Category: Things To Do in Maine

Skiing Maine Mountains This Winter

Skiing Maine mountains, what’s ahead for Vacationland’s slopes?

Using skis to glide on Maine winter snow. Social distancing is not so hard at a small Maine ski area with or without a coronavirus or not. Heading up and over snow capped countryside cross country skiing where you make your own trails can happen on your personal schedule without a lift line involved.

Excited About Snow. Not Living In Fear Or Full Of Dread But Looking Forward To Winter Snow Skiing In Maine.

When you live in Maine, it’s easy to get up early, jump in the car or SUV loaded up the night before with ski gear.

To head out for a day on the Maine ski slopes. Then return to your own home sweet home. But when you are many hours away, the traveling during the pandemic protocol can add to the uncertainty. Your best memorable years winter snow skiing were ones where lots of white stuff happened. The coldest winters are open, bare and snowless. Plus no fun happens if no skiing or snow sledding the trails can happen when a Maine winter slows to a crawl with no show for fluffy crystal flakes.

This blog post looks at what skiing Maine mountains will look like this winter.

With folks working remotely online from home, Maine schools in and so far so good, many wonder what the big holidays of Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year will look like winter 2020-2021? Will ski vacations to Maine happen? Will locals get to strap on the boards to ride the snow capped nearby hills?

No one likes cabin fever.

Mainers are especially allergic to spending too much time contained by four walls. True Mainers are out every day, any season for the fresh air. We don’t let a little snow interfere with our stretching our legs and living life to the fullest. So as the ads for Maine ski resorts and early bird season pass discount pour into our physical and cyber mail boxes, thoughts turn like the calendar pages. To swishing, carving, skis together for the lift up in the air and quick ride down a Maine mountain ski slope.

Maine Winter Weather Is Coming. Locals Are Ready To Snow Ski, Snowmobiling, Ice Fishing, Playing Pond Hockey!

So checking in around the state of Maine ski areas to see what’s up ahead when snow happens.

The natural kind or what gets created out the end of the overnight spray nozzle. Before the surfing the web to glean the Maine ski websites though, what kind of a Maine ski winter is predicted anyway? Near normal snow levels and milder temperatures due to the ongoing La Nina weather system.

Outside of Northern New York and Northern Maine where I hunt and peck, less snow last winter happened.

Maine Winter Wonderland, In The Woods, On The Trails Playing in The Fresh Fallen New Snow.

Some weather experts say the vortex stayed in the arctic and lack of polar blasts caused a lighter snow load winter last year. To figure out this year, everything you read sounds like a politician straddling a lot of fences to win the majority of votes to get elected. Predicting weather, long term it is harder than what could happen a hour from now when you live in Maine. Like pollsters who get it all wrong, weather predicting is a lot of promises but many asterisk conditions attached to all the what’s ahead for winter snow.

Maine Ice Forming Slowly On The Lakes Now, Next Winter Snow Arrives From Up Above To White Wash The Landscape.

Weather experts says warmer temperatures in the waters around the Equator if coupled with some polar blasts can mean an early start to winter.

Lots I read predict early snow, the beginning and the ends look like a typical Maine winter but the middle could be warmer and stalled. What the Farmer’s Almanac says studying solar cycles, lots of old fashioned tried and tested weather predicting shaping methods. I figure if you love the outdoors, whatever snow loads hit the slopes naturally will be groomed and shaped and the Maine ski trails will get lots of use. Locals have it made, those traveling from many states away may be lighter this winter ski season.

Everything Goes White When Winter Weather Arrives In Maine. Snow Means Time To Play Once The Plowing And Shoveling It Are Done.

Sugarloaf Mountain USA is set to open for the 7oth snow ski season.

The Loaf’s Kingfield Carrabassett Valley website says the 1000 acres surrounding the base lodge is ideal for social distancing. The making snow testing began back in October, the ski show must go on. Think snow. Face coverings, ski masks go hand in hand with strapping on the boards and helmet anyway.

Staying warm, not just being pandemic responsible makes the covering up win win. Study of the Sugarloaf mountain ski map shows social distancing is not hard. Less people and more mountain to hog has always been the attraction to Maine ski area.

Parked, Refreshing, Taking A Break From The Maine Ski Slopes. It’s A Hard Life.

Sunday River Ski Resort in Newry Maine is excited about snow flakes too.

Like ones for the road, when you are flying, mountain ski trail maps create fire in your belly. Snowboarding, down hill or cross country skiing are part of a Maine winter tradition. Nordic skiing, snowshoeing feeling like it’s pretty much just you and old man Mountain.

Sunday River may not be as tall as Sugarloaf when you push the two back to back and measure.

