after that. The installation should only take a couple of days, so it looks like we're on track to begin producing power before our first guests arrive... As long as the weather cooperates. (I heard that Northern Maine got some more snow yesterday. We'll just have to wait and see how badly the weather affects our plans, if it does at all.)

10 Days to Go...

2011-04-20T06:44:00.000-04:00

Everything is greening up down here in Virginia; one of the fun parts of leading a double life is that I get to have spring twice and autumn twice every year. (And if the snow is still deep up in the woods in two weeks, I'll get to have winter again this year, too!)

I've been trying to sort out this spring's project list over the past few days. After we get the generator back in, we'll be able to work on the bathroom in Denny at the same time we install the solar power system. I'm hoping Denny will only take a couple of weeks to complete, and then we can finally use the cabin again. The raised garden beds won't take long to build, so we should be able to get those finished as soon as the snow clears up, and then I can get our vegetables in the ground. Then there's the stone wall in the dining room, which took a back seat to the cabins last year but which I'd really like to install this spring/summer. I think those are the major items; everything else can wait until the summer slows down a little.

I was hoping to also work on the Island in May prior to guests arriving, but I think it will have to wait until at least July. (The Island is booked almost solid from the middle of May to the middle of July.)

All of those projects, of course, hinge on our ability to drive in to Camp. If we have to wait for that to happen, we'll work on finishing up the embroidery on the pillowcases and a few other minor projects that we can work on in town.

As usual, I'll have my camera with me just about every day, and I'll keep you guys posted with pictures of our progress. I want to thank everyone who reads this blog and takes an interest in Red River's well-being. You guys make our days that much more rewarding.

11 Days to Go...

2011-04-19T06:19:00.000-04:00

With just under two weeks left, I don't mind admitting that I'm starting to panic a little bit.

I picked up a couple of quilts this week for the double beds in Togue and on the Island. I like this one because of the colors and because it's nice and simple. The remainder of the beds will still have our standard black-and-red checked blankets.

I've also spent this weekend putting together a new ad for Fly Rod and Reel magazine's upcoming summer issue, which will feature fisheries throughout Maine and will be on sale June 14 through September 12. I pulled the layout idea from one of the marketing booths at the Environment Virginia conference I attended two weeks ago.

Other than that, we're keeping busy with things that I can't really associate with pretty pictures! This week will be spent on the phone, making sure that everything (propane, diesel, tires for the truck, generator maintenance, etc) is in place for the first 2-3 weeks in May. From what I hear, there's still quite a bit of snow in the woods, so I'm also hoping for just enough warm weather or rain to make the roads passable, even if I have to walk the last bit.

More Beautiful Photography

2011-04-18T06:06:00.000-04:00

Here's another "filler" post that I hope you'll enjoy. Clark Little captures some of the most beautiful wave images ever. For instance:

He has over 200 stunning photos in his gallery. They were taken with a high-speed camera, nerves of steel, and a serious background in surfing. I've never really been interested in going to Hawaii (being more of a northern girl myself), but these pictures could make me reconsider.

Beautiful Photography

2011-04-17T08:11:00.003-04:00

I have neither Maine news nor fishing news today, but hopefully this post brings a smile. If these videos don't make you want to get away from it all, at least for a few days, I'll be very surprised. They're done by a Norwegian gentleman named Terje Sorgjerd, who also produced absolutely breathtaking photos of the Eyjafjallajökull eruption that disrupted so much air traffic last year.

The Mountain from Terje Sorgjerd on Vimeo.

The Aurora by Terje Sorgjerd.

Enjoy, and have a beautiful day!

Mild-mannered alter ego

2011-04-15T06:41:00.000-04:00

With just about two weeks to go before the Great Migration, my alter ego has been hard at work doing a bunch of stuff that isn't related to Camp at all. While my official title at Wetland Studies is Associate Engineer, my unofficial title is Easily Distracted. I do a little bit of everything. My main job (currently) is design of sustainable stormwater facilities: rain gardens, pervious pavement, and other things that make the urban jungle more closely mimic the hydrology of a forest. Right now, I'm also learning the exciting new world of project management by leading our team on a large sustainable stormwater contract for DC's water authority.

My secondary jobs, however, are many and varied, just like they are at Red River. Currently, the most exciting one is that I've been primarily responsible for the design and content of Wetland Studies' new website, which went live last night. I have several edits to make over the next couple of days, but we're all very excited to finally see it up and running. My next "art project" will be to modify our Reston Stream Restoration project site to match the new site format and to finish up some new marketing materials we've been working on. Throw some soil testing, regulatory meetings, tour guiding, and actual design work into the mix, and I keep myself pretty busy. (There's a reason these posts typically come out between 5:30 and 6:30 in the morning!)

On the Red River side of things, our new shirts came this week. I had them delivered to Maine, so I haven't actually seen them yet, just pictures. The red ink looks quite a bit brighter than I was hoping for, but I think they'll do. I have two other designs to print, and I'm currently looking into fleeces or sweatshirts as well.

I'm getting some new quilts for the double beds and some new sundries for the dining room- I'll post pictures once I make a final decision. And finally, the generator is currently out town being serviced, so I'm making arrangements for that to be completed in the next couple of weeks so we can have power while the solar system is being installed.

Those are the big items; all in all, it's just another day!

A Very Busy Week

2011-04-14T06:30:00.004-04:00

My apologies for the lackluster blogging over the last couple of days; my alter ego has been hard at work this week, and there hasn't been much news of interest other than getting ready to head back into the woods in two weeks.

So while I'm trying to keep up with everything, I'll let you enjoy some of the old photos I've been able to collect over the past couple of years, contrasted with Camp nowadays.

The Lodge:

1920's

1960's

2009

The view from the water (sorry- I don't have any earlier photos from the water):

1960's

2009

The Camp yard:

1930's-40's, I believe

Later in the 1930's-40's

1960's

2010

And this one isn't quite a comparison, but you get the idea. The historic photo was taken from the shore in the right side of the current photo.

