June 24th, 2023 is the race date for the 27th running of the soap box derby race in Houlton ME. Today, if you want to derby race in Maine, “Derby Hill” in Houlton ME is the one state site for gravity racing. Once upon a time, there were five local derby racing site locals in Maine. The Northern Maine soap box derby built a two lane racing hill.
I think the big reason Houlton ME survived the one by one closure of the other four local Maine soap box derby programs.
The Road To Race In Akron Ohio’s All America Downhill Event. First You Have To Win A Local.
The Soap Box Derby youth car racing program began back in 1933. World Championship finals are held each July at Derby Downs in Akron, Ohio.
Un-powered cars bit from a kit compete using only gravity for fuel. Kids between 7 to 20 years of age are eligible to race in the All American soap box derby program.
Getting a car sponsor or buying a derby car to assemble is part of the education.
Workers to set up a hill, tear it down after a derby race is one of the biggest cost in manpower and logistics. Someone needs to be on the top of the hill to load cars into the gates. To launch each heat from “Topside”.
Other individuals at the bottom of the race course to help pull cotter pins, rotate wheels, load cars on trailers to head back to the top of the hill.
To keep racers with their cars for quick pairing.
So the day is no longer than it has to be to determine your winners in each division.
So we can move on to have the big soap box derby party and lots to eat. While watching the awards presentation after all the fun winds up in this year’s local Maine soap box derby race.
Timing the lane heats to determine who advances up the soap box derby racing brackets.
Lots of jobs for volunteers to fill year after year. Weather is always an unknown but heck, we live in Maine. Get lots of different types of weather to work around all year long.
Our Houlton Maine derby racing program trains drivers and their support teams to expect blistering hot, pouring rain, maybe even snow and gusty wind conditions on the track.
If you live in Maine, if you want to sponsor a soap box derby car, visit this link for the costs involved buying a stock racer. For larger, older racers, this is the link for buying a super stock derby car.
All Colors, Styles Of Graphics Make Each Soap Box Derby Car Unique Like Their Drivers.
There is a master division to keep the interest of the oldest derby racers.
I helped one of my four kids who all soap box derby raced and can attest from experience. It takes way more than 30 hours to build a masters kit car. Here’s the link to the newest version to buy a soap box derby master kit car.
We Have A Green Light On Derby Hill! Heat 109, Drivers Ready..
There are lots of existing soap box derby cars around the state of Maine.
You see them for free and wearing layers of thick dust and rust from laying around the back or up over head a Maine garage.
Sometimes you see them in sell swap trade guides. A Maine stock or super stock soap box derby car will be mingled in among the list of for sale item bargains. Most seem to be free to a good home.
The only problem with old derby race cars is having to update floor boards, making sure the axles or other parts are not outdated.
There is time, expense, dedication and a lot of gravity aerodynamic science that goes into building or maintaining a soap box derby car.
Kids grow up and learn to drive real cars out into the big wild World. But they never forget what an allen wrench is for or an lock washer. How to adjust weights, tighten a steering cable or change a brake pad.
The derby race cars that impress me the most are not the ones where one sponsor or someone’s parent bought the kit out of pocket.
But rather the derby race cars passed down with many sponsors each contributing the money to buy them, splitting the cost of paint, updates, helmets, new brake pads, graphics, etc.
Rather than read read read, let’s watch a couple Maine soap box derby race program videos.
It’s all downhill, gravity racing where weight, alignment is your “engine” with the trick to get from top to bottom quicker than the other lane driver.
The Houlton Maine local derby race was the largest five years in a row. It takes 66 volunteers, around 200 derby race car drivers. Lots of car sponsors, program advertisers to pull off that kind of accomplishment! Kids are king and queen and the whole village raises the youngsters in rural small town Maine! That’s why year after year, Maine soap box derby has kept rolling in “The County”, in “Vacationland”.
Protecting water quality, the Maine wetlands wildlife regulating the use and construction in the shoreland area. Maine shoreland zoning regulations are the do’s and don’ts for the permitted use and new construction along the waterfront today. And Maine’s Shoreland Zoning Ordinance is a working document steadily being amended and improved to preserve and protect this precious natural resource.
Crystal Clean And Maine Shoreland Zoning Protected Waterfront Property.
