Frost Pond Camps and Ripogenus Dam 2008 August Journal

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"What happened in these here parts of Maine"

Read about Maine, Cabins, Campsites, Hunting, Fishing, Relaxing, Vacationing, Moose, Deer, Bear, Partridge, and everything else in the Maine woods! If it happens in the north Maine woods, chances are I will be writing something about it at some point!

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August 2008

August 20th, 2008
   A clear and cool morning here at Frost Pond this morning. It looks like we are in for a warm stretch for the end of the week. I will look forward to a stretch of sun that is predicted for the upcoming week.
   On a trip to town yesterday I noticed that some of the trees have started to turn color. Yes, fall is on the way in, same as every year. The maples in the wet areas have started turning to their brilliant red that marks the upcoming fall.
   Of course school is about ready to start in many parts of the world and that usually indicates some of the hottest and best weather of the year! Perhaps school should run year round and then we would be assured warm and nice weather all summer!
   Ripogenus Lake is full, which is not the norm for this time of year. With the rain and lack of heat this summer, the water level has stayed up. I am sure the power company is happy about that as water equals money! Anyone boating on that impoundment will appreciate the fact that the rocks that are usually lying in wait to remove a propeller or lower unit of a boat are now well under water. This does not mean that rocks that are usually sticking well out of the water by this time of year are not now covered with water waiting to do damage! As usual, knowing the body of water and using good judgment is still the order of the day.
   Our guests have been seeing mink and otter here at the camps on a very regular basis this summer. They are feeding on crayfish as the piles and piles of debris containing the shells of the crayfish attest to. Even the trout are full of crayfish this year. It has become a food of choice for many of the wildlife around here. Even the loons are eating them.

August 10th, 2008
   Here it is August already! Where has the summer gone? It has been a bit soggy around here lately, but nowhere near as bad as some of the other areas in the northeast. We have had rain and showers, but not so much that everything is washing away. (Now that it is spoken, I probably should start building an ark or at the very least tie a canoe to the front steps)
   Some of our guests have been coming up to view the moose. I always tell them to check out the cove in the pond and give them some other good viewing areas that seem to produce a look at one of these beasts.
   This evening I went down to the campsites and was talking with one of the guests and they said that there was a cow and calf in the cove. Earlier this week I had folks that wanted to see one and faithfully paddled over to check several times and did not see any. (They did see moose in some of the other places) It just goes to show that the moose will be out on their schedule and not ours! The folks whom saw the moose today live in an area where they see them all the time anyway. (I need to go talk to the darn things and let them know that they should make an appearance on a more timely basis)
   The fish are still biting, here in the pond. (I am sure that they are biting in other places as well, but I am not there to check it out) Not biting as fast as earlier in the year, but never the less, better than one might expect. Jed went down to the dock last night for a minute and promptly caught a nice one for his Mom so she could have a fresh caught trout for lunch today. He is quite the fishermen, as I am sure I have mentioned before.
   Maureen and I went for a paddle on the pond this weekend and was watching the seagull trying to land on the young Mergansers. These are fish eating ducks and the only thing we could figure was that they were trying to scare the ducks into dropping their fish so the gull could get it.
   Maureen thought that it was very mean of the gull to steal food from the young ducks, but after all, they do earn the name of "sky rats" honestly. They vacuum the Green Drakes up like crazy when they are hatching. We are still have hatches of them even this late in the season. Not quite as large as the earlier hatch, but pretty significant just the same.
   The fish were rising on the pond this evening. I noticed them when I was going from one cabin to another. I was cleaning cabins, so fishing was not an option at that point. Now it is too dark to go out and try my luck. That is fine, I have a guy named Keith coming up next month and he manages to entice me to go out and try my luck on the pond. He will go out and fish the pond in the evening and I just cannot stand staying on shore while he is out there having so much fun!
   Jed's, "Me & Mom" annual canoe trip is coming up soon. Depending upon the weather they will do a few nights out canoe camping or just do some tenting. (Jed said that they could go down to the campsites for a few nights if all else failed)
   They have been doing this for a few years and I am not sure which one enjoys it more! Of course now that Jed can probably out paddle Mom, he may take the stern and give Mom a bit of a break!
   We had a couple of nights lately where we were able to go out and have a campfire. I try to have one on the nights when it is not raining and when we have folks in who wish to socialize around the fire. I did manage to create one the other night with soggy wood. It tended to create more smoke than flames, but I simply explained that it was that way on purpose to keep the flies away. I bet I moved 3 or 4 times trying to get out of the smoke. It seemed that no matter where I sat the smoke followed me around. (I could not breath, but at least I was not pestered by the flies that were not here anyway)
   The next evening I used some wood that was much dryer and the flames definitely were much easier to deal with. (Now the occasional hot coal jumping into my lap was another story)
   Last night Maureen and I were sitting out under the stars for a bit, just having a few minutes of down time. We saw 3 shooting stars in just the short time we were out there. The Milky Way was spread all across the sky and it was just a very nice evening. That is one of the reasons that we so enjoy the life up here. Those pleasant evenings sitting under the stars are something that we will have with us the rest of our lives.
   As guests were leaving yesterday, they said that they were heading back to civilization. I promptly explained that I was pretty sure that things were much more civilized up here in the woods than they were in the big towns and cities. So they changed it to the "real world". Again I explained that up here it is real, not much fancy stuff or too fast paced for the most part. They then said that they guessed that it was just reality, and that they had to go back to the other world.
   I see it all the time, people come up and have such a nice time and then have to leave. It sure must be hard to have to go back to the fast paced life, but they always take memories away with them to carry them through until the next time that they can come to a civilized place in the real world, like here at Frost Pond!
   Well there, I have managed to update folks on what is going on up here of late. I feel like I repeat myself each season, but you know what, the things that go on up here do repeat themselves, just like any other place. The difference is that so many of the repeating things up here are just so darn pleasant and nice. I would not have it any other way!
GT