2011 Recent News & Updates

• Guiding full-time since 1980, Garrett and Alexandra have recently semi-retired; though you will note that we still do select trips and continue to teach people of all ages some of the time-honored woods living skills we have been privileged to learn and practice over the decades.

• From May to October you can find us working as assistant Managers at the Borestone Mtn. Audubon Sanctuary in nearby Elliotsville, Maine, 4 miles up the road from our North Woods Ways barn/office. Borestone Mtn. is a family-friendly mountain climb with outstanding views of Onawa Lake and the rolling wooded country that surrounds Barren Mtn. and the Appalachian Trail. Borestone is in a Sanctuary of nearly 2,000 acres of forest that has been undisturbed by logging for over one hundred years. We are an old-growth oasis; truly a sanctuary for those who love wild lands. Here too are the two magnificent Adirondack-style log lodges built in the early 1900’s by the R.T. Moore family. Thanks to his generosity, Maine Audubon Society now owns and beautifully maintains these beautifully crafted lodges. They can be rented: www.maineaudubon.org, 207-781-6180 x228 Bos Savage. See you at the Sanctuary!

         For a superbly written and photographed article, see the August, 2010 issue in “Maine. the magazine”, Borestone Mountain, Lodging at the edge of God’s country, by Dennis Gilbert; photography by Jarrod McCabe.

2010 Recent News & Updates

• 2010 Trip on the Allagash Wilderness Waterway!! Check it out - http://www.nrcm.org/allagash_trip_2010.asp
  
  

• Here’s a cool video our friends who run Woodsmoke just made from our winter trip we just guided Jan-Feb. 2010 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Swe3NhfRijY.

• NRCM's documentary film, "Protecting the Nature of Maine: Fifty Years of the Natural Resources Council of Maine," will be broadcast on MPBN three times during the month of February:

  • Saturday, February 6 at 11:00 a.m.;
  • Sunday, February 7 at 1:30 p.m.; and
  • Sunday, February 28 at 10:30 a.m.

  Don’t miss the Maine Public Television premiere of this inspiring documentary film that features some of Maine’s most important environmental victories and the people who helped to make them possible.

  The film "Protecting the Nature of Maine: Fifty Years of the Natural Resources Council of Maine," will air on the stations of the Maine Public Broadcasting Network.

  The half-hour documentary was produced entirely in Maine and features stunning footage - from Rockport’s Beech Hill to Mt. Katahdin, Moosehead Lake, Acadia National Park and beyond. It also presents dozens of interviews with citizens across the state who bring the threats and accomplishments to life and remind us what can be achieved when concerned people come together for a cause.

  For a sneak preview, see the trailer and more at http://www.nrcm.org/NRCM_film.asp

  
  
  
• Our friends might want to pick up a copy of the January 2010 issue of Downeast Magazine. See, “Eat Like a Mainer” by Kathleen Fleury. See profile of Spring Creek Barbeque in Monson, Maine. Alexandra and Kermit frequently play there (see picture, pg.51) with their blind stray dog “Hawkeye” (also in picture). Garrett and Nancy and our good friend Rick Packard frequent the restaurant. (See pg. 45) Owners Kim & Mike Witham are phenomenal chefs and quite the characters! 
  
  
• Click here to see our special trips below!

Dear Friends of North Woods Ways - Semi Retired

In early 2009, after a fantastic 28 years of full time guiding together as North Woods Ways, we have arrived at a junction to gracefully ease off toward other interests and pursuits. The last few seasons of trip participation have reflected the current uncertain economy, and 2008 arrived in a manner that inspired Garrett to take a wonderful job as Assistant Director of Darrow Camp, a traditionalist canoe camp in Down East Maine. Alexandra joined three other friends for a five week canoe trip in the Nastapoka River and Richmond Gulf area of Quebec. And, we both signed on with Maine Audubon as Assistant Managers of the Borestone Mountain Audubon Sanctuary just a few miles up the road from our base of operations along the Big Wilson Stream. All these activities were, and are, unbelievably rewarding.

While the usual roster of canoe and snowshoe trips will no longer be listed, we are going to leave the North Woods Ways site up. (However, see the special trips below!) Look for occasional offerings through Maine Audubon (www.maineaudubon.org), our current workshops and slide show offerings, and special adventures as they arise. And by all means, come visit us along the trails or at the magnificent log lodges at the Borestone Mountain Audubon Sanctuary in Elliottsville, Maine. We can still be contacted through calling or writing: North Woods Ways, 2293 Elliottsville Rd. Willimantic, Maine 04443 (207) 997-3723, or by email: northwoodsways@gmail.com

Alexandra will be able to devote more time to music and performing, we’ll both continue to engage in writing and photography projects, as well as the usual cycle of annual symposiums which will continue to lure us out on tour. We are both available to teach workshops and give slide shows.

We wish to extend a heartfelt thanks to all of you who made our career so rewarding, full of friendship, and worth celebrating. It was a glorious run. Thank you.

Garrett and Alexandra Conover along the Big Wilson Stream, Maine, U.S.A

Special Trips:

- Winter Camping the North Woods Way: Friday, February 12, 2010 - 1 p.m. to Sunday, February 14, 3pm. Details Below:

Don't be left out in the cold! Come to Borestone Mountain Audubon Sanctuary to learn warm winter camping using traditional canvas tents, woodstoves, and toboggans. Join the famous "Winter Walkers" and registered Maine Guides, Garrett and Alexandra Conover, for this fun-filled weekend in the heart of the North Woods. Highlights include an introduction to winter camping skills, nourishing and gourmet trail foods, an overnight on Onawa Lake, ice safety, tracking and signs, telling time by the stars, and snowshoeing techniques.  Price includes meals beginning Friday night, camping equipment (not personal gear) and leadership.

• Elliotsville Friday, February 12, 1 p.m. to Sunday, February 14, 3 p.m.
• Led by Garrett and Alexandra Conover
• $395/member, $430/nonmember
• Limited to 10 participants