Prior to 1971 when the Maine legislature passed the mandatory shoreland zoning act, there were no statewide standard rules for waterfront use and development.
This blog post about Maine shoreland zoning regulation of waterfront property.
Shoreland zoning in Maine established land use regulations for real estate properties within 250 feet of ponds, freshwater wetlands that are 10 acres or larger. Maine shoreland zoning rules cover development and use of rivers with watersheds 25 miles or more and land within 75 feet of specific streams.
Maine’s many small towns needed help in coming up with a set of rules to follow for new waterfront construction or use and expansion of existing structures.
Soil erosion control, heck a cutting operation many miles away can affect a Maine lake’s quality because of run off and contaminants dumped into from the watershed drainage.
Watch a Maine shoreland zoning regulations video for the do’s and don’ts around waterfront properties.
Maine shoreland zoning regulations are all about controlling erosion in drainage areas, coastal wetlands and tidal water to protect the natural resource.
Prior to 1971’s enactment of shoreland zoning regulations, a Maine lake property owner might not have thought much about a woodlot cutting operation many miles away. But environmental education, best practice workshops, media coverage and shoreland zoning regulation enforcement changed all that. It spelled out clearing your lot, what you had to keep, what could be pruned and opened up or not.
Shoreland zoning defined conforming or non conforming uses and limitations or presented an outright ban on what a property owner thought they could do on their property.
Maine Shoreland Zoning Waterfront Regulations< Check With DEP Before You Buy Existing Or Building. !
The shoreland zoning in Maine statutes increased awareness of what helps or hurts the waterfront environment. It provides constantly update rules each Maine community has to adopt.
The 450 townships, plantations and unorganized areas of Maine not just the handful of Maine cities all have waterfront development and use rules. Some stricter than the Maine shoreland zoning ordinance allows. So check with your local Maine code enforcement official empowered for the area of the big state of Maine you want to develop or are thinking of buying before you do.
Protecting Maine Precious Natural Resources. Maine Shoreland Zoning Does That.
Protecting the Maine environment through adoption of shoreland zoning rule and regulations.
So current land owners and future generations can appreciate the waterfront that makes Maine such an attractivr state and vacation destination for many.
Before the standardization for the state to follow or elect to beef up with something stricter for shoreland zoning waterfront land use, it was anything goes.
Maine lake loons, fish swimming in the water out front, wildlife around the waterfront has little protection. Development done the wrong way around the Maine waterfront shoreland zones threatened their natural habitat.
You Hear Them, Admire Them And Shoreland Zoning In Maine Protects Them. Maine Lake Loons, Other Wildlife, Fish!
Prior to 1971, creating a land bridge to an island, putting out a gravel pier or altering the shoreland by removing rocks or adding a load or two of sand or gravel.
Anything goes with no boundaries set backs to follow for where you could build. No concern on how many trees you can clear and in what period. Missing enforceable regulations lon size and density limits. Or number of structures you can build what size and where had no regulation.
It was take a bulldozer out into the water to move rocks more to your liking. Bring in a dump truck load of sand or gravel to have it your way along the Maine shoreline. Throw in a 55 gallon drum for a septic system. That no one needed to use disclosing tablets down the toilet or camp kitchen sink. To see what is leaching into the water out front of your crudely built cabin or camp with no water resource protection supervision
Forget what Mother Nature provided and rework the shoreland landscape as you see fit for your own personal enjoyment consideration only.
Maine shoreland zoning standardized regulations were much needed in Maine. To set up procedures, what to do in this case, that one. Plus the penalties for enforcement teeth if you were a renegade. Causing havoc and harm for neighbors, wildlife, fish, loons and anything around or in the Maine waterfront.
Maine’s Waterfront Shoreland Zone Is The Protected 250′ Buffer Strip Of Land Surrounding, Bordering The Wetlands.
Human nature kicks in and removing lots or all of trees to improve the view or ripping out protective shoreline vegetation. That’s not what protects the waterfront natural resources Maine is fortunate to possess.
The septic system to handle sewerage loads of laundry or a swinging door of too many guests next to the delicate Maine shoreland waterfront was up to the property owner. Along with Maine shoreland zoning regulation, much was done to tighten up the state’s plumbing code to protect and preserve the waterfront.
