Congratulations, you are Maine’s newest Registered Guide #67

I recently fulfilled one of my goals, and reflecting upon how and what I needed to do to finalize it made me want to blog about what it takes to become a Registered Maine Guide.

Sometime back, I began to look into what was needed to become a Maine Guide. The state does not just license anyone, you must have a knowledge in a variety of areas and not only do you have to pass written exams, but the practical and oral are equally as important. So, in preparation, I began to research if there were any schools or training sessions that I could attend to sharpen my skills and prepare me for the testing process. TC was right there with me and was equally interested in sitting in, not only to sharpen her skills, but to get more knowledge in areas where she felt she needed more information. Our research came up with a company called Fins and Furs in Skowhegan, Maine. Carroll and Lila Weare own and operate the service and they just so happened to have a guide’s school coming up in our town this past February. The training ran from Thursday morning until Sunday afternoon. When we got there, we met with Carroll and with the other attendees who all settled in for what would be an intense learning experience. During the time we were there, we learned about map and compass and how to find bearings, how to determine contours and how to determine inlets and outlets of ponds and lakes. We also went through what we needed to study in the law books and how to prepare ourselves for the oral exam as well as what they call the cat event. Now, the cat event can be almost anything where the examiners lay out an event that you as the guide would have to respond to. That could be anything from a lost person in your party and what you would do to find them, or you may be guiding a party down the river and their canoe upsets and someone is injured. You have to take charge of the situation and handle each event accordingly. In some instances, you may not have cell phone or satellite service. You are it and you must act!

Then, there are other parts to prepare for. The Maine Inland Fisheries and Wildlife is the agency that oversees Maine Guides and does all the testing and licensing. You have to know species of animals and fish, and how to navigate with and without a compass and also how to read a topo map. Carroll did a great job of getting me prepared for my testing and TC also commented that she learned a lot of important and useful information from the class. Now, it was up to me to prepare and know when it was right to apply for the exam.

The next hurdle was that in order to apply, you had to have taken a basic first aid CPR course. TC and I went through that and got our certification. We then went one step further and took a wilderness first aid course which was really intense. TC pointed out that it was going to be very helpful for my cat event scenario, and it truly was.

Well, the time came and I completed my application and submitted the form with the required information. I expected to hear back in about a month which would give me further time to study and prepare. Oh contraire, I got a letter back within a week telling me that I had an appointment with the Guides Examiners the following week. From that point on, everything seemed to be a blur. I studied and studied and at some point found myself where I was not absorbing what I was studying. Thank goodness for Lila and Carroll, because I would email them questions I had and they would get right back to me with answers. The night before the exam, I remember emailing a question and Lila got back to me and explained that I should just breathe and relax and things would be fine.  I always remembered that and went back to that advice on a couple of occasions the day of the exam.

Exam day came and I presented myself at the appointed time and place. I was met by a lady who asked if I wanted to take the written exam first. It took me about 45 minutes to complete. There were 100 questions on a variety of things that I might see or run into down the road. Once done, they checked it and I passed, therefore, I was moving on. The two examiners asked me to follow them into a room and closed the door behind me. They asked me to take a seat at a table directly across from where they were sitting. They informed me that my first order of business would be to show my map and compass proficiency. They passed me a topo map and told me that they wanted me to locate the westerly inlet of a pond they gave me the name of and then, they wanted me to go from there to the outlet of another pond. They wanted the true north, magnetic and back magnetic bearing from one to the other. They also wanted the distance. The kicker here was that there is a caveat to Map and compass and the cat event. If you don’t pass one or both, your interview stops and you fail, thus having to come back and retake the test.  So that was in my mind, as well as the fact that you only have fifteen minutes to do all the map and compass work. Once I had completed that set, they asked for my work and what I got for numbers. I provided all to them and we then moved on to the next set. This time, they wanted me to go from the outlet of a pond in the first scenario to another pond and they wanted the true and back magnetic bearing for that. I worked that out and gave them what I thought were the answers. There was some discussion and then they asked me to sit back down at the table. Waiting for the hatchet to drop, they finally spoke and said relax you passed. That was music to my ears. They then said that they were going to go into the Cat event. My event involved me guiding a party of three with a mother, son and father and the mother and son came up missing. How was I going to proceed? As I was answering, it was clear that they were going to roll play with me and interject things to try to change my mind. At some point, they said they had heard enough and they moved on to the oral exam. They must have asked me 25 questions. One in particular was that I ventured into a pond to do some fishing and used my compass to get in. I fished all day and as darkness drew near, I decided to leave. It was a starlit night and the moon was very bright. I reached for my compass and it was not there. How was I going to get out? Well, I answered as many questions as I could and then they asked me to name several species of fish for them. I went through them and they said ok, we are going to tally up your score and would like you to wait outside. I felt like the wait was long, when in hindsight, it was no more than four minutes or so. At last, I heard the door open and they asked me to come back in. As I was entering, one of the examiners asked me how I thought I did. I replied I think I did ok, but it is up to you. He smiled and reached out his hand and said the magic words I wanted to hear “You passed, congratulations, you are Maine’s newest Guide.  I was elated, relieved, spent and everything else, but I had done it. Thanks to TC, Carroll and Lila and also Penny Kern who had instructed us in first aid and wilderness first aid.