But Sunday River has eight peaks and is spread out a bit more. Each Maine mountain offers a different skiing experience and no two exactly the same character.

Winter weather in Maine gets a bad rap and most of that negative press is circulated by folks who never pushed down hard to attach a pair of snow skis. Maine winters with new fallen snow and groomed trails help a body and the local economy get a thorough workout routine.

The blanket of pure white flakes assembled one by one overnight transforms the Maine you remembers from the night before putting your head in the bed.

Hockey players call it ice in their veins. The love of downhill mountain skiing must cause hard packed or loose and fluffy arterial snow conditions. Like any Maine outdoor setting added to the yearly tradition to revisit it.

Growing love and deep attachment is the result of time invested outdoors in Maine.

Dressed properly for the occasion and changing it up as the seasons flip through the calendar. Many families adopt a Maine ski area mountain and feel very protective. Like new rescue cats, horses and dogs owners, you become highly protective of them.

Read more on what’s happening at Saddleback Mountain thanks to one big anonymous donor.

He or she believed kids need to spend less time in front of a screen and out on the mountain slopes. To shake off that sedentary life style that is so so not Maine. The funding for the next five years to assure that happens is a major shot in the arm for the sport of snow skiing. The new and improved Saddleback Mountain plans for a December 15th winter ski season opening.

Lift upgrades, new snow making equipment, lodge renovations, fair ticket pricing is what’s happening behind the scenes at Saddleback Mountain.

Saddleback Mountain has the highest base elevation, over 4100′ complemented with views of Rangley Lake. Perched up high base operations translates to more natural snow outside the lodge window. Free from the sky to groom and ski. Instead of the kind created with lots of pressure squeezed out of the end of a snow gun nozzle.

Battling A Maine Winter Is Easier When Prepared. When You Have A Few Under Your Belt. Mainers Don’t Hibernate Or Waste The Snow Flakes, The Fresh Air.

No snow show winters in Maine, those often are the coldest and rob the down hill skiing experience.

The expensive snow making production pumping water up hill and moving guns spot to spot around the Maine ski mountain trails. Hoping the air temperatures stay freezing or below to create and keep a base. Man made snow making hurts the Maine ski mountain’s bottom line expense profit and loss. Artificial snow requiring man power and machinery hard at it round the clock to create it bleeds a ski resort’s cash reserves.

Don’t forget snowmobiling, ice fishing, pond hockey and it’s not just swish swish down hill skiing during a Maine winter.

The smaller mountain peaks mean less coin needed to ride the lifts and ski down the trails. But these smaller Maine ski areas rely heavier on what Mother Nature and Jack Frost bring to the winter snow party.

Here’s a list of Maine ski areas.

With the COVID19, the pandemic makes spread out on the trails under a cobalt blue sunny ski or listening to tunes while under light night skiing. Maine ski areas are ready and the healthy shot in the arm cure for being stuck in side dying to get out for some fresh air and panoramic scenery. The kind you can only get on top of a Maine snow capped mountain as you develop that thousand mile stare and crank your head slowly. Maine has last count twenty developed peaks areas, seventy lifts to service those mountainside ski areas.

Playing In The Snow, Kids Get Outside Bundled Up To Slide, Build Forts, Make Snow Balls For Friendly Backyard Neighborhood Battles.

Like your favorite local diner, the community movie theatre, adopting to preserve and help Maine businesses and non profits survive is happening.

Maine ski areas are on the same critical care list and every local citizen feels highly charged and committed to preserving our unique way of life. Maine is the way life should be. The coronavirus just drove the point home deeper for those ripping up stakes and packing up their tent in search of a better quality of life.

By George It’s Going To Snow. Maine Winter Weather Means Snow For Skiing, Sledding, Ice Hockey And Fishing Outdoor Fun.

Maine is an easier place to live for lots of reasons and less people, more connection small local populations is part of it. Maine’s drop dead gorgeous natural beauty and unspoiled vastness are the perfect combination no matter what’s going on good or bad in the World. Run away to Maine. Ski Maine mountains in winter, hike them the other seasons. Get up high where the air is rare and less people interfere with the thought processing.

From the days of trudging up every foot of hillside you skied or slide down, from the days of tractor powered rope tows on small Whoville like terrains. Maine skiing has come a long way and is still going strong.

Maine skiing. It’s good for your body, your mind, your local economy. Support your local Maine ski mountain nearest you. Pull out the calendar and plan this winter to sample more than one Maine ski area.

To me, the most fun of Maine winter skiing is introducing your kids to the snow capped trails.