1960's

2010

The historic photos will eventually make it into our Flickr photostream. I also think that it may be a fun project this summer to go back and take photos that more closely replicate some of the historic ones; I'll keep you posted!

It's just a month of updates.

2011-04-12T06:19:00.001-04:00

With just under 20 days to go until I'm back in the woods, things are still moving along nicely. Our shirts shipped yesterday, so they'll arrive later this week as expected. Our new fridge, on the other hand, will arrive a little later than we hoped. SunFrost is apparently backed up with orders for the vaccine fridges they also make, so they expect ours to ship at the end of May or early June. I had planned for the delivery to take six weeks, so the new timeframe isn't too bad, but it won't be in by the time we serve our first American Plan guests.

In online news, I've started a Red River Flickr photostream, which now has photos from last year and the year before. When I get some time this weekend, I'll start adding photos of the lodge rebuild, as well as some of the historic photos I have. I'm brand new to Flickr, so you'll have to bear with me as I get the bumps worked out. (For instance, I didn't realize that their default photo size is 640 pixels wide. I usually resize mine to 500 pixels for online purposes, so the vast majority of the photos currently in the photostream are scaled up slightly and therefore slightly fuzzy.) If you have a Flickr account, we'd love to have you add us to your contacts.

Regulatory Reform in Maine, Part II

2011-04-11T06:36:00.001-04:00

The Sun Journal tells us that LD1, the regulatory reform package created by this year's legislature, no longer proposes rolling back a wide laundry list of environmental protections as was proposed by Governor LePage earlier this year.

It doesn't look like the text of the legislation is available online yet, but I'm cautiously excited to read it. Regulatory reform should not take away from what makes Maine great, which is our land and water. The first sentence of the opening paragraph of Virginia's Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act could easily apply to Maine as well, if you change "Chesapeake Bay" to the more generic "environment":

Healthy state and local economies and a healthy Chesapeake Bay are integrally related; balanced economic development and water quality protection are not mutually exclusive.

(I'll note here that Virginia includes some of the most vibrant local economies in the country, the majority of which are in the Chesapeake Bay watershed and thus fall under the requirements of the Bay Act. I'm just sayin'.)

Speaking as someone whose Maine business is made or broken by the health of our water and woods, I applaud the legislature's decision to remove some of Governor LePage's more extreme environmental protection rollbacks from LD1. That being said, I also look forward to LD1 streamlining some of the regulatory processes that Maine businessfolks have to deal with.

Solar Project and Other Updates

2011-04-10T07:57:00.000-04:00

With three weeks to go before we head back into the woods, the solar project is officially off the ground. Efficiency Maine is processing our paperwork, and we hope to receive the first grant payment within the next few weeks. We sent our deposit to Green Earth Energy to get the components ordered, and I purchased our new SunFrost refrigerator yesterday. I'm not sure how long the solar components will take to ship, but we don't expect to receive the fridge until mid-May at least. (They're individually manufactured in California, from what I understand, and typically take about 6 weeks to ship.)

If all goes as planned, we'll be able to install everything before our first guests arrive this spring. That will give us time to troubleshoot anything that goes wrong, and it'll also let us start to figure out the system's quirks. (I know full well that there will be some.)

In other news, our first t-shirt design is in production and should arrive in Maine this week:

These will be red ink on red and heather gray short sleeved shirts and natural long sleeve shirts. I have two other designs in the works as well, but we're holding off on those for another couple of weeks to see how this one turns out first. (This is the first shirt I've designed since my freshman year of high school when I was in a marine science summer program down at UNH and the Isles of Shoals...) Once they arrive, I'll get some pictures; I've only seen mockups myself, so it'll be a surprise for everyone!

Maine Superior Court Vacates Plum Creek Approval

2011-04-09T09:15:00.004-04:00

Superior Court Justice Thomas Humphrey has ruled that LURC's 2009 approval of the Plum Creek development plan was completed illegally, and he has vacated the approval. The basis for the Court's decision hinged on the fact that, after LURC rejected Plum Creek's initial plan, they actually helped the company derive an "approvable" plan and then approved that plan without providing a public comment process. From the LURC website:

"On June 2, 2009, the Land Use Regulation Commission held one day of further deliberations on Zoning Petition ZP 707. During these deliberations, the Commission determined whether the specific language changes to Plum Creek's Concept Plan proposal, developed by LURC staff and consultants at the Commission's direction and in light of comments received from members of the public, governmental review agencies, and parties to this proceeding, are acceptable." (Emphasis added.)

All of the documents related to the Plum Creek plan can be found on the LURC website. I'll warn you, though- the concept plan itself is over 150MB in size; it's NOT light reading. The gist of the matter is that Plum Creek proposes to rezone approximately a million acres (which it purchased at $200 per acre) to allow the company to develop 975 house lots (which it will sell for approximately $200,000 per acre), over 5,000 acres of resorts and associated accommodations, gas stations, golf courses, and restaurants. (I'd like to note here that none of Plum Creek's proposed development will take place on the 8,000 acres it owns within the town of Greenville.)

The article I referenced above notes that not everyone is happy with Justice Humphrey's decision. Even some environmental groups are disappointed because the vacation of Plum Creek's approval also vacates the nearly 400,000 acres of conservation easement agreements that went along with that approval. While I can understand that on a very basic level, I have to disagree with their view. Plum Creek's proposed conservation easements are no more conservative than the working forest that Plum Creek initially purchased; the easements retained Plum Creek's right to:

Up to six commercial food and lodging facilities;
Alternative energy generation (wind power);
Septic field activities;
Docks and piers;
Telecommunications;
Forest management and timber harvesting;
Mining of sand, rock, and gravel; and
Other easements as determined by Plum Creek and the easement holder.

(Source: Natural Resources Council of Maine and Maine Audubon.)

