To the Main! –Heading Inland like the Fishermen of Old

Maine Trip: Part 2 of 3

If you missed part 1, scroll to the bottom for a link to the previous story.

My parents and I greatly enjoyed our time in Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park, and I would return in a heart beat to climb the Iron Ladder Trails and explore along the rocky coast like kid explorers again. However, there is so much more of Maine to see, so we departed from Bar Harbor early one morning–and headed to the main!

Here’s the story behind Maine’s name: When people came up north to settle the state after the end of the French and Indian war, most settled on the islands that dotted Maine’s cost. They came to Maine to fish for cod, and later for other fish and crustaceans. Since fishermen were rowing by hand in the 1760s, it made sense for the settlers to live on the islands, as close as they could get to the deep sea fish. As the stories go, when those fishermen had to travel inland, they would go “to the main, or mainland.”

We didn’t have a specific destination in mind because we needed to be back to the coast and to the town of Camden by nightfall, but we wanted to find a scenic drive, enjoy the fall colors, get away from the tourists, and maybe see a moose!

We saw two moose–but don’t get too excited! They were dead ones in the back of pickup trucks thanks to hunting season. So moose, yes, but alive ones, no.

Still, it was one of my favorite days of the trip.

Every moment of the drive through inland Maine was breathtaking. The morning was cold, fog rolling in off the ocean as we left Bar Harbor, but the sun peaked out later and really lit up the leaves like gems. I rolled my window down as we drove, and the crisp air reminded me of the mountains. We drove through stretches where it felt like no one was around for fifty miles. The towns we entered were barely towns, there and gone in the blink of an eye. The roads were always lined with trees, so dense that you could only see a few feet into the forest, but when we’d crest a hill or drive beneath power lines, we’d catch a glimpse of the hills around us and the color that dotted them like a toddler had taken red and orange and gold paint and thrown it on the rolling hills.

We spurned the highway the whole way, taking the back roads up to Millinocket, Maine. Perhaps this is why the towns were merely blips, but I don’t think so. After all, the ‘back roads’ we took were only about ten miles off the highway the whole way. I think it’s a Maine thing–there just aren’t that many people.

Millinocket was more than blip, but it was a still a sleepy, small town. It’s claim to fame, other than being in moose territory, is that it is the closest town to the end of the Appalachian Trail (which starts in Georgia). After a delicious greasy spoon breakfast at the Appalachian Trail Cafe, we left town, following directions to the Golden Road.

The Golden Road is an old logging road that now serves as one of Maine’s scenic drives. It curves upwards towards Baxter State Park and the tallest mountain in Maine, Mount Katahdin, then angles down through the Moosehead lake region.

We stopped to hike on a trail off the Golden Road, tramping through the forest. The ground was springy from so much decomposing material, roots wove through the ground like trip wires and traps, and leaves spotted the ground like flattened nuggets of gold. We did see some wildlife (no moose), but I did almost step on a snake (eep!). My parents proceeded to spend the next five minutes questioning me on if it really was a snake. Not a stick? Not a shadow?

Thanks Mom and Dad. I think I know what a snake looks like!

The highlight of the hike was the beautiful view of Mount Katahdin over a small lake. The shore was lined with colorful trees, like a necklace of rubies and citrines against a backdrop of spruces and pine, while the mountain rose like a small piece of the Rockies.

We continued the drive, heading straight down from Moosehead Lake. There were more people, more towns–and we entertained ourselves imaging what the people in these places did for work, how they entertained themselves in the cold Maine winters, and what we would do next time we came to Maine…because it will definitely involve more time inland among these small towns and beautiful mountains.

The Rest of the Story…

Part 1: I Love ME…I Mean Maine!

Part 3: Colorful Camden: Sea Winds, Mountain Views, and Lobstah!