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Majestic Maine Mountains
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Majestic Maine Mountains

As a preparation for hopefully upcoming Tour du Mont Blanc (about a year from now) we are dedicating our vacations to some training doing hikes in the mountain areas. Lue lisää
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  • Matkan aloitus
    8. heinäkuuta 2023
    CWBuffMajestic Maine MountainsMatkaaja

    1st stop

    8. heinäkuuta 2023, Yhdysvallat ⋅ ☁️ 75 °F

    This was our 1st stop after we left the house and made a fast pit-stop at Wawa's.
    Took us about 4.5 hours and we are roughly 9-10 miles into the State of Maine and we are about 1/2 way to our destinationLue lisää

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    End of the day

    8. heinäkuuta 2023, Yhdysvallat ⋅ ⛅ 75 °F

    ..and do after getting ourselves situated, going to the local grocery store, which is absolutely a Typical County Store, getting provisions and grabbing fast dinner, we are retiring for the night leaving you with gorgeous mountain sunset
    P.S. this also gave me a chance to test out my birthday present from Barry and Jo, namely a card reader, and I am happy to say that it works.
    These sunset photos are taken with my 35mm camera and I don't have to wait until I get home to post them anymore 😁    Lue lisää

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    Robinson Mountain

    9. heinäkuuta 2023, Yhdysvallat ⋅ ☁️ 72 °F

    Robinson Mountain is a peak not far from our cabin in and has an elevation of 1,020 feet. Robinson Mountain is named after Maj. George Robinson, a former resident in Island Falls. Robinson served with 8th ME VI and perhaps best remembered for interfering with Lewis Paine (Powell) - co-conspirator of John Wilkes Booth - during the latter's attempt at assassinating Secretary of State William Steward on April 14, 1865. (Robinson was a Sgt. then)
    In any case, a new trail was just opened, and we decided to take advantage ...

    Parking area and small commemorative rock overlooking Upper Mattawamkeag Lake.

    BTW, Robinson Mountain is the one straight ahead from our patio on last night's sunset photos    Lue lisää

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    Trail

    9. heinäkuuta 2023, Yhdysvallat ⋅ ☁️ 72 °F

    So the trailhead proved to be somewhat elusive, but in the end, we found a service road that eventually got us on it.
    The ATVs use the trail as well, so there are plenty of mud spots...
    Of course, we got eaten alive by the army of mosquitoes (later on that 🙄).
    Meanwhile, some views while on the trail incl. a beautiful flower and a multicolored field of them.    Lue lisää

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    The summit

    9. heinäkuuta 2023, Yhdysvallat ⋅ ☁️ 73 °F

    We made it to the summit and marveled at views again.
    We spent some time on this little opening, had some lunch, and rested. Mosquitoes were still relentless, though...
    So we traversed the other side of the trail loop, which wound up taking us down to what most likely IS that elusive trailhead, and we got to our car after perhaps. 5 mile 😊
    Slightly less than 5 miles total(trail proper), it was a good short start (hopefully we'll do better in upcoming days if the weather behaves)

    These shots include Pastor Mandy's Serene Video of the day (seems they exist outside The Camino... who knew...😇) and views of Majestic Katahdin Mountain - the tallest mountain of The State of Maine and the Northern Terminus of AT.

    Needless to say we rode into town, hit the County Store ang got mosquitoes repellent 👍    Lue lisää

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    Cheese and Wine

    9. heinäkuuta 2023, Yhdysvallat ⋅ ☁️ 77 °F

    ..so this was a major bummer.
    As many of you know, today is Laurie's birthday, and I was all set to take her out to a nice dinner.
    I forgot where we are!!!
    Not only does one have to go completely crazy to even remotely find anything "nice" by our standards (remember- pop. 600, right, so 2 restaurants and nice is still the same as regular, namely burgers and pizza...else you have to drive somewhere fir 2 hours)...but since it's Sunday, they close by 5 pm!!!! 😡
    Yup!
    So.... we contented with one of our "in"-dinners and joined other vacationers for complimentary cheese and wine event in the evening 😀
    I end this day with a shot of communal deck resplendent in swimwear and a partial view of Mt. Chase, which is to the right of Robinson Mountain, and also is seen from said deck.    Lue lisää

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    Shin Falls

    10. heinäkuuta 2023, Yhdysvallat ⋅ ☁️ 72 °F

    Today we squeezed in 2 relatively sort hikes.
    The partial problem is that, although there are abundance of places, it takes forever to get to them. This one, Shin Falls, was about 35 minutes drive - one of the shorter ones.
    Also called Shin Brooks Falls, they consist of Upper and Lower Falls    Lue lisää

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    Maybe... and a little later