Leachfield designs to handle seasonal or more demanding year round Maine shoreland loads kept the wastewater on shore instead of dumping it into the fragile waterfront.
Maine Waterfront Rules & Regulations. 450 Maine Small Town Communities, The Handful Of Cities All Adopted Shoreland Zoning Regulations To Go By.
How Many Trees Can You Clear, Which Ones And Where Are Untouchable? Study Maine Shoreland Zoning Regulations.
Maine shoreland zoning helps waterfront property owners know how to protect against erosion while affording scenery and preserving recreation.
Protecting resale value of the Maine waterfront real estate should not be the driving force to do your part to protect the natural resource you are lucky to border. Although the Maine REALTOR’s Shoreland Handbook is a valuble resource.
Being a good steward, passing on the waterfront property to the next person in as good or hopefully better shape than you received it. That is what Maine shoreland zoning is all about… resource protection. Before expanding an existing waterfront property structure, check with the local shoreland zoning officer in your area of Maine.
What Can You Do Around A Maine Waterfront Property?
Don’t just start building. And a seasonal camp needs to go through some inspections and certification to show you are allowed the conversion to a year round residence.
Ever heard of milroil in a Maine lake, pond, watershed?
This is what it looks like and you don’t want it in your waterfront resource. It messes with oxygen levels for the fish, affects the water temperature and enjoyment with the invasive vegetation of a milfoil family plant.
Milfoil Free Lakes In Maine, Go Further North, East, West. Away From Development And Population Centers To Avoid Already Infested ME Waterbodies.
I hope this blog post, video and photos on Maine shoreline zoning is helpful. Please reach out if you have any waterfront development questions about existing or new construction projects you are considering. Here is another excellent state of Maine soil and water erosion protection publication to glean.
Stay tuned for more on Maine shoreland zoning developments and best practices.
For many years I was president of a Northern Maine lake association in Aroostook County. All the camp waterfront owners learned much from the workshops on what causes the harm. We were lucky to get funds to study the entire shoreland of Drews Lake and where to identify problems needing solutions.
Protecting Maine’s Waterfront Shoreline Takes All Of Us. Get Involved! Be A Good Steward To Help Our Natural Resource.
Money from soil and water conservation awards help our lake association from successful grant writing to protect the Maine shoreland.
To address non source point pollution, constructing riparian buffers, how to slow water from racing down a hill, what to do to battle milfoil, etc. It’s our Maine waterfront to protect and if we don’t, it’s gone and wasted. You stuck around to the very end of the blog post. Thank you! See you next time on ME In Maine blog and thank you for being a loyal follower.
Trip Downeast Maine to list saltwater property on the coast.
Maine is one big state and a very popular destination in Vacationland is any coastal region. But when you say you are going up to the Maine coast, where exactly you are referring is not so obvious. Oh sure, this Maine blog post website has one by one exposed different nooks and crannies of the popular coastal tourist haunts. But the further up into Maine you go, the more personal and special the take away experience becomes.
We all seek out our own comfortable corner of Maine.
Maine Island Jewels, Add That Ocean Frontage To The Coastline And Maine Has More Than California!
This blog post highlights a trip down to Washington County, the Bold Coast section of Downeast Maine.
If you follow our blog about Maine, you may remember one post about where exactly is Downeast Maine?
Maine has 228 miles of coastline at first glance.
But wait a minute, when you include all the islands dotting that coast and wind in and out of all those inlets and outlets, get out the pencil eraser. Check your math!
Do some more ciphering. Put some white out on that last figure and insert a much higher number.
Vacationland boasts 3,478 miles of Maine coastline. Topping California’s 3,427.
Let all those islands into the add it up tally time and whoa. More than 5,000 miles of rock bound Maine coastline. You would think that means lots of saltwater coastal properties for sale in Maine. Nope.
This week, loaded up the Jeep with 24 gauge metal real estate signs, had a property listing assignment to GPS along the Maine coast.
The Bold Coast… a little further up in the tippy top of all that water then gets much of the press ink.
Zone A in purple on the maritime map with all the Maine lobster trap markers below.
The Coastal Fishing Zones That Slice & Dice Maine’s Craggy, Rock Bound Coastline.