Saturday mornings on a local hill with other kids filling their lungs with fresh winter mountain air sure beats sitting on a couch plugged into the tube. Beside exercise and getting families out of the stale air of a Maine home, that elevation opens up the magic of Maine. Maine is already drop dead gorgeous with her four season natural beauty. But add a chair lift or t-bar ride higher up a peak and everything intensifies. It is spiritual, the ride alone or in conversation with one or more of your children is mental health rich.

Skiing a Maine mountain like work or hobby pastime that calls you outside increases awareness of the World around you.

The day to day routine is shaken up getting your blood pumping and collecting all the eye candy. It’s like the song “Up On The Roof”. In the city hustle bustle and all the noise distractions, all the people around you, the only place to escape it is going up (ding ding elevator door opening sound) .

Skiing Together, All Ages In The Maine Family Can Take To The Slopes.

Your worries are parked as you ride up or glide down a blanket of Maine winter snow.

The guy or gal in the helmet and ski goggles dangles the boards lifted up the mountain side and absorbs or blends in with the Maine outdoors. You feel grateful, excited, humbled, pretty dam lucky to be in Maine and tapping into one more winter tradition.

The sunrise or sudden snow fall and wind picking up and being out in the weather elements. Wearing the right ski gear clothing and layered for comfort as you can see your breath. But no black flies today. Relishing arriving mountain top and taking in the expense as you lift the chairlift bar and scooch to the front edge of the cushion.

End Of A Perfect Day After Skiing On A Maine Mountain.

Skiing a Maine mountain.

Preparing to touch down, go left, right or down the middle of the end of the line ride. Sliding on the ski pole straps for each arm and preparing for another trip to the mountain base. Some looking for double black diamond adventure, others taking the longer leisure route of a buckboard gradual ski trail. Skiing Maine mountains is different strokes for different folks. There is something for every budget and all types of Maine winter skier abilities to discover.

Families can connect the green, blue, black Maine ski trail difficulty marking dot colors.

Small Maine Ski Areas! Those Are The Best Because You Work Behind The Scenes, Everything Is Cheaper.

All ages can tap into the Maine ski mountain fun. You can ski for life in Maine. The alpine ski tradition kept alive because of the names on the towns on a Maine map. New Sweden, Solon, Norway, Caribou, Stockholm all sounding Scandinavian but located in Vacationland with residents Nordic names like Sjostead, Andersen, Bonderson.

Maine winter.

Ski1ng Maine mountains. You don’t just survive a Maine winter and the locals embrace this back end, new beginning section of the calendar pages. Ski swaps to match growing kids with better fitting equipment. Christmas presents for something ski themed from warm gloves to a new snowboard or winter jacket. Maybe an LL Bean ski boot bag or t-handle to make the to and from to your favorite Maine mountain easier. Early bird season Maine mountain ski passes showing up in a Christmas stocking help the spirit of the holidays too.

I’m Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers, ME Broker

207.532.6573 | info@mooersrealty.com | MOOERS REALTY 69 North ST Houlton ME 04730 USA

November 4, 2020
Picnics In Maine

Picnics in Maine.

Most people I know enjoy food cooked outside over an open fire or sizzling on the gas grill. Munching on whatever gets served up and slide onto the plate is way way tastier combined with Maine outdoor scenery too. One exception, if there is no breeze, it’s early summer. And the black flies and mosquitoes dive in like Stuka bombers without the high pitched whistle signaling the attack.

Eating Outdoors, Not Jammed Between Four Walls Inside. Maine Is Outdoor Dining, Exploring, Everything.

This blog posts is about the pleasure and practical aspects of picnicking in Maine.

For starters, what does the word picnic mean, where did it come from any way? The French get the credit for the word picnic. The word pique-nique which means “pick, peck, nab” a small morsel of food. Combined with the second half meaning “of little importance, trifle”. That sounds like nibbling and snacking to me.

Grazing on nuts and berries is what comes to mind like climbing Mt Katahdin with the four kids taking trail side mini picnic stops.

Paddling Out To An Island, An Offshore Lighthouse For A Picnic Lunch. Food Prepared And Enjoyed Outdoors IN Maine. Nothing Like That Simple Experience!

Reaching into a bag of gorp. Which is a trail mix snack of nuts, dried fruit, granola, nuts, maybe chocolate for some quick energy without the bulk of carrying a picnic basket full of goodies. Or I think of wagon trains of pioneers and horse riders headed West in search of free farm land to homestead on or suffering from Gold or Silver Fever lust. Picnics would be quick pit stops to stop the possession and refuel and to avoid saddle sores. Take care of nature calls out in the privacy of the brush. To open up a can of beans. Again. (more…)

May 26, 2020
Marbles In Maine

Marbles in Maine, the glass ones started showing up in the 1890’s.