I have no problem with these activities in a working forest; the part I have a problem with is that Plum Creek's plan essentially boils down to: "We want the state to let us build houses and resorts on more than 16,000 acres. In exchange, we'll keep doing what we've been doing on the rest of the land." To me, that doesn't sound like much of a compromise or a mutually-beneficial exchange, especially when I consider the fact that (1) Plum Creek has so far been fined nearly $60,000 for violations of Maine forest protection laws, and (2) Plum Creek will be paid nearly $35 million for the conservation agreement. Think about that: in exchange for Plum Creek developing 16,000 acres, we're going to pay the company to continue business as usual on the remainder of its land, or else it will circumvent the rezoning process and develop its entire acreage piecemeal. That's not a conservation easement; that's extortion. (Note, also, that Plum Creek pays no corporate income tax to the State of Maine.)

Sorry for the rant today. I could go on for days about why I disagree with Plum Creek's Moosehead development plan; it's one of the few items that I don't mind wading into the political area about. In the winter, I live in one of the fastest-growing areas of the country. Loudoun County, Virginia, was mostly farmland less than a decade ago. Now it's filled with these:

Mmmm... Nice, don't you think?

We're Number One!

2011-04-08T07:13:00.000-04:00

According to the Institute for Economics and Peace, Maine is the most peaceful state in the country. I don't know what could make them think that... Maybe this had something to do with it:

Pretty pictures aside, the designation is actually based on homicide rates, percentage of population in jail, availability of small arms, number of police officers, and overall violent crime rate. The study's individual state rankings cover those items as well as others, such as percentage of the population with diabetes, percentage without health care, and percentage in poverty.

The rest of the New England states fared pretty well, as well; New Hampshire came in second and Vermont third. Connecticut was the lowest-ranked of the New England states at number 15, which isn't too shabby. All told, it sounds like a Maine vacation is in order this year, don't you think?

Peace out, my friends.

Our Maine Street

2011-04-07T06:00:00.002-04:00

If you haven't read Our Maine Street magazine yet, you should give it a gander. It's a beautifully-printed, full-color look into Aroostook County. It comes out quarterly and has been produced in the County and printed in Maine for almost two years now. It's sold throughout Northern Maine, down to Bangor, and they have subscribers as far away as Nevada and Alaska.

Red River was featured in their April issue; I hope they don't mind me posting a link to the scanned article. (Fair warning: it's almost 8MB in size.) I think the article came out great, and I can't thank either Janet or the team at Our Maine Street enough. If you agree, pick up a copy of the latest issue, or pop over to their website and subscribe!

Talking Shop

2011-04-06T05:57:00.001-04:00

I'm spending the next few nights at the B&B at Llewellyn Lodge in Lexington, Virginia, where some of my WSSI co-workers and I are attending the Environment Virginia conference to keep abreast of the latest regulatory changes and updates affecting the environmental industry. Our B&B host, John Roberts, is a fishing guide; I'm looking forward to talking a little shop this week!

As an aside, the B&B keeps a good selection of reading material for the guests... Even though I grew up in a hunting camp, I never in my wildest dreams imagined a magazine titled Garden & Gun. I don't know why, but the name strikes me as riotously funny. It'll be a fun read this evening after twelve hours of hobnobbing with folks at the conference.

Solar Power, Part III

2011-04-05T06:37:00.002-04:00

We're just about to get the components ordered for the solar power system, and I've had a lot of questions about what we're getting, how big it is, etc. Here's the scoop:

We'll have 12 panels, which weigh in at 230 Watts each, for a 2.8kW system. Each panel is a little over 3'x5', so our entire system will be somewhere around 12'x15' in area. Since we have no grid to tie to, the panels will feed a bank of 16 batteries that we'll store down in the back room. We'll also be able to charge the batteries from the generator on those not-so-sunny days.

Cost-wise, the project is pretty much split between three major items: the panels (roughly $9,000), the inverter (roughly $4,500) and the batteries (roughly $5,500). Everything else is a minor cost in comparison to those three. The project certainly won't pay itself back in the first couple of years, but it'll save us money in the long run, especially as diesel prices continue to climb. The other thing it will save, though, is the generator noise; I think I'm more excited about that than anything.

On a side note, I may be away from the blog for a couple of days; I'm attending the Environment Virginia conference down at VMI for the better part of this week, and I don't know what the internet situation is at the B&B where we're staying.

Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands

2011-04-04T05:48:00.000-04:00

The Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands keeps an online database of public reserve lands, historic sites, and parks in Maine. If you can't make it to Deboullie every weekend, take a look to see if there's another spot in your neck of the woods that you didn't know about. (For instance, I wasn't aware of the Aroostook Valley Rail Trail. I may have to search that out one day this summer.) Visitors can also search the database by distance to their hometown, by region, or by desired use.

You know what they say: Welcome to Maine- now take a hike!

Yoga for Yankees

2011-04-03T08:22:00.001-04:00

We at Red River are always looking to expand our offerings and to make our guests' stays more enjoyable. We're looking out for your health and well-being, folks. What could be better, then, than leading our fishermen in a relaxing yoga session right as the sun rises over the hill each morning?

Yoga for Yankees, that's what.

Fred Marple and the good folks of Frost Heaves, New Hampshire, conceived this idea, and I think it's going to sell big! Pop over to Frost Heaves, and you can see the rest of their videos, as well as the bloopers/outtakes reel from this one.

Namaste.

Food Fight!

2011-04-02T09:28:00.007-04:00

As I alluded to yesterday, there's been a big debate/fiasco over the "Maine State Dessert." I haven't been following it too closely, mostly because of this one burning question I have that no one can seem to answer:

Why in the world do we need a state dessert?

I know there's been precedent for weird and seemingly pointless state symbols; for instance, did you know that the Maine state soil is the Chesuncook soil series, or that the Pertica quadrifaria is the state fossil? (I did find it interesting is that the Schooner Bowdoin is officially the state vessel. I spent a summer on the Bowdoin back in 1997.) It's not just Maine, though; milk is the state drink of Maryland, and the cast iron dutch oven is the official cooking implement of Texas.

But I digress.

The debate at hand was whether the Whoopie Pie or Blueberry Pie should be given the title "Maine State Dessert." Even with many more pressing matters to attend to in Augusta, legislators have been tied up with this question since late January.

