offugo... Aroostook Outdoor Event News

In this edition: 1) An age-old annual tradition that is #ForTheBirds in the #PresqueIsleME area. 2) The return of the #NewYearsDay #SkiRace in #CaribouME. 3) The first #AroostookCup ski race of the season in #MadawaskaME. Plus lots more! #offugo… #AroostookThing of the week: The 117th Annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count in the Presque Isle area.   Offugo into 2017…Happy New Year to one and all! 117 years. There aren’t many things that have been around that long, especially when it comes to organized outdoor recreation activities. But that is exactly how long folks around the country have been gathering to conduct the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count. Thanks to local birders, Aroostook County has hosted this early-winter census of our avian friends for the last several years. So now you’re intrigued, but you’ve never done anything like this before – so what to do? That’s easy. The Presque Isle area Christmas Bird Count, organized by the Aroostook Bird

In this edition: 1) A #SnowshoeHike up #HaystackMountain to #HonorOurMilitary in #MapletonME. 2) #OpeningDay at a #CommunitySkiHill in #PresqueIsleME. 3) A week-long #NordicSkiFestival in #FortKentME. Plus lots more! #offugo… #AroostookThing of the week: The Honor for the Holidays Haystack Mountain Snowshoe Hike in Mapleton.   Merry Christmas and much love to you all from Offugo… Aroostook County is renowned for many things, most notably its’ authentic, hard-working people and its’ vast amount of outdoor resources. Over and over, those two elements come together to underscore what really is the essence of living in Aroostook: good people who appreciate and respect others and the value and beauty of the land. A shining example of this principle is set to take place this weekend. Organized by thoughtful individuals intent on paying tribute to our military servicemen and women, The Honor for the Holidays Haystack Mountain Snowshoe Hike in Mapleton brings peop

In this edition: 1) An annual #BirdCount in #CaribouME. 2) An #astronomy presentation about the #ChristmasStar in #EastonME. 3) Celebrations of the season in #MadawaskaME and #LimestoneME. Plus lots more! #offugo… #AroostookThing of the week: The Fort Kent Outdoor Center Snowshoe Clinic in Fort Kent. When the ‘shoe fits… Do you remember the first time you went snowshoeing? I sure do. And the memory is not necessarily a positive one. Outside of tromping around the yard as a child on drug store bought snowshoes, I had never really given the sport much credence until my second or third winter as an Aroostook college student from downstate. My buddies liked to rabbit hunt, so I borrowed my father’s old traditional-style trapper’s snowshoes, complete with rawhide webbing and leather bindings, so that I could join them on a mid-March march for hares. The jaunt started out great; the sun was shining, the snow was deep (the central Aroostook area averages o

In this edition: 1) #SkiSeason is here; #OpeningDay at #SkiHills #HolidayCrafts in #EdmundstonNB, #MarsHillME and #FortKentME. 2) A #wildlife theme #Christmas event in #LimestoneME. 3) A #Marathon festival in #MillinocketME. Plus lots more! #offugo… #AroostookThing of the week: Ski season starts now! Who’s going skiing this weekend? If you’re like me, you wait all year for the first snow. The one true harbinger of all things good. The shot across the bow, so to speak, that signals the imminent arrival of ski season. In my world, the planets always align on Opening Day at my local mountain In recent years, the first snow has often come early, yet has not been followed by any sizable accumulation until after the New Year, which has subsequently led to later – or at least lackluster – Opening Days here in the Crown of Maine. This year, however, the first significant snowfall came late, and was followed closely by another sister storm, so much so that most ski are