But marbles made of well, marble… and alabaster around two hundred years before that. Winning, losing, coming out even in marble games is no new trending fad. Marble games played since the 13th century. That’s all long long before Maine became a state. Marbles made out of wood, clay, stone not the pretty hot molten glass with us for thousands of years.

I had not thought of marbles in Maine much until this week when a real estate buyer of a waterfront camp on East Grand told me about the owner.

She was a Crocker from Danforth Maine and the lake property owner grew up in the same northern most Washington County town. In admiration and without spite or malice, the buyer dubbed the seller as one heck of a marble player. In small Maine towns, your brother or sister often in a class with most of your friend’s family members. The connection is second, third tier but still there. If you go back far enough in the DNA, someone’s grandmother married your second cousin happens. In small Maine towns, people are more aware of the connection to others in it. When the circle of people is smaller, the connection is stronger.

Like Kittens In A Farm Yard Barn Delivery Of New Cats, The Colors Are Varied. Like Marbles In Maine.

He was the small Maine town version of a pin ball wizard except we’re talking marbles.

Kenny the seller was not and still is not blind, deaf and dumb. All the marbles, winner takes all. That’s what he was known for in these parts. Winning big and often reported Simone the lake property buyer. He sure played a mean game of marbles.

I asked the seller during property price negotiations back and forth this week about his marble playing prowess.

Like most things in life, it boils down to a matter of sheer practice and time put into the endeavor. He laughed and asked what did she tell you? I said only that he was Mr. Marble King. His legend preceded him. That her brothers, all the young lads in her same small Maine town would gather somewhere to play marbles.

Not just during school recess at the East Grand Elementary, but traipsing over for the off hours marble games.

In the evenings, on the weekends, marble playing tournaments were underway somewhere but she could not remember where in town. Just recalling her brothers and his friends disappeared to play marble games.

Kenny, the seller, added to the local story on marbles in Maine games.

He said everyone gathered at his house on Weatherbee Street because there was a dirt floor basement. Ideal conditions for the kind of marble games played down cellar in privacy. Unlike the ones I remember played out in the open during school recess. Nothing elaborate but every kid had a marble bag or metal coffee can with a hole in the plastic lid.

The Wytopitlock, a small town near Danforth but in the County of Aroostook not Washington was heavy on horse shoes.

Under the lights at night, up to 200 horse show players would compete in games to hit the stakes. To land the leaners and ringers at the Wytopitlock Maine Fish and Game. Card games like cribbage “uptah camp in Maine” are an excellent way to pass the time while conversations take place during the 15-2 and more pegging. Simple living in Maine with a cozy wood fire, good company and something ahead for home cooked dining. That’s more than enough to make you feel very lucky to be alive and living in Maine.

Playing odd or even and the other person tried to guess to win or lose whatever was in your hand for the Maine marble wager.

Another marble game called simply Dropsies. Where the player stood over the can placed on the ground or just a lone marble out in the open and waiting. For whoever’s turn it was to with one eye closed and the other lining up the marble dropped with precision from waist high. To hopefully hit the can lid hole or strike the marble on the ground. The video below shows how serious the marble players are in and out of the circle aiming and shooting strategizing. (more…)

May 7, 2020
Ice Fishing In Maine

Ice fishing in Maine, what’s the heck is the attraction some wonder ?

To many not anglers for wildlife with gills, could there be anything slower or more boring than fishing through a hole? To others, living for ice fishing adventures and the social aspect, nothing compares to their happiness. Waiting for the five trap lines down the drilled ice holes to trip. It’s all pure heaven. This blog post covers the topic of Maine ice fishing, one more winter pastime and described the outdoor sport. Maine is one ideal opportunity to fish year round… with or without ice in your recreational water.

Watching A Sporting Event While Tending The Ice Fishing Traps. Welcome To Maine.

Maybe you’ve seen and heard the guy or gal in the hip waders, talking about all types of fishing.

Planted smack dab in the middle of the genuine imitation fish pond while telling the story. Near the entrance to LL Bean’s mother ship Freeport Maine location as you stroll in and think what’s this demonstration.

You get a quick lesson on fly fishing and casting the line any of Maine’s four seasons.

Your ears pick up on a little sermon delivered on catch and release or just fishing in general for what you are going to eat. Respect for the wildlife and then here it comes. The announcement this is your lucky day shoppers. The in-store fishing guide standing in the pond with artificial water falls gurgling sounds, the really well fed trout swimming lazily in and around the rocks from outdoors brought indoors.