The whoopie pie is, of course, two dollops of cake sandwiching a sugary frosting center. Mainers like to take credit for the creation of the whoopie pie, although Wikipedia indicates that it could have been first created as far away as Pennsylvania Amish country. The main argument against the Whoopie Pie, however, is that it's terribly sugary and fattening in a time when over 30% of Maine children are overweight or obese. Really, there's nothing nutritionally-redeeming about it, antioxidants in chocolate notwithstanding. (It's darn tasty, though. That's at least something we can all agree on.)

Blueberry pie is even more self-explanatory. What with the blueberry being the official state berry, it would stand to reason that its pie would also be remarkable. It's also, as some people have noted, a real dessert, where the Whoopie Pie is more of a daytime snack. (I can't make this stuff up, folks.)

Last Wednesday, the House approved a compromise: the Whoopie Pie would be the Maine state treat, while Blueberry Pie would be given the title of state dessert. The compromise was approved in the House 107-34 and will soon go to the Senate for consideration.

I'm glad that there are still some things the government can come to bipartisan compromise on. My burning question, however, remains unanswered.

North Woods Granola

2011-04-01T06:54:00.000-04:00

Coincident to the great "Maine State Dessert" fiasco, Gloria and I have been working on a treat to put in the American Plan packed lunches for this year; something that's distinctively "Northern Maine" yet healthier than a Whoopie Pie. I present to you:

North Woods Crunchy Granola

Ingredients
* 3 cups rolled oats
* 1 cup cashews (may substitute 1 cup moose antler in season. Coarsely chop and simmer in maple syrup for 72 hours prior to making granola.)
* 1 cup pine cone scales, lightly toasted
* 3/4 cup shredded trout tails, floured and fried crispy
* 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
* 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons maple syrup
* 1/4 cup vegetable oil
* 3/4 teaspoon salt
* 1 cup dried cranberries
* 1 cup blueberries

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.

In a large bowl, combine the oats, nuts, pine cones, trout tails, and brown sugar.

In a separate bowl, combine maple syrup, oil, and salt. Combine both mixtures and pour onto 2 sheet pans. Cook for 1 hour and 15 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes to achieve an even color.

Remove from oven and transfer into a large bowl. Add cranberries and blueberries. Mix until evenly distributed. Best enjoyed outdoors in the fresh air and sunshine.

We're looking forward to serving up some great new treats for you guys this year!

Wildlife Cams

2011-03-30T06:41:00.000-04:00

A friend posted this link to the Hampton Roads Eagle Cam in Virginia the other day. It looks like she has three chicks this year, which you can't see in this picture.

It reminded me of some nice cams we have in Maine, as well. Take a gander at the eagle cam and the peregrine falcon cam at the Biodiversity Research Institute, collaborations between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. BRI also had a loon cam, but it appears that it's not online this year. They did leave up a high-resolution video from 2008 for folks to watch.

Another one I like, not because it's wildlife related but because it keeps the me from getting homesick when I'm away, is the Katahdin Cam. I saw that view every day in the winter when I was growing up and still feel a great sense of place when I look at it. (That reminds me, I need to climb Katahdin again one of these years; it's been too long.)

I've considered putting a webcam of some sort at Camp, but the logistics are a nightmare, so that idea will be at least a few years in the making. Until then, if you know of any other webcams we might enjoy, please leave me a comment.

The North Woods National Park?

2011-03-29T06:01:00.002-04:00

The potential creation of a North Woods National Park has been hotly debated up here in Northern Maine. Passionate arguments come from both sides: those who fear the subdivision and development of the largest tract of undeveloped land east of the Mississippi, and those who fear the loss of that land's traditional recreation and logging uses. The Bangor Daily has a small poll up, and 62% of the votes are currently in favor of the park. I'm curious what you guys think- drop me a vote at the poll to the right.

Yesterday's Bangor Daily had an article about Roxanne Quimby's plans to dedicate over 70,000 acres (twice the size of Maine's Acadia National Park) to the east of Baxter State park to the National Park Service and set aside another 30,000 (about 8,000 acres larger than our very own Deboullie Township) for traditional recreational uses.

I've been watching the whole debate with interest. All of the plans I've seen for a national park are well to the south of Deboullie (see below), but a plan on paper is just that. While a national park up in our neck of the woods could be great for Red River's business and could ensure that we never have to fear a Deboullie Wal-Mart, it would be devastating for the area if traditional recreational uses were disallowed or if a national park would invite too much use to the region. I've seen several people call for a national forest (instead of a national park) if anything. By all accounts, a national forest would be friendlier to hunting and logging.

Another piece to this puzzle that I haven't seen in the news much, however, is John Malone's plan to purchase over 900,000 acres in Maine. The deal was supposedly finalized on February 1st, but I can't find anything about it. The sale would make him the largest landowner in the United States and give him ownership of approximately 5% of the entire land mass of the state. That's a lot of land. Malone also owns land out west, and by all accounts, he likes to see it remain in historic uses. Around here, that's recreation and logging. If anyone knows of a map, I'd love to see it.

A few resources on both sides if you're interested in this topic:
The Maine Woods Coalition
Restore: The North Woods (which doesn't appear to be updated past 2008)
A Yankee Magazine article from January/February 2010 (Warning: it's pretty long)
A .pdf of today's Bangor Daily story about Roxanne Quimby's plan
A .pdf of January 30th's Portland Press Herald story about John Malone's plan

So much for "short posts between now and May"! There have been quite a few pieces of woods-related news this week; I'll try to get to them all over the next several days.

The Other RRC...

2011-03-28T05:58:00.000-04:00

Coincidence follows me wherever I go. Case in point- while cruising the internet the other day, I stumbled across the Portage campus of Red River College in Manitoba, Canada. Sounds like an upstanding place, although I'd like to note that "the other RRC" doesn't appear to offer courses in fly fishing, dodging the rat race, or enjoying great cooking. You'll have to come here for that.

