We’re taking a resupply break at the field school today and made the trek to Presque Isle.  We just finished week 4 (of 6) of the spring semester with a trip on Mooseleuk Stream and the Aroostook River.  We did some fly fishing on the stream and I caught a beautiful 11″ wild brook trout.  We poled the whole way from Mooseleuk Lake to the Aroostook River, and our day on the upper section was marked by very strong winds.  If I was guessing I’d say the gusts were well over 50 miles per hour at times.  The wind knocked down a bunch of trees along the stream.  I was poling through a deadwater section when two large spruce trees, both over 100 feet high, were blown down.  One of them missed my canoe by a mere 10 feet.      The following day there were all sorts of strainers in the river.  I’m going to head back up there in June as all the strainers will be great trout habitat.

Wildlife sightings on the trip included moose, bald eagles, beavers, whitetail deer, muskrat, and a large variety of ducks and birds.  While we were at Mooseleuk Lake I took a sunset paddle by a large wetland, and the spring peepers were out in force.  The volume they generated was like a rock concert.  I could feel the canoe vibrating.  It was like nothing I’ve ever heard in the bush.

I’ll post more when I get home in June.  Enjoy the spring!