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Acadia
National Park - One thing that is well known about this park is the plethora of people
that come to it. Amazingly, my wife and I were able to find a trail without many people on it. It was late in
the day when we hiked up Pemetic Mountain. I estimate that it was probably around 2.5 miles round trip. The trailhead
is located at Bubble Pond parking area, and the path immediately makes a steep ascent that never yields in pitch all the way
up the mountain. It climbs nearly 1000 feet, or at least it seemed like it, until it tops out at 1248 ft. And
the views are very rewarding. From the top you can see Bubble Pond along with Cadillac Mountain. And if you look
hard enough you can actually the see the glimmer from the cars driving up to the top of it. It is truly spectacular,
and I personally think the view is better than what one sees at Cadillac. When done enjoying the scenery, simply return
the way you came. Or if you are feeling adventurous, you can take one of the other trails that lead down the mountain.
Aroostook State Park - This
has become my favorite of all parks the more time goes on. Located in Northern Maine just south of Presque Isle, the Quaggy
Joe Mountain Trails are 3 miles of pure bliss. Starting off in the day-use parking area, the trail climbs
very steeply up the mountain passing a plethora of birch trees until you reach a rockslide area and are forced to scramble
over the rocks to reach a spectacular overlook of the potato field valleys below. The incredible relief makes this seemingly
small hill appear monstrous and at the same time, offers one of the greatest views. I went in early June, and the
spring green was still spread across the valley. Anyway, when you're done looking, the trail continues up and then takes
a right turn and follows the ridge until it reaches another overlook almost as spectacular as the first. When done viewing
the Northern forests, descend the hill to return to the parking lot. If you are hungry, I suggest a place called Governor's
Restaurant in Presque Isle and in Houlton. They have gargantuous portions and you definately will be full. It was the
best meal I ever had.
Baxter State Park - This is probably one of the more interesting parks in Maine. It is located near Millinocket, and comprises a
vast portion of the county, or even state for that matter. I hiked two trails here, the Chimney Pond Trail
and The Saddle, in order to reach the summit of Mt. Katahdin, the highest point in Maine and the
starting point for the Appalachian Trail. If you want to even see the park, you will need to be there very early.
The gates open at 6:00 AM and they only allow a certain amount of people to be in the park for the day. My wife and
I arrived at 5:55 and there were 3 other cars in front of us waiting to get in. Once you check in with the Ranger
the road will soon fork. I took the fork to the right and traveled around 10 miles to the Roaring Brook Campground.
The Chimney Pond Trail starts off at this campground and it makes a rocky ascent to Chimney Pond
Campground. We started off the hike with a bunch of people, but once you set in your pace it thins out quite a
bit. Along the way you pass the small waterfalls and rapids of Roaring Brook overshadowed by the spruce and birch of
Northern Maine. As you get higher, the trail will get even rockier until you reach Chimney Pond Campround. Now
this is a sight. It's a picturesque lake, shown above, that is overshadowed by Baxter peak.
From here you can see where the timberline is located on the mountain and it looks damn ominous from this far down.
From here there are really only two ways to get to the top. Knife's Edge Trail and The
Saddle. Knife's Edge is an extremely difficult ascent where the highlight
is a 2000 foot drop on either side of you. Since my wife is a bit scared of heights we took The Saddle.
It continues up as the tree cover gets thinner and thinner and the flora turns strictly to conifers. Eventually you
will reach an intermitent stream which will probably be the last water you will see on the way up, so if you didn't already
fill up at Chimney Pond then you should probably fill you bottle now. After this, the trail seems to go straight up
and one will find themselves climbing more than hiking as you pull yourself from rock to rock all the while feeling like you
are getting nowhere fast. But if you take a look behind you every once in a while the views will open up and you will
see that you are getting higher up indeed. Eventually, you will reach the plateua-like area on top and you will intersect
with the main trail that leads to the summit. This is where it gets the hardest. My ankles were killing me, and
for the next mile or so you either jump from rock to rock, or slide around on softball-sized granite stones. There are
3 false summits, so never get your hopes up until you see the sign for Katahdin. At the top, the views are spectacular,
but you are so high up that you have to hope for a clear day else you will be looking down into the clouds. Lucky for
us the day was very nice and we could see for miles and miles. After taking in the view, you simply return the way you
came. The total mileage is a little under 11 miles. When we were done we ate at this pizza place in East Millinocket
and it was also the best meal I ever had.
Cobscook Bay State Park -
This was probably the lamest park I went to in Maine, and yet it still beat the hell out of a lot of the places I have been
to. The reason I stopped here is I thought that this park had a reversing waterfall only to find that this was not the
case. There is only one trail, simply titled Nature Trail that totals a little less than 3
miles. You start from the campground and walk through a pine forest. About a mile into the trail there is a spur
on the right that leads to a rock outcrop that yeilds views of Cobscook Bay. After enjoying the view, the trail continues
through the pine forest before it reaches the ranger station located at the entrance of the park. From here you can
hike the way you came, or you can take the road back, and we elected to take the road back since the trail at the time was
very muddy.
White Mountains National Forest - The only trail
I did in this forest was the Roost Trail located in western Maine. It is a very steep 1 mile
round trip trail that is supposed to have views but doesn't, therefore, it was a complete waste of time. I
even turned my ankle really bad on this trail and I had to limp around the rest of day (and the week too).
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