Mid-January thaw left Flagstaff Lake looking tropical. Bigelows still stand tall.

It could have been the anticipation of Valentines Day where even the snow fleas were a little giddy. Or it could have been the fresh new snow hiding any evidence of a January thaw that turned Flagstaff Lake to a Caribbean Sea. But no, the wind that day was from a higher force. Flagstaff Lake Hut, one of Maine Huts and Trails’ four backcountry huts, has been open for the winter season as of mid December. This winter has proven to be far superior to our past snowless seasons. There are several ways we can count this: A. We don’t have to take our skis off to cross Long Falls Dam Road (or Damn Long Road) on the way to Poplar Hut. B. No one is frantically elated over only an inch of new snow. C. the snowman that Anne (a furiously funny Flagstaff Lake hut crew member) built is several feet tall and has remained standing for a respectable amount of time.

Flagstaff Hut Crew (Anne, Nick, Leah and Tim) paddling one mid-winter’s day.

But back to the wind. It drew us out of our bunks in the staff quarters early that morning. This was before alarms rang to signal a new day of a pancake flipping, pork brining, fire lighting and lake skiing. Today was the day where our Flagstaff crew would begin a somewhat epic quest. This was different than the other quests we have undertaken during the season: the quest for perfect sandwich bread or the quest to ski to the yurt or the quest to win the most cribbage games (Tim, our resident lobster man, plumber, and chef is usually always victorious).  Today we unearthed our steadiest canoe from the bunkhouse snowbank. With Nick (a full-time crew member with a part-time hobby in consuming several bags of spinach each day) as our mostly fearless leader the crew grabbed the PFDs and paddles and other essential safety tools. Today we began paddling with only one thing in mind. Somewhere hidden in the mountains of western Maine is the secret to eternal youth. Follow the wind they say.

Were we successful? Absolutely. Come to Flagstaff Lake Hut and we promise to let you in the on secret.

I like to re-imagine Katy Perry’s song ”Hot and Cold” as a song about winter hiking:

“I’m hot when you’re cold, I’m out when you’re in, I ski while you sit, have fun in the winter.”

Okay, so my altered lyrics are unlikely to become a huge pop music hit any time soon, but I thought I’d put together some advice on hiking and skiing in cold weather in hopes that this info would be a hit with our guests!

Getting dressed:

Sue, who works in the office, hiked up to Stratton Brook when it was 20 below zero (not counting windchill) and, upon arrival, announced “I’m too warm!” The moral of this story? If you’re properly dressed, the cold shouldn’t hold you back. Of course, -20° is pretty unusual even for Western Maine, so you’ll probably be okay without a one-piece snowsuit like Sue’s. What should you wear? Layers!

On top: I recommend a synthetic or light wool base layer, a fleece and a windproof jacket. Always, always have a hat, and I never leave the building without a buff (neck wrap) or scarf. Sunglasses are nice if you’re skiing (they’ll help prevent tearing up on the downhills). And a good pair of waterproof mittens will serve you well (pick up a pair of handwarmers or toe warmers if you tend to have really cold hands and feet). In general, mittens are warmer than gloves, but this is also a matter of personal preference.

On bottom: I go with running tights (to about -5, including windchill) or a base layer and windproof pants/snowpants (when colder than -5). Good, clean socks will help keep your feet warm. A medium-thickness wool/synthetic blend is usually a good choice to balance warmth, comfort and blister-prevention. If you’re not in ski boots, it’s a good idea to wear waterproof hiking boots and gaiters. The gaiters will help prevent snow from melting down the tops of your boots.

And remember the golden rule: NO COTTON. Once you start to sweat, cotton will stay damp, which means you will chill much more quickly. If you’re heading out for a whole day, it’s also a good idea to bring an extra fleece if the weather changes.

Snacking and packing:

First, stay hydrated. If you haven’t done any winter travel outside, be warned: water freezes pretty quickly in a Nalgene! Depending on the temperature, it’s a good plan to follow one or all of these steps:
1. Fill your bottle with hot water.
2. Insulate it. (A wool sock will be just fine!)
3. Store it carefully. If you’re not going far, just place it upside down (this will help keep the top from freezing shut). If you’re going to be out all day, put it well inside your pack or even inside your jacket.

Finally, pee when you have to. Your body expends a lot of extra energy keeping all that waste fluid warm, so it’s better to stop and pee rather than hold it until you get to the hut.

