It has been a challenge in recent years to get all “the boys” together.
Busy lives, health concerns and career changes have conspired to prevent the crew from gathering consistently to pursue other adventures.
Last week, with school out for the summer and schedules aligning, four members of our group of fishing and hunting buddies gathered for something different. We threw together the camping gear, hitched loaded up two boats and headed north.
Chris “linchpin” Lander of Orrington again took the organizational lead, proposing, scouting and then laying out the plans for a four-day trip to the North Maine Woods. Our destination was Penobscot Lake in Somerset County, close to the Quebec border.
Chris and his brother Bill Lander of Dedham rounded up their equipment and combined their expertise to facilitate a worry-free stay. Armed with a 10-man Coleman tent, a screen house, some tarps and cozy cots, we were guaranteed a dry and comfortable night’s sleep and respite from the bugs and the rain.
And, for the record, the bugs were tolerable. There were some blackflies, deer flies and horseflies, and a couple of mosquitos, but they didn’t impact us much.
Chris brought along two gas stoves and sufficient pans and utensils to whip up delicious burgers, W.A. Bean and Sons Red Hots, sausage, bacon, eggs and potatoes — and the requisite daily pot of coffee (that was Billy’s department).
Chris and Billy also generously offered the use of their trucks (I don’t own one), which enabled us to tow my new-to-me fishing boat behind Chris’ F-150, aka Shamu, and carry Billy’s boat in the bed of his Tacoma.
It is impossible to overstate their efforts, since our friend and former BDN colleague, John Holyoke of Brewer, also didn’t have much camping paraphernalia. We again came away appreciative and indebted to the Lander boys for taking care of so many details.
Their unselfishness and cooperative nature help explain the nature of our collective friendship.
We rolled out of Bangor on June 22 and made the requisite stop at Indian Hill Trading Post in Greenville, then headed to the North Maine Woods Twenty Mile Checkpoint.
Finally, we arrived at Penobscot Lake and set up within sight of the lake. John and I did what we could to contribute, despite not knowing how the tent, screen house and canopy went together.
Once everything was in place, we loaded up and launched the boats. John and I hadn’t fished together for a long time, so it was a special opportunity to relive some of our favorite memories, share a few jokes, and wet a line.
Since his departure from the BDN two years ago, John has earned a master’s degree in education at UMaine. He’s now a teacher at Hermon High School.
That has made it more challenging to get John involved in hunting and fishing outings, because his availability during the school year is limited. We were thrilled to have him along, especially since he missed our North Maine Woods bird hunting trip last October.
We returned to camp to find that Billy and Chris had problems with an overheating outboard motor, which had forced them to make a long and uncomfortable row back to shore.
It was a kick in the gut, since Chris and I had both purchased satellite communication units that allow us to send texts and emails to each other, and to our families back home. But they only work if you bring them with you.
I left my Zoleo at the campsite. As a result, Chris’ message: “Motor issues, running wicked hot,” had gone unseen.
Chris and Billy took it in stride. We sat down for a tasty meal of burgers and Red Hots, then sipped cold beverages around the fire ring. Discussion involved Plan B.
We figured we could take turns using my boat for trolling, but with a Honda four-stroke motor waiting in Chris’ barn in Orrington, they opted to make the 260-mile round trip to retrieve it on Friday morning. They never said another word about their misfortune or inconvenience.
John and I fished the morning, then laid low for a few hours after enduring the hot sun. Billy and Chris, who had sent a couple of update messages with Chris’ Spot-X unit, returned in time for an evening troll.
The Lander boys cashed in with the first and only keepers of the trip, one brook trout and one Arctic charr. I landed my first charr, a voracious five-incher, using my fly rod.
Supper consisted of ribeyes and potatoes, then the tired crew hit the sack by 10 p.m.
We were back in the boats after breakfast on Saturday. John picked up a quick Arctic char on a Little Cleo spoon shortly after our departure, but that was all we could muster.
The predicted rain arrived as we reconvened for lunch, after which the group retreated to cover. That allowed me to take a brief walk below the dam and land a brookie in the pouring rain.
We then hopped into the truck for the five-mile ride up to Long Pond to get the lay of the land. We agreed the Penobscot Lake setup was preferable.
Later, we braved the rain. John and I bailed after 90 minutes or so, while Chris and Billy trolled on.
Back at the campsite, John and I tried to get a fire going in the rain, but John’s year of Cub Scouts and my lack of camping skills left us literally choking on the smoke from damp wood and bunched up BDN papers. Billy and Chris arrived in the knick of time and got the fire going in earnest.
We feasted on a tried-and-true casserole of “Petey Pasta” — sort of a lasagna knockoff with elbow noodles — then retired to bed. The jokes were few, trailing off as we fell asleep, one by one.
It rained much of the night, but Chris’ expert tarp deployment kept us dry.
Billy awoke to find two sets of moose prints, likely a cow and a calf, in the muddy road. We think our snoring must have scared them off.
We chose to pack up on Sunday morning without going back on the lake. We were remarkably efficient breaking down the tent, screen house and shelter, and gathering up all of our stuff.
As always, we had shared lots of stories and more laughs than we could count. Nowadays, we have more to catch up on, but it was like old times.
Despite our desire to get together more often, we all realize it’s not easy to pull off. But we’ll still look forward to the next opportunity.
Chris drew a moose permit in Wildlife Management District 8 for the October bull week, so we’ll be setting our sights on another fun and successful hunt.