Using the wireless mic on the hands free headset piped into the overhead speaker store wide audio channel.”Rods and reels and the other paraphernalia for fishing the many open water locations in Maine are a true BAR-gin priced. Everything fishing just happens to be a wicked attractive twenty or more percent reduced for a limited time.” Good news blue light shoppers. To save you hard earned cash to stash not burn. Some green backs can stay folded in your wallet or purse. All to introduce you to the love of fishing in Maine.

But this blog post on ice fishing in Maine is not about selling you rods, reels, or creels.

It’s not about the love of wetting the fishing line on a trout stream on a bodacious summer day. And nope, uh uh, not the late in the day floating in a boat memory with your Grandfather who introduced you to the love of fishing in the dead of summer. Or the overstocked farm trout pond where the small fry gets so many strikes their arms hurt. Which causes the love to fish burning desire gene to ignite.

Maine is four seasons.

See The Circle Of Ice? Maine Winters Produce Lots Of It For Ice Fishing. (Photo Credit Meg York)

This fishing story is about what happens when the lake turns solid.

Ice ice baby and the Maine summer lake campers skid-addle to warmer surroundings in town or further south. Where no snow shovel is needed when you get up in the morning rise and shine.

I live on a Maine lake and hear the lone motor boat engine with the twist grip sound getting louder spring, summer, fall.

At five in the morning when the sun is just arriving to punch in at work from the east. While the moon retires, clocks out and heads to bed. It’s usually just one lone or maybe a pair of fisherman in the boat that early.

The piping hot fresh brewed coffee thermos is packed first and foremost. Along side some ham and cheese or tuna sandwiches, a variety of snacks too. And don’t forget the fresh bait. A guarded secret of what is put on the hook to catch some fish quick and easy. Tight lip secrecy surrounds that knowledge. Just like the best fishing hole locations.

As the early Maine fisherman stands up gingerly and casts a line and then sits down.

Slowly starting to troll for fish. Back and forth methodical. Out on the lake with loons and eagles and sea gulls toying with the same idea but approaching the task with different methods.

Ice fishing is a whole another winter sport.

The Dog Rides In The Sled, Not Pulls It In This Maine Ice Fishing Lake Photo.

There is work involved. Hand drilling the holes through eighteen inches of ice by hand is not easy. The motorized Jiffy ice auger can do the can opening of a Maine lake much quicker. Five holes, five or six inches in diameter for the ice fishing lines is what your license allows.

But hold it, slow down. The fish will wait for the games to begin. Before venturing out on the ice full charge blowing a bugle to announce the start of ice fishing season in Maine, check the ice. Determine the thickness of the ice and the load you are about to apply.

The holes you want to drill are not close to the Maine lake shore.

The deepest area of the lake is where you find the most fish, with the best neighborhood for them to hang out. More oxygen, greater depths mean you have to venture out to the region where other ice shacks set up shop for the same reason. And the cluster makes it more social and sharing stories, snacks, the landscape setting where it’s just you and the pop up village that will disappear before spring has sprung. More on Maine fishing laws.

Jack Frost Is Pretty Crafty. If You Leave The Lake Hammock Out To Decorate In Wind Polished Crystal Clear Ice.

The neat thing about Maine ice fishing in the dead of winter is there is less competition from up above.

And plenty of fish down below in the dark chilly waters of a Maine lake. The frosty temperatures, the production of dragging your ice shack out to the center of a Maine lake separates the men from the boys. It’s a little bit of a production getting set up for ice fishing.

Being all bundled up can make you overdressed in the huffing and puffing to haul it out to the middle of a Maine lake. Then come the holes to create by hand or device. To slice open the lake to start ice fishing one hole at a time. Slush spills up and out like a good producing drilled well often does. Flood the area around the shack for smooth rinks of ice for your kids to chase the puck or do figure eights.

The ice fishing shacks are loaded up with all the creature comforts of home.

To be invited to stop by and sample the fish chowder or chili while watching a sporting event or play a

Maine Moose Tip Toeing Across Lake Ice. Hope Nothing Starts Cracking.

couple hands of cribbage with tunes in the background is a big deal. Hey, want another deviled egg Sport? Pass those sardines and crackers and slice me another slab of that sticky cheddar. Thanks. Now how big was that fish that got away again. Back to the tall tales. That everyone knows is a tad stretched from the real story of that day fishing in Maine.

Maine winters slow the pace to allow the time to squeeze in something new. In Maine, no matter what the season, we dress differently but are always headed outdoors. Being stuck inside causes chaffing at the bit to break out.

It’s not just a temporary condition called cabin fever when you are tending ice fishing trap lines.

The fresh air, the open space and need to be outside to socialize. To take in the pure natural beauty when you are lucky enough to tap into the unspoiled surroundings in Maine. You bask in it, you crave it and don’t want to miss a drop like it is a life giving IV of steroid enhancement.

