Hank Shaw’s “Duck, Duck, Goose” (Ten Speed Press, Berkeley) crossed my desk recently and contains everything a home chef needs to create dishes for family and friends. Shaw’s work wowed me within minutes, a superb cookbook with excellent recipes, ranging from simple home-style to gourmet to myriad choices between. It goes on sale Oct. 1.

As my ocean kayaking season winds down with the shorter, cooler days and decreasing water temperatures, I recently embarked on what may have been my most enjoyable day of the entire summer in an area I’d thought about exploring for a long time but just never got around to it.

Thickening clouds roil over the barren tablelands, blotting out the remaining blue skies and greatly reducing the possibility of views from the top of Katahdin. No matter; it’s always a thrill to be high on the mountain whatever the weather, which will do as it pleases in this harsh Alpine environment.