    10. heinäkuuta 2023, Yhdysvallat ⋅ ☁️ 73 °F

    The trail unfortunately turned out not well marked at all. We completely missed the turn, therefore never making it to the loop and the Lower Falls.
    Perhaps it was for the best - many reviews mention that descending is somewhat treacherous even as the trail rated as Easy/Moderate.
    We mainly are focusing on getting back in shape and for Laurie to get used to walk with a 20L backpack.
    ...so we came to the end of the path we were on and hit these little rapids.
    Moving a little bit to the right, we could see the plunge of the falls... but that was it 😒
    Nature is still beautiful, though 😍

    When we made it back to the car, we also walked the service road, pretty much flat and open canopy. The mosquitoes were very happy to see us. Even as we liberally sprayed ourselves with repellant, they never completely left us (but the assault was not as brutal as yesterday).
    IMHO, these suckers (pun intended) are fully u-t-d on their vaccines and are not afraid of the repellent 😁🥲    Lue lisää

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    Seboeis River Nature Trail

    10. heinäkuuta 2023, Yhdysvallat ⋅ ☁️ 75 °F

    The trailhead was perhaps 5 minutes away from Shin Falls so we jumped at a chance.
    The northern access point for the Seboeis Riverside Trail is the start of a 6.75 mile one-way trail that leads south along the Seboeis River into Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument.

    No, we didn't do the whole length...more on that in the next footprint    Lue lisää

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    Picnic Break

    10. heinäkuuta 2023, Yhdysvallat ⋅ ☁️ 75 °F

    This was a beautiful trail, wide and gravel.
    It followed the river and was also marked rather consistently.
    We came upon this picnic area and took our repast and continued on.
    However, soon enough, the trail marks disappeared, numerous Billy-goat trails have appeared and then we came to a rather steep drop.
    I forgot our poles in the car so, not being sure if the "true" trail actually continued that way and not wanting to hike back up without poles if we turned out to be wrong, we retraced our steps back to the car from that point.

    All-in-all, between all hiking, perhaps we got close to 6 miles... not what I was hoping for but I'll take it    Lue lisää

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    Thus Ends Today

    10. heinäkuuta 2023, Yhdysvallat ⋅ 🌧 75 °F

    I am extremely upset.
    Somewhere out there, the Stars Aligned just do NOT want me to take my wife out for her birthday 😡
    Turns out that not only these so-called eateries closed down on us last night, but that they are all closed tonight as well.
    In addition it is supposed to start raining this evening 😑
    So we had to content with another dinner in, then took a leisurely walk around the compound and shall indulge in a friendly game of Trivia Pursuit Genus IV Edition.

    As you can see, there is no sunset as clouds cover the skies....

    Goodnight Irene....    Lue lisää

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    Houlton

    11. heinäkuuta 2023, Yhdysvallat ⋅ 🌧 68 °F

    As expected, we woke up to a very steady rainfall; thus, any idea of hiking was not feasible.
    We decided to take a ride to Houlton- only 21 miles away and play tourist.

    Houlton is a town in Aroostook County, Maine, United States, on the Canada–United States border. As of the 2020 census, the town's population was 6,055.[2] It is perhaps best known for being at the northern terminus of Interstate 95 and as the birthplace of Samantha Smith, a goodwill ambassador as a child during the Cold War.

    We kinda bummed a little about not bringing our passports with - it would've been cool to jump to Canada for a spell... oh well...

    Anyways, we concentrated on Market Square and the surrounding area taking a leisurely stroll to a tiny park.    Lue lisää

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    Meduxnekeag River Trail

    11. heinäkuuta 2023, Yhdysvallat ⋅ ☁️ 68 °F

    Much to our surprise, the other side of the bridge turned out to be a trailhead to Meduxnekeag River Trail obviously running along the Meduxnekeag River.
    We happily jumped at a chance, especially since the rain dropped to practically nill.
    The trail is flat, gravel and about 3 miles loop.    Lue lisää

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    Shire Ale House

    11. heinäkuuta 2023, Yhdysvallat ⋅ ☁️ 72 °F

    While the rain thankfully stopped, the humidity in the air was quite unbeatable.
    We decided to duck into Shire Ale House and partake in a refreshing cold pint.
    Patrick, the bartender, who wound up being the owner, poured Laurie a Stella, and I decided to try a Porter (not my usual choice by far).
    We got into talking, and it turned out that he is from PA, around Pittsburgh...
    We smoothly switched to his newest concoction - mead with ginger beer (checkmark 2 for not one of my faves).
    Then he told us about his dinner menu, where he orders a cut of beef for you..
    So we settled on 4:00 pm. dinner, went out to check a couple of other stores, came back, and had a wonderful Cicken kebobs appetizer with a 90oz. Porterhouse for main course.
    As per Patrick's suggestion, it was prepared Medium-rare (that would complete the tri-fecta of "these are the few of my not so favorite things").
    I have to say that this was one of the BEST MEALS I've ever had 👍    Lue lisää

