Customer Reviews

Cache Lake Country: Life in the North Woods

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I discovered this book when I was 13, and have read it no less than 10 times through the next 30 years. Mr. Rowlands was someone I would have loved to spend time with - he was down to earth, interesting, has a good sense of humor, and he lived the kind of life that everyone would love to try. I had fun trying some of his projects, like the needle on the water compass and the dewdrop magnifying glass. As a kid I would dream of living in a cabin near him, Hank and Chief Tibeash, and of canoeing on the rivers he talks about. Sadly, Mr. Rowlands died in the late 1970s, and I never had a chance to meet him. I did discover he wrote another book called Spindrift, and also that he did a lot of writing for The Atlantic Monthly magazine. He lived in New England in his later years, and had a daughter. For those who loved his book, you should check out the books written by his friend Hank (Henry B. Kane), who wrote in the same style and also illustrated Cache Lake Country. All in all, Cache Lake Country was a book that transported a young girl to a beautiful place, and introduced her to the woodsy "uncle" we all would love to have.

I thought this was going to be a book about going off into the woods and all the unexpected adventures associated with a relatively modern day Natty Bumpo.

While the author does go off into the woods to live a quiet life, this book doesn't tell enough of his experiences. It has some. It really ends up being a text book for how to live in the wilderness (especially if you have occasional plane visits, a handy abondoned mine nearby for metal scraps, and two neighbors also alone in their cabins but within hearing distance-2 miles)

Yes, I feel guilty about giving it 4 stars when everyone else rates it 5. I did enjoy it. However, I thought it was going to be something quite different than it was.

As I said, there were a few good stories in it, but too much of it was instruction on how to make stuff, like a compass, or an underground fridge.

Good read but just be forwarned. It is not "Grass Beyond the Mountains" or "Shadows on the Koyokuk" or "On the Edge of Nowhere". It's much more like Proenneke's "One Man's Wilderness" without all the angst over hunting and fishing to survive.

Every true outdoors man and woman needs to read two books. One is Leopold's A Sand County Alamanac, the other is Cache Lake Country. If you've hunted, fished, and trekked the northwoods as much as I have, and love its brooding, dark beauty, this book will capture the sensations of the taiga. It is almost painful to read it if you find yourself trapped in someone else's idea of the good life, when what you really want to do is chuck it all for a cabin in the boreal forest.

Fine fine book, mix of lore, sociology, wisdom, natureetc.

Book description on Amazon.com is slightly incorrect. Setting is in Northern Ontario, but the geography and topography is the same as Maine,although the sociology and native references are different in Maine.

Have given over five copies to friends,

Signed, A Manhattanite with a cabin in Northern Ontario

I first read this book when I was 12 years old, I am now 46. I could not put it down and can not. I made my first knike sheath, first snow shoes, and my first moc;s (which remain my favorite type of moc's) from sketches from this book, as well as many of the other projects and they all lived up to expectations of a young teenager to present. You feel like you are there with the three men of the story. It is is one of the few books that I reread every couple of years. Worth every penney and then some.

This is a wonderful compendium of all things old wise and woodsy. Reading it transported me back to a much simpler, more joyful time to be alive. I would recommend this book for anyone who enjoys reading about life in the wilderness and the wisdom it brings with it.

The first 12 chapters are the 12 months. Rowland lived the country, learned a tremendous amount from an Indian Chief who lived across Cache Lake. He weaves the mythology of the region in with the account of a year's life and adds in how to make the things you'd need to live simply in the wilderness. The drawings in the book are wonderful - much better than having photos, because they convey the simplicity of life he lived. This book is really great for young readers who would like to get a glimpse of life long ago out in the woods. It has the same magical effect on us urban or suburban folks who long for no traffic (NO CARS!), work that has an immediate result like getting in firewood, smoking fish for winter food and for the skills to live in the wilderness.

I enjoyed this book having read other non-fiction frontier books. However, I must say that the degree to which the author delves into how to make certain tools/objects, etc., I could have done without. I would skip through parts like those describing how to build a bean cooker, because such descriptions were so detailed. If you're a technical/hands-on person, then you probably would like knowing how items/tools were built from raw materials in the frontier. But for me, I was more interested in the story, than the instructionals.

I first read this book in 1972, the original 1947 edition. It is one of the few permanent items in my library. I read it again at least once a year. I have even tried some of the projects John describes including the radio set made out of bits laying around the cabin. If you want a relaxing and enjoyable read about life in the woods, get this!

I love this book, I read it as I was leaving Alaska to return to Kentucky and it makes me miss the north woods every time I look at the spine on my bookshelf.. I love the autors style of writing which by the way is just as good in "Spindrift" if you can track down a copy of that. All in all, this is a great book, cover to cover, and one of those books that makes you want to pack it up and canoe out to nowhere, just to be there.
Enjoy.