A
WEEK HIKING IN MAINE, July 14-22, 2012
It was a long-awaited hiking extravaganza with a little bit
of kayaking and cycling to the mix. The
weather couldn’t have been better, with heat, breeze, sun and yes a little bit
of humidity so as not to get homesick. Off
we went, early Saturday morning from Ted’s house shortly past 6:30 am. Gord, Ted and I in one vehicle and Ted’s
brother Joe with Vera and Kyla. Our
first site was fixed on Baxter State Park, where we would set up camp in the
park, which was kept very rustic, outhouses and treated water. As this was still car camping, I was afforded
the luxury of an air mattress. We made
our way with a couple of stops to empty and replenish and finally at
Millinocket, we sought out the grocery store for Joe’s beer and other
necessities. It would be Joe, Vera and
Kyla’s first rustic camping, but somehow they managed very well with all the
equipment they had to provide for a full course meal and practically a condo
with their huge dome tent for 10 oops 3 people!! Our little tents fitted neatly around their
tent, making ours look like changing quarters or portable salons next to their “Taj
Mahal” as christened by Vera.
My mission was to accompany Ted on a trek to Hamlin Peak in
his endeavour to bag the 111s Highest Northeast Peaks of the USA. I excitedly made our plan to hike up the Abol
Trail to the Thoreau Spring Cut Off, sidestepping Baxter peak towards Hamlin, approximately
a 10.8-mile return trip originally.
However, that night when the ranger did her rounds checking in with the campers,
she discouraged us from taking inexperienced hikers up the Abol Trail due to
the “scree” along a part of the trail that would hinder and exhaust even the
experienced hikers. So, we decided to go
up the Hunt Trail and return the same way, making a total mileage of 12.4 miles
that day. I had earlier explained to Ted
that it would be anywhere between a 10 and 12 hour day but that we would have
the daylight on our side and with an early start, we could potentially finish
early. Of course, when hiking with the
great outdoors, one must always place Mother Nature first and abide by her
direction. In this case, thunder and
lightning was a potential threat that we had to yield to. The ranger warned us and so we set ahead with
the knowledge we were given and started our hike shortly past 6:30 am the next morning. We had a tremendous day full of surprises,
wonder, camaraderie, fear and exhaustion.
However, we were prepared with GPS,map and walkie-talkie and enough snacks
that we were able to split up at a junction that would enable Vera and Kyla to
reach Baxter Peak and allow Ted and I to summit Hamlin and return back to camp,
after a few lightning and thunder scares on the way down, making it back to camp by about 7pm. Vera and Kyla made it into camp an hour
earlier. We kept in touch by walkie
talkie, which assured both parties that we were on our way and safe. It was an awesome hike. We ate supper and celebrated our
accomplishment. The next day, Ted and I would
head out to North Brother for our second peak in that area for the 111s. Ted and I were on the trail for almost a mile
when he had to admit that he would not make it out in a timely manner due to an
injury he sustained on the hike the day before.
Unfortunately, he did not take his Advil to curb his aches and we had to turn back. Once back at camp, he took his Advil and then realized he could have managed it if he had taken the pain killers prior. However, this time afforded all of us to
ready ourselves and make our way down to Bar Harbour for the next chapter of
our trek, that is … hiking in Acadia National Park.
Acadia was beautiful against coastal shores of the Atlantic
with the fishing boats and lobster traps
dotting the coves. The weather continued
to brighten our day with heat and sunlight. The next four days , we would
explore the different trails throughout Acadia by bicycle and hiking boots. We stayed at Smugglers Den Campground in Southeast Harbour. I took advantage to explore the more
challenging hikes with cliffs and rungs, among the former nesting grounds of
the Perrigrine Falcons. You could see
the odd one soaring through. These hikes
were short, reaching the summits soon enough to afford you another hike elsewhere
within the same day. Another day we
kayaked in Bar Harbour and another day I spent cycling along the carriage roads
through the park with overhanging trees and also along the highways that
provided a cycling path alongside. There
was also the free shuttle bus that carried six bicycles that was an excellent
service to get us to our cycling destination and back to our camp.
Finally, the last Saturday came and off we went to our next destination,
Rockland, for our Lobster Ride’n Roll fundraiser cycling event. There some of us cycled for 50 miles along
the coast of Maine through the trees overhanging the country roads to a
lighthouse at our halfway mark. The
route would then turn around and bring us back into Rockland to the Oceanview
High School, where we would eat our lobster roll and relish in our cycling
achievement. It was a great week.
From Rockland, we drove to Rumford to stay overnight at the
Blue Iris Motor Inn. We enjoyed its back
connecting deck with each unit which allowed us to pull the tables and chairs
together for a final toast to a fulfilling week of adventure. Of course, it also had a pool which three of us took advantage of. The weather remained beautiful the next day
as we made our way home to Cornwall. One
stop I would make again would be at Ile Perault’s restaurant (near Montreal) of
“Smoke Meat Pete”. It had the best smoke
meat sandwiches ever which I came to learn late in life. Oh well, Aunt Joanne and Uncle Bill, you’ll
have to return so that we can take you there!
Here are some photos of our week.