The address 109 Little Machias RD, Cutler ME. The original owner bought the 2.6 acres of land with 235′ on Little Machias Bay in Washington County. Hired Katahdin Forest Products (Now renamed Katahdin Cedar Log Homes) to build a cedar log vacation home on the Maine coast. We are selling this Maine coastal property for the nephew who is moving in a new location further from great state of Maine.
Maine Oceanfront Log Home For Sale That’s Affordable!
Just a simple cathedral ceiling getaway hidden from view, with a long driveway and an open porch to use sitting and thinking. The owner a Vietnam vet that needed space, salt air and the sounds of the Maine seacoast. He built a Katahdin log home to enjoy the Maine coastal setting.
With a lot of properties, if you are lucky you can say you see the Maine ocean in a limited location on it.
Or brag to your friends that you are close to the Maine coast. But not so many Maine coastal property listings actually border the coastline. This one does and is front row, best seats in the Downeast inventory of coastal real estate. Sadly, not enough saltwater property or waterfront listings for that matter in this crazy busy Maine real estate market.
Front Row, First Class Seating On The Maine Coast. Log Vacation Home Borders Little Machias Bay Downeast Maine.
Everyone wants to own a piece of ME.
Waterfront is top on the list for today’s real estate buyer’s wish list. Especially if you are connected to high speed Internet service to stay in touch and telecommute to work remotely online. Check out this Maine coastal property just listed for sale video.
When you head to the Maine coast, it is not a simple set the cruise control and count the Interstate 95 mile markers. Then take your exit, honey your home. No no, with Maine coastal travel, there are windy roads. Twisting up and down and side to side like a snake. You pay attention. Easy to take a wrong turn. Get turned around and lose your bearings.
You see piles of lobster traps racked and stacked. Blueberry barrens, more rock outcroppings, different terrains and ocean views. Lobster boats parked on stands in yard or moored in Maine coastal harbor settings. Everything revolves around coastal life on the Maine coast.
Sunset, Dusk. The Clam Flats, The Maine Coast In Downeast ME!
Heard a fire engine while wrapping up the media collection and learned from a local the next day it was a blueberry barrens controlled fire that got out of hand.
In small areas of Maine, and most areas are rural, there is a strong connection. Not much happens that isn’t passed around quickly on the local news grapevine.
Cutler Maine named after Joseph Cutler from Newburyport MA.
Back in a time that Maine was not even a state yet and part of the Bay Colony. Before Red Sox nation spread to what now is Maine. Cutler has a little over 500 friendly souls that populate this neat sheltered area of Downeast Maine. Whats to do for fun?
Check out lighthouses like West Quoddy up in Lubec Maine.
West Quoddy Head Lighthouses, A Painted Lady That Stands Out From Maine’s 60+ Lighthouses.
Attend the yearly Pirate Invasion in Eastport Maine. Or paddle a sea kayak out to the front of Little River Island in mouth of Cutler Harbor to see another local lighthouse with the same name.
If you know someone after a Maine saltwater property listing, here is one priced to sell.
Needs a little work, but parked on the Maine coastline. Not near it, on it. Rent it out for profit when not using. The same folks rent this little rustic home away from home each year. Same spot on the calendar like clockwork. Save a few weeks and special holiday times for yourself though otherwise you miss all the Maine coastal salt air and seashore fun.
See those towers across Little Machias Bay?
What Do They Use Those Radio Towers For? Tracking And Talking To Submarines Around The World!
Those are for maintaining communications and listening in on submarine radio transmissions in Cutler Maine.
Low frequency radio broadcasts are the purpose of those Cutler Maine coastal towers.
This installment mixing business with pleasure. A quick trip to the coast to collect images, shoot some video, to go skyward with the real estate drone.
Thank you for following our Me In Maine blog post series.
How long do you have to talk about the long list of reasons for a Maine relocation? The fresh air, clean water, wide open space, low cost real estate and more elbow room is a big part of it. Being able to have peace and quiet and live in unspoiled, under populated surroundings smack dab surrounding by Nature is huge.
This blog post is more show them, rather than tell them about Maine.
If you’ve sampled a few Me In Maine blog posts, you know the focus is anything about Vacationland. Maine, just Maine all four seasons, every corner of the state is fair game for another blog post. Before some Maine images that say way more than a wall of words can, remember it’s not just what the state offers. More than the warmth of the small town rural Maine hospitality.
