Maine Chapter Website

The 7th annual 100-Mile Wilderness Sled Dog Race is on Saturday February 4, 2012. Volunteers are needed the prior weekend (January 27-30) to help prepare the trails for the race. Local accommodations for volunteers are available as space permits. Stay at Little Lyford Lodge and Cabins and be among the first to enjoy the newly remodeled lodge and dining room. Intermediate cross country ski skills required. If you are interested in volunteering, please contact Peter Roderick.

Looking for a high adventure close to home this winter? Check out the “Edu Trips” offered by the Mount Washington Observatory. There are weekend workshops on mountaineering skills, climate change, outdoor photography, bringing science into the classroom, women’s mountaineering skills, glacial geology, and more. The best part? Your classroom is the top of Mount Washington!

No, this is not an app your mother invented to remind you to wash your hands! If you have every taken any sort of Wilderness First Aid course from SOLO, you will certainly remember that a SOAP note (Subjective Objective Assessment Plan) is used to document and monitor a medical emergency in the wilderness. The SOAP note has now come into the 21st century in the form of an app for your iPad, iPhone, or Android device. This ensures all steps are followed, employs visual schematics of the body with injury locations, allows the user to prioritize and tracks treatments, and produces a legible output that can be transfered as patient care is transfered. The app requires an annual subscription and is available on the SOLO web page. Read more about the app and its specifics!

Now you can get some of your favorite AMC publications for Kindle, Apple, and Nook devices. New AMC eBooks include “Katahdin: An Historic Journey”; “AMC Guide to Winter Hiking and Camping”; “Best Backcountry Skiing in the Northeast”; three books from the popular Best Day Hikes series (including guides to Boston, the Whites, Washington, DC); and two paddling titles, “Quiet Water New Hampshire and Vermont” and “Quiet Water New Jersey and Eastern Pennsylvania”. Starting in spring 2012, AMC Books will release many of its new books simultaneously in print and eBook format.

Time is running out to register for the 2012 AMC Annual Meeting- the deadline is Friday January 13th! The meeting will be held on Saturday, January 28, 2012 at the University of Massachusetts, Boston. There will be workshops and committee meetings as well as volunteer award recipient presentations during the day, and then a dinner, business meeting, and presentation in the evening. This year’s meeting will include a special celebration honoring retiring President Andy Falender. Registration information is available at this website. If you have any questions regarding the 2012 136th Annual Meeting, please call Cindy Martell, Event & Office Coordinator, at 617-391-6603, or e-mail her.

If you like scenic landscape photography of mountains, you are likely familiar with the Washburn Gallery. The mountaineer, explorer, surveyor, mapmaker, and photographer Brad Washburn captured spectacular images of the White Mountains, and the White Mountain Collection was donated to the Mount Washington Observatory. Prints of his photographs are for sale, at 20% off through January 31st. A holiday gift idea, perhaps?

Outdoor writer Jeff Romano will present a slideshow-illustrated talk showcasing favorite local hikes from his latest book, 100 Classic Hikes in New England. The book features 100 iconic “can’t miss” hikes many along the rocky coast of Maine and others deep in the Maine’s heartland. Sometimes called the most comprehensive and up-to-date hiking guide for all of New England, the book features color photos, maps, and descriptions of scenic trails for all levels of fitness and abilities. Romano’s talk in Holden is at 7pm on Wednesday, December 14th at Maine Audubon’s Fields Pond Center, 216 Fields Pond Rd, Holden, ME 04429, about 15 minutes south of Bangor. Parking is free and plentiful. This program is co-sponsored by Maine Audubon and the Maine Chapter of the Appalachian Mountain Club. For more information, download a flyer (144 KB PDF) or email Education Chair John Mullens or Audubon Naturalist Holly Twining. All events are free and open to the public.

Join experienced winter leaders Peter Broderick and Laura Flight on the evening of Tuesday December 13 for an introduction to clothing, gear, snow travel, and taking care of your self in the winter. Learn to keep warm, dry & functional. The workshop is designed to get experienced three-season trampers and those who would like to learn a few tricks ready for our winter hiking series. This evening workshop will be held at the Freeport Community Library at 10 Library Drive, Freeport, 04032. Please e-mail Laura Flight or call her at 215-5306 to register. This event is free and open to the public.

For more information, download a flyer (300 KB PDF) or visit our calendar page.

Looking to upgrade your gear? Like to see what’s out there? Max Neale, Review Editor at Outdoor Gear Lab and global traveler, rock climber, and mountaineer, will share his knowledge about the lightest and best outdoor gear on the market on Tuesday December 6. Sometimes lighter is better and less is more. A lighter pack reduces the strain on your body and allows you to have more fun, move faster, and be lighter on your feet. Max will bring a collection of the lightest, the best, and the best value outdoor gear and clothing so you can make your own hands-on comparisons. He’ll also share his strategy for buying good gear as cheaply as possible. The evening will include a slideshow of global rock and alpine climbing adventures. On Tuesday, December 6th join us for a potluck dinner (open to the public) just prior to Max’s talk at the Curtis Memorial Library, 23 Pleasant Street, Brunswick, 04011. The potluck dinner begins at 6pm; the presentation at 7pm. Bring a potluck item to share and your own dinnerware (plate, utensils etc.). Drinks will be available. For more information, please download a flyer (140 KB PDF) or email Meetings and Education Chair John Mullens. All events are free and open to the public.

The story is not new; the 1939 true tale of a 12-year old boy lost on Katahdin for nine days was penned into a book “Lost on a Mountain in Maine.” Read and re-read by thousands of Maine children, the story is harrowing with a happy ending. Seventy-two years later Fendler, now 84, teamed up with Maine author Lynn Plourde to produce a graphic novel using comic-book style illustrations to put the readers in Fendler’s shoes (his real ones were shredded on the rough terrain). If you enjoyed the first novel, check out this new version published by Down East Books entitled “Lost Trail: Nine Days Alone in the Wilderness”.