Spring has arrived here in the Bear River Valley! Most of the snow has gone from the area except snowy patches in the higher elevations. The dogs are enjoying playing in the pastures again, harnesses are put away from the winter season. Birds and ducks are arriving back making time outside on our property very delightful listening to their spring songs. The peepers serenade us in the evenings!

We had a very busy winter dog sledding season ending with a snowshoeing trip with Cree guides David and Anna Bosum of Ouje-Bougoumou in northern Quebec. Polly took 5 guests for this cultural immersion experience where we set fish nets under the ice on a lake, set snares for snowshoe hare, lynx and pine marten, helped harvest some moose and bear hides, toured the village of Ouje-Bougoumou, learned to carve mini paddles with wood and sew on moose hide for slippers or mittens. One of the highlights was getting to attend the “walking out” ceremony in the village which is a community event where children walk on snowshoes around an area carrying their own little backpack and ax. With this event comes a great community feast where we were all welcomed.

Immediately after this trip Polly guided a women’s canoe trip on the Green River in Utah. This was definitely a very different environment from the north! Everyone had a great time and there was some close bonding that happened as we navigated the river and all that it had to offer together!

Kevin held down the home front with the help of long time client and helper, Joyelle Webster, who is now 20 years old. She did a great job helping with all of the dog chores and end of the season putting gear away. One of her favorite dogs was, guess who, Jiminy Cricket, who becomes many people’s favorite dog here! Click here to see a video that Joyelle made from some of her time here over the years.

We still have a couple spots on our St John (Wolastoq) River canoe trip May 15-21st and Allagash River trip May 23-28th. To view our summer canoe schedule click here. To view videos of these rivers click on their name: St John and Allagash.

The Appalachian Mountain Club conducted an outdoor leadership training here in our lodge this weekend. Everyone really enjoyed the building and beautiful setting in the mountains. Our next event is wilderness first aid April 29-30 and wilderness first responder course April 29-May 1st. There are still some openings.

We are still looking for another apprentice to join us this summer which promises to be a very busy one. This is a great opportunity for someone wanting to learn a traditional way of traveling by canoe on the rivers and lakes of Maine.

We hope to see some of you on a canoe trip this spring, summer or fall!

Enjoy this change of season,  Polly, Kevin & all the doggies:

Murphy Jr, Jazel, Meghan, Angus, Siohban, Turlough, Hammish Jr, Moya, Olga, Amber, Oonaugh, Seamus Jr, Sonya, Keefy, Bjorn, Layla, Shawnee, Erin, Rory and Jiminy Cricket!