What people are leaving is pushing hard just as much as these images, community videos and blog posts is driving the big move to Maine.
So folks are ready, this move to Maine is not a spur of the moment idea that pops into one’s head. The relocation, the growing ready to go builds and festers inside a person thanks to earlier Maine vacation trips. These folks know there is somewhere better, more enjoyable than a sea of unknown faces. The crowd have been looking for a place to head and leave where they now live in their rear view mirror. The carrot is simple living in Maine. And all that approach to day to day living provides a person who is way more involved in small Maine town living. And ends up gleaning way more because of it.
So let’s start out with a few community videos of living in Maine that highlight why I love where I call home.
Let’s weave in some Maine photos.
Hard Work Raking Maine Blueberries On The Barrens.By Yourself Fishing A Maine Lake At Dusk. Welcome To Maine.Never Get Tired Of Maine Lighthouses. There Are Over 60 Of Them!Maine Only Has A Handful Of Cities. Over 400 Small Rural Towns Like Portland’s Old Port Above.Maine’s Mt Katahdin Is Almost A Mile High. Surrounded Like A Ring’s Center Stone By Lots Of Other Less Publicized Hill Top Trails To Hike And Explore.Maine Farm Pasture Field Of Red, White Clover And Wild Flowers.Which Boat Is Yours Parked On The Maine Harbor Coastal Harbor Town Public Wharf?
Why people move to Maine.
Lots of what we have, plenty of what we don’t that folks are running away from that city living dishes out around the clock. Hope heavy on the images, the community flavor videos do all the heavy living sending out the reasons people want to live here in Maine.
Thank you for following our Me In Maine blog posts. Lots of images of Maine sprinkled and seasoned through all the previous blog posts and future ones to give you idea of what’s it like here.
It takes many hardworking volunteers doing everything behind the scenes. Keeping the ITS trails groomed, twitching new ones is only part of it. Putting up signage, building bridges, feeding hungry trail riders. Raising funds to maintain or buy a new snowmobile trail groomer.
Cuffing Right Along Grooming, Smoothing, Carving Up ITS Snow Sled Trails.
Snowmobile clubs do their part to dovetail with local Maine winter community celebrations too.
They are welcome wagon ambassadors to the out of town or state sled trail riders. Sharing the natural beauty of Maine by suggesting memorable trail rides to not forget to experience.
The biggest issue for Maine snowmobile clubs can be Mother Nature and Jack Frost.
Like farming, depending on the weather is always a gamble. Feast or famine.
Maine ski areas put a lot of time into setting up the snow making nozzles on the slopes. Only to see above freezing, too warm temperatures mixed with rain, wind and fog arrive to wash it away. The same happens to well groomed snow trails when the red rises too high in the glass tube outside the kitchen window.
The price of gas was more of an issue when two cycle, mix the oil with the gas higher fuel consuming snowmobiles played on the ITS trails. The four cycle machines are more costly to buy, but easier on the wallet to feed the octane.
Not so much anxiety worried about topping off the tank as you prepare to head off into the “Great North Woods” where gas stations are missing.
By Yourself On The Newly Groomed ITS Snow Sled Trails. Nothing Like It.
This blog post looks at the dynamics of a small rural Maine snowmobile club. How they start, what needs to happen for them to survive.
Maine land owners to allow snow sledders access to their property is key. That is the first step to setting up a Maine snowmobile club.
Back in the early 1960’s when there were 50 flavors of snowmobile makers, you made your own trails. You broke down a lot.
You tinkered for two hours to ride for one because snow sleds were not so dependable for long distance trail riding.
And if you are cold, you are not dressed right today or then. The getting stuck and digging out, tugging up front on skis and tramping down around the snow machine work out keeps you warm as toast. You learn to stay on the trail. It saves getting a hernia digging out and also pleases your land owner that lets you use their land. IF you stay on the marked sled trail.
In the early days of snow sledding, it was stay pretty close to home and on hard pack surfaces when you headed out snowmobiling.
I remember those early Johnson Skeehorse days when you thought twice about heading out across a deep, bottomless snowy farm field.
I heard stories about old hardcore Maine snowmobilers taking annual sled trips up into Quebec, Labrador.
