Little Spencer Pond is 75 acres and has a maximum depth  of 5 feet.   

Why do I need to bring insect repellents?

Black Flies are the unofficial Maine State Bird. We are in a remote location and you become a food source. No-see-ums come out at dusk and are equally hungry. Insect bites itch, on some people they turn red and swell. If you are really interested in learning a lot more about Black Flies in Maine, click here!  That said, we personally don't find the black flies that bothersome most of the time, especially when near the campyard or on the pond where there is a breeze. Light colored clothing, lots of garlic in our diet, and a lifetime of immunity may contribute to our natural resistance to the little devils.

 

 

We noticed Dana is a lobsterman - can I get fresh Maine Lobster at camp?

This is truly a service you will find at no other camp in Northern Maine. Dana is an authentic commercial Maine Lobsterman, depending on his fishing schedule and your length of stay at the camps (typically June - November - although sometimes varies) he can deliver to your cabin Fresh Wild Caught Maine Lobster that were literally pulled from the trap in Blue Hill Bay that morning. Prices vary, but we charge all our camp guests boat price, which is considerably lower (about 1/2 to 3/4) than what you will pay from a dealer or store. So you can enjoy the remoteness of the Great North Woods with the authentic and undeniably fresh taste of the coast of Maine. Please note - this service is not available every day - his fishing schedule may vary based on a variety of factors. In the winter Dana is a scallop dragger, bringing in fresh dayboat scallops each open day of the season. We are able to ship these directly to you or you can arrange pick up directly at our winter home in Orland, Maine.

 

Can I get takeout or pizza in town? Will they deliver?

Takeout …The short answer is yes. Theoretically, I suppose delivery via float plane could be arranged, but it would probably cost a small fortune and require much advance preparation. The real answer is much different. It really depends on how bad you want this pizza, takeout and how far you want to travel to get it. There is a small store in Kokadjo & we personally believe that Marie at the Kokadjo store makes incredible pizza-perhaps the best we have had in Maine. That store also does have some soda/chips/ice/beer and a small grill/bar and restaurant. This store is about 14 miles (30-40 minutes) away via dirt roads and closes early in the evening. We recommend Jamos in Greenville for Pizza/Sandwich takeout- they also close early in the evenings, and are an hour from the camps. Bangor is about 2 ½ hours away and they do offer all night pizza takeouts from larger chains…again its up to you. It may just be easier to  bring the dough and materials and make your own. Ask us, we have some good recipes with homemade dough and veggies from the garden when in season!

Can I access the internet?

We intentionally do not provide internet service or a Wi-Fi signal. We find that people and families come here to disconnect from the the distractions of our modern world. It seems to defeat the purpose of trying to relax in this type of environment if you are checking email, texting, and responding to voicemail messages. Some of the best memories you will keep in your heart forever are made without these modern conveniences. For many of our guests this is the one place where they can enter the camp yard and truly and honestly "get away." However, all that being said there are good cellular signals in some locations (aka "the phone booths) in the area through the Verizon towers. We encourage an electronic free zone when entering the camp yard. We feel getting away from the phones, web surfing, and answering emails builds character. If you think you or your children will be bored without it, ask us for suggestions, we guarantee we can keep you busy.

Will I see a moose? What other kind of wildlife can i see?

For this you may want to ask the magic 8 ball. In all seriousness. Chances are highly likely, that if you are going anywhere in Maine, this is a place where you will be able to see a moose. In May and June Moose are known to amble throughout the camp yard during the day and at night. This past summer we watched a moose swim across the pond in front of the cabins on more than one occasion. In late September you may even hear /witness a bull moose wooing his lady love while seated inside your cabin. In late October and November the moose seem to be unconcerned and become increasingly visible in the woods and along the roads and trails, often traveling in "families." However, that being said, we can not guarantee you will see a moose. They are wild animals, and we do not control their maneuvers. However, we can advise you on places and times to go (early morning and dusk) that will further increase the probability that you will see a moose.

 

It is not uncommon to see beaver, Bald Eagles, Merlins, Osprey, Canadian Geese, mergansers, and loons, muskrat, white-tail deer, ruffed grouse, snowshoe hare, chipmunks, flying squirrels, racoons, in the pond, near the camp yard or trails. More uncommon sightings while exploring the extensive network of dirt roads or ponds may include spruce grouse, coyote, black bear, fisher, pine marten, and a variety of turtles and woodland birds.

