Hello from The Birches. We have great snow now. All trails are groomed and are good to excellent for all snow sports. The ice fishing is excellent.

Our lodge is fully opened and the restaurant and lounge is operating every day.

I was out the past two days on several snowmobile trails and the riding was excellent. The Cross country skiing today is excellent as well.

Our Yurts are all open and have been fully refurbished.

Our log cabins are fully outfitted and ready for winter.

The ski plane flying is awesome now with good ice and snow just about everywhere in the Moosehead Region.

Check out www.birches.com website for specials and daily snow conditions.

The Birches new groomer out on the trails

I welcome you to visit our beautiful part of the winter world where we always have snow in the winter.

Have a great Maine day.

John Willard

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I am happy to report that we now have ice on Moosehead Lake and snow on our trails. The cross country skiing is good on many trails and snowmobiling is fair to good on the trails headed towards Pittston Farm from The Birches. Riding is good on many unplowed roads north of here.

Ice fishing is off to a great start with good catches reported from guests fishing in front of the cabins.

Our lodge and cabins are opened for the winter season now. We are expecting another snowfall tomorrow.

I am flying my ski plane off of the ice now for scenic rides.

Come on up and get a taste of winter at The Birches.

We rent cross country skis and snowmobiles.

Check out our website at www.birches.com

Have a great winter day.

John

Ice fishing in front of The Birches on Monday January 16,2012

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Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you from all of us at The Birches.

Snowmobiling on Moosehead Lake

Come on up and join us for New Years weekend with live entertainment by “Full Count”from Bangor.

We hope too see you at The Birches this winter.

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Summer is in full swing now at The Birches.

The weather has been fantastic and the long range forecast is for hot weather with very little rain.  Moosehead Lake is beautiful now with warm water for swimming and water sports.

Did you know that we offer water skiing lessons and skiing at an hourly rate for guests?

The moose safaris have been spotting lots of moose and the moose spotting by air have been really good. We spotted a bear and several moose on our last flight.

The Birches log lodge and dining room is opened every day now for three meals. Our lakeside lounge is opened from noon until 10 pm daily.

RVers , we have several lakeside sites available.

The next few weeks are the best of summer at The Birches. Come up and get it while you can. Our full service marina has several sizes of boats to rent, including 90 hp pontoon boats. Canoes, kayaks, and smaller boats are also available.

We have  live brook trout to see in our indoor trout pond.

Come soon for a visit to Maine’s greatest lake and enjoy summer at its best. Check out our specials page for last minute savings.

I hope to see you soon.

John

Summer at Moosehead Lake

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The summer season is almost here

The ice went out on may 4th. The lake is very full due to recent rains. The fishing is excellent and anglers have been reporting consistantly great fishing near The Birches. The photo here was taken just a few days after the ice went out.

Our fleet of boats are in the water and the Lodge is opened for meals every day.

We are already seeing many moose on our jeep tours and the moose safari by boat will be starting next week.

My plane is on floats and is ready for scenic tours of the beautiful Moosehead Lake region.

This has been an exceptionally wet spring which hopefully, will lead to a dry summer. The whitewater rafting should be exceptional this summer due to the high water storage in the lakes which flow through the dams. We offer whitewater rafting packages including lodging and meals.  All of our rafting rivers are dam controlled which makes the rafting season last until October. The Kennebec, Penobscot and Dead Rivers are a reasonable drive away from The Birches.

Our lakeside cabins and private homes are already booking great for the summer season. If you have a favorite cabin or home, you may want to reserve it soon.

The Birches started with a small lodge and a couple of log cabins in 1930. The buildings were all constructed from trees cut on the property. The large stone fireplace in the dining room was built in 1935 and is estimated to weigh 35 tons. It will burn four foot logs.

We try to keep the place looking the same as it was in 1930 with constant updates on furnishings etc.

The entire staff at The Birches looks forward to seeing some of you again this season. Come see us.

John

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Spring is coming to Moosehead Lake very fast now. The days are getting longer and the added sunshine per day will melt the ice on Moosehead lake quickly during the next two weeks. I predict that the lake will be ice free sometime during the first ten days of May.

