February 05

Feb 28th 2005

Gee, I have been out having a good time in the snow!  It has been awhile since I have taken the time to sit down and add to the journal.  We have had some of the nicest weather you can ask for up here.  The sun has been shining and the temps have been pleasant.  Maureen has broken out some of our snow shoe trails and says that the snow shoeing is great!  The nights have been so bright with moon light that you could see just fine without any flashlight.  Even during one of the light snowy evenings it was still very bright.  We spent a couple of days ice fishing on one of the local ponds and the fish were very cooperative.  Jed and his two friends, Luke and Ethan, were running for flags right steady the other day.  The boys ended up with their limit of 2 fish each.  One of the fish ended up in the pan for lunch right on the pond.  Along with the fish we had hotdogs cooked on shore.  Jed wanted to bring his fish home for supper and Maureen cooked it up that night.  The boys had a wonderful time exploring and fishing that day. (not to mention riding the snowmobiles)  The adults had a very relaxing day, even with tending the "young men's" needs.  Just imagine, here you are out on a pond filled with fish. (That are willing to bite your bait or jig)  You have Katahdin, covered in snow, shining in the sunlight, the bright white of the snow contrasting with the deep blue of the mountain.  It is protruding up from the dark green Spruce and Fir trees on the nearby ridge.  A crackling, popping fire on the shore to cook lunch on and warm the fingers of the youngsters.  Air so fresh and clean.  When we returned home to camp, which only takes a few minutes, the boys were brimming with happiness and joy.  Even after being out in the fresh air all day they are still ready to "play" outside in the snow.  Wrestling and climbing on snow banks, they just do not want to quit.  It is all worth it and humbles you when you tuck them in at night and they tell you, "Dad, I had the "bestus" day today, I love you".  Maureen tracked fisher, fox and coyote on her snow shoe trail breaking expedition.  The animals play all around here and she gets so much enjoyment out of tracking them. At one point during our ice fishing trip, Jed came back and told her, "Mom, you have to come see the tracks I found".  There is not much that gets by that young man, that is for sure.  Maureen does an owl survey and the other night we were out testing the tape that she uses to do the survey.  Jed and I took the tape player down the road and played the tape while she stood outside and listened to see if she could hear it.  Along with the tape, she heard the owls answering the tape.  This was one of those night when the moon and stars were shining and the air was a crisp temp,  good for the soul.  So now you know why I have not been at the computer keeping up with the journal.  Until next time, take care and have fun!
GT                                                                      

Feb 10th 2005

Well I finally made it out ice fishing!  It was during a light rain and I went with 3 of my friends.  We had a real good time, both fishing and visiting.  One of the guys was banned from the cook stove as the only way he knows how to cook a hot dog is to boil it till the water is all gone, then blacken it in an un-greased pan.  The guys who cooked on this day did an excellent job.  We also had some venison that was cooked to perfection!  The fish were coming pretty good.  We ended up with 8 Salmon for the days fishing. (Not counting the fish we returned) The only bad part was that we did not catch any Smelts or White Perch.  If I am going to eat fish, these are the two species that I desire.  As you can see, these were some nice fish.  It is snowing real hard outside right now.  I just came in from plowing and have to get out again at 3:30am tomorrow.  We needed the snow for sure, as the trails getting out on the lakes were getting pretty "bony" in places.  Conditions should be better after tomorrow as "NOAA" is calling for up to 18" in this area by the storms end.  When the sun comes out again I will try to get a nice picture of the fresh snow on the mountain.
GT
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                         Fish caught on (what was the name of that lake again)
Feb 6th 2005

This has had to have been the best weekend since last September.  The sun was bright, not much wind and it was warm.  The temperatures reached the low 40's during the day. The cat even pestered me to go outside today. (Now you know it had to be nice for that to happen)  People were out ice fishing and catching some nice fish.  Today I went for a snowmobile ride and talked with a few fisherman.  Many of the fisherman commented about how few times that one can ice fish in February with weather as nice as this.  At one spot on Chesuncook there were a couple of Bald Eagles.  They sure are a large bird.  When you see one standing on the ice they look as large as a child. These were both adult birds, as they both had the white head and dark brown body and the white tail.  The young birds are not colored the same.  Last year I took my son Jed ice fishing on one of the days like this.  He caught many Splake and we had a very fine day on the ice.  We cooked our lunch on the ice and had quite a hard time eating it as the flags just kept popping up.   We have another trip planned for an ice fishing trip in the coming weeks.  Saturday I flew for a couple of hours.  You would not believe how many moose tracks there are in the woods up here.  In many places it looked like someone had been pasturing a herd of cows.  (But ask some of the photographers how hard it is to actually find one to take a picture of! Right L.D.) The tracks show up in the snow very clearly on a bright sunny day.  Once in awhile I would notice an  area where there were not many, or any tracks.  I wondered why these areas did not have moose in them.  I suspect that these were areas that did not contain the food supply that the moose need to survive the winter.  The forecast is for some snow to arrive later in the week.  Who knows if it materialize or not.  If it does, I will be back on the job plowing.
 GT
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Feb 2nd 2005

What a wonderful stretch of weather we have had the past few days.  The temps have been up in the mid to high 20's and the lows at night have been just a little below 0.  After the cool weather we had, this feels like spring!  On one of my trips through the door today, I felt a large drop of water drop down my neck.  It sure has been some time since that has happened.  (at -20 water is much harder)  I am sure that there will be more cold weather this winter, but we are headed the other way now.  (we will certainly have at least 6 more weeks of winter as the ground-hog must have seen his shadow today)  It looks like the rest of the week is going to be just as nice as the first part.
GT

Feb 1st, 2005
What a day yesterday!  I went to town to get parts for the plow truck.  I left at 6:00am and was back home by 8:15.  It had warmed up to -16 by then.  I had a day of snowmobiling planned.  I was going to go with Mike (Our new Game Warden) (New to us, he has been a Warden for about 12 years) and we were going to check some of the trails, lakes and ponds.  As I have been in this area for a number of years, I was hoping to show him some of the trails to get around up here.  Now when it is as cold as it was yesterday, you have to dress for extreme conditions.  While snowmobiling you are not as active as when you are skiing or snowshoeing.  I was very warm all day long even though the wind chills while riding the sled were at times, -60.  To achieve this let me tell you how I dressed.  I wore 2 pairs of wool blend socks, long johns, a pair of heavy wind block pants, a pair of heavy wool pants, heavy flannel shirt, fleece jacket and a snowmobile suit that will keep you warm under normal circumstances without all of the other clothing.  I had a pair of felt lined boots, which are 2 sizes to large.  The oversized boots help keep your feet warm by allowing the blood to circulate in your feet.  Chances are if you have cold feet while outside, you need larger boots.  They are not all that comfortable to walk in, but if you are fishing or just going a short distance or sitting still they will help you to stay "toasty".  I had a neck warmer that I pulled up over my mouth and nose.  A full face helmet kept the head and ears warm.  A pair of medium mitts were all that was needed for the hands.  (The sled has electric hand warmers)  Mike was dressed in a similar fashion.  We both mentioned that it was hard to move about, but we would be warm.  Some of the scenery that we encountered during the day was beautiful.  The sun was shining and it was just one of those days that lift the spirit.  Winter is such a wonderful time of year.  Many people just dread it and stay inside for the duration, except for necessary trips outside.  Up here we look forward to the many things that you can do during the winter.  You will see scenery like pictured below, and the picture does not even begin to do it justice.  GT
 
                                    Katahdin from Rainbow Lake

                                                      
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