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How high is Little Spencer Mountain?  

Little Spencer Mountain is just over 3000 feet. The  trail up the mountain above the rockslide was charted by long time Spencer Pond Guest and Howe family friend, Dick Manson in 1970. Click the link below to see Dick’s notes from his first climbs up Spencer Mountain and his adventures to find the best route.

http://www.spencerpond.com/mansons_climb.htm

 The bottom of the trail (below the rockslide) up Little Spencer was flagged by Anne Howe and her daughter Cathy. Click below to read Anne’s account of creating the trails around Spencer Pond Camps

http://www.spencerpond.com/trails_hstory.htm

 Little Spencer is by far the most challenging climb in the Moosehead area. Read below to find more information about the climb & other popular hikes in the Moosehead Region. Please do not underestimate this mountain - you should pass at your own risk and know that parts of the trail (loose shale rocks and

http://www.moosehead.net/hiking/littlespencer.html

 For more Maine climbing information click the link below:

http://www.mountainzone.com/mountains/detail.asp?fid=6050156

What kinds of fish can I catch?

Brook Trout and Yellow Perch. Spencer Pond is a reservoir in Piscataquis County in the state of Maine. The latitude and longitude coordinates for this reservoir are 45.7350, -69.5628 and the altitude is 1047 feet (319 meters).

Anyone interested in fishing Spencer Pond should consult with local guides and resources before heading out to fish. Anglers who have fished Spencer Pond are invited to tell us when you went, what you caught, how the experience ranked overall.

 

The brook trout is a popular game fish with anglers, particularly fly fishermen. Today, many anglers practice catch-and-release tactics to preserve remaining brook trout populations, and organizations such as Trout Unlimited have been in the forefront of efforts to institute air and water quality standards sufficient to protect the brook trout.

 

Spencer Pond was stocked with Brook Trout into the mid-1990's. Even though it no longer is stocked, it still supports a healthy native brook trout population. Brook trout is very tasty but we do encourage guests who do not plan on eating their catch to practice catch and release to continue to preserve the population for future generations.

 

The brook trout is native to small streams, creeks, lakes, and spring ponds. It is native to a wide area of eastern North America.

 

Typical length: 25 to 65 cm (10 to 26 in). Typical weight: 0.3 to 3 kg (11 oz to 7 lb).

 

Yellow Perch are one of the finest flavored of all panfish, and this has led to misuse of their name in the restaurant industry. Menus will sometimes list "White Perch", "Rock Perch" or simply "Perch" that are actually other species.

 

Yellow perch size can vary greatly between bodies of water, but adults are usually between 4-10 inches (10-25.5 cm) in length and weigh about 5.29 oz (150 g) on average. The perch can live for up to 11 years, and older perch are often much larger than average; the maximum recorded length is 21.0 inches (53.3 cm) and the largest recorded weight is 4.2 lb (1.91 kg). Large yellow perch are often called "jumbo perch". They are a popular panfish and are known to be a good eating fish.

Does the outhouse smell?

Outhouse Facts:

The average outhouse is three to four feet square by seven feet high. Most have no windows, heat, or electric light. Due to the odor, most were built between 50 and 150 feet from the house, often facing away from the house. So they didn't have to smell the unpleasant odor, many people left the door open while they were using it. Old-timers will admit that they had trouble breaking this habit with the invention of indoor bathrooms. If you do not tend to the outhouses, they will get a strong foul odor.

 

Our outhouses

We take pride in maintaining our outhouses so the negative smell is minimized. All outhouses are cleaned out and sanitized between every party of guests. If you need to walk to and from your outhouse at all times of the night and day,  they are located a convenient distance away from your camp. Each camp has its own private outhouse & we ask that guests use only the outhouse assigned to their cabin. Each outhouse has been built so there is  plenty of fresh air without the need to leave the front door open.  This requirement also keeps them very cold in the wintertime. We even use the same toilet seats in our outhouses that you use on your toilets at home. Often first time guests to our camps remark on the fact that these are the cleanest "freshest" smelling outhouses that they have every been in. This is not your typical backwoods outhouse or porta-potty experience.

 

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How do I use electricity and my appliances there? Do you have electricity and TVS?

