The TRAVELER'S JOURNAL: July twenty-fourth, heeding the call of the Great North Woods.

Visions of summer vacations in the state of Maine usually invoke lobster bakes on the beach and sail boats flitting among coastal islands. But Maine also has more than 32,000 miles of rivers and streams and over 6000 lakes. Many places in the Great North Woods, a vast tract of mountainous forest that rises to the Canadian border, the moose still outnumber the people.

For centuries after Europeans arrived, Maine's woods were the realm of trappers, hunters, loggers and adventurous visitors craving the experience of the expansive wilderness, to breathe jackpine and balsam, to come upon moose standing knee deep in tea-colored rivers, to hear the lilt of a loon cruising low over a mirror-still lake.

It was this that drew author and philosopher Henry David Thoreau out of his Concord drawing room into the Great North Woods three times. In 1849, he climbed Mount Katahdin. On later visits over the next decade, Thoreau canoed the upper waters of the Penobscot and Allagash rivers. Along the way, he noted natural phenomena and commented on the habits of his fellow human beings. Inspired by his experience, Thoreau's writings have in turn inspired generations of fellow travelers to trace his very footsteps and paddle puddles.

Maine still has more than 300 guides accredited to lead visitors on canoe and hiking expeditions in the Great North Woods. On week end and weeks long journeys, they explore vast remnants of Maine's wilderness. Along the way, they travel the same trails and rivers as Thoreau. In myriad ways, what they encounter hasn't changed at all.

This issue of National Geographic Traveler, a supporter of our program, recounts one such journey. You can register for a free sample copy on our homepage.

FMI For information, contact Maine guides www.maineguides.org. The author traveled with Garret and Alexandra Conover of North Woods Ways 207-997-3723 or www.wcha.org/builders/northwoodsways.

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