WRITTEN BY ANNE GABBIANELLI
A year ago, I joined a group of friends for what I have termed our Meandering Mondays, where we explore and soak up nature around our state. One Monday the plan was to stop by “Buzz’s camp” to hike some trails on his Corinth property.
I hadn’t realized Buzz was a man I had interviewed countless times in my role as a broadcast journalist back when he was park director of Baxter State Park. Irvin “Buzz” Caverly was a ranger, then director, from 1960 to 2005.
He was first introduced to Baxter State Park while attending Lee Academy. He was hooked forever after. Buzz’s knowledge of Maine’s majestic Mount Katahdin, Baxter State Park, and its vast wilderness is in his veins.
Buzz, now 87 years old, hasn’t slowed down since his retirement. He built what he calls Nature at Peace, transforming 10 acres of his property into a network of trails, creating his own personal park.
His cabin’s pine walls are dotted with black and white photos of Baxter State Park and graced with framed letters from Governor Percival Baxter, the founding force behind the park of over 200,000 acres and more than 215 miles of trails.
Telling Tales
As we all nestled on his camp porch, Buzz took a center seat and began with a story of his late wife Jan. Between teary eyes of sadness and joy, he spoke of their honeymoon destination at remote Russell Pond. Their love for each other and nature spanned 53 years. He went on to speak of his now wife Louise who was Jan’s long-time friend.
Buzz took us down memory lane as a part-time seasonal worker with the park. His eyes gleamed as he admitted he should be “embarrassed by the way he acted sometimes,” like telling his immediate boss he was “old and needed some young help.” In time, Buzz’s persistence and dedication led to an accomplished career spanning 45 years.
Emotions were reflected as he shared about the 1963 loss of his friend and colleague Ranger Ralph Heath, who perished during a failed rescue mission. Buzz said Ralph was like a brother to him.
On the lighter side, his early days as a ranger at Daicey Pond taught him about a quick trick of trout fishermen. Once the men came on shore, he told them, “I’ve got these new binoculars and I think they work quite well,” knowing they were catching over the legal limit.
While the fishermen went to relieve themselves, Buzz’s inspection of the boat turned up empty. He later learned “the fishermen were not going to the bathroom, but going to dump the fish from their pant legs to come back and get them later,” he chuckled. “I got stumped by the oldest trick in the book.”
Another tale involved the National Guard flying building materials into Russell Pond. The guard’s colonel got word of the hard work of his crew and flew in with food and libations as a thank you. The guardsmen were not alone though.
“There was a bear that smelled a good meal, so it clawed its way into the cabin,” Buzz said. The ranger on scene was quick to dispatch the bear, which dropped to the floor near the sleeping colonel. “He never stirred.”
The challenge then, Buzz continued, was to remove the beast.
“So the crew came up with the idea of airlifting it to ‘over by Russell Pond.’ The ranger said, ‘That’s the main trail in here from Roaring Brook. What if a camper reports a bear dropping out of the sky?’”
Baxter Bound
Last fall a few of us were Baxter bound with Buzz. We hopped in his truck sporting a front bumper engraved ‘Happy Trails,’ ready for a guided tour full of insight, reflections, and memories.
Our first stop was Caverly Pond, named in Buzz’s honor. He said that’s where he proposed to Louise with a picnic lunch on the ice.
Apparently once we entered the park, word spread fast that Buzz was back. While we enjoyed lunch with Daicy Pond as our backdrop, Buzz enjoyed conversation with a long-time ranger. Further down the road, another employee stopped roadside to greet Buzz.
Traveling the 65 miles from gate to gate, Buzz spoke of the fatal lightning strikes due to the amount of iron in the mountainous terrain, as well as the failed introduction of caribou to the park, and the fire of 1977 that claimed 3,000 acres.
With each corner, we caught glimpses of Mount Katahdin as the fog lifted and snow blanketed the ridges and peaks. We came to Ledge Falls where Buzz told a story of how he jumped in to rescue a child who was being swept away, and he too fell victim and needed to be rescued.
Traversing in and out of various campsites, Buzz shared more stories of hosting Governor Baxter in the park. Buzz’s passion and dedication, which is ingrained in his fabric, aligned with the governor’s mantra of preserving wilderness.
“When I die, all these stories about Governor Baxter will die too,” he said.
As we departed that day, Buzz sprung the idea of hiking Chimney Pond come spring. While that trip awaits us, we have enjoyed many hikes and snowshoeing adventures over the past year on his property, graced with his wit and yet more tales of his love affair with nature and Baxter State Park.