Hearing the stories about breakdowns, incredible scenery and how they planned for the out of the country snowmobile trip. What they plan to do next year the same or differently. Like many things, ideas start with seeing how they do it in other areas of the country. Lots of ideas learned from other Canadian snowmobile club trips. Those visits lead to let’s try to apply what we saw on the trail to our Maine snow sled club and backyard trail system.
When you snowmobile up in Maine’s St John River Valley, you enjoy twin lanes like the Interstate is divided.
Safer, more work for the groomer but just a different approach to laying out the trail system that goes in wide circles around the clubhouse.
So besides a network of Maine landowners willing to share their property with snowmobilers, a clubhouse for a home is needed.
A local Ward log home maker donated a building the Meduxnekeag Ramblers in Littleton Maine use for their clubhouse. Many of the local snow sled clubhouses are made of logs because Maine is 91 percent wooded.
Maine has lots of log home and cabin makers willing to lend a helping hand to local snowmobile clubs.
Once the log home kit is secured, other local vendors will step up and help out with manpower and materials.
Here’s a video showing a typical Maine snowmobile club breakfast.
The snowmobile clubhouse also is used for weddings, parties, executive retreats.
The rental income helps keep the snowmobile club out of the red and keeps membership engaged beyond just the winter trail riding sled season.Reimbursement from the state of Maine for trail grooming expenses is key. It is a partnership of state and local snowmobile club to document expenses for reimbursement. Money from snowmobile registrations, local fund raising keep the trail system healthy. The local businesses that directly benefit from winter snow sledders step up and give back heavily too. The Maine Snowmobile Association helps guide the local sled clubs too.
Local motels, sporting camps have groomed sled trails right up to their doorstep.
These local snowmobile clubs deliver the sledding tourist right to their business operations. Gas stations, local snow sled retailers benefit from the network of trails Maine snowmobile clubs keep polished. These are new dollars plowed back into the local economy that turn over six to seven times which benefits Maine taxpayers. Celebrations like Moosestompers help the locals shake cabin fever around the first of every February up in Aroostook County Maine.
The Maine snowmobile trail maps are sponsored by businesses too.
You can quickly cover a lot of trails on say ITS 83 that uses old railroad beds. These winter snow sledding highways come complete with bridges to span waterways. They complement nicely the local landowner side trails and large wooded tracts opened up by loggers who are also “sled heads”.
I have had Maine real estate buyers surprised I would allow a snowmobile trail across my family farm.
Have A Snow Sled Groomed Trail Across My Maine Farm Property.
It is explained that landowners that add their acreage to the local snowmobile trail map are a valuable partner. Snowmobilers are reminded to respect the Maine landowner. That use of their private property is a privilege not a right.
Local snow sledders who love the winter sport are the glue that hold together the Maine snowmobile clubs.
Making Sled Trails, Carving New Snow Into Winter Highways.
Lucky to have had two uncles that were Maine snowmobile dealers.
Uncle Carl Hagan sold Sno-Jets and my uncle Cedric Benn peddled Polaris sleds and parts. As a kid, I learned a lot working on a 1966 Sno-Jet and before that an even older Johnson Skeehorse snow machine. Then Polaris machines after that with a couple Yamaha’s thrown in to the snow sled mix.
Ice Fishing Easier Thanks To Snowmobiles.
Growing up, I was also lucky to have neighborhood snowmobile enthusiasts who kept the area kid’s sled running like a top.
A local mechanic for the B & A railroad, Ronnie Brewer helped the neighborhood kids keep the machines running. He was like a shop teacher helping us figure out what’s wrong and
how to fix it. Friday night with all the kids lucky enough to have an early snow sled to use had it made. When the Sno-Jet metal gas tank rusted up, I decided to add a red side gas tank bungeed into place. The portable gas tank idea from Arctic Cat. It interfered with sitting down but no kid I knew in those early days ever sledded that way.
Early snow sledding was not sitting down and steering was narrow skis stance anyway.
To stay on the trail that you mostly made yourself, it was easy does it squeezing between tight spacing through the woods. You were on one knee. Or leaning, standing up and throwing the sled where you wanted it to go heading into curves. Before carbide ski runners and wider spacing up front, the snow sled steering involved way way more than just pushing and pulling your handlebar movements.
Bridges To Keep The Snow Sled Trail Connected. Clubs Work Hard To Build Them And To Mark The Trails, Put Up Signage.