Weekend Projects Round Up

2011-03-27T10:30:00.002-04:00

Sorry I've taken the past couple of days off. I'm not trying to neglect the blog; I've just been working to get a lot of balls rolling for this summer:

T-shirts. I have three designs finished (basically men's, women's, and kids'), and I think I've decided to go ahead and get them printed on AnvilSustainable shirts, which are 45% recycled plastic bottles (3 bottles per shirt, apparently) and 55% organic cotton. (Did you know that over 2 billion pounds of synthetic fertilizers and over 55 million pounds of pesticides are applied to cotton crops annually in the US? About half of those pesticides are known carcinogens.)

Denny remodel. We're just about down to the bathroom with the Denny remodel; it's going to be pretty swanky. There's a nice window in the back of the bathroom that was covered up by the shower for decades. This time around, we're going to build the shower right in as an architectural piece and incorporate the window. I've found the tile for the project, which I can get right in Presque Isle. I still need to order the glass for the door, as well as the other bathroom fixtures. (I'll also mention at this point that, if this project turns out well, I'm going to do the same thing on the Island because it has a similar bathroom with an underloved window.) I'm having a serious internal debate between a composting toilet and a conventional system; I may install one in the house first to see how it works before putting one in a cabin.

New kitchen fridge and solar power. As part of our Efficiency Maine grant, we're getting a new refrigerator for the kitchen. Right now, I'm trying to decide between spending the money on the most efficient fridge on the market and purchasing a cheaper fridge (that still has good efficiency) and extra solar panels to run it. It's just about time for us to order everything so we can get the system installed in May, so I'll just have to flip a coin.

Vegetable garden. The seeds for the garden came on Friday. I saved some of them off for the garden that we have at my office down here in Virginia, and the rest will get shipped up to Maine tomorrow so they can get started indoors. (Thanks, Mom!) I'm going to build raised beds from some of the leftover logs that are just taking up space in the back field. Just add dirt, and voila- fresh veggies this summer.

A few new recipes. In addition to two vinaigrette dressings and cranberry baked beans, I'm currently working on a ranch dressing recipe, making yogurt for the first time, and researching hand-crank pasta machines. I'm also looking at purchasing fair-trade coffee for the summer; it's quite a bit more expensive than Folgers or Maxwell House, but over the course of the summer, I think the total additional cost will be worth it.

New furniture. I'm currently looking at bunkbed plans; the current beds are serviceable but could definitely stand to be replaced in the near future. Good wooden bunkbeds run about $1000 each, so I'm going to have the guys make some this summer if they're up to it. (Like I said a few days ago, I give them some tall orders to fill, but they always rise to a challenge!) I also want to buy/build some new porch swings, maybe a picnic table or two, and some bat houses.

LifeFlight. I've been playing phone tag with the folks at LifeFlight of Maine to have Red River added to their list of "outpost" landing fields. It was excellent timing that an e-mail came out from the Maine Sporting Camp Association regarding the program so soon after my WFR certification.

Advertising. Look for our ads in the April issue of Our Maine Street (where we'll also have a feature story!) and the 2011 North Maine Woods brochure. I'm also working on updating our Google Maps listing and getting us on Superpages, Yellowpages, etc. (If you have a few minutes to stop by some of those, we'd love to have some customer reviews!) Look for new content on the Red River webpage soon, as well. (You'll see a few things on the page that are already updated.)

So that's a quick synopsis of few of the projects we're working on for this summer! April will probably be full of pretty short posts as I try to keep everything on track and keep up with my engineering job at the same time. I hope everyone out there is enjoying the last of winter; believe me when I say that fishing season will be here before we can blink. It's going to be great.

Hair Hackle??

2011-03-25T06:26:00.001-04:00

Here's another one to file under S for "Seriously?"

I just read an excerpt from the Angling Trade blog regarding a bizarre new trend- hair hackle. Apparently, the beauty industry has fallen in love with the long saddle hackle typically used by the fly tying community and is now marketing it as hair extensions. Take a look: Fine Featherheads

They're not just for women, though: Do Hair Extensions has feathers for men, and Puppy Locks has some for your best furry friend. (How exciting!)

Unfortunately, the beauty industry is so large that it could wipe out the entire hackle supply without a second thought. Angling Trade noted that the Home Shopping Network was looking to do a trial run of hair hackle and estimated that they could sell 15,000 saddles in a single weekend. In short, there's almost no way the supply can keep up with the trend. In fact, Angling trade is predicting that the trend will probably be over by summer not because society has gotten bored with it, but because there are just no saddles left.

I guess if you're going to San Francisco this spring, you should be sure to wear some hackle in your hair. (Because you never know when you might get a hankering for fresh-caught fish...)

Managing Maine's Declining Deer Herd

2011-03-24T06:43:00.001-04:00

Last Thursday (March 17), the state unveiled its Game Plan for Deer, a road map that will hopefully lead to the stabilization of the declining deer herd in northern, eastern and western Maine. The plan is broken up into five elements:

1. Wintering areas and winter severity;
2. Deer population management;
3. Predation;
4. Deer planning and public involvement; and
5. Information and outreach.

These five elements are intended to address the largest factors causing the decline: severe winters; few, low-quality deer wintering areas; predation; and human influences such as illegal hunting, improper winter feeding, vehicle collisions, etc. There's a lot of information packed into the document's 40 pages, from outlining each problem to describing what has been done thus far to what needs to be done in the future. For instance, I'll take a look at the first element: Deer Wintering Areas and Winter Severity.

Northern Maine has pretty severe winters, even now, which drastically affects deer populations. (The report notes that three of the most severe winters in the past 60 years occurred in 2001, 2008, and 2009.) Deer wintering areas, where the snow is shallower and conifers provide cover, are essential to the survival of the species and once covered 900,000 acres in northern, western, and eastern Maine. The Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife has been conducting surveys of deer wintering areas by both air and ground to determine their current extent. The Department also conducts "winter severity" surveys, which include snow depths, deer sinking depths, snow characteristics, and temperature.

