Product Description

A vivid and faithful chronicle of life in the great Northern Forest and a storehouse of valuable information on woodcraft and nature. Over half a century ago, John Rowlands set out by canoe into the wilds of Maine to survey land for a timber company. After paddling alone for several days--"it was so quiet I could hear the drops from the paddle hitting the water"--he came upon "the lake of my boyhood dreams." He never left. He named the place Cache Lake because there was stored the best that the north had to offer--timber for a cabin; fish, game and berries to live on; and the peace and contentment he felt he could not live without. Cache Lake Country exemplifies the classic American notion that what is most worth finding lies far from the tracks of civilization, and that what is most worth doing demands resourcefulness and wit. Here is folklore and philosophy, but most of all wisdom about the woods and the inventiveness and self-reliance they demand. The author explains how to make moccasins, barrel stoves, lean-to shelters, outdoor bake ovens, sailing canoes, and hundreds of other ingenious and useful gadgets, all illustrated in the margins with 230 enchanting drawings by Henry B. Kane.

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He painted a picture of a world I love        Rating:

I was not more than 11 or 12 when I read this book the first time. I checked it out of the library so many times my parents bought me a copy for my birthday. Fifty years later I still have it and still reach for it when I want to be transported to a place of peace and quiet... or if I want to be reminded how to make a wind speed recorder, a pair of moccasins, or any number of things. I have spent time canoing in the Maine woods, and Rowlands writes about it knowingly and lovingly, and he writes well. And the illustrations! They are a joy. If there is a young person in your life, one who loves the North Woods or who you wish loved the North Woods, this book could well be a memorable gift. Sometimes I wish I had known Rowlands and Hank and the Chief... but then again I do know them.

Cache Lake        Rating:

Cache Lake Country: Life in the North Woods is a real keeper for anyone who has dreams of making do with what you've got. The margins are replete with illustrations of things the author made for survival and fun. It's an informative and entertaining read. One of the few books I've read more than once.

Dreams alive        Rating:

Great book with wonderful stories and tips regarding wildlife and living in the great outdoors.

Very enjoyable        Rating:

I read "Cache Lake Country" in 1968. I was delighted to find it in print again...like meeting an old friend.
Thank you.

Life in a cabin in the North Woods        Rating:

I'm going to be a little less enthusiastic, but only a little, than some of the other reviewers here. I really did like this book, but for some reason it just didn't quite pull me into the time, place, space the way it did some others- although it didn't miss by much.

This is a very unique book-probably reminding me of my old Boy Scout Fieldbook (a little more detailed and survival-oriented than the handbook) more than a typical non-fiction work. The illustrations are great as well as occasionally light-hearted, and if you are at all handy or have an engineering or for that matter, culinary bent, you will find plenty of recipes and blueprints for food, tools, gadgets- even crystal radio sets or birch bark canoes. While some of these you'd probably have to find some supplemental information to make, most come so well described and diagrammed that you could probably build them or bake them directly from the book.

For me the best part is the author's midwest and at times almost cowboy way of describing life. His time around rough loggers in the days when horses and two man saws were still the order of the day especially captured my imagination. Like many readers, I'm a lot hermit, and the thought of life in a cabin in the north woods with nothing but snow, bear, moose, and wind has a certain charm, and I'm grateful to Rowlands for giving enough of a story to enjoy a bit of that charm vicariously. An excellent and unique book, and for some it will probably become a treasured possession.

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