Just like hockey games, you can not sit down and fully experience them.
It is on your feet every period and into overtime to experience it all. Early snow sledding was like that too. On your feet or on your knees ladies and gentlemen. You did not sit down on the job of maneuvering the snowmobile to negotiate turns, to avoid hitting trees. No one wanted bent straight up snow skis or a dent in their cowling. You did not have wide and handsome trails and it took more work leaning into corners. If you had a passenger on back, you told them to follow your move and lean too. Otherwise, the both of you would be out in the pucker brush and holding up the rest of the sled head trail gang.
Set Up, Getting Ready For A Snow Sled Club Breakfast. Trail Riding Builds Large Hunger Out In All That Fresh Maine Air.
We went to grass snow sled racers, over to Canada to watch the snowmobile circuit competitions at New Brunswick province community parks.
My Aunt Ruth’s partner was a big kid himself. Freeman Taylor kept our snowmobiles going and let us use a souped up 1964 Ski Doo and his 1973 Skiroule.
The former snowmobile was a bored out 10 horsepower cranking out 22 ponies with poor brakes and missing safety guards.
The old Ski Doo with a noisy straight pipe, a sprinkle of that red fluid labeled “fuel activator” sprinkled in the gas tank. Too narrow and loose as a goose to handle at higher trail speeds than the sled was original designed to be going. The Skiroule was modern and ran very well with its 25 horsepower engine. I think their RTX model was way ahead of its time like the Kawasaki snow machines and other notable snowmobile models.
New Snow Means Improved Sled Trails And $$$ In The Main Small Town Local Winter Economy.
Freeman also had an 80 horsepower Skiroule with three carbs, a rope wind up hand crank and ear splitting tuned exhaust pipes.
It was fun watching Freeman race on grass or the circuit parks. But he had a heck of time keeping drive belts from fraying and failing before the end of the race.
Often many laps ahead of the field and often coming in a lower place pushing the dead sled over the finish line.
Too much power from the 793 cc Hirth power plant delivered to the clutching and drive track channel the problem.
Easier To Access Ice Traps Using Snow Sleds These Days.
When there is a snow drought, clubs still have the Christmas parties, mark the trails, keep the social element going.
“I Think We Take This Connector. How’s Your Sled For Gas Bob? Better Top Off.”
Maine is like that, feast or famine and we all adjust making the most of what we have. We are always grateful for what we have that is always enough. Take what you need, pass along the rest to someone that has less. Is it like that where you live now?
The sights you can see on a snowmobile out in nature in the middle of a Maine winter back drop are pretty moving.
Wildlife, snow covered mountains and trees surround you. Waterfalls, rivers, frozen lakes. Signs that someone was on the trail before you to break the way and make it easier sledding.
Bring your camera to capture those Kodak moments on and off the snowmobile ITS trail.
Through the woods, out over an open farm field, crossing a lake if conditions are safe. Tread lightly. Carry in and out. Stay on the marked snow sled trail. The experience is one of a kind and you can get places easily that are not accessible by car.
Maine is not just summer vacations and that’s all she wrote.
Get the whole nine yards, spend time in Maine all four seasons to experience Vacationland to the fullest. We local natives do and feel so fortunate to live in Maine full time, all year round.
l hope you get to see Maine from atop a snowmobile seat this winter.
Recreation camps in Maine, one property owner’s story shared today on a blog post.
The attraction for many to get to Maine is less people, more wildlife, wall to wall nature all around you. It can all start with just owning an acre or two, a small piece of ME. Often the old travel trailer sinking up to it’s axles from lack of use in the backyard is tapped. Spruced up to make it road worthy for the last trip up to Maine. To go off road forever.
Meet The Locals! Camping In Your Recreation Camps Up In Maine.
Before graduating to the recreation camp in Maine, the camper or RV used as a command base in operation ME low cost vacation.
Creating a spot to head and camp out every three day weekend, any much needed vacation week long stretch. Slowly a cabin is hauled in already built or one is crafted a stick, log or beam at a time. Nothing fancy because the living room is going to be outdoors. Hitting the trails and exploring or getting out onto a body of water to rest and relax. You do your best thinking and find the greatest enjoyment when you can hear yourself think.