The report lays out the state's strategies to manage the deer wintering areas, including a set of published management guidelines, zoning by the Land Use Regulation Commission (which, if you'll remember from a previous post, some lawmakers want to abolish), cooperative management agreements, State acquisition of important deer wintering areas, and management programs and workshops. A few of the specific proposals include:

1. Ensure adequate wintering area habitat by working with cooperating landowners to implement the Guidelines for Wildlife documents or other management agreements (50% of acreage by 201 and 100% by 2013), and by implementing the Guidelines on all lands owned by the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife and by the Bureau of Parks and Lands.
2. Conduct aerial surveys of all lands that have not been surveyed in the past three years where landowners have indicated a desire to cooperatively manage deer; coordinate efforts among private pilots to provide deer observations to the Department; coordinate the Warden Service to report known concentrations of wintering deer; and utilize GIS technology to assist in pulling the information together.
3. Purchase easements or titles to lands containing deer wintering areas as needed.
4. Determine which deer concentration areas are simply the result of winter feeding programs, and work with landowners to minimize feeding near roadways or other hazards.

(I'll have to apologize at this point because I haven't had time to write a synopsis of each element of the plan; until I get a chance to, I've provided links to the documents that you can peruse.)

The estimated cost to implement the plan appears to be about $660,000 per year. Definitely not cheap, but well worth it when you consider that deer hunting alone generated over $200 million in Maine in the late 1990s (page 4 of the Plan).

When it comes down to it, white-tailed deer are at the very northern end of their range up here in Northern Maine. Anything that upsets the balance is going to have a drastic effect on the population, and we have elements in at least four distinct sectors upsetting that balance. Even if the plan gets everything right, and even if every plan element is implemented tomorrow, it will take a good amount of time for the population to rebound.

A few other notable documents related to this topic:
The 2007 Resolution to Create an Effective Deer Habitat Enhancement and Coyote Control Program
The 2009 Resolution to Create a Deer Predation Working Group

Getting the Solar Project Started

2011-03-23T17:54:00.001-04:00

Looks like it's about time to really start focusing on the solar power system for Red River. We received the 48-page contract today, which we have to sign in triplicate and send back to the Efficiency Maine folks. After that, we'll receive the first grant installment, and we can get the project rolling!

Seems like I've said this a lot over the past two and a half years, but wow- this really is happening.

Maine Trail Finder

2011-03-22T06:37:00.001-04:00

Ready for spring and itching to get outside? A Red River vacation is still a couple of months away, but the Maine Trail Finder may be able to help you find some fresh air around your neck of the woods.

The site was launched last June as a collaboration among several state and community agencies and groups, and the team behind it is looking for new members to help add trails, trip reports, and comments to the statewide database. (For instance, they could really use some information on any trails between Mars Hill and Bangor.) Take a gander if you're hiking inclined, and help other hikers get out and enjoy our beautiful state!

Seeds Are on Their Way!

2011-03-21T06:16:00.000-04:00

I ordered my seeds from the Seed Savers Exchange over the weekend, and I have my raised bed garden all planned out. (I just need to find a source for good dirt.) If all goes well this summer, we'll dine on:

String beans (I received this variety from my CSA in Virginia the first year I was involved with the program- they were delicious.)

Broccoli (this kind just looks too neat not to try)

Carrots (which are apparently still orange on the inside)

Lemon cucumbers

Oakleaf lettuce

Amish snap peas

Sweet peppers

Fish peppers (I actually got these for a co-worker, but he said he'd share some with me)

and Trifele tomatoes (to supplement the seeds from the three or four tomatoes that survived last year).

I also picked up some lemon basil and garlic chives, and I'm hoping to plant some garlic in the fall. I'd like to find a source for asparagus so I can start growing a patch of that as well, but I may have already given myself enough of a challenge for this summer.

Bon appetit!

Renovating Gardner

2011-03-20T08:07:00.002-04:00

It's been a while since I posted on some of the renovations we undertook last year. Denny wasn't the only cabin to get a facelift, although it was certainly the most extensive project we did (the lodge notwithstanding). When we first started moving from the lodge to the cabins, I decided to start with Gardner because the floor was bowing quite a bit, and I figured it would be an easy fix to start off with. Boy, was I wrong.

The floor was bowing because there is a log joist running beneath the middle of the cabin. That joist stayed in place as the logs on either side of the cabin began to crumble from years of weather. We jacked up each side of the cabin, removed the bottom logs, and replaced them with a pressure-treated footer:

Once that was securely in place, we covered our handiwork with two of the logs that were left over from the new lodge.

When we got around to the front side of the cabin, we ran into more problems. The propane tank (which supplies the cabin's lights, fridge, stove, and hot water heater) sits in the corner between the bathroom and the bedroom, right under the valley of the roof. It's been there ever since I can remember, and all that time, it's been splashing rainwater from the roof onto the walls.

Bummer.

The majority of the logs that made up the bedroom wall had to come out because they were rotten through-and-through. Luckily, Gardner had seen multiple renovations over the years (it was an old blacksmith's shop and wood shop at two points during its life), and that wall had a stick-built interior with log facing on the outside.

In the second picture, you can see shingles to the left of the window. If I have my history straight, that was originally the door they used to bring lumber into the wood shop. It was boarded up when they turned the building into a cabin.

Luckily, Cary and Kendall are amazing at this sort of work, and the wall is as good as new. (I thought I had a picture of the finished product, but you'll just have to wait until I get back to take one this spring.) The other thing we finally did with Gardner was to give it a porch railing. I'm biased, but I think it looks much cozier now.

I assume everyone realizes that when I say "we" in this post, I had nothing to do with getting this done. I can't thank the guys enough for all the hard work they've been putting in for us over the past couple of years. I've given them some tall orders to fill, and they've filled them well.

Spring is Coming!

2011-03-18T07:25:00.000-04:00

It's hard to believe we're already halfway through March, but here's proof. The dogwood behind our house in Virginia will be in full bloom next week.

Before you know it, we'll be spring cleaning the lodge!

Another Stream Video

2011-03-17T06:28:00.001-04:00

A friend posted this video the other day; since I have both a personal and a professional connection to streams, rivers, and ecology, I wanted to pass it along. (As a side note, I've been to the Deschutes River in Oregon, whose picture flashes during the video's first 30 seconds, as part of a stream restoration class. The section I visited was still flowing.)

