Argy and I travelled to Bar Harbor on Saturday to visit our son Noah who is a junior at the College of the Atlantic. As part of the trip we spent a couple of hours snowshoeing in the National Park. The weather was perfect; cold but not too cold and clear as a bell. There was plenty of snow that was crusted over from the rain at the end of last weeks storm and about a half an inch of new snow that fell early that morning.
Noah has a course in winter ecology this term and is very interested in what there is to see in the snowy landscape. It is also great fun to hear the latest scientific explanation for some of the things that I notice in the winter landscape. Because of the fresh snow and little wind the tracking was excellent with lots of interesting tracks to follow. We saw snowshoe hare tracks, squirrel tracks (both red and gray), a fox and what I think was a mink. A little confusing because the tracks were nearly at the top of the hill far from water that I think of as mink habitat. The tracks were simply too far apart to have been a weasel (actually would be an ermine this time of year) and Mount Desert Island is definitely not martin habitat. So mink by default. Noah also took many photos of the tracks that we saw that morning to use in his final project.
This winter is providing some excellent snowshoeing conditions and as February proceeds the days are getting longer and warmer. This is an excellent time of year to book a nature exploration trip on snowshoes. If you would like to experience the Maine Outdoors in winter give me a call or click here to make a reservation.
There are pictures of our outing included with my blog post click here to see them.
This from Mondays Associated Press.
CARIBOU, Maine—Even by Maine's standards, January was cold and snowy.
Snowfall totals were well above average in Portland and Bangor. At the same time, temperatures were far below normal and could be in record territory when the final numbers are tallied.
For the month, Bangor's average temperature was 10.1 degrees, or 7.9 degrees below normal. Portland averaged 17.5 degrees, or 4.2 degrees below normal. And in northern Maine, Caribou's temperature averaged just 2.5 degrees, which was 7 degrees below normal.
The National Weather Service this week will compare those numbers with previous years to determine where they stand historically.
"We're pretty sure Bangor and Caribou were in the Top 10 among the coldest Januarys ever," said Ken Wallingford, a meteorologist in the weather service's office in Caribou.
Luckily it seems like I put in enough firewood. I posted a number of blog posts in the last month about the weather we were having if you would like to read more click here.
New for 2009!
As an added benefit on freshwater fishing trips, I have decided to include fishing licenses in the price for your trip. I have sold licenses for a number of years to make going fishing with me more convenient and up until this year simply added the cost of licenses on. Now if you need to purchase a license for your trip it will be included in the price with no price increase!
This winter I am spending more than a little time changing the web site. Stop by and take a look, I would love to hear your thoughts and or suggestions for improvements.
Spring Events
Don Kleiner at LL Bean Spring Fishing Expo, Kittery Trading Post and World Fishing & Outdoor Expo
Early spring will be busy this year! I will also be at the World Fishing and Outdoor Expo in Suffern, NY March 5th through 8th representing mid coast Maine at the State of Maine booth. Stop by for a visit if you are in the neighborhood.
I will be presenting at the Kittery Trading Post on Taking Your Family Fishing on March 21st at 3PM as part of their spring fest event and I will be giving a similar presentation at The LL Bean Spring Fishing Expo on March 22nd at 1 PM the Freeport ME store. Both of these events are an excellent opportunity to see firsthand all of new fishing equipment and talk with representatives from a variety of conservation groups.
Free Maine Outdoors Hats!
Free Maine Outdoors Waxed Cotton Hats for you and a partner ($35 value) with any fishing trips reserved before April 1st for the 2009 season. Offer good for striper fishing on the Saint George River, large or smallmouth bass fishing , a learn to fly fish experience or a family fishing trip.
