?? You don’t have to be Grizzly Adams or Bear Grylls to enjoy the wilderness, ?so strap on some boots, dress in layers, and enjoy our profile of three of Maine’s best hiking destinations.?
?? While the warmer months slow slip away from us, the hiking season is in full swing. Cooler temperatures and dramatic fall foliage make October a prime hiking month when one can get out and enjoy Maine’s natural landscape at its L.L. Beaniest.
?? “You don’t get the bugs, you don’t get the heat, and the colors are great,” says Outing Club Treasurer Eric Favreau. There are a few challenges unique to fall hiking, and Favreau is quick to point out the temperature factor. “You have to be ready for the frost, during the day when it’s sunny it can be 60 or 70 degrees, and then drop to 20 or 25 at night,” he says. ??
USM might lie in the flatter, coastal region of the state, but there are many worthwhile peaks just a couple hours ride from campus. Many of these mountains are located in prime camping territory, so if you have the appropriate weather-gear, make a weekend of it, and explore some of the more rustic corners of the state. ??
Anyone interest in exploring the wilder side of Maine is encouraged to contact The USM Outing Club at [email protected]
The Outing Club is also running a white water rafting Oct 10th, and meets every other Sunday in The Student Center at 6 p.m.?
The Sullivan Gym also runs an outdoor recreation program, led by Favreau. Next weekend, the rec program will run a overnight camping trip to Tumbledown, students can sign up at the Sullivan gym on the Portland campus.?
Mount Katahdin
Nestled up firmly in the middle of nowhere – nowhere in this case being the 200,000 acres of Baxter State Park – is Maine’s highest point, Mount Katahdin. Writer and naturalist Henry David Thoreau summited the mountain – which he wrote of in the poem “Ktaadn” – in the 1840’s, and was among the first dozen to successfully ascend to the roof of Maine.?
?? In his book The Maine Woods, Thoreau recalls “Ktaadn presented a different aspect from any mountain I have seen, there being a greater proportion of naked rock rising abruptly from the forest; and we looked up at this blue barrier as if were some fragment of a wall which anciently bounded the earth in that direction.”
?? ?This passage seems to capture it all. Carved out by glaciers, and exposed to high winds and frigid temperatures, Katahdin above the tree-line is a mass of blocky granite and uneven boulder fields, reminiscent of a great pile of Legos dumped on top of a sheer ridge.?
??In the more than 150 years since Thoreau’s ascent, the mountain has been somewhat more tamed by the Park Service, and now features a myriad of ways to reach Baxter Peak, the highest point on the rocky ridge. Casual day hikers, or those who want to bring young children along on this Maine rite of passage, can reach the peak from the Abol/Hunt Trail. The route is a four mile hike from Chimney Pond, the base camp for many of the most popular trails.?
?? For the more daring mountaineer, The Cathedral Trail offers a challenging and dramatic route; climbing over boulders and crawling over jagged rocks that jut out from the craggy face of Katahdin. While this trail can be unnerving in inclimate weather, on milder days it’s not unusual to see a fearless six-year old bounding over the boulders, only stopping for the occasional boost from their parents.?
?? And then there’s the famous “Knife Edge” a narrow 1.1 mile trail across a wind-battered ridge. Popular opinion states that if you haven’t trekked across the Knife Edge, you haven’t really hiked Katahdin. While it might be too late in the season this year to test your mettle against the Edge — last weekend it was closed due to ice, and things don’t look to be getting any warmer– it’s an experience one shouldn’t shy away from just beacuse they are still haunted by the memories of reading Lost on a Mountain in Maine?in the fourth grade.?
???”The Greatest One” is also the northern terminus of the storied Appalachian Trail, which extends some 2,178 miles from Springer Mountain in Georgia. It gives casual day-hikers the chance to meet the rare breed of grizzled, heavily bearded thru-hikers who can be witnessed ecstatically sprinting their way to Baxter Peak, bottles of bubbly in hand, to celebrate the end of their five-to-seventh month sojourn through the East Coast wilderness.?
?? The most important thing to remember about mounting a Katahdin ascent? Plan ahead. The Park Service keeps very strict control over quotas, and will only allow so many hikers out on the trails each day. Even arriving at 6 a.m. does not guarantee a spot, so make a reservation ahead of time over the phone.?
Tumbledown Mountain
? ?? A fun and unique peak in the mountains of Western Maine, Tumbledown has several unique features that make it a hiking destination for all.?
?? An alpine lake at the mountain’s peak is a frigid but fun natural feature. During the warmer summer months, many hikers camp along the banks of the pond – known locally as Crater Lake. Be warned though, building of campfires is prohibited, and on windy nights, the breeze off the pond can turn a mild evening into what feels like an Arctic excursion very quickly. The views from the top cannot be beat, and offer a sweeping panoramic of the hilly western counties.?
???The southern face also features dramatic 700+ foot cliffs, which while visually striking, are a dangerous proposition for anyone without some serious rock climbing skills. The cliffs were a popular destination for the cliffhanging set in the 60’s and 70’s – and antique pitons from that era can still be found jammed into crevices – but the long hike into the base of the rock face have kept many scalers away.?
?? The most popular route up Tumbledown is the Loop Trail. This two-mile route is deceptively difficult, featuring a gully of boulders that get bigger and bigger as one approaches the peak. These increasingly massive rock-forms seem to block the way at a certain point, but cluastrophobics beware – one must wedge themselves through the areas between boulders, using iron handrails to pull themselves through the final push.?
Gorham Mountain
Gorham Mountain is featured here for it’s central location in Acadia National Park – arguably the gem of Maine’s wilderness getaways. The Gorham Mountain Trail can be reached from Acadia’s Park Loop Road – a toll road that weaves past Sand Beach, Thunder Hole, and Otter Cliffs (although a close look at a roadmap will show you a way to skip the Loop Road entrance fee, where after a brief walk, you end up at the parking lots of Sand Beach).?
?? Gorham Mountain lies alongside two of Acadia’s better-known peaks – The Beehive, a 500 ft dome of pink granite featuring iron handrails and stedrop-offs, and The Precipice, a big-brother to The Beehive that is closed for most of the summer due to nesting Peregrine Falcons, but is a fun challenge if one wants to tackle it during the fall or early spring.
?? After a quick 45 min hike, you can stand atop Gorham Mountain, and take in no less than four landscapes without having to drop a buck at one of the Park’s ever-present gift shops. To one side, the picturesque cove of Sand Beach. To the south, Otter Cliffs jut out over the ocean, offering an afternoon’s worth of tide-pools to explore. From the summit, you can spot every Acadia peak worth climbing – from the rocky-top of Cadillac Mountain to Champlain and Pemetic. Gorham Mountain is a perfect first-hike on a weekend getaway from where you can scope out the other glacier-carved peaks, and decide what to tackle next.?
?? The real hidden treat of the Gorham trail comes at the end. Letting out at a parking lot along the Loop Road, you’ll suddenly discover you are a short walk from Thunder Hole, a great place to spread out a picnic lunch on the rocks, and listen to waves crash into the naturally carved out pocket. Sand Beach also lies less than a mile down the road, if you need to cool off (way, way off) after your ascent.?
?? It’s too daunting to try to list the innumerable sights to be seen, and trails to be hiked in Acadia, but it’s highly recommended that you venture eastward at least once a year to get a taste of the local treasure that many tourists come thousands of miles for. If nothing else, it’ll be a nice warm memory to hold on to during the winter months.?
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