Well, they led me out to the area where the lady asked if I wanted to pay for my license. I said, yes mam and she printed it and I wrote her a check. She passed me a Registered Maine Guide patch and sticker and congratulated me.

All the way home, I reflected upon what it took to get to where I was and it was all worth it.  Now, the next chapter in my life begins, my guiding in the Maine Woods. But first, I think I will take some time and plan it out and in the meantime, TC and I will do a little more fishing.

Mother Nature Reins Supreme #66

From fly fishing to “ice” fishing, all within twenty four hours, how can that be? I experienced that around Memorial weekend when TC, my son and his girlfriend decided to spend some time in the North Maine Woods fishing. Now Ryan and Amanda flew in to our little town and the next day we drove up to what would be our destination, Red River Camps, which is right in the heart of the Deboulie Region of Northern Maine. Jen Brophy owns and runs the camps which are nestled on Island Pond. These camps are quite a classy place. As we drove in, we found Gloria prepping some of the camps for the incoming visitors. She told us where to park our stuff and then we decided to try our hand at fishing. If you have been keeping track of the 2015 fishing season in Aroostook County, you know that out of all the days we have had to fish, 95% of them have been quite windy. Not that good for fly fishing, but that was not our biggest hurdle during this trip. I will get to that shortly. The Deboulie region is full of nice little ponds full of brookies, some fairly large. We fished that afternoon and evening, and although not successful, we enjoyed it. Ryan and I planned to get up early the next morning and try Island Pond. When we rose, we were shocked to find the ground no longer green but white and the snow was still coming down. The wind was howling and the temps had dropped dramatically. Jen, trying to make the most of it, had jokingly put up some Christmas lights on a little fir tree in the yard. It looked like a winter wonderland and the pond color looked like a thin sheet of ice. Not being denied, we waited until the snow stopped and when most of it melted away, we then set out for some more fishing in the afternoon.  Unfortunately, the wind kept us from fishing the ponds, so we decided to do a little stream fishing and give Amanda and Ryan a chance to put the waders on.

Red River Camps has two types of plans you can take. The first is the American plan where you are treated to three meals compliments of Gloria’s cooking and believe me, the meals are delicious. The second is the housekeeping plan where they have cabins equipped with all the necessities to cook your own meals. We opted this time to bring our own food, however we asked Jen if we could have dinner with them the last night and she was more than happy to accommodate us. So that evening, we dined with them and Gloria and Jen prepared steaks for the group, along with all the fixings. During the evening, we sat with a couple from New Hampshire. The lady told us that her father had recently passed away and had been coming to the camps for many years. He had told her that Island Pond was one of his favorite spots. That being said, she was there to experience it and his last wishes were to have some of his ashes spread over his favorite fishing hole on Island Pond, which she was going to do the very next day.

It’s always hard to spend the last night in camp knowing that you are going home. This one was even harder knowing that Ryan and Amanda would be boarding the plane soon. Time seems to go by fast when you are enjoying what you have around you. We set out for home, but not before we stopped to allow a little time for some more stream fishing. Amanda, although from Massachusetts, had attended the University of Maine at Orono, and during all her travels, she had never seen a moose. So that was on her bucket list for this trip. Fortunately, we were able to oblige. On the way out, just off on a side road, there stood the giant beast. It was looking straight at us, and standing there just posing for her. She took a number of photos and seemed happy that she had finally seen one.

If you are looking for a relaxing location to either do some fishing or just to put your feet up and relax, I encourage you to look up Red River Camps and fire off an email to Jen. You won’t be disappointed and hopefully, you won’t run into some snow.