The ice fishing shack… what does the state say about the hut you use to be home on the Maine lake?

There are Maine ice fishing rules. You have to call it quits and remove the shack or structure three days at the close of the ice fishing season. Or before ice out, whichever comes first.

Floating In A Boat When There Is Not Ice To Drill Through To Fish. Fishing Is Year Round.

Thin ice, being out on the Maine lake trying to get the shack back to shore and the public boat landing can cause nightmares. Going through the ice in late winter is pretty sobering.

I can swim but holding my breath in frigid water until spring to surface for new lung air takes supreme patience. Finding the hole I fell through to return to the surface when below the sheet of Maine lake ice is a do or die situation.

Ever heard of hypothermia ? Your muscles won’t respond, you suddenly have no energy and lose feeling. Check and think twice about driving, snow sledding, cross country or snow shoeing out to an ice fishing shack.

The ice fishing home away from home where winter weekends are spent, there must be two inch letters that spell out the details.

Who owns this palace, what is your address along with your name Chummy. Also, leaving the structure on another person’s land without permission is a no no. Many ice shacks make it back to the public boat landing okay and intact. And then the flatbed or trailer needed to continue the journey back home is penciled in on the calendar date that works best. Held to the side of the kitchen refrigerator with the square filled in that addresses the maneuvers needed to hoist it up and yank it back home.

Little Early For Ice Fishing.. The Beginning Signs To Get Ready On A Maine Lake.

But leaving the ice fishing shack on the land of another… that’s a no no. That landowner who surprise finds your shanty ker-plopped on their private property has permission to immediately remove or even destroy it.

MOVE IT OR LOSE IT BUB!

That’s the permitted approach for any ice fishing shack structure left double parked on their property if no okay from them was received in writing.

Reflectors on all sides of the ice fishing shack make sense too just like a long dangerous lake dock.

Do you want an ice rocket, a Maine snowmobile to graze it or come into your living space at warp factor five? Whether you are in the shack huddles around the hole in the ice with the window to gaze out and monitor the other four outside fishing holes or not. Loss of life, the destruction of your ice shack in the darkness of night can be avoided with a little effort.

I know of a local snow sled buddy who did hit an ice shack and Christmas with this family members are without his attendance now.

Died way too early and maybe reflectors would not have helped but their can’t hurt for safety first. Also heard a fellow, an only child share with me what happened to his parents that were with another couple one Saturday night. They were driving on the winter ice and went through, losing both his parents just like that. He was suddenly an orphan who went to live with his Monticello Maine grand parents at six years old.

The ice shacks I’ve stopped into to visit are along the snow sledding ITS trails.

How To Get Back & Forth To The Ice Shack? Drive, Sled, Snow Shoe, Ski?

The Maine snowmobile trails often cut directly down across the middle of open lakes where ice shacks, cross country ski trails and pond hockey ice skating happen.

Like I said, Maine winter is not a time to hibernate. The chain pickerel want to play fish. We don’t waste a drop of winter sunshine under blue skies and all this white landscape of fresh fluffy snow.

If you are cold, you are not dressed right for whatever a Maine winter can throw at you for ice fishing.

If your teeth are chattering, grab the end of the sleigh robe your kids are sitting in and give ‘er a strong yank. Pull them and warm up pretty quickly as you hear their laughter. Hooking the snow sled to the toboggan and pulling the kids around slowly is memory making. The kids cheeks glow rosy. Their sleep tonight will be deep and complete from the outside oxygen therapy.

Layers, dry clothing, the right gear makes being outside fun and comfortable. Without it, you suffer. Everyone ice fishing in Maine hearing you bitch and complain does too. No one likes a whiner when they could have prevented it with a little extra care and attention to how they dress when considering spending the entire day out in the Maine winter outdoors ice fishing.

Be prepared, we live in Maine and those mittens your grandmother knit with 100% wool can’t be beat ice fishing.

Snow sledding boats, extra gloves, a scarf or neck warmer and hat or hood. There are rules to apply to

Taking The Snow Sled To The Ice Fishing Shack. Spending The Day Outside In Maine No Matter Which Season!

how you dress to wander outside the seventy or higher degrees showing on the living room thermostat.

Brook trout fishing during the daylight hours, switching to cusk during the evening. I had a secretary for twenty four years before lung cancer knocked on the door who’s husband is the most dedicated fishermen I know. He gets up at 3AM in the morning to head to the ice fishing shack on Nickerson Lake. He is a catch and release kind of fisherman.

You might not be a local Mainer with his or her custom built or tow behind snow sled ice shack.