Winter snacking isn’t too tricky, but I would recommend picking foods that don’t freeze easily if you’ll be out all day. Apples and oranges are okay for short trips, but apple-sicles (apples that have become popsicles) aren’t that great if you’re really hungry after three hours of hard skiing. Granola, granola bars and gorp are all excellent snacks for longer trips. On the other hand, if you enjoy eating Ben and Jerry’s during your hike, enjoy the season while it lasts! No matter your preference, eating and drinking will help you stay warm. You know how your car doesn’t run so well without gas? Well, your body doesn’t run so well without fuel, either.

If you forget everything else I said, remember these things:
1. Dress in layers. NO COTTON!
2. Plan well to hydrate and eat!
3. Keep moving! The longer you stay still, the colder you will get.

A few people asked us for the recipe and we thought we’d save ourselves the trouble of copying it down six times over by putting it on the blog. We hope you’ll forgive our laziness when you’re sitting down to a hot bowl of this stew alongside a loaf of fresh bread for dinner.

Prep time: 75 minutes
Serves 10-12

4 lbs hot Italian sausage
2 large onions (about 4 cups chopped)
3 cloves garlic
2 carrots
3 sticks celery
2 bunches kale
10 potatoes (or a mix of white and sweet potatoes)
8-10 cups water or stock
2 teaspoons bouillon (omit if using stock)
Crushed red pepper
4 bay leaves
3 tablespoons oregano
2 teaspoons thyme
12 oz mushrooms

Slice sausage into coins (pieces ½” or so long). Saute until browned. While sausage is browning, chop vegetables. Add onions, garlic, carrots, and celery to sausage. Cook on medium-high heat until onions are translucent, stirring occasionally. Remove the ribs from the kale and tear it into pieces no larger than a deck of cards. Wash kale.

When onions are ready, add potatoes, kale, and enough water to cover the solid ingredients. Add bouillon and spices. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cook the stew for 30 minutes to an hour. Add mushrooms 10-15 minutes before serving and continue to cook. Season with salt and pepper and serve. (If you have it, chopped parsley is a nice garnish, or serve with parmesan cheese.)

Makes 1 loaf; approximately 2 hours.

2 cups hot water
1/3 cup honey
2 teaspoons salt
2 ½ teaspoons yeast
¾ cup oats
2 cups white flour
2-2 ½ cups wheat flour

1. Place the oats in a large bowl and pour half of the water over them. Let stand about 5 minutes to soften the oats. Meanwhile, combine the rest of the water, honey, and salt, and yeast together in a small bowl, and let stand until the yeast is dissolved and beginning to bubble, 5 – 10 minutes.

2. Add the yeast mixture to the oats, then add the white flour, and beat vigorously with a wooden spoon for 2 to 3 minutes. Continue beating as you gradually add the whole-wheat flour. Add just enough whole wheat flour to make a stiff, heavy, sticky batter – it should not be thick enough to hold its shape outside the bowl.

3. Pour batter into a greased loaf pan and smooth the top with wet fingers. Cover and let rise to the top of the pan, about 1 hour.

4. While the loaf is rising, preheat the oven to 400°F. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, until browned on top and pulling away from the sides of the pan. Turn out of the pan and cool on a rack. Let cool 2 to 3 hours before slicing; cool completely before bagging.

It is to grow in the open air and to eat and sleep with the earth.”

— Walt Whitman

Ellen at Stratton Brook here, I’ve been putting together a pamphlet of nature readings to have on hand at the huts for school groups and other visitors. It’s pretty much the perfect activity for a chilly winter day: sit inside and find intriguing or inspirational material to share! I’d love to add favorite quotations and inspirations from our visitors. If you’ve got a favorite nature quotation (or a book recommendation for our library), email me at strattonbrook@mainehuts.org, or you could share it on our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/mainehuts).

“The mountains are calling, and I must go.” – John Muir

“It is not so much for its beauty that the forest makes a claim upon men’s hearts, as for that subtle something, that quality of air that emanation from old trees, that so wonderfully changes and renews a weary spirit.”

Early winter snow storms produced the perfect backdrop for a New Year’s Eve Weekend Trip to Maine Huts and Trails. Of course when booking this trip in late August, one never knows what to expect in terms of weather and conditions in western Maine for the months to come. Forty Boston friends and I were prepared for anything yet pleasantly surprised to find ideal cross-country skiing and snowshoeing conditions right from the trailhead. Snow covered trees lined the back-country trail system; a few remnant bird nests from last summer were visible under a blanket of snow.

