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Have I got a couple of hikes to tell you about – one’s slightly ambitious, the other’s a 200-mile snowshoe adventure planned by North Woods Ways for a month beginning Jan. 15.
A light dusting of snow early last Saturday morning belied the day’s weather. It turned out to be another of those fall bonus days with temperatures approaching 50 degrees, clear skies and a crisp breeze out of the north.
It was a great day to take a hike or go for a paddle. That was the first major decision of the day – to paddle or hike, hike or paddle or paddle and hike. My fuzzy brain was not up for major decisions so early. Without the benefit of an up-to-the minute weather forecast, I opted for a hike.
Friends had called and they were heading to Petit Manan Point in Steuben to walk the shore, do some beachcombing and watch some ducks. I had about 40 minutes to grab a daypack and my hiking boots and meet them in Holden. I made it with a minute to spare!
Dave and Deb Morrill pulled up and a few minutes later our mutual friend, Karen Francoeur, joined. We threw packs into the Morrills’ car and headed east on Route 1A.
The turnoff to Petit Manan Point is west of Milbridge on the Pigeon Hill Road. Just shy of six miles from Route 1 after the road turns to dirt you’ll come to a parking area on the right. The shore trail trailhead is marked by an empty signboard on the left. The well-worn trail through an open field heads east toward the woods and Pigeon Hill Bay. Shortly after entering the woods you’ll come to a fork in the trail and a post with an arrow pointing to the right. If you take the left fork you’ll hit the shore quicker. The right fork takes you farther south before you hit the shore. It’s your choice: Both will get you to the water.
Once on the shore it’s around 3.5 miles to the southerly tip of Petit Manan Point. We started our trek about low tide so there were a few places we could walk on the sandy inter-tidal zone, but for the most part the walking is on ledge or small, rounded stones. In places the beach is steep and your feet tend to slip or roll as if you were walking on marbles. Sturdy boots are a plus. To my surprise, there is one beach on this stretch that is sandy, and another that approaches being sand. (Since we all paddle, we took mental notes that there are at least a couple of places you could land without tearing up the bottom of your kayak.)
In my haste to pack, I’d forgotten to grab my better binoculars. I had a small pair I use kayaking, but they’re not great for duck and bird watching. The Morrills are duck spotters extraordinaire. With their help, we checked out grebes (red necked and horned), longtails, American blacks, scoters (white-winged and surf), common eiders, common goldeneyes, loons, red-breasted mergansers and Canada geese, as well as the normal compliment of gulls and guillemots and a few other shorebirds -and one young porcupine I almost stepped on. We saw fresh deer prints on the shore in a few places, but not the animals that made them.
With the wind out of the north, any haze was out to sea. Visibility was unlimited, making Petit Manan Lighthouse stand out like it was right next door, even though we never got closer than two-plus miles away. To the east was the southern tip of Bois Bubert and about 9 miles distant Nash Island Light stood out. The towers at Cutler about 35 miles distant could be seen clearly on the horizon through binoculars.
As we approached the southern tip of Petit Manan Point the amount of debris on the shore increased until at the southerly tip I was amazed at the number of lobster traps (mostly wire) that had blown onto shore. There had to have been more than a hundred. In addition there was the normal complement of water and soda bottles, bleach bottles, lobster buoys, rubber gloves, pot warp, lobster crates and lumber of all dimensions. There was even a representative smattering of smashed wooden lobster traps.
Since we’d all participated in island cleanups with the Maine Island Trail Association, we had fun speculating how long it would take and how many volunteers would be needed to tackle this stretch of shoreline. Our conclusion? Many days and many volunteers!
After a leisurely lunch on a steep stony beach on the southern tip, we headed back. The incoming tide forced us to walk further up the beaches than we had on the way down. The late afternoon light lent pinks and grays to the sky and accented the rising moon. The breezes had died and the seas had calmed. It would have been a great time to be on the water.
Even though the return hike was along the same shore, the scenery was slightly different because of the incoming tide and because we took a few moments along the way to check out scenery we hadn’t pondered on the way in.
When we got most of the way back we picked up the other fork of the trail we had skipped on the way in, and hit the parking area at 4:30 p.m. It was dark and the temperature was dropping. I for one was ready to rest my feet.
Now, here’s the skinny on an outrageously different trek.
Garrett and Alexandra Conover, owners of North Woods Ways, a classic wilderness guiding service, are planning a 200-mile snowshoe and toboggan trek from Greenville to Allagash from Jan. 15 to Feb. 12, retracing the frozen water route they took 25 years ago on their honeymoon.
This time they hope to interest hundreds of school children in their trek to call attention to the wonders of the winter outdoors and traditional means of travel over water routes 10,000 or more years old. To make the trip relevant to school children, the Conovers will carry with them presents from Greenville pupils to give to Allagash kids. And with a high-tech twist, the Conovers will be posting their progress on a Website with the help of a satellite telephone.
They invite everyone to join them for the sendoff at Greenville on Jan. 15 as they begin Winterwalk for the Wilds 2005. In a recent mailing, they answer the “why” of this trip by saying: “In 1981 we spent our honeymoon traveling this identical route. Since then, remarkable changes have occurred in Maine’s north woods as ownership and use patterns have shifted. How many of us have really seen much of our own backyard, the North Woods? Do we know what’s really up there? What do the communities of Greenville and Allagash have in common? What’s it like to travel in the heart of winter using the time-honored traditional travel ways of Maine people?”
The snowshoe trekkers will start in Greenville, pulling most of what they’ll need for provisions and gear on toboggans measuring about a foot wide by 10-feet long. Their route will take them to Northwest carry to the West and North branches of the Penobscot River. They’ll cross a height of land and then hit the St. John River and make their way downstream to Allagash in daily, increments of 8-12 miles.
Alexandra told me the first trip sort of happened after they had been in Chesuncook Village just after they got married cutting firewood for a friend. When they returned home they realized they needed firewood as well. Rather than hang around and do it they opted to strap on their snowshoes, pack their camping gear and head for the north woods. They wound up in Allagash. The following year they did a reverse of the same route.
Toboggans are the way to go, Alexandra told me. Nearly anyone can load one up with their body weight in gear and pull it easily. That’s why the couple could, if they were so inclined, pack two months worth of food (much of it dried) and gear and head out. On this trip they’ll have a few places they can pick up food caches.
Their tent is usually a canvas wall tent and heat is provided by a lightweight wood stove that comes in handy drying clothing as well as cooking meals. This trip will see a new A-framed cotton tent tested. Water usually comes from the river beneath the ice. Outer clothing is Egyptian cloth that is breathable and wind resistant. They opt for cloth-topped, hide mukluks insulated with felt boot liners basically because they’re comfortable and warm. Their snowshoes are Maine-style bent-wood and gut woven fairly tightly.
For anyone who has strapped on snowshoes, the pleasure and freedom they provide is evident. The Conovers hope to spread that feeling of being king or queen of the winter world on to children who tend to seek indoor games or motorized toys as their winter distraction.
“We really want to make a difference and we hope to excite people with this trip,” Alexandra told me.
Anyone interested in keeping track of the upcoming trek can learn more at www.winterwalk2005.org or e-mail the Conovers at conover@winterwalk2005.org. Or you can write to them at Conover, RR2 Box 159A, Willimantic, Guilford 04443. If you’d like to help defray the $9,360 cost of this educational trip, you’re welcome to do so.
Jeff Strout can be reached at 990-8202 or by e-mail at jstrout@bangordailynews.net.
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