Maine Guide Shares Allagash stories in New Book

The cover of the book

“Through experiences of my own, I have discovered how to camp comfortably using old techniques mixed with a small collection of modern equipment. People who know me wonder how I stay alive, and why so many odd things occur around me. I don’t have a logical answer to these questions, but I do claim to enjoy the outdoors more than most, and I’m willing to try almost anything in the seclusion of my second home, the forests of Maine,” so says Jeffrey Howatt, Master Maine Guide.

With a witty voice and an upbeat attitude, Jeffrey Howatt relates many adventures on the Allagash Waterway, St. Croix, and Sandy Rivers spent among leading groups to enjoy the outdoors, taking people out camping,  and handling his math students. Among the stories are tips and tricks that can aid anyone going camping in the Maine wilderness, especially, as Howatt relates that help can be a day or two away.

“Maine’s abundance of nature offers thousands of ecosystems, each performing in their own private theater, which captures our interests and provides enjoyment free to those who seek it,” Howatt enthused.

Photo of the Author, Jeffrey Howatt

A moose swimming through the river

The tales are told in short form, with a new story every couple of pages, making this a good read on tired nights on the riverbanks. From telling about landing a trophy bass (or perhaps the bass landed itself) to reminiscing about a wallet lost down an outhouse hole, to near-death experiences and beautiful sunrises, Howatt brings the realities and beauties of Maine’s most remote locations to life. Each story is captivating, so it may be a good idea to set a timer to keep yourself from reading well after bedtime and missing the fiery sunrises the rivers of Maine have to offer.

There are frightful experiences, both real and imagined. A man thought there were venomous snakes, no species of which lives in Maine, on a Maine riverbank. Another nearly got lost in the woods at night. A young lady had an asthma attack going up a mountain. Howatt himself ended up with a fishing lure in his nose. These stories and more remind us to be careful of what we try and know as much of the possible hazards of an area where we plan to travel.

Group canoes chilling on the shoreline

Jeff Howatt with a big fish he caught

As far as humor, many of Howatt’s stories are chock-full of it. The lure story has a happy ending, and two men are sure to be laughing about their experiences now. There is also one about a coyote skull getting cleaned and a visitor wanting some of the “beef stew” cooking. One young man thought that deer and moose were the same species, even asking at what age does a deer turns into a moose. Yet another tells of a rather unfortunate bicycle incident, but details won’t be given here, as it would spoil the fun.

Howatt says, “I have met many challenges and observed great beauty traveling these areas. These lift my spirit: watching the mist come off a beaver bog on a cool summer morning only to be disturbed by a native brook trout leaping at a flying insect for breakfast, hiking to the top of a mountain in the moonlight to watch the sunrise and being visited by a peregrine falcon.”
    A ninth generation Mainer, Jeffrey Howatt teaches math in the same school district that he attended and where his grandmother taught. Like his grandmother before him he was graduated from University of Maine in Farmington. Howatt has paddled most of Central and Northern Maine rivers and hiked most of Maine’s mountains including the Maine section of the Appalachian Trail from inside the New Hampshire border to Mt. Katahdin.

---

​Shauna Holland provides writing, editing and social media assistance to Just Write Books. She lives in Durham, Maine (the youngest of three children). A published author-in-training, she sews role-playing costumes for a hobby and enjoys unpacking various strands of societal systems.