Trip to the Black Forest

Last Thursday I took off for the County (Aroostook, for the uninitiated) on Sahib, to go visit my woodlot and camp in the "Black Forest" before it's all thinned.  The logging operation has started and will last for a month or so.  I walked the lot with Bob the forester working with the Martin Forest Products crew and explained that my objective is to harvest with recreation and wildlife as secondary goals to forest health and income.  At first it was rather dismaying to see what I had wrought on what had seemed to me to be a "pristine" location, but upon reflection I realized that it was going to produce a better forest.  Bob cut me a slice off the butt of a spruce and determined that the plantation was about fifty years old, and that assuaged the guilt...the plantation was man-made and meant for harvest.

Above is a shot of the harvester as it undoes in ten seconds, what nature took fifty years to do.  I'm trying not to feel bad.

The trip was a lot of fun, despite the initial period of rain, which is an issue when you are on a motorcycle and sleeping in a tent.  Sahib did well despite the hot supper I fed him on the way up.  Trying to stay ahead of the weather and set up the tent dry; I pushed him to 75 mph (legal between Houlton and Bangor).  The manual cautioned about "...running the motorcycle at high speeds for long periods of time."  Well, they didn't specify how fast or for how long, but I have an idea.  When I stopped, I found him foaming at the mouth-frothy oil being blown out the air cleaner.  The rest of the trip was as mellow as the rest stop by the side of Madawaska Stream.  I enjoyed several great meals from Rita and Doug Anderson's kitchen and helped Doug with the new horse barn he is building.

Back in Westbrook, I hopped on another set of wheels and cycled out to see some motor-cross races with Bruce from Ernie's Cycle Shop.  One of the riders, Donnie, had worked at the shop when I did and was switching from downhill MTB racing to dirt racing.  That's Donnie leading here, on his way to a fourth place finish.

Is has flown off to L.A. to visit with her neice and new baby, and then is heading for a nephew's wedding in Virginia.  I am preparing for a trip to Flagstaff Lake with Nick.  More adventures to follow.  Cheers!