Back to the Basics - Outback in Maine, a/o 8/3/11

[bigbog]

Must have been nice to be able to find trail(s) for MTBing, one can get so many nice views. You've got the science on the driving, just have to really slow down and avoid the cut rocks and potholes. Tough to get a lot of moose/deer/bear pics in mid-summer as they come out in numbers as the sun sets...and as loggers have cut more in the last 20years...the animals are denning that much further away from the original main roads.....
Not of any importance, but fwiw..over on the western side of Moosehead...Wilson's Camps near Rockwood and the Pittston Farm...~20mi north of Rockwood and at very western tip of Seboomook Lake..are nice. Jen & Bob have gotten the Pittston Farm totally off the grid...solarpanels & all. http://www.pittstonfarm.com ...(Has a few webcam lenses...often fun to check out...deer or moose often walk right in for dinner) Easy way up there is up #201 to approaching Jackman, then east on #15(?) to Rockwood, then up ~20mi. In a wonderfully wild area that I love...of the state...cater to snowmobilers and plenty of snow up there..more than a few mountains to skin up & descend.

[billski]

Umm, we had moose all day and night. The dawn and dusk watch was simply not necessary here. Wandering within about 30 feet of us all day. It's the pond were the "moose safaris" come to watch moose (after fleecing them for $80!) It's kinda funny. After the safaris leave the moose come out!

[bigbog]

That was good Billski...*Also nice to totally escape the sounds of traffic, aside from that of a remote logging truck now & then.
Yeah... that can happen....they don't like crowds of people...

[billski]

That was good Billski...*Also nice to totally escape the sounds of traffic, aside from that of a remote logging truck now & then.
Yeah... that can happen....they don't like crowds of people...

Hey Bob,

AMC bought thousands of acres around there, they call it the "Roach Pond Tract". They bought land at KIW and also at Medusula. They bought and operate two camps (LL and Medu.) in these areas, with WBPC in the middle. They now offer camp to camp XC in the winter. Eric is psyched. No more logging. Managed forest use. There will be logging in select locations, but it's over for now in the White Cap region.

Bill

[bigbog]

The AMC's work/ambition is terrific...but the hut-thing is for developed lands(ie suburbs..imho)..winter-tenting/camping is what many true wilderness skiers do, not what the Latte crowd around Vail or Telluride do. There's a lot of beautiful terrain other than bumped-up or flattened out stuff done artificially.
Also, what has to be prevented is over-development...specifically camps...publically owned...as in the case of PA and most of the other NE states...development was allowed to overrun wilderness = wild animals lost or in conflict with development = the endless suburb...where animals always lose...ie have turned their states into sterile habitats for humans only.
Often....organizations, run by burb-dwellers of southern NewEngland, want to impose their way of living(public AND private retreats!) onto others(example = Mainers...or )...so they can create their version of wilderness.
Areas aren't wasted just because no one has "utilized their full potential"...ie by turning them into a Coney Island or Cannobe(sp?) Lake Park. ...Doesn't mean that they won't be...cuz the developers have the cash and they own their share of lawyers and most of governments.

[billski]

Hi Bob,

Not really sure I get your point. There has to be some middle ground here, just as we must share land with XC skiers, hunters, fishers, backpackers, ATV, speed boats and snow machines. Given the millions of acres of land in the north Maine Woods, this seems like an insignificant dent. In some ways, Baxter State Park is too. Shelters, marked trails, rangers, offices. I was reading an interesting piece on conservation in the wilderness last night.
If you look at north maine woods for example, the vast majority of forest has experienced at least one lumber harvest. Since 1971, there are hundreds, if not thousands of logging roads criss crossing in a serpentine fashion throughout the forests. There are no longer any "wilderness" areas remaining.

The current movement is to prevent the "development" of lands into little mini-preserves, with well-intentioned city dwellers attempting to preserve a small piece of paradise. For themselves.

Look at Greenville in the past ten years. Go north on Lily bay road - the number of developments sprouting up , so called estates is startling, if not to say frightening. Speaking of which, Plum Creek, is the scariest of them all.

So no, very few of us will ever experience wilderness in it's true fashion. Even still, to get the city folk out to experience at least a resemblance to wilderness is useful.

