By Steve Jermanok

On the first morning after breakfast at Gorman Chairback, we met up with our guide, Katie. Katie leads day trips for the AMC’s guests at the three lodges in Maine’s North Woods, Gorman Chairback, Little Lyford, and the recently reopened Medawisla. Not only is she an AMC guide, but she’s a Registered Maine Guide who can take people out in the summer to bag a peak, paddle, or fly-fish, and in winter to cross-country ski and snowshoe. We chose to canoe across 4-mile Long Pond with Katie and it was a wise choice. She shared the Old Town with Lisa, while my son, Jake, and I grabbed the second canoe. We had hopes of seeing a moose but that never panned out. Instead we followed a family of loons, mergansers, and even spotted a bald eagle atop a dead hemlock tree. The waters of Long Pond were like glass that morning, reflecting the surrounding mountains atop the surface. All you could hear was that mesmerizing call of the loon as there no other traffic on the pond. No boats, no canoes, nothing.