Renting a camp for a winter family vacation instead for a week that includes ice fishing could be the ticket you buy. Walking out to the attended ice fishing traps and hoping to catch a land-lock salmon on the end of the sinker-ed line open for business down below where it’s dark. Where the rainbows, splake or togue fish are waiting for your calling card hors d’oeuvres .

Ice fishing in Maine.

The tote sled used to drag your gear behind the snow sled goes out and back after ice fishing ends. You are maybe renting a cabin in the cove overlooking the ice fishing territory that yields the best results ice fishing in Maine. Hooking white, yellow perch, bass, pike and depending on the Maine lake or pond, a slew of other fish species. Or you take the tack used by the old boys with the wide open front and back doors of the family sedan like this ice fishing blog post displays up on top of the post.

A fishing derby in a Maine community can yield prizes and form new life long friendships.

It Needs To Be Winter And Colder Temperatures For Ice Fishing To Happen On A Maine Lake Or Pond!

Celebrating winter in Maine may seem odd to someone better suited for sand between their toes and palm trees swaying overhead. Maine is a northern tier state like Michigan, New Hampshire, Minnesota or Wisconsin so we’re not a novelty or one of a kind when it comes to taming winter and embracing it.

More on the list of ice fishing derby Maine locations.

Poker runs, raffles, snow sled club house suppers, other winter fun is combined with the Maine ice fishing derby list of activities. Every year the events get bigger and better and the same volunteers sign on for life like more local home grown fun events.

Let’s go ice fishing on Moosehead Lake, Maine’s largest body of inland water recreation fun.

See local Maine Inland Fishery game wardens tell you what ice fishing is all about if new to the sport.

Everything You Need For The Ice Fishing In Maine Operation.

It’s like a chess game some say in the ice fishing video. Sometimes its ice fishing with sonar in Maine to improve the odds and speed up the fish dinner.

One more video on ice fishing in Maine adventure.

Ice fishing in Maine. It’s not just a bunch of guys looking for the orange flag to spring. It is a slow sport, not as drawn out as watching paint dry. But not too taxing once the holes are drilled, the traps in place and all the related gear on site.

The kids play making snow people if the snow is sticky and can pack by rolling the body parts. Or the sides to wage war with a snow ball fight. The family dog is present and he or she socializes with other K-9’s. It is not just ice fisherman on the lake or pond. There is social interaction around the wood stove inside sitting down or standing up outside the ice fishing shack. Spectators come and go.

Snow shoeing, ice skating and pond hockey can happen and hot chocolate is always one of the liquids enjoyed by the younger family members.

The Snow Globe Look Of Everything Ice Glazed. You Are In Maine, It’s Winter.

Easy does it with the barley pop or grape juice or buttered rum. The game warden makes his rounds to assure compliance with ice fishing regulations.

Every lake or pond has it’s own set of rules to protect the water body. Some fish are not fair game until January 1st. Others water playgrounds allow across the board winter fishing without interruption or delay.

Regardless of what you use cheese, coffee rubs or WD 40 sprayed bait or lures, it is fishing. It takes still and keeping the ice fishing traps in the holes attended. You can introduce sonar.. or do it old school. Thinking what if you were a fish.. where would you be right about 2 o’clock topside on a Maine lake Saturday or Sunday afternoon?

Waiting until the ice is safe to venture out onto means eye on the forecast and measuring the depth in many places.

Being the last to set up your ice shack makes sense too. True ice fisherman have attached peg hooks like

The Fishing Through A Hole In The Ice. Less Competition On Top For What’s Swimming Down Below.

small kids have strings on their knit mittens. The closer to the end of ice fishing season or when temperatures warm seasonably high and what’s under you disappears.

If you went through the ice or were snow sledding and just happened to find some open water, black ice.

You might be lucky enough to surface and use the pegs to dig in and grab the outer ring of ice to hopefully pull yourself up and out of the cold drink. The water cold and warm fish species call home.

Ice fishing in Maine, ever done it?

I’m Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers, ME Broker

207.532.6573 | info@mooersrealty.com |

MOOERS REALTY 69 North ST Houlton ME 04730 USA

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December 9, 2019
Snowmobiling, Snow Sledding In Maine | Get Groomed Marked Trails Maps

Snowmobiling, snow sledding in Maine, where you get lots of varied riding on plenty of well marked groomed trails.

Hearty Lunch, All Fueled Snowmobiles And The Trail Riders.

The trail maps change as new routes to explore open up the winter adventure. Maine is five times bigger than the other New England states. Parked on the Canadian border with the New Brunswick and Quebec provinces so so handy. That location factor does not hurt either for the two nation snow sledding vacation option.