Water rights are a huge issue throughout the world; we're lucky in Northern Maine. Even through a very dry summer, all we at Red River had to worry about was waiting for the rain to catch back up with the rate of evaporation. Can you imagine not being able to fish some of the best trout waters in the West because the streams are completely dry?

Mild-Mannered Alter Ego

2011-03-16T18:40:00.003-04:00

I frequently get asked what my winter job entails. The long version is that I'm a civil engineer who focuses on wetland and stream restoration and sustainable stormwater. Even though I've mainly focused on stormwater for the past year, my short answer is always, "I build swamps and rivers." Just for fun, try telling someone that sometime and watch the range of emotions on their face: confusion, curiosity, disbelief, interest...

To get a quick idea of what I mean by building swamps and rivers, take a gander at this video of a gentleman kayaking down one of our restored streams in Reston, Virginia, last week. This is what we build.

This section of stream is only a few months old, so the plants haven't yet had a chance to come up. Even the mature trees down here are thinking about leafing out, but they haven't quite started yet. Hopefully he'll make another trip when summer is in full swing. For comparison, here are a couple of photos showing what we start with: steep, deep gullies, some of which don't even have water unless it's just rained.

In conjunction with Trout Unlimited, we're also hosting a fishing day for the local schoolkids later this spring in another restored Reston stream. It'll be fun and educational; northern Virginia isn't a place where kids get a lot of exposure to the outdoors, let alone rainbow trout.

Fresh Veggies This Summer

2011-03-15T06:15:00.001-04:00

I've been hoping to revive the Red River vegetable garden for the past couple of years. I think I'm going to start off small this year just to get things moving, and I'm planning to put in some raised beds to do it.

In 2007, I joined a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program in Virginia. We paid a set fee, and every week, we got a bag of vegetables from a local farmer. The goodies changed every week, and we got really good at finding recipes for things we'd never eaten before. Our CSA farmer also grew a lot of heirloom varieties, and I've been interested in them since. Think green and orange tomatoes, deep red carrots, and that sort of thing:

Now that I'm working on my own garden, I'm looking at planting heirlooms. It turns out that the internet has a lot of sources for heirloom vegetables and flowers! I've been looking at ordering seeds from the Seed Savers Exchange, which is where both of these photos came from. I'm hoping to plant tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and beans to start off with, but I have a feeling that this will be like shoe shopping for some people: I won't be able to keep myself from picking up that crazy fractal broccoli, as well.

Girly Stuff

2011-03-14T06:05:00.000-04:00

All the men out there will laugh at this post. I have no problem with that.

Last autumn, Mom and I went halfsies on an embroidery machine. It'll be useful for shirts, hats (once we get the basics figured out), and other items like that. While I was up in Maine this February, we found one more use for it because I think plain white pillowcases are boring. Really boring.

So we pulled out the embroidery machine and did a couple of tests. Here's what we came up with:

The text on this one is a little bit crooked and will get shifted slightly in the final version, but I think it's a vast improvement over nothing at all! Silly? Maybe. Girly? Definitely. I like it so much, I'm thinking of adding something to the sheets once we get the pillowcases finished.

Expect more little things like this in the future- I'm not one of those folks who's content to leave well enough alone.

WFR Day 7 - Updated

2011-03-12T06:06:00.004-05:00

Huh. Well, when they indicated that they had an interesting scenario planned, they weren't necessarily talking about the injuries and makeup! Yesterday's scenario had me in a bit of a love triangle with Joe, who had an unstable knee and severe peanut allergy, and his best friend Derrick, who got washed downstream in a flash flood and broke his pelvis while seven of us were out hiking. Unfortunately, my primary responder went straight to the root of my problem and completely bypassed the backstory, no matter how much I tried to get him back to it. (It's tough to direct the conversation when you're balled up, hyperventilating, and screaming in pain, but I tried!) Our group's other injuries included a lightning strike, a near drowning, and a snakebite/sprained ankle combo. No cool makeup for me, though, so no pictures- sorry!

It's hard to believe that today is our final day of WFR. I feel like I've been here for a year, and I mean that in the best way possible. It'll be strange not to go back to class on Sunday; I'm going to miss all of my new friends and the crazy shenanigans we get ourselves into. After this morning's written and practical exams, I'll find out if I can really call myself a "confident, competent WFR." I feel good about the written exam, but I'm worried that I'll just freeze up on the practical exam even though I'm pretty sure I know my stuff.

UPDATE: It's official- I am a confident, competent WFR! Joe and I both passed, which is awesome.

A million thanks to Daz and Jeff from Wilderness Medical Associates for putting on a great class for us and to Nancy for being our "WFR Mom." (She even ran out and bought me some nitrile gloves when I had a reaction to the vinyl gloves we started with.) This week has been amazing and exhausting. I have a million real life things to catch up on, but for now, I need a nap.

WFR Day 6

2011-03-11T06:02:00.000-05:00

Day 6 was a good day- a little more relaxing than some earlier this week. We started the day off with a discussion of the legal aspects of WFR, a lot of which have different implications for Red River than they do for an individual WFR (pronounced woofer).

We then had a scenario drill to introduce us to the differences between heat exhaustion, heat stroke, and hyponatremia (drinking too much, eating too little, and sweating all of the salts out of your body). In the afternoon, they threw a monkey wrench in the response scenario by putting the responder on one side of a "raging river" while the unconscious victim and the victim's friend (who knows nothing about First Aid or CPR) are on the other side. I got to be the victim of a lightning strike in that scenario, and our responder (who just happened to be my Mr. Obnoxious from Wednesday's simulation) had to figure out how to walk my friend through saving me. It didn't work so well, but it perfectly illustrated the difficult situations we may eventually find ourselves in.

We also talked a bit about cold injuries- frostbite, avalanche, and Raynaud's syndrome. My Raynaud's has been acting up all week, so Daz wants me to show it off today if I get the chance. I can't wait for this afternoon's simulation- I just get to sit back, do some acting, and end off the week with some fun. I'm betting they have a good scenario planned since this is our last big hurrah before the test tomorrow. I'll try to get a picture or two of our makeup jobs to post.

