Magical Moments on the Maine AT

Connecting the dots in the Bigelows

View of the Bigelow Range from the summit of Little Bigelow

My friend Judy and I have been section hiking the AT in Maine since 2006, slowly, and now deliberately, with a backpack trip every fall. Judy had already done all of NH's AT, and once we started leading AMC trips in ME, she had a new goal and I happily fell into the section-hiking tradition with her.

This particular weekend was not our annual ME AT backpack, but a make-up weekend catching up on the little bits we had missed. The Bigelow Preserve contains the popular Bigelow mountain range including Cranberry Peak, the Horns, West Peak, Avery Peak and Little Bigelow. Flagstaff Lake sits in it's southeast corner, once a winding river with the town of Flagstaff scattered at it's side. This now large lake was created by damming the river, flooding the town, with some bits and pieces possibly still deep underwater. The lake is a now a major outdoor activity resource for swimmers, hikers, canoes, kayakers and whitewater rafters/kayakers downsteam from it's damn, waiting for the big water release days.

Fall foliage on Rt 27

Judy and I have hiked the Bigelows numerous times as a traverse, but that path doesn't begin on the AT, which is how we missed a few parts. Judy and I arrived at the Cathedral Pines Campground in Eustis, ME to be surprised with one of the most lovely, viewful sites in the whole campground! We were placed right on the lake with perfect views of the range, sunset, and the glow of sunrise on the mountains - the magical backdrop to eating, trip preparing and just hanging out in the hammock. The sites here are spacious (you actually have elbow room and privacy), have a variety of amenities including a pool, swimming beach and free hot showers, as well as a few well-placed tent site on the lake! We set up our tents and headed to The White Wolf Inn in Stratton, ME, an infamously delicious eatery and motel known to locals, thru-hikers, bikers, and people who are smart enough to stop in on their way by. Everything I've ever had here is big, delicious and made with love!

Sunset at the campsite

After a filling dinner, we checked out an interesting glow near our campsite. What looked like a thousand fireflies was actually a mini digital laser light box one of the RVers nearby had pointed into the canopy of the towering pine trees the campground is named for. The site of it perplexed me, filled me with delight, and pretty much blew my mind. I spoke to the campers briefly to get the info I needed to buy one myself. Only bummer is you need  a plug (fine for car camping, but what about our upcoming backpack!?)

Campsite sunrise

Towering pines in the morning

The next morning the Bigelows glowed orange in the sunrise, the loons called in the distance, and a cacophony of more waterfowl were squawking away. We ate breakfast and soon Judy dropped me off on Caribou Valley Rd so I could hike 7.8 miles up & down the Crockers. I had the trail to myself, all the way up to North Crocker. I checked out the viewpoint, sat down and listened to the wind howling around the summits and was startled by the sound of small twig cracking. I turned to see who it might be and to my surprise, a giant bull moose crashed through the woods behind me, only 30 feet away, heading downhill and opposite of my next path. Absolutely amazing I thought, maybe one of the biggest moose I had ever seen, and all to myself. It was a magical moment as I sat in awe of the animal, too shocked and amused to grab a camera, and watched him disappear into the forest. Magic! In a few hours I met Judy hiking opposite me on the downhill side of South Crocke. We finished our hike together around 12:30pm, ate lunch trailside and I decided to hike the other 6.2 mi section across the street. I first drove Judy back to the campground where she read, showered & relaxed. ON the hike I ran into a whole bunch of thru hikers, some of which we saw the night before eating huge fried food plates at the White Wolf. At my turn around point, I stopped briefly to clamber up onto a large boulder grouping and sat in the sun, eating a second lunch and listening to the sound of thru hikers passing below me.

I returned to the campground with 2 desserts from the White Wolf I picked up on my way by, a Peach Rhubarb Surprise and Chocolate Molten Cake! Judy and I did a little strategic planning for our upcoming backpack before dinner, watched the spectacular sunset once again, and went to bed with our magazines in hand.

Sunrise #2

The next morning the same spectacular sunrise occurred, the birds sang and the humans went hiking. I dropped Judy off at the Safford Brook Trail so she could do an A to B hike of Little Bigelow. Meanwhile I checked out the Round Barn Campsite (lovely lakeside sites) and hiked the AT SB up Little Bigelow towards Judy (6.2mi RT). I ran into the same thru hikers as yesterday, and a few new ones all headed north the Katadin, only ~165 mi away. On the summit, I met a thru-hiker, Rockman, with a Gossamer Gear Pack. He talked excitedly about it and could hardly find a fault, minus some slippage of the orange cords when pulled tight, and a little rubbing on one side. He was having a lovely time hiking the trail and admiring the peak foliage. After the gear talk, he was off with friends to Baxter with a smile and a wave.  I waited about an hour for Judy, chatting with other hikers, basking in the 80˚F sun, snacking and staring into the autumn colors. When Judy arrived, I almost missed her passing by! But she circled back and we admired the color and together hiked down to the car. Before finishing, I noticed a bunch of plants along the trail side with three leaves and little purplish-blue berries. I thought maybe it was a late stage of a trillium, but Judy pointed out they were Cucumber Root and pulled one up to show me. It looked like a mini white radish but tasted like cucumber - how lovely! We finished the day with a quick dip in Flagstaff Lake (refreshing, not too cold) and a Subway sandwich, surprisingly good.

Cucumber Root finding

This was truly a memorable weekend. It wasn't because the trail was new, exciting or epic in length - but for the great company, summer-like weather, peak fall foliage, amazing campground views, electric fireflies, dry air... oh man, it was just perfect!