Spring fishing will be in full swing just after the ice goes out. The region had a record winter with excellent snow and great weather for XC skiing, snowmobiling and ice fishing. All of our lakes will be full after the snow melts which will allow great boating.

We now look forward to the forests blooming with light green spring foliage.

The birds and geese will be back and our loons will once again be here with their cheerful calls.

Our cabins and lakefront homes are available for rent 365 days of the year. If you have never watched Ice Out on Moosehead this spring would be a good time to try and see it go. First it turns very black and then when ready in one day it usually moves out with a large wind. It looks like snow cone ice when it washed up on the shore.

Our boats will be available to rent as soon as the ice is gone. The Lodge and restaurant will be opened the weekend before Memorial Day.

Soon we will be ice free once again

My float plane is ready to go just as soon as the ice in out.

Come visit us this spring

John

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Success on Moosehead!

The Birches Resort has ice shacks for rent and the fishing is obviously good.  Give us a call to reserve one and come spend the day or the week with us.  Our ice shacks are conveniently located right out in front of The Birches Main Lodge so you can easily come in for a nice hot lunch and a warm -up by the fireplace.  The winter scenery surrounding Moosehead Lake is quite spectacular.  Don’t miss the opportunity to see it!

Looking forward to hearing from you!

John

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Hello,

Winter is in full swing now. We had over two feet of snow until the New Years warm spell.  We lost considerable snow, however it has been cold and we did hold onto a good frozen base. We had two inches of new powder last night. The cross country skiing should be good after the storm predicted for Wednesday this week. The lakes are frozen pretty well now, but you should always check with local people before venturing out on the ice. The trail From The Birches is marked to Mt Kineo and people are using it now with snowmobiles.

The riding is actually really good from The Birches via Mt Kineo and north and west of Kineo.

The photo of the ice was taken just after Christmas on Moosehead Lake. The areas that look like cracks are just darker colored ice.

Our YURTS are ready for skiers and the lodge is opened now in full swing for the winter. We are opened every day for three meals and the lounge opens every day at noon.

I hope to see you soon at the lodge.

Happy New Year

JW

Interesting Ice with snow blown off two weeks ago on Moosehead Lake

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Well folks, we have been blessed with 20 inches of new powder. Three groomers are out on the trails getting them ready for the season. With the cold weather predicted for the next couple of weeks, it looks like a white Christmas and New Year.

We have live entertainment lined up for New Years eve(Friday) and Saturday(the next night) at the lodge. What better place to bring in the new year than in a cabin on the shore of Moosehead Lake. You can watch the lake freeze in for the winter season. It usually freezes between Christmas and New Years. When that happens, we will have a 75,000 acre front yard to play on. Skiing, snowmobiling and ice fishing.

My ski plane will be flying again as soon as the ice is safe.

The Moosehead Region is a most amazing winter playground. When the lakes, streams and bogs are frozen the woods become much more accessible.

Come on up and get a great taste of winter while you can.

Great start to the snow season

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October is almost over and we are having our fall rains. The lake is very full now and the leaves have dropped. Our dining room is closed until New Years Eve when we will reopen for the winter. We will have a great band for two nights of entertainment. Come on up bring in the new year at Moosehead Lake.

The lake  usually freezes between Christmas and New Years. We will kick off the new year with cross country skiing and snowmobiling. Our fleet of snowmobiles includes late model quiet four stroke sleds as well as two stroke sporty single sleds.My ski plane will be flying again to remote XC skiing areas and for scenic winter tours.

Our cross country ski trails will be open at first snow. The Cabins at The Birches are always opened the year round.

The local wild animals are hunkering down for the winter. We have several beavers working out on our land building their winter shelter. Beavers create a varied habitat for other wildlife. They create dams ,which then create habitat for fish and other wild animals in the woods.

Our jeep tours run all year and now is a great time to view wildlife in the open. With the leaves gone there is good visibility in the woods.

Did you know that during the last ice age that Moosehead Lake was covered by approximately 7,000 feet of ice. Our winters are getting more mild which is actually allowing for better weather for outdoor activities. The cold low temperature averages are edging higher now, but not high enough to loose our snow.

I hope to see some of you in the lodge this winter. Have a great Maine day.

John

Skiing soon!

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