WFR Day 5 - Updated

2011-03-10T06:07:00.002-05:00

We did our second simulation yesday; I was a primary responder this time. My patient had an ankle injury he couldn't walk on and a small branch through his hand. Unfortunately, he was also this simulation's Mr. Obnoxious; his entire job consisted of hobbling away from me at every turn, trying to bandage himself with random stuff from my bag, and deafening me by yelling to his friends, other responders, and anyone within earshot (and some who were outside of earshot) to find out what was going on and if everyone else was alright. (Overall, the simulation involved a cookstove explosion, some hypothermia, toxic berries, and a few falls and impaled objects.) After a few minutes of being happily bandaged, he went into an acute asthma attack which quickly advanced to respiratory failure.

It was a high-stress day. One of the benefits of these simulations is that they do a pretty good job of getting your adrenaline levels going. Going through the simulation as a primary responder after half a week of high-intensity days is mentally and emotionally exhausting, and I think that's exactly the point. I hate to admit it, but I got in the car to go home after class last night and basically bawled like a child. (Thank goodness Joe was driving.) I just kept going over what I did wrong, what I should have done differently, and what I missed that might have triggered the asthma attack that ultimately led to us evacuating my previously-stable patient on a stretcher. Luckily for me, it was just a two-hour simulation, and now that I'm looking back on it, I actually ended up with the perfect patient for myself. I tend to be Way Too Nice, and dealing with an unruly patient who tried to take advantage of that was the best learning experience I could have asked for. At this point, I can only imagine how stressful a real-life first response situation will be like.

On the bright side, I get to be a patient for our final simulation on Friday. After the last two, I can't wait to see what they've got in store for us.

We also learned yesterday how to wrap hypothermia patients and to make improvised litters out of almost anything we have lying around: paddles and life jackets, climbing rope, tent poles, you name it. (And you guessed it- a couple of them included duct tape.)

UPDATE: I talked with Jeff before class began this morning, and I feel much better about yesterday's simulation. It turns out that my Mr. Obnoxious thought he had an internal bleed that they never actually gave him. Because of that, he showed symptoms of a problem for which there were no physical signs. (Turns out there was a little ad-libbing in there, too. *grin*) So even though I didn't do everything quite right, I ended up not doing too bad.

Halfway Through WFR!

2011-03-09T06:17:00.003-05:00

Holy cow- class is halfway over! Finished up WFR day four yesterday with our first big simulation. A scenario similar to ours was filmed in Northern Michigan if you want to get an idea of what we got to do. (Ours involved significantly less snow, though.) As story has it, a wind storm arose unexpectedly, toppling some trees and injuring six people. I played secondary responder to a patient who was trapped under a fallen tree; we backboarded the patient for a spinal column injury and began preparing for a hasty evacuation as he started showing signs of volume shock. Our patient was in the middle of the pack, injury-wise. The injuries ranged from a pretty simple asthma attack and stable wrist injury to a combination spinal cord injury and open leg fracture. When all of the patients were cleared by the magical WFR Wand (which Daz waves upon correct diagnosis and course of action by the primary rescuer), we ended the scenario by litter-carrying one of the patients safely back to the classroom.

In one of those moments where you're forced to put together a bunch of things that you know in the back of your mind but never experienced all at once, wilderness medicine is a fairly messy process! For instance, there are a lot more sticks, twigs, and rocks to deal with when backboarding a patient beneath a fallen tree than there are on the lawn or in the classroom. That's part of the reason these simulations are so great.

WFR Day 3

2011-03-08T06:17:00.003-05:00

So far this week, I've fallen off a horse named Thunderbolt, gone into respiratory distress from a mountain bike ride after catching a chest cold on a long plane flight, suffered from a kinked airway, and been found unconscious beneath a bench on campus. I've given CPR to a patient who was (unfortunately) recently deceased, helped an asthma patient, and assisted a wildland firefighter after heat exhaustion. I've learned how to backboard a patient, splint a limb, and clear a spine. I've assessed case studies of a climbing fall, a fall down a long snow slope, asthma while portaging, and burns from a cooking stove. And yesterday was only Day 3.

Today is our first quiz and our first major simulation. That's when the real makeup and fake blood come out, although they're not giving us any information about what the simulation will entail.

My classmates are a motley crew of folks- we have a 17 year old high school kid and a 55 year old gentleman. We have three women and fifteen men; a couple ex-military, several college students, and a Red Cross instructor. Since we're spending ten hours a day together, we're getting to know each other in that deep-but-still-superficial way; I don't know their favorite colors or the names of their family members, but I can tell you how most of my classmates respond to stressful situations. Who leads, who follows, and who doesn't know yet which they're better at. It's been really interesting watching everyone (even myself) change over the past two days. Most of us have gone from staring in wide-eyed wonder at the first fifteen acronyms they threw at us to using those acronyms with ease and staring in wide-eyed wonder at the next fifteen they threw at us. We're all becoming more comfortable with both the lingo and the concepts; I'll be interested to see us next Saturday afternoon. Will we be competent? Ready? We'll see.

WFR Day 2

2011-03-07T06:21:00.001-05:00

Yesterday started off with a guest CPR instructor. British gentleman; you may have seen his work before.

Day 2 of WFR was just as intense as Day 1, and I expect the trend to continue. The biggest distinction between WFR and a basic First Aid class is that WFR is training us to keep our heads and respond to unknown situations. Both days so far have included short simulations with unknown patients having unknown ailments. So far, we've simulated respiratory distress, trauma, shock due to dehydration, and even death. (Not only is this a responder class, it's also turning out to be an acting class- makeup and everything.) It's pretty neat how adding the element of the unknown really gets your adrenaline flowing, even without the addition of real blood, real patients, and real problems. It's pretty easy to see how that could have an exponential effect that complicates a real situation. (We'll get to start experiencing that tomorrow with our first big simulation.)

Today is the nervous system and musculoskeletal system, as well as how to get people out of the woods (splinting, moving, backboards, etc). I'm still hopeful that we'll have so much information in us by the end of class that I'll stop seeing everybody as a potential walking disaster. *grin*