Winter walkers head deep into Maine woods

By Marty Basch

For their silver anniversary, Alexandra and Garrett Conover are following in the same snowy footsteps they took during their honeymoon 25 years ago. The couple isnt forgetting about the kids, either. Theyre taking scores along who will follow via the Internet as the intrepid, childless husband and wife snowshoe 200 miles across the frozen rivers and lakes of Maines remote North Woods.On Jan. 15, the couple took their first steps under sunny skies and 15 degree temperatures with dozens of well-wishers from school children to hearty outdoorsmen to walk the first mile on the thick, frozen ice.MJ Slattery and Andy Stewart, a pair of Enfield musicians who performed in a send-off concert the night before and who have traveled with the Conovers, were there.Its totally reasonable for them to do this type of trip, said Slattery. I never enjoyed the world of winter until I went out and enjoyed their trip.The Conovers pulled their lifelines to civilization in a pair of homemade wooden toboggans. After traversing the 40-mile-long lake, the skilled licensed Maine guides will travel on the 10,000 year old frozen winter highways once used by Native Americans and traders. The Penobscot and St. John will be the two major rivers the pair will use as their footpath to reach the small village of Allagash near the Canadian border two days before Valentines Day.Incredibly, theyve done this before. Their love of the outdoors stoked the fires of their winter of 1980-1981 honeymoon adventure. The next year, they reversed the journey and used different watersheds. If you think about our lives, we dont have office skills, but we do have skills in the woods, said the bespectacled Alexandra, 51, during a pre-trip interview.For nearly 20 years, theyve lived year-round in a tent outside Dover-Foxcroft in Willimantic with no running water or electricity.They are living proof that there are better ways that have been forgotten, said Stewart.The canvas 12-by-20 tent is a short walking commute to the offices of their guide service, North Woods Ways. They mostly guide snowshoe and canoe trips in Maine, but also lead trips into rugged Labrador. Writers too, they co-authored the out-of-print survival guide A Snow Walker's Companion set for an October re-release.Well see infinitely more tracks than animals in person, said bearded Garrett, 49. Fierce winds, brutal coldthe optimal temperature travel range is between 15 above and 15 below zeroand treacherous ice are potential pitfalls. The lions share of the journey is on frozen water, but the couple will have a pair of two-mile portages over land between waterways.The Conovers figure they will burn about 4,000 to 5,000 calories daily each. Two food caches along the way will augment their supplies. As for water, its under the ice. Chisel the ice and its theirs. A stove is stoked with wood cut with an axe. Made out of lightweight titanium, the stove weighs about 15 pounds and can get the tent toasty.Home is a breathable Egyptian cotton 10-by-12 tent. Sleeping bags on mattress pads are their beds. The Conovers shun synthetic clothing against their skin, preferring wool. For the woods, they wear white cotton hooded anoraks and pants to shield them from wind. Thick mittens protect against cold and let them handle hot items like a stovepipe. Mukluks are on their feet. Outfitted in white, they look like wintertime travelers from lifetimes past.All that gear, from food to bedding to clothing, go into wood toboggans about 10 feet long and one foot wide. Each Conover gets a sled to pull, easily packed with 130 pounds of essential stuff. Theyll average between eight to 12 miles during their 29-day adventure. The Conovers do make concessions to the modern world. When they guide, they take along a first aid kit and satellite phone for emergencies. The phone will be used daily on this odyssey as the couple calls in to a webmaster for updates to their website. Calling their walk Winterwalk for the Wilds 2005 (www.winterwalk2005.org), the couple are using the trip to promote the simple and affordable sport of snowshoeing as well as incorporating a little natural science and history along the way. The Conovers enthusiasm was warm on that cold, windless January morning. They let kids pull their toboggans, easily, over the ice under the shadows of Big and Little Squaw Mountains as they headed deep through the heart of winter.Marty Basch can be reached at rodeman@aol.com.