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    Clear skies and "Ursa Major"

    11. heinäkuuta 2023, Yhdysvallat ⋅ ☀️ 72 °F

    The day is finishing on a very nice note; the rain is over and the skies are bright and clear. The views from the back patio are awesome...
    ... and so is the view of mosquitoes bites on my arm that interestingly enough also project some astronomical celestial body... 😁😇Lue lisää

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    Katahdin Lake

    12. heinäkuuta 2023, Yhdysvallat ⋅ ☀️ 77 °F

    Katahdin Lake is a fairly new addition to Baxter State Park, and it is located on newly acquired park land on its eastern side.
    The 3.3 miles hike took us almost 2.5 hours as the trail that was identified as Easy/Moderate turned out to be "a tad more" Moderate. (more on that later)
    We stepped on a small, narrow beach strip and then ate our lunch and rested at the lean-to.
    The area is also a camping site (can be rented for about $21.00/day) and a canoe rental place.    Lue lisää

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    Bog, mud, slippery boulders & log bridge

    12. heinäkuuta 2023, Yhdysvallat ⋅ ⛅ 79 °F

    The reason for difficulties we experienced was the fact that the trail turned out to be a collection of Bog, mud, slippery rock boulders, and narrow log bridges.
    At one point I almost had a Camino de-ja-vu

    By the time we were heading back, it did dry out somewhat, and we finished at 2 hrs 10 minutes

    But we were quite tired and canned the follow-up little hikes.
    Almost 7 miles on this terrain was more than enough 🤨😫    Lue lisää

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    Baxter State Park

    12. heinäkuuta 2023, Yhdysvallat ⋅ ⛅ 77 °F

    Clear skies persisted into today's morning, and after breakfast, we decided to carry on with the hiking plans.
    We chose to drive to South entrance of Baxter State Park (about 70 miles from our place) and hike the Katahdin Lake Trail, and basically take it from there (perhaps squeeze in 1 or 2 more short ones if we didn't get too tired).

    Check out the info on the park at https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baxter_State_Park.

    The very first photo is of Mt. Katahdin as we were approaching the entrance.
    We parked at Avalanche parking lot and proceeded onto the trail    Lue lisää

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    Preamble of the Day

    13. heinäkuuta 2023, Yhdysvallat ⋅ 🌙 66 °F

    As many of you may have heard, the northern lights (a.k.a. Aurora Borealis) were said to be potentially visible in at least 17 states (including ME) this week on July 12 and 13, according to an aurora forecast from the University of Alaska issued over the weekend. But that forecast has since been walked back in a Monday evening update....
    Still, being pretty far up North, we had to take a chance.
    And so, after getting advice about a quite dark scenic outlook, we drove out there in hopes of catching a glimpse (even as this place was more than 1 hour away).
    The 1st setback was that the place was not up to par regarding total darkness as it was right off the road AND across the street from a hotel lodge (think entrance sign, lit windows and quite illuminated parking lot 😠)...
    Still, we persisted and kept eagerly scanning the skies from inside the car (mosquitoes were also, shall I say, very eager 😁)
    I THINK I caught a glimpse on the horizon... but it was faint, and Laurie couldn't make it out...
    Then the clouds rolled in and covered the skies.. and reluctantly, we abandoned the wait, the time being after midnight and still over-an-hour trip back after rather a physical day

    So, yes, the photo is not mine but rather a stock photo 😁

    P.S. The road that Android Auto decided to choose for me shall forever live in my memory as "The road in infamy," and I will be telling stories about I TV for generations to come...    Lue lisää

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    Penobscot River Trails

    13. heinäkuuta 2023, Yhdysvallat ⋅ ⛅ 75 °F

    And so it is quite understandable that we got up and ultimately ventured out LATE!
    It rained more through the night, but by the mid-morning, the skies were clear, and the sun was shining bright.
    Mulling over a couple of options for today's hike (we really didn't want to battle another mud path, if can be helped) we settled on Penobscot River Trails, as it also looked as this area would give us more choices.

    BOY, did we make the right decision!!! 😁

    PENOBSCOT RIVER TRAILS IS A NATURE PRESERVE WHICH IS PRIVATELY OWNED BY A FAMILY FUNDED MAINE REGISTERED CHARITABLE FOUNDATION.

    Seems $5,000,000.00 were poured into the venture and it shows (of course one could argue that if this was a Government project and 100x were spent, the result wouldn't be nearly as complete ...😒)

    In any case, the overall setup is a loop of 2 trails - an inland and a riverside one, connected at various spots by so-called "links". That allows you to set your hiking distance at your convenience.
    If taken all the way, the R/T would clock at
    close to 25 miles... we decided to switch over from inland to river at Link 3, thus shorten it to a more manageable distance for us.
    BTW, the trail is a 😍!!!! Flat for most of the time, clean and gravel    Lue lisää

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