[bigbog]

Bill..I think you're right about what sounded like my previous edge against all private enterprising....of development here & there....
I think my beef is with government, both state and federal...letting environmental standards slip via political corruption towards big pockets...along with the same globally
pushing worldwide woodlands to their brink..in placees. I think some western skiers get the same feelings when faced with the opportunity to work/live here in the East vs the West, not just in the size of the mountains and quality of snow...it's the space between those mountains that is developed by Starbucks and PapaGinos(no firm brand hate), shopping centers...etc. Some are happy as a clam if there are 4 to 5 bumped up trails every season...and then there are some all-mountain skiers that would kill if their favorite mountains were to turn much enjoyed wild lands into Killington access roads(Good for Killington area!) along with gambling on every corner(NOT that I don't like gambling..just not everywhere)..and to flatten everything and clearcut in favor of bumping up the trails for the intermediate crowds from Dallas, Atlanta, and Miami...
$.01

[Abubob]

Sounds wonderfully rustic. Did they rent bikes or did you bring your own? And how could you NOT fish!? (Unless you're like me and you're the world's worst fly fisherman.)

Maybe you could tell us about your dining experiences - if any? The food was good, bad or indifferent? The waitress was surly, silly or charming? I'm only asking because your said life revolved around the meals so I'm just courious.

[billski]

Sounds wonderfully rustic. Did they rent bikes or did you bring your own? And how could you NOT fish!? (Unless you're like me and you're the world's worst fly fisherman.)

Maybe you could tell us about your dining experiences - if any? The food was good, bad or indifferent? The waitress was surly, silly or charming? I'm only asking because your said life revolved around the meals so I'm just courious.

I brought my bike. I figured I would use it just to get to the trailhead which was three miles away where the roads are too rough for my Civilian Unappreciated Vehicle (CUV). But once I discovered that logging has ceased in the area, I was all over the place. I wished I had real mt. bike tires. I had a "crossover". Lots of the gravel roads had sharp stones. I was sure there would be a tire blow out. Lucky me.

Frankly, I don't really care for fish. They would take your catch and cook it up for you if you wanted. So it never really had appeal, just as hunting doesn't. To each their own.

Dining. You have to remember, this is a camp. While they have a waitress, she might as well be your daughter. This is probably their first job. Definitely a bit shy about it, but a hard worker nonetheless. You basically have your own table for your stay. They have the table set, your favorite drink, etc. It looks more like a lodge, not a restaurant.

Everyone is treated more like family. You end up having the waitress hang around and talk with two or three tables about something like getting run over by a moose or where to find good berries or how to follow logging roads to get somewhere. Or not.

there are no menus. They have only one entree each night. But if you don't want it, they will make you something else. Tables remind you of home, with the plaid table clothes, but a nice wildflower in a vase, picked from the nearby field.

What really describes it is "comfort food". Not a place for vegetarians though. Steak, Cornish hen, ribs, Thanksgiving dinner, applesauce, corn on the cob, mashed potatos, pancakes, bacon, waffles, oatmeal, etc. Great lunchtime soups and bread. This is like home cooking. The only difference is that someone loads your plate and you can get seconds and thirds if you really want.

Breakfast at 730, lunch at 12 and Dinner at 6. Being the blabber I am, I went into the kitchen and chatted up a storm, learned a lot more local buzz.

I often went out for the day, so they made me a "box lunch" A couple of sandwiches, fruit, granola, pickles, a cookie or two.

What I mean by life revolved around food. Look at is this way. No refrigerator, No food storage, we wanted someone else to do the cooking. I brought snacks and ate almost none becuse they would stuff you.

Your cottage isn't much more than a bunk house with indoor bath and wood stove.
30 miles from town. I didn't start my car the whole time I was there.

I spent 99% of my waking hours outside, as did everyone else. 1% of my time taking a nap when my active life caught up with me.

Bring your own booze.

Did this help?
Bill

[billski]

p.s., There was nothing to rent. Canoe, flatboat are free. Not those usurious fees that other camps have. No tours but a LOT of back country knowledge - remote ponds with great fish, roads, trails, mountains and how to get up them. Forget guidebooks. No "activities."
I found myself plotting out the next day that night before the electric went out.

Bring your imagination and explorer's hat and attitude. It's not about staying inside all day. You could do that and read a book, but for me, I'd go crazy. To each their own.