Baxter State Park… The Wilder Side Not So Touristy Appears The Deeper You Explore.
Below radar and off grid and hidden in the woods or parked next to a stream, river, pond or lake is the perfect setting for a low cost Maine vacation.
This blog post is a story about how much one couple from below Bangor Maine enjoyed their recreation camp in the Mt Chase, ME. Owned for 44 years and built from scratch. Nothing fancy and simple. To serve as a jumping staging area place to hit several times a year. A post to hit the many remote waterways around the north entrance to Baxter State Park. Listen to their Maine recreation story. As they explain how much fun they had and what was enjoyed most “uptah camp in Maine.
They miss the place up in the tippy top of Penobscot County but realize it is time to let go.
No regrets and so many memories made up at the recreational camp in Maine. Used to part of the Brown Farm in the Patten area, but the 44 acres of Maine land turned into a woodlot, a camp location. They could have had power, it was running up and down the Shin Pond Road, or RT 159. But they chose not to connect the juice and to make their own with battery packs.
Keeping it simple, close to the ground and immersed in nature.
In the beginning the couple spent less time at the camp and more of their days tramping and exploring. Learning one adventure at a time about all the not so easy to get to lakes, streams and ponds around remote areas of Baxter State Park. The ones that don’t get much traffic and very little press.
Added Later, The Much Enjoyed Screened in Camp Porch.
You find the further north, east and west you plow up into Maine, the more unspoiled and all natural the surroundings become.
As the husband who was a college profession and the wife a nurse got older, more time was devoted to being at camp. In the video you hear them talk about the screened in porch that was added. The storage shed for their outdoor toys was built from scratch too. Nothing elaborate but not because they could not afford to have it that way. Fancy dancy or hoity toity “look at what we have” to post all over social media channels was not the goal. Private, special, all that they needed that was more than enough.
See The Pale Blue Dashes Marking The Trail Ahead? Remind You Of Climbing Mt Katahdin Up And Down?
The trails carved from old logging roads and through pasture farm fields that grew up to trees painted with blue dashes.
You know if you have hikes Mt Katahdin or any of the other foothills around Baxter State Park about light blue dashes. That mark the trail so you get up and down before sunset and having to call the warden’s service to go find you at great tax payer expense.
Hiking Baxter State Park. Which Trails Do You Use The Most And Pick To Hike?
The couple with the recreation camp up in Maine also kept a journal.
To help remember and recall each and every trip to the Maine camp or cabin in the nestled in the woods. Looking forward to getting to the Maine recreational camp was as special as the times cherished made their through the year. All of us have to have something to look forward to for fun.
Who Left The Water Running? Baxter State Park Crystal Clean Waterways!
Many recreational camp owners use four wheel ATV’s and snowmobiles to access the nature trails. Others prefer like this couple to hoof it, to hike, bike, kayak and with no motor involved.
Here’s another from the recreation camps in Maine popular people’s choice category that just came on the market.
Wrapped with fourteen acres high on a hill with a big Maine lake in it’s lap, the simple cedar shingle sided cabin is 20′ x 16′. Built with a loft to expand down the road. There’s a brook that is more verbal after a two or three day rain. You get to hear Maine loons in this Maine real estate video.
You can rent a cabin, reserve a motel room in Maine to move around and explore.
That’s how it starts out to get your feet wet and get your bearings. Good way to start to slowly ease her into your diet. One vacation visit no matter how short or long at a time. But once you find a location that tugs at your heart to return every time you leave, you decide to invest in some Maine recreation land. To own a piece of ME and start the family traditions. To drill down into an area with repeat visits and feeling the relationship growing stronger.
Some Winters Are More Snow Fall Than Others. All The Better For Snowmobiling, Skiing, To Create Snowy Trails To Explore Maine’s Winter Wonderland.
Trips up to the recreation camp in Maine happening more frequently.
To explore and discover all four seasons what folks lucky enough to live in Maine full time get to enjoy.That’s how addictions get rooted.
Drews Lake Night Sky In Aroostook County Maine.
So so lucky to live in Maine full time.
I know I am very lucky and glad my kids were raised in Maine. To not have to only get a morsel, once a year visit and that’s all she wrote chance to get to know her more fully. Maine, come for a day and end up staying a life time. Vacationland, Maine is the way life should be.
