We—Jim and TJ Nowak, Rick Cloutier, John Cimochowski, Charlie Bottieri, and me—met at the church mid-morning on Friday and loaded up the Bell Choir’s Tour Bus…also known as the Nowak’s mini-van. The back was packed, the center aisle was packed, under the seats was packed, and we fit six good size men into the van to head north. Leslie Sweetnam and Bob Kirk were going to fly up and meet us in Greenville, ME, but weather predictions for Sunday’s return held them up and they made a decision to not chance flying this year.
Almost eight hours later (we did stop for some lunch and bio-breaks along the way) we were making our way down the logging roads of the Katahdin Iron Works—the edge of the 100 Mile Wilderness. James Morris travelled up from Standish, ME the night before…to get a several day experience…and Dan Manz drove over from Underhill, VT while we were heading up from Connecticut.
Dan arrived ahead of us so he and James had settings ready for us at the dinner table.
 After dinner it was time to settle into our cabins and do some exploring before it got too late or too dark. We headed down the paths and walkways—designed to protect the ground and to keep above flooding—to the First Pond. Dan took a few minutes to show off his fly fishing expertise, and we all spent some time enjoying being in the great outdoors. |  |
Of course the evening wouldn’t be complete without retiring to our cabin and under the gas-lights letting the stories begin. This first evening we began with how James, Dan and Dana first met and a story known as “The Cheesecake Fiasco”. Storytelling moved from there to fast cars, jumping out of planes, chickens executed mob-style and the mutilation of sheep—all stories I never tire hearing and adding my part.
We did imbibe a little, which kept the stories flowing, but with hiking and fishing planned for the next day it was fairly early to bed for everyone.
As I have mentioned to you in the past, I am normally an early riser and with the sun coming up a little earlier further north it was easy for me to be up well before the group the next morning—around 5:30 am without an alarm clock. I headed up to the Lodge for a cup of coffee and then headed out to do some canoeing before breakfast.
It is always so quiet and calm on the pond early in the morning and the light is not too bad for taking some pictures.. It was enjoyable to paddle around the pond and the beaver dam and look for wildlife. It turned out that I was on the wrong side of the pond when a moose and her calf came down to eat…maybe next year.
You can see the view from the dock…
The view from my canoe…
Some of the water flowers…
And the view back to the dock…
A very enjoyable way to begin the day.
After everyone got up, we had a great pancake breakfast (did I mention that they feed us well at this camp), and got ready to head out for the day. Dan and John were going fly-fishing in the Pleasant River for the day while the rest of us headed out to hike the Gulf Hagas.
James drove separately to the trailhead and hiked a section of the Rim Trail on his own. The rest of us started out from the Camp and hiked our way down to the Head of the Gulf and then worked our way down the Rim Trail and looped back along the Pleasant River Tote Road Trail.
The Gulf Hagas is described as the Grand Canyon of the East Coast and it shows the effects of water flow through the granite and slate of Maine over a millennium of time.
We took a break along the way to have a bag lunch (also prepared by the Camp), before heading back.
As we made our way back we did come upon a few capital J’s scratched in the trail…James letting us know that he was ahead of us. Overall we hiked more than 8 miles and felt we’d earned our tired muscles.
We got back in time to shower and relax before letting LLPC feed us again.
After dinner Casey, one of the Naturalists and Guides, described the AMC development in the area and then Lindy, another Naturalist, showed us photos of the activities of the day. We then retired to the cabin for some more stories—lost children, frog catching, loose lips sinking ships—it could have happened to anyone! |  |
Part way through the evening it began to rain, which only made the sleeping that much better. I was still up early, but it was a little too wet to head out in a canoe or kayak…at least for me. It was very enjoyable to simply sit on the porch and watch the water rivulets work their way down into the camp.
Dan had been successful (at least in a relative way) the day before in catching four fish larger than an Altoids box (the quick guide to whether the catch was legal). The Camp staff cooked them up for breakfast and Dan demonstrated how to show that they overflowed the plate before we dug into them.
They were very tasty, and I admit that Dan does make me want to try fly-fishing…sometime.
With it being so wet we did little but pack up and prepare for the trip back to Connecticut. It was another long drive—thank you again Jim for driving both ways—but well worth it to spend some quality time with other men.
Let the Adventures Continue…anyone else want to join us next year? The invitation is open and we’d love to have you along.
