The Republican journal., 1911-07-06
A Fishing Trip
Henderson Pond in the Northern Maine
Woods.

1. house camp on 10 Mary lake, when
..,rically one was obliged to stay in
~. Tuesday morning dawned cloud
>. and fair, with every indication of
>, weather. 1t was decided to 60 to
,.r5erson 5 miles away for trout. At
n. with Gabe Hengstrom, Swede,
and by the way an all-around good fell
81 as guide, we started. Hengstrom,
5,r bis 'kennebec" strapped upon his
a.. containing provisions, bedding,
other things needful for the trip
whole outfit weighing close to 60 or
bounds, led the way at pace which
T-ed a tenderfoot like myself to step
10 keep him in sight. Our route
:. .Ae first three-fourths of a mile to
Pond lay through tract recently
stated by a forest fire which com
-.- at Nahmacanta lake about ten
away. burning a section from to
~=z width, coming around the head
.a-r tumcook lake to 10 Mary, which
uaI.y encircled before it was
-..l The house camp, THE Ant
p. as only saved by hard work, and
vlth the loss of some of its out
-5 dings. One has to see the re-
!. equately understand the abso-
r q caused by a forest fire. In
.-- sacions not only the timber but
d. IS burned, leaving only bare
ak. ri charred trunks where previ-
L.. Vas a magnificent forest. On ar
~~- 4r Mud Pond we launched our
.,s and padded up the lake for one
re- tl the Pratt brook up which We
.- re- fourth of a mile. We had
,r entered the stream when we
init upon a flock of ducklings about the
L, . robins. 1t was amusing to OBJ
.g5 their tactics in getting out of our
Il. AT first they almost seemed to
llea the water for few rods in
nh aaste to get out of our reach, and
sup-i that was surprising. Then
p. would dive and swim near the bot
n " the opposite direction, as we could
!. as We passed over them, finally
.-rg TO the surface behind US ard out
tsa.u way.
.aaIGg out our canoe, we struck the
\. through forest of mixed growth of
.r wood, spruce and hemlock, with oc-
szr41v pine, and by the way, in our
sa9r plnes are far more plentiful and
.r than you will see here. In this
En.g. ringing lower and middle 10
H. axes. are many Norway pines,
E4gt as an arrow, from so to rs feet
eight with tuft of branches near
a1. These trees are about 6 to 10
Tvs Iiameter, and are estimated to
one hundred to $50 years old.
b. 5rger have fallen victims to the
-4n9u' 5 axe. From here on our
constant ascent to Henderson,
shout 16-hundred feet higher
I Mary, and about 1000 feet above
After travelling little more
miles Hengstrom laid down his
.-' with the remark that eve
Way 'oop' -; here is spring
viii get some 'vawter'." He
more than he expected. He
w 9n a smooth stone and sat down
later nearly to his arm pits,
'o his surprise and my amuse-
y little farther up the trail,
7 8ca. we could see Mud pond, 10
ar fnadumcook and North Twin
in the distance smoke from
It Millinocket; and also that
Has imminent, and now it was
whether we could reach camp
BIZ shower overlook US. We had
ned Henderson when the rain
III torrents. We found our
-- iIlled with water, which we
Eed to bail out before crossing
s5- rhree-fourths of a mile to the
lS IN our right arose old katah-
n "ase summit was enveloped in
"f lnky blackness, and on our left
4 aoma-shaped 10 Mary Mountain.
ll. heir tops and athwart the sky
Shed the vivid lightning, followed by
Ds INSTANT and deafehing peals of
3@1et
4 4 was a magnificent sight; but,
A1cr+ TO the skin, with no way of
4 ming he fury of the storm, condi-
@sre not favorable for our enjoy
the grandeur of the scene and sur
iMEs Like Caesar on the banks of
HuWcon, eve plunged Onto the
~ crossed and after a hard pull
"5a afely at the camps, and lost no
getting under cover. Opening
loor Of the main camp we found
E' IN dlsorder.A can containing sugar
son the floor with its contents spilled,
tneT articles from shelf strewn
& and hole through the roof, which
covered with .hemlock bark. At
We thought it the work of lightning,
COULD ind no splintered timbers, and
At loss to account for it until
'a Inspecting it closely solved the
very, Our visitor had been prowl-
'ars cat Tor Fisher, which had left
81 his fur in the aperture. The
VET having passed, the guide built
5 around which we partially dried