We do not have electricity or generators in the six cabins we rent. You can use any battery powered appliance as long as the sound level is kept low. Every cabin has at least one coleman drip coffee maker and at least one coffee percolator for perking perfect coffee.Lunkers also has a French Press. In the percolators,to make coffee, you let it perk for 5 to 8 minutes depending on your taste. With the Coleman Drip Coffee Makers, you simply fill them up like a regular coffee maker with filter and coffee and set it on the stove 5-7 min later you have 10-12 cups of freshly brewed coffee.To take a shower, you heat the water yourself or wait for the sun to heat it for you. We will gladly share our “how to” knowledge with you, as there are alternatives to almost every appliance you would use electricity for. We do not have TV's -as one guest said last year - the view and antics of the wildlife on the  pond and the woods outside your cabin  are your local programming.We actually have libraries with a variety of books - from field guides to classic adventure stories for all age groups! Feel free to peruse and travel back in time away from the Kindle to read and feel the pages of a bound book. We continue to expand our libraries so if you have any books to donate to the cabins feel free to bring them.

 

For guests that require medical devices such as C-Pap machines we have found a 400 watt inverter and a marine or car battery works the best. Both of these items should be purchased in advance and brought with you. They can also be used in the event of power outages in your home. We can recharge the battery with our small generator if needed.

 

 Can I swim in the pond? 

Absolutely. Many of our guests go swiming every morning, some have even swum across the pond to "Norway point" and back. Some guests will spend all day in the water on a hot summer day. Do we have leeches? Yes. Every pond in Maine does, and we find as long as you avoid splashing in warm shallow weedy areas most of our guests are not bothered by them. There are some areas where they are more prevalent and we would be happy to advise you if you are concerned. If a leech does attach you simply sprinkle salt on it and it will fall off.

 

For those naturalists that are interested in learning more: Maine DEP - information on leeches

 

Bats and spiders? 

Yes. We have them. Remember these are old log cabins in the middle of the Maine woods, and we consider both beneficial.  A bat can eat over 60 insects an hour, and they can be viewed whisking around the campyard at night. We like mosquitos less, so find the bats very helpful.  We do on rare occasions get both in the cabin. We will immediately remove them from the cabin, and try to release them unharmed outside. We  have had on ocassion an enterprising squirrel or mouse who will try to sneak into a cabin as well, again we will remove them, although squirrels are fast and vocal and hard to catch with a net. We have a zero tolerance mouse policy inside the cabins and take preventative measures throughout the year.

Click here to read about White Nose syndrome and why bats are important

 

 

 

  Is that the sound of wolves I hear at night through the windows of cabin? 

Unless one has escaped from the zoo in Quebec or was someone’s escaped pet, the answer is no. The haunting cries you hear at night are the cries of the loon. Loons sing across the pond and in front of the camp yard throughout the night. Their wild call and yodeling speaks to a certain wildness within us all and awakens your connection to nature. Besides loons, there can also be animals who call at night such as Owls, bobcats, coyotes, frogs, etc.

 

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Is it true that there was a baby moose raised at the camps?

 Yes,  a baby moose... by the name of BULLY  "Bully, My Third Child" tells the tender and often poignant adventure of raising Bully, the moose. Much was learned about moose from this unusual event.

 

There was also a baby Great Blue Heron named Ardea  raised at the camps.

 

I want to come to the camps during the fall, but I am not a hunter. Is the woods safe for me at this time?

Spencer Pond Camps does openly welcome hunters.  We also openly welcome nature lovers and hikers. Bird Hunting Season starts in October, during this time we often have bird hunters at the camps and they are in the surrounding woods. They use shotguns which are loud but have an average range of about 50-70 feet. They are hunting for ruffed grouse and I can't think of one occasion where a hunter in Maine has confused a human with a pint sized bird. Bird Hunters that choose to walk deep into the woods on hiking trails are few and far between(although we strongly encourage these hearty souls). Our observation is most bird hunters that our not our guests and are frequenting the area, look for birds along the sides of the dirt roads. This is what Christy calls "heater hunting" (a practice she considers "cheating"). If you really want entertainment you can always avoid the trails and come into the office and listen to Christy and Dana debate the subject or if you are walking along one of the miles of dirt roads and are concerned that you may look like a ruffed grouse, you could always wear a piece of orange and keep yourself from chirping while walking in the woods.  Keep in mind Spencer Pond Camps sits in an over 22,000 acre township, the township is surrounded by hundreds of thousands of acres of the North Woods and it is a long drive to get up here so hunters are not prevalent every where you go. We do not allow hunting from the top of our driveway down and have several hiking trails that are well within that range. Rabbit hunters also arrive in October, often they use beagles to chase the rabbits, if you hear a pack of baying beagles, and are concerned you look like a rabbit, it would be best to stand very tall and talk loudly and not twitch your nose- also remove any carrots from your pockets. Deer Hunters arrive in November. Again, the concern about you being "safe" most deer hunters do not choose to fire random shots into the woods, that would tend to scare the deer away, and thus defeat the purpose. It would not be advisable to dress in brown with a white hankerchief in your pocket or wave a pair of white gloves while walking in the woods at this time of year. That said if you are walking in the woods with two pieces of flourescent orange at a steady pace and acting like a human being and not a deer chances are most hunters will let you go. Seriously, accidents do happen, and we don't take those lightly. But we also think some of the buzz is just that buzz. We have two small children and our favorite time to get out in the woods is late autumn, we would never put our kids in harms way if we truly thought it was dangerous.

