Follow Your Heart (and Your Dogs)
Polly Mahoney, Mahoosuc Guide Service
Polly Mahoney's calm and soft-spoken demeanor gives you zero indication of all the bad-*ss things she’s done outdoors, including living in the Yukon bush for a decade.
Polly and her partner Kevin founded Maine's Mahoosuc Guide Service 30 years ago, and have managed to keep themselves busy year-round ever since offering dog sledding and canoeing trips suitable for beginners and enthusiasts alike.
I’ve driven by Mahoosuc HQ many times on my way out to Grafton Notch on the Maine/New Hampshire border. Polly and Kevin’s 40 acre property feature an original farmhouse as well as their home (which they built themselves over the course of seven years), a guest lodge (a second seven-year self-build project), as well as tons of space for their dozens of Yukon huskies.
As soon as I got Guides Gone Wild off the ground officially, I started stalking Polly and got up the nerve to ask her to be a guest. I don’t know what I was worried about, because she is one of the most gracious people I’ve ever met, and she and Kevin enthusiastically toured my family around their property and let us play with their dogs before Polly and I sat down to chat.
Polly's deep love for her dogs, reverence for indigenous cultures and nature, and wise observations about the world we live in come through loud and clear - enjoy!
I hope you’ll check out Polly’s guided dogsled and canoe trips on her website, Mahoosuc.com, and follow them on Instagram and Facebook. I promise you, there is plenty of puppy cam going on! I also hope you’ll check out a few of the videos that are posted on the Mahoosuc.com site, to get a better sense of the transcendent nature of the trips she leads.
Links to more Polly Mahoney goodness:
Video about Mahoosuc Guide Service, their philosophy, adorable puppy footage
Death Hunt with Charles Bronson
Island Falls Canoe - Jerry Stelmok
Reflector oven (I know this podcast is focused on womxn, but this post was the best explanation I found of what it is and how to use it - plus, a berry pie recipe!)
Recipe for Pineapple Upside Down Cake in Dutch Oven
And as always, big thanks to our sponsor, Evans Notch Lodge!