I followed the cold weather north in late January and found myself hanging onto the back of a dog sled, driving a team of six enthusiastic huskies along a snow-covered trail in Maine’s 100-Mile Wilderness region, enroute to a warm cabin and warming meal at the Appalachian Mountain Club’s Little Lyford Pond Camps.
It was a chance to check out a new recreational opportunity in the area, a wild section of the Pine Tree State, not far from the town of Greenville and famed Moosehead Lake.
The area has been home to traditional sporting camps for generations. Many of those camps have come and gone with the years. Some simply went out of business, others were converted to private residences, and others are still in operation, offering visitors lodging, meals, and, depending on the specific venue, opportunities to fish, hunt, hike, and paddle.
AMC purchased the historic Little Lyford Pond Camps in 2003 and, this past year, added Medawisla Wilderness Camps and Chairback Mountain Camps to the properties it manages in the 100-Mile Wilderness region. Little Lyford and Medawisla are open to use by the public, and the club expects to open Chairback for the public later this year.
The motivation is to help keep the Maine sporting camp tradition alive and provide outdoor recreational opportunities for the public in this spectacular section of New England.
Operation of the camps, construction of new hiking and skiing trails, and other community-based efforts are part of the Maine Woods Initiative, a plan for land conservation in the 100-Mile Wilderness region that combines outdoor recreation, resource protection, sustainable forestry, and community partnerships. The initiative was kicked off in 2003 when AMC purchased a 37,000-acre tract of forestland from International Paper, known as the Katahdin Iron Works property. The club is ensuring the continuation of public access to the property for such pursuits as hiking, paddling, fishing, hunting, snowmobiling, snowshoeing, and skiing. With the Maine Woods Initiative, AMC is supporting the local economy through sustainable timber harvesting and new, nature-based tourism opportunities.
One of those opportunities is camp-to-camp skiing and dog-sledding, and that’s what I headed north to check out last week. While cross-country skiing between bed-and-breakfast inns has been a popular New England pastime for years, it is believed these are the only opportunities now available to cross-country ski or dog-sled from traditional sporting camp to sporting camp.
We had started our tour at Medawisla, where we enjoyed a brisk cross-country ski over the frozen, pristine Second Roach Pond at the camp’s doorstep. Bright, blue skies and warm sun tempered the winter temperatures as we glided over sugary snow.
Next, we headed to West Branch Pond Camps, family-run camps with which AMC is partnering to offer these camp-to-camp trips. Eric Stirling runs the camps, along with his wife, Mildred, and mother, Carol. It’s a long family tradition, and Eric is the fourth generation of the family to run these camps, on the shore of West Branch Pond, below looming White Cap Mountain.
We enjoyed a fine, home-cooked fried chicken dinner before retiring to our log cabin and the warmth of a woodstove.
The dawn brought below-zero temps, but bright sun and little wind. It seemed the dogs would never quiet down, so excited were they at the prospect of running as they were harnessed up prior to the 6-1/2-mile run between camps.
Three of my companions opted to cross-country ski from West Branch Pond Camps to Little Lyford Pond Camps, our destination for the second night. Local musher, Steve Madera of Song in the Woods Dogsled Adventures, had brought along two teams of dogs, so he took one sled, and I the other, and we headed off to Lyford’s behind our respective teams.
I had mushed a team once before, many years ago, and I remembered the cardinal rule of dog-sledding: Don’t let go of the sled.
It’s a tougher task than it appears, especially when the dogs lurch forward from a stop, or when the musher must negotiate a sharp turn in the trail. The trouble is, a dog team can be expected to just keep going if there’s nothing, or no one, to stop it. And that can mean a long walk if the critters get away from you.
I never let go, and I never fell off, and we arrived at our destination without incident, I’m pleased to report. But I did learn to use the brake when the sled inched too near the trees, and I also learned to keep a close eye on river crossings, to be sure the sled was appropriately aligned with the footbridges we zipped over.
You can get a good work-out driving a team, leaning on the runners to effect a turn, kicking with a foot, as if propelling a scooter, to make it easier on the dogs, and, at times, jogging alongside the sled to lighten the load on the steeps.
The dogs seemed to enjoy the jaunt as much as I did. We pulled into camp and, following a few minutes’ rest, they were eager to go again.
Shortly, my skiing friends arrived, wearing broad smiles and frosted whiskers, and beaming about the scenic route they had taken beside the frozen river and through the trees.
Skiing terrain in the area is varied. The trip between West Branch Pond and Little Lyford largely ranges from level to rolling, and most skiers can make the trip within about three hours.
Following their ski trip, a couple of folks relaxed in the wood-fired sauna prior to enjoying a delicious meal of roast pork, homemade apple salsa, salad, veggies, and berry cobbler.
Woodstoves kept the camps’ log cabins warm at bedtime, and sleep was easy to come by after the active day.
Visitors to the area can opt to visit individual camps, or travel via ski or dog sled from camp to camp. Trails can be traveled between Medawisla Wilderness Camps, West Branch Pond Camps, and Little Lyford Pond Camps. All camps are open to the public. Dog-sledding trips and guiding services can be arranged with local guides, and AMC can assist in making those arrangements. For more information, check out www.outdoors.org/lodging or call 466-2727.
Rob Burbank is the Public Affairs Director for the Appalachian Mountain Club in Pinkham Notch. He can be reached at rburbank@outdoors.org.