As for bear hunters, we gladly welcome anyone that is willing to come do a spot and stalk with no bait and put their time in scouting the woods from sunrise to sunset. We do not welcome bear baiters and bear baiting is not allowed in this township. Moose hunting season is for one week in October in this zone. For the past two years we have not hosted moose hunters and have no plans to proactively do so in the future (although Dana feels differently). Luckily Christy is the web master and is in control of the advertising budget and most phone inquiries, so if you are a moose hunter calling us for a reservation, make sure to pretend to be a long lost friend and ask for Dana. We believe that in this day and age of high tech game cameras, scented lures, and  new scent covering technology, the true authentic skills of hunting in the woods and learning how to navigate with compass and map, track, and read animal sign, food sources, and identify behavior are being slowly lost by hunters pressed by time and with big wallets to pursue an easier route. We love to see hunters in the woods that still demonstrate such skills, as we feel they are truly in love with the woods and understand the concepts of conservation. These type of hunters have alot to teach us and the other "naturalists" they meet here. We prefer to eat organic locally raised meat , which is why Christy and Dana are both successful hunters. We love to meet others that share these skills or want to learn. Bottom line, these  woods are big enough for everyone to share. Let's thank the generosity of the private landowners and timber companies who maintain the roads that provide such easy and free access to the public.

I am a hunter will I be welcome at the camps - I had heard that you are closed during hunting season or that you didn't take hunters?

Spencer Pond Camps would LOVE to be your choice for hunting season. You will find a warm welcome here, for our November hunters expect us to keep your cabin nice and warm so it is cozy when you return. We have a loyal crowd of bird hunters and white-tailed deer hunters that return year after year because this is a great place to relax, hunt in the great north woods, and get away from it all.  Plus our rates are cheap in the fall, for parties of four or more people it is only $25 per person per night in November - thats a pretty good deal for a fully furnished cabin!. We close the 3-4th week of November, simply because once the real snow comes, we have no way to drive our vehicles out over 14 miles of unplowed roads, so we need to be prepared in advance. Christy and Dana are both hunters themselves and would love to swap stories with you. Dana does guided hunts and we will also share our knowledge of game hot spots for those that prefer a do it yourself adventure. Dana has owned and hunted with beagles for years and we still have a rather portly one named "Lesgo" that we take out on occasion.  - we would love to see you bring your dogs in and Dana would probably spend the day out in the woods with you. There is no bear baiting in this township and we support the landowners decision, so we do not accept bear hunters who plan to hunt over bait. We require that our hunters abide by all Maine state game laws and are ethical in their hunting approach, and that they do not litter while in the woods and bring all used shell casings back with them in their pockets.

 

Someone told me there is a ghost at the camps? Is that true?

Only if you believe in ghosts like old "Mose" who we blame for all the unusual happenings around camp.  Be sure to ask about the ghost Mose after you arrive.

Do you provide meals?

Short answer, no. However there is always the possibility we might invite you over for dinner, a cup of coffee or tea, or dessert in our cabin. We also like being invited to the cabins. Dana especially likes cheesecake. On occasion we make homemade ice cream, or do an old-fashioned bean hole bean supper.

Can I plan my wedding at the camps?

Absolutely, we have had several weddings at the camps, few places offers such a spectacularly dramatic back drop for your special day. For many guests, the complete privacy and seclusion the camps offer is perfect for their wedding celebration.

 

 .

Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Henry -  married in  October 2010

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