Flagstaff Hut Master, Ellen McDevitt, invites you and your family to join her for a special Mother’s Day weekend at Flagstaff Hut. Here is a posting with her personal invitation:

Question: What’s more fun than going to a hut in on Mother’s Day Weekend?

Answer: Going to a hut with tons of nature-oriented activities going on and a special Sunday morning treat for mom!

I am SO EXCITED for our latest, greatest event— Mother’s Day Family Weekend.

This is what’s going to happen:

1. Lessons about Aquatic Insects! Vernal pools! Wildflowers! Frogs and Spring Peepers! And more!

2. Experiential energy education from the Maine Energy Education Program!

3. Campfires! And storytelling! Paddling on Flagstaff Lake!

4. Your kids (or grandkids, or nieces, etc.) will put together awesome nature journals!

5. You’ll eat awesome healthy food that you don’t have to cook or hike in!

6. Everyone in your family will be able to enjoy spring in the Maine woods! While children and the young-at-heart will embrace the mud, and play with bugs, adults can enjoy a glass of wine on the patio, yoga on the screened porch, or a good book by the fire. Then everyone can take a hot shower, hang stuff up in the drying room, and enjoy a delicious hot meal.

7. Moms will enjoy a very special treat Sunday morning. The kids will participate.

I’m not sure I used enough exclamation marks to describe how excited I am.

In case you’re wondering about the logistical details, here they are:

Who: All families are invited. The activities will be aimed at students from 3^rd through 8^th grade, accompanied by a parent.

What: It will be a really fun, really educational, and slightly muddy weekend. We’ll explore the biodiversity of Flagstaff Lake, learn about Leave No Trace outdoor ethics, and more.

When: May 11-13, 2012

Where: Flagstaff Lake Hut. (2 miles from the trailhead on Long Falls Dam road)

How Much: Member adults pay $69 per day and non-members will pay $79 per day. Kids stay free when accompanied by their parents. Meals (including snacks) and lodging are included in that price. Registration is on a first-come, first-served basis, and space is limited.

Meals and Accommodations: We will be providing meals and snacks from Friday night to lunch on Sunday. We have running water, indoor toilets, and hot showers in the main lodge. Our sleeping accommodations are bunkrooms that sleep from three to eight people. We do not provide linens or bedding.

Recommended Packing List: Participants need to come dressed for time outdoors. This includes, but is not limited to, non-cotton clothing and extra non-cotton layers (including a complete change of clothes), weather-appropriate outdoor clothing (especially rain gear), a warm hat and gloves, sturdy waterproof boots, indoor shoes or slippers, a sleeping bag and pillowcase, and toiletries. We also recommend you carry a small first aid kit, at least 2 quarts of water per person, and a map. All these items should fit into a backpack that can be comfortably carried in to the hut.
Optional Items: Camera, reading material, shower towel.

3/30/12 – Another blog post from Ellen McDevitt at Flagstaff Hut:

If you dig back into the recesses of your brain, you might remember my blog post about the Three-Minute Shower Challenge. After a season of offering this energy-saving activity, I am proud to report that many of our guests have completed the challenge. We created a “Shower Challenge Wall of Fame,” and those who took a three minute shower were given the chance to add to the Wall of Fame. Sadly, the winter season is drawing to a close and it’s time to scrub that wall…so I’ve compiled a list of quotations from those posters. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to include all the artistic designs that accompanied these sayings!

3-minute shower = 3-minute bliss! (Pete and Leslie)
Conserve Water Queen! It’s good to save water! (Eva)
I took the 3 Challenge! (Sharon)
Konstantin (and pictures of various amoeba-like creatures)
YEAH! (Sue)
I did it! I completed a 3 minit shower. (Isla)
You Otter Try a 3 Min Shower! (This entry also had an adorable drawing of an otter)
We did it! How is it possible? Under 3 minutes! (Carol and Wanda)
Three minute shower challenge winner! (Jenny)
Approximate time: 2:12:03 (Joe)
I did it! The 3 minute shower! (Birken)
Too cold! Too hot! Just right! 3 minutes! What am I going to do with the other 2? Did you miss a spot? (Lauren and Josh)
G-FLO King of the 3 min. shower
tic tic tic…ding! (Melinda and Matthew)
Clean enough! (Becky)
Under 2 minutes but still stanky (Ben C)

If you took a three-minute shower at the hut, congratulations! Hopefully you got most of the stink off (poor Ben C…). And thank you for helping us save energy, especially in the winter, when the days are short and the solar power is limited. Hopefully we’ve made people a little more aware of how they can reduce their daily energy use.

Hope to see you at the hut this summer, when you can skip the shower altogether and jump in the lake instead!

Another blog post from Flagstaff Hutmaster, Ellen McDevitt:

That title sounds sort of like a children’s book, doesn’t it? Well, we were acting like 10-year-olds when we saw the critters today. After breakfast we saw this big guy:

And after dinner dishes were done, we saw this little guy:

He was poking around pretty slowly, so we got a good look at how his coat was changing color. I haven’t seen a moose in Maine yet this season, and I’ve never seen a snowshoe hare, so both sightings were pretty exciting for me!
Apologies for the mediocre photography. Now I’m off to start writing my best-selling picture book, Wake Up, Wake Up, It’s Spring.*

*Just kidding! I’m not exactly a budding novelist. But we are working on a Hut Cookbook which will be available for purchase, hopefully by this summer! I’ll keep you updated as work progresses.
- Ellen