The trek to Flagstaff Lake Hut by ski is just long enough to appreciate the hefty pack on your back, yet short enough to ensure a 2 p.m. trailhead arrival will get you to the hut in ample time to unpack and relax before the staff announce dinnertime. With Flagstaff Lake and the nearby Bigelow Mountains as the backdrop, I can’t think of another place quite as comfortable, serene, and tranquil as Flagstaff Lake Hut. The staff were incredibly accommodating, enthusiastic, and passionate. The meals were scrumptious and the hot showers were blessing after each day of outdoor fun. To help us ring in the New Year, the staff even went so far as to create a makeshift ‘ball’ to drop at midnight. The most challenging part of the trip was trying to stay up until midnight!

It was an extraordinary weekend filled with fun, friendship, and festivities! In the end, each of us was left with a better appreciation for the peacefulness and beauty of winter. And we thank Maine Huts & Trails for providing us with an opportunity to explore this wilderness area in a sustainable and environmentally sensitive way!

Sincerely,
Michele Grzenda
Lincoln, MA

We had our first double birthday celebration at Stratton Brook! Twins Clementine and Finn celebrated their tenth birthday with a lemon pound cake. Our reservations staff sneakily told hut crew about this birthday, so crew and guests all got to enjoy the looks of surprise on Clementine and Finn’s faces.

The next morning they had a birthday breakfast of French toast, and received the gift of a beautiful blue sky day to snowshoe back to the trailhead. Happy Birthday Clementine and Finn!

The winter cold has not stopped the visitors from coming! The Stratton Brook Crew was delighted to have our youngest-ever guest a few days ago. The Favreau family came in for the night and brought their three-month-old daughter, Sylvie. Sylvie, of course, worked very hard to get up the hill.

I bet some of you are jealous; I’ve occasionally found myself wishing someone would pull me up the hill! I would be especially pleased if I got to wear a stylish, green and toasty warm cocoon.

Sylvie braved the cold and provided many hours of entertainment for the hut crew and guests. It must be a tough life, being trucked all over the Maine woods in a pulk and then spending the evening being cooed over in a cozy backcountry lodge. Way to go Mom and Dad for pulling baby and gear up the hill! We were happy to host all of you!

View of the Bigelows

View of Sugarloaf Mountain

Today, dear reader, I’m excited to share some pictures of our first overnight hut guests! This post is a bit belated because the holiday week was so busy. The first few weeks we were open has blended into one long day in my head and we were kept hopping all day long, so I barely stopped to enjoy the view!

However busy the crew may have been, I’m confident that our guests enjoyed a relaxing holiday week. Our first hut guests came on Christmas Eve Eve (Dec. 23rd), bearing gifts of Bananagrams and books of Christmas carols. Both activities were fun and not too raucous! They generously left both for future hut guests to enjoy. We enjoyed a great Christmas Eve breakfast of frittata. A few of our guests enjoying their breakfast…

Christmas was great! Former Executive Director Nicole Freedman and her extended family joined our other guests for a quiet hut celebration and a delicious roast chicken dinner. My family was visiting as well, and to appease my sister (who very gallantly embarked on her first ski lesson starting at the trailhead) we had our family’s traditional Christmas breakfast of sour cream coffee cake.

Don’t forget to put your snow shovel in the car!

Meanwhile, the weather deities kept sending more and more snow. Our valiant snowmen have been buried under a white blanket; only vague shapes remain. The ski trails are in pretty good shape, with a solid 2-3 foot base of snow in place. I hope you’ve all got your skis waxed and ready for a trip up to the hut. Looks like it’s gonna be a big one.

And from the downhill tracks:

I was powerless to resist the allure of the deep snow and the pretty gentle, mostly treeless downhill. Unfortunately, I did then have to go back up the hill. I can confirm that it is very difficult to go up that particular hill on classic skis, and that the powder is, in fact, thigh-deep. But! I had wanted adventure, and I certainly had it! I thrashed my way back up the hill on foot (again, kind of a mistake in racing boots, but still fun). Overall, it was excellent aerobic exercise, even if I was carrying my skis instead of wearing them.  I did put my skis on about midway up and regained some of my dignity. Mostly, though, I crashed around in deep powder until I got back to a snowmobile trail. Since it was early on a weekday morning, I deemed it fairly safe to proceed with caution, and found my way back to the wide, groomed and eminently skiable Maine Huts trail. The outing was an excellent mix of downhill and off-trail adventure, aerobic exercise, Vitamin D, and scenery.