This past weekend I traveled north and ended up in the most northern part of the State of Maine; it is known as “The Big Twenty”. The Big Twenty, located in the western part of northern Maine, it is a part of the North Maine Woods which is a working timberland managed by Irving. If you are looking to get away from the hurried pace of a metropolis, this is the place to do it. We saw more wildlife than vehicles as we traveled the hundreds of miles of gravel roads of the North Maine Woods; it was an exhilarating experience.

I traveled north at the bequest of Master Chef and experienced Northwood’s fly fisherman Richard Bartlett. Richard has been fishing the North Maine Woods for over twenty years. His breadth of experience and knowledge of this area was evident as he took me to streams that were covered with rocks and pools that held the spunky Maine Native Brook Trout. The experience was invigorating and calming in the same breadth as I walked up streams to discover what was in store for me.

Thursday….

Thursday started in Southern Maine, and after seven hours of driving, we arrived at the Dickey Checkpoint of the North Maine Woods (Delorme’s Maine Atlas, Page66, D3). It was around 6:00 PM when we arrived. A large automated gate blocked our entrance to the North Maine Woods. Richard approached the gate house to make the arrangements for our entry into the woodland and I followed. The area looked desolate. No one seemed to be around.

As Richard knocked on the locked door and I peered through a window, we heard a loud voice streaming from above reminiscent to that of the voice of the wizard in the movie The Wizard of Oz. “Can I help you?” the voice requested. Richard looked to the sky as if responding to a request from the heavens and answered “We are trying to register for the North Maine Woods”. The voice replied “I can’t hear you have to pick up the microphone”. Richard looked around but could not see it. “It’s in the box to your right!” the mysterious voice instructed. We were being watched by two remote cameras adjacent to the gate. We then were instructed to return to the Little Black Check Point (DMA, p66, D3) to register. The Dickey Checkpoint is now automated for most of the year and visitors must register at Little Black except during the deer and moose hunting seasons.

After registering and paying the entrance fee ($13 per night per person to camp) at Little Black Checkpoint, we were admitted to the woodlands. Campsites are available on a first come first serve basis. They are not reserved for you at the check point; you must take what is available once you drive in. Our destination was for campsites around The Big Twenty (DMA, p66, A2). We traveled the gravel roads at speeds of forty five to fifty miles per hour. The gravel roads are well maintained for the logging trucks that must travel them. The gate keeper had told us to keep an eye out for two ladies from Kentucky. They had gone into the North Maine Woods for a two hour drive and had not yet returned after five hours.

After traveling ten miles from the checkpoint, we crested a hill, and I noticed what appeared to be a car stopped in the middle of the road a mile away. I slowed my vehicle to investigate. The closer I got, I started to realize that the vehicle was actually moving. I slowed and rolled down my window. There were two women smiling as I approached. “Are you girls from Kentucky?” I asked. “The gate keeper is getting a little worried about you!” I explained. “Oh, were just tooling around trying to keep the gravel down. It is so nice of you boys to stop and check on us. We’re just trying to get a glimpse of some wildlife. You boys are so nice to stop and see how we are doing. We’ll make our way out of here just fine!”

I left the two women feeling assured that they knew where they were and how to get to the gate by 9:00PM. The gate is closed for the evening at that time. No one in, and no one out, unless you have an emergency that is. Then you will have to summons the gate keeper by some sort of communication device that enables her to open the gates remotely. Technology has even entered the Maine North Woods.

As we made our way along the gravel roads of the Maine North Woods to The Big Twenty, we came to our first wildlife sighting. It occurred while making our way around a corner of the road; a moose was running straight towards our vehicle. I slowed down, I almost stopped, but the moose veered off onto to an abutting road just left of us. “I had better get my wildlife eyes on”, I said to Richard. While working in Yellowstone National Park under a work-study grant, I had become accustomed to being on the look out for Moose, Bison and Elk. It was time for me to put that experience to work again.

After another five miles past underneath us, and as we crested another hill, I noticed a black spot to the right of the road. It was perfectly still. It resembled the silhouette of a wild bore. The silhouette remained still. I mentioned the sighting to Richard as we approached from a mile away. The closer I came, the more it looked like a wildlife sign that someone had put up. Then, the sign dashed into the road and began a hundred yard dart away from us. It then jumped into the woods. At that point it became apparent that what had appeared to be a sign was actually a large black bear.

Richard Bartlett has been told, on previous visits, that the wildlife is attracted to the roads because of the salt used during the winter months. Electrolytes are an essential part of their diet. And they, like us, like salt. As the trip progressed, we would see many more animals licking the roads including field mice, rabbits, deer and foxes.

The first campsite we approached appeared to be taken. It was a double site that two parties can stay on. A tent was on one half of the site and a camper on the other. We then traveled down the “Gravel Pit” (DMA, p66 ,C1) but the campsite at that location was also taken. On the way out we noticed a deer and another moose. At this point our vehicle to wildlife ratio was three to four. We had come across one deer, two moose and a bear. We had also come across two parked vehicles and one moving vehicle. The wildlife out numbered the vehicles, and vehicles the were underway were scarce, but it was only Thursday evening and we expected the weekend to be busy.

We finally settled on a sight that was close to The Big Twenty (DMA, p66, A2) but not actually in it. We set up camp, positioned tarps over the picnic table, and started a smudge pot fire to deter the black flies from ravaging us. Richard explained to me that a smudge pot fire is one that is very smoky; I have nooo problem with that! The insects were kept at bay by the fire’s smoke and the lower evening temperature that prevailed. Even thought the Little Black was less than one hundred feet to us, we were too tired to fish. We ended the day with thoughts of the excitement to come and I had a hard time sleeping. I attributed my insomnia to two things. First, I was thinking of all the water we would transverse in the next couple of days. Second, it was still fairly light outside when we turned in at 9:30PM. This is truly the Maine North Woods, its day light hours are reminiscent to that of southern Alaska. Sleep finally came to me and I awoke late the next morning around 7:00 AM.

Join me tomorrow to see what Friday had in store for us as we make our way to The Big Twenty and trash around for spunky native Maine Native Brook Trout…….

Be safe and have fun fishing!