(You have to join a Canadian snowmobiling club. Or get a special Provincial pass to squeeze the throttle. To go over hill and dale on Canadian snow sledding trails eh?)

Snowmobiling in Maine.

The further north, east and well up into Maine, the more friendly and less crowded the snow sled trails. Scenery increases, the cost for your winter wonderland trip on your own snow machine or the one you rent goes way down too. Snowmobiling in Maine is a big industry. This blog post on snow sledding, snowmobiling in Maine serves as a guide to plan your winter trip into Maine wearing mittens or gloves and those felt lined toasty snow puffy boots.

Find Your Way Across Maine ITS Snowmobiling Trails. The New Map.

Maine can boast what not many places can… snow flakes starting as early as October and lasting well into April.

Over 280 snow sledding clubs and right around 14,000 miles of trails for your snowmobile get you places to forget it with a car. There is nothing like being on a bluff scenic turnout to stare and detach from your daily grind. Gawking, silently taking in the snow capped scenery of Mt Katahdin, a frozen lake like Moosehead or East Grand.

You can get your sea legs if new to trail riding by renting a Northern Outdoors snowmobiles in The Forks, Maine.

Birch Point Campground snowmobile sled rentals at Pleasant Lake in Northern Maine provides machines by the hour too Here’s a helpful list of all the snowmobile rentals in Maine options to pick from with super trails to go with them. (more…)

December 1, 2019
So You Think You Know Maine…. Not If It’s From What’s Online.

News about areas of Maine that don’t get gallons of ink in the press.

Maine places that you just don’t see boat loads of online recycled electrons for copy used to spread the word around the web. It is always fresh and exciting when the same old tourist trap haunts are not the only Maine tourism information showcased.

Maine is such a big, beautiful and varied jewel. But like the dark side of the moon, what each unique corner of Maine is really like and what you want to make sure not to miss if you visit there is seriously lacking online. Maybe that is part of the magic of what you discover when you take the time to actually go to those little longer drive locations. What keeps it special and hidden and unspoiled.

What’s To Do In Maine? What’s Like? Where Do I Go? Need A Few Suggestions From A Local?

I like to go to the local library to dig deep for information on parts of Maine that I am not familiar with first hand.

And in the areas that I do know, there is always more depth and color in the information if you dig a little. What I have learned is if the person doing the book on where to spend your time in Maine is not ffrom that part of Vacationland, what is posted suffers dearly. The old axiom of “write about what you know” is so true. And to know an area is not just rehashing a few tidbits of information that show up over and over online.

It is doing time there so you collect from a stretch because it takes time to observe and collect what you end up sharing.

Like slow cooked food trumps the hurry scurry of drive through quick you deserve a break today. I can wait for my food without starving to death.

Check Out What You Are Missing. Frequent Local Maine Libraries! Find The Treasure Inside.

The latest book checked out from Cary Library was a tour of Maine. But the way the state was depicted was a gloss over of what most of us already know for odds and ends of travel guide information.

The author added a sarcastic twist and presented his stops along the highways and byways of Maine from a ridicule perspective. Ouch. It was presented in a hurried fashion giving the impression there was not much here to stick around for on a vacation. Like there were much better ways to waste his time than running up and down twisting US RT 1 into the willy wags of Maine.

Often times the tone in the paragraphs was obvious the writer was not impressed with many of Maine’s small towns.

Explore, Discover Maine. The Back Roads, The Hiking Trails, The Water Ways. We Are Outdoors More Than Inside All Four Seasons In Maine! Like That Where You Hang Your Hat Now?

Not exciting enough or just did not take the time to dig for more of the local happenings now and over the years. The mention of what the locals would consider highlights of the area and what to do and see while you are here was sneered at smugly. The historic value of the small town was diminished because the travel log writer seems disappointed with an air of is that all you have to offer a tourist or relocating individual thinking of moving to Maine in the pick me pick me stand out? There’s more, lots more but it does not make it to media outlets because you are off the beaten path where not everyone gets to go due to time limitations. Or publications leaving out huge sections of the state of Maine is there tell me a story.

Most of us have particular loyalty to certain Maine map locations. Because we live there or they are fond destinations in our trip down memory lane. We all love the lighthouses, the seacoast salt air and all the variations of Maine water front. Nothing trumps sitting on mountain slab of rock at Cadillac or Katahdin or a slew of other tall pinnacles. To just let go and stare out over at the vast land volume of unspoiled terrain that stretches out in all directions. It is humbling, spiritual, calming plus energizing all mixed into one. It’s where you do your best thinking about what really matters. Like the guy heading “up on the roof” as a city dweller that only had that option to get away for for a better life decision making perspective. (more…)

March 29, 2019