The Bear Dogs Of Katahdin

The mother moose was standing by her three-week old calf. She gave me a cold hard stare and then laid her ears back. I could actually see the hair rise up on the back of her neck just before she put her head down and charged. Barely into my second month as a Baxter State Park ranger and a big animal was angry and running straight at me. She could kill me or cause serious injury with one flail of her hooves. This was surreal. I was a ranger, for Pete’s sake. How was I going to explain this in my weekly report? The Bear Dogs of Katahdin is Steve Tetreault ́s true account of his time spent as a ranger in Maine ́s Baxter State Park, a wilderness area of over 204,000 acres. In this collection of anecdotal stories, Steve describes his life as a new ranger in a strange place, meeting new people--and learning about his wild neighbors. If you are a lover of the outdoors in general, or perhaps Maine and Baxter State Park in particular, you will appreciate Steve ́s depiction of a park ranger ́s life from the point of view of a young and idealistic person.

Mount Katahdin, in Baxter State Park, is Maine's highest mountain. It is also the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail. Tucked away in the remote North Woods, it is an adventure seeker's paradise. Hiking, climbing, backpacking, snowshoeing, back-country skiing, and ice-climbing are among the activities pursued there; and there has a been a similar range in the ways people have met their demise on the mountain and in the park.Randi Minetor gathers the stories of these fatalities, from falls to exposure to cardiac arrest; and presents dozens of misadventures, including hunting accidents, lightning strikes, and even more than one suspicious death. It's a fascinating addition to the North Woods canon.

Today, more and more people travel with their pets, taking their beloved four-legged friends everywhere. Yet, it can still be sometimes difficult to find a park or hiking trail that's dog-friendly. Bangor Daily News outdoors columnist Aislinn Sarnacki presents 35 hikes around Maine that you can feel comfortable taking your dog on. Along with maps and color photos to detail the hikes, she includes practical information such as proper etiquette to observe with your canine companion and when it's okay to let your pet off the leash. She also rounds out with helpful suggestions on dog-friendly restaurants, hotels, parks, and beaches, so you and your furry friend can make the most of your time in the Maine outdoors.

Carrie Hunt's dogs are obsessed with bears. These 50 pound bundles of energy and courage routinely take on 400 pound grizzly bears - and win. For centuries, Karelian Bear Dogs have been famous in Russian and Finland for their bear hunting abilities. Carrie has taught these dogs a new trick, using their instinct and energy to steer problem bears away from trouble. As people and bears come together more and more frequently - in backyards, national parks, and wilderness areas - some bears are losing their natural fear of humans, endangering people's lives, and causing hundreds of thousands of dollars of property damage each year. If a bear cannot be taught to stay away from people, it has to be destroyed. Carrie, a bear biologist, has trained her unique canine team to teach wayward bears form Montana to Alaska a lesson they will never forget. These endearing dogs, as gentle and loving with people as they are fearless with bears, are bringing a humane solution to this modern dilemma, allowing people and bears to share the wilderness they both love.

Fully revised and updated, Hiking Waterfalls New England includes detailed hike descriptions, maps, and color photos for approximately 100 of the most scenic waterfall hikes in the region. Hike descriptions also include history, local trivia, and GPS coordinates. Hiking Waterfalls New England will take you through state and national parks, forests, monuments and wilderness areas, and from popular city parks to the most remote and secluded corners of the area to view the most spectacular waterfalls.

After a close friend died of cancer, middle-aged, overweight, acrophobic newspaperman Tom Ryan decided to pay tribute to her in a most unorthodox manner. Ryan and his friend, miniature schnauzer Atticus M. Finch, would attempt to climb all forty-eight of New Hampshire’s four-thousand-foot peaks twice in one winter while raising money for charity. It was an adventure of a lifetime, leading them across hundreds of miles and deep into an enchanting but dangerous winter wonderland. At the heart of the amazing journey was the extraordinary relationship they shared, one that blurred the line between man and dog. Following Atticus is an unforgettable true saga of adventure, friendship, and the unlikeliest of family, as one remarkable animal opens the eyes and heart of a tough-as-nails newspaperman to the world’s beauty and its possibilities.