Headin' Out on Friday

“Hi all. We're heading out for a week, leaving Friday.

We plan to go the Maine and New Hampshire. We'll probably day hike at Acadia or some other park.

We may do a few days of backpacking in the Whites in the middle of the week, too.

As you may be able to tell, we really don't have plans. But, I'd like to have a few ideas before we hit the road...

Where are some great towns to stay in NH or ME? (We'll mostly camp)

I've read the Whites threads (for this past spring and the upcoming september trip.) I could still use some help on hiking there. If you have experience and can suggest a two or three day hike, that would be great.

Thanks all!”

“Tarabull - If you get the chance, stop off at Stonington, ME and take the mail boat over to Isle au Haut. It's the island that's part of Acadia, way south of the main park. They only allow a max of 50 dayhikers and 36 overnighters at one time. It's a really neat place and a lot less crowded than the rest of Acadia. Some great hikes along the beaches and inland. Probably ought to call Acadia HQ to see wht your chances are of getting on the boat - reservations are hard to come by this time of year. I was there at the end of Sept a few years ago and had the entire NP to myself for 4 of the 7 days I camped there. Email me if you want some details. I can give you some nice backroad routes from western MA to ME if you're interested. You DO NOT want to take the major highways through NH on a weekend. Don't know what route you're taking east, but if you need to spend a night in western MA, my place is yours. I'm about 5 hours from Portland, ME. This weekend is our town's annual agricultural fair, if you're into that sort of thing.”

“Your too kind, steiny!

We actually plan to drive straight through, to where ever it is that we are going. Maybe Portsmouth. Maybe York, ME. Maybe a town that I hear about on this thread...

Thanks for the info on the island. How long of a boat ride is it? Is it worth it if we only day-hike?”

“My favorite places are in western Maine, Rangeley and the surrounding area, the AT runs through there. Jackman, Greenville, Moosehead are all beautiful as is all of the Katahdin area. Downeast Maine - way downeast as in Washington County, Easport, Lubec and such is great. I'm not a fan of Acadia, although I am heading to Isle au Haut in September.

There are public lands (no fee) to camp at in most of these places, or nearby state parks.”

“Mt. Katahdin, in Baxter State Park, is out in the boonies, but well worth the drive. Probably one of the best mountains in the east...”

“Man am I jealous! I lived in Maine for about 10 years as a kid and never took advantage of it's beauty. You should head up and around Cadilac Mountain in Acadia National Park. Then hike down into the AWESOME town of Bar Harbor. I have a link to the park on my personal site. Click on my profile and my personal site is in there somewhere. Have a great trip. Love that ocean air!”

“If you are going to Maine anyway, I'd suggest blowing off the whites. Unless you really want to do the presidential ridge/traverse. If you do, search "traverse" or "presidentials" opn the AMC Hiker Journal site.

Otherwise pick a stretch of the AT in Maine and you will find yourself in splendid territory. Depending on your ambition try Gorham NH to Grafton Notch or for a strenuous but absolutely wonderful stretch try hiking from Stratton (ME State Road 27) to Rangely (ME SR 4) over Saddleback. And Rangeley (as Twig says) is a gorgeous place to be around! Its a little upscale for rural Maine. And for a fascinating piece of American history... there is the Wilhelm Reich museum nearby.

Another great town to use as a base for hiking, backpacking or slackpacking is Andover. Stay at one of the hostels there and you can get shuttled to and from nearby trail heads for free. They prefer you slack pack, but feel free to head out for a few days. The hostels tend to routinely cover the trail heads at Grafton Notch, (ME SR 26, mile 266.8 of the AT North to South), East B Hill Rd. (Mile 256.5) South Arm Road (mile 246.4) and in some cases SR 17 (Mile 233.1) . I can vouch for The Cabin (207-392-1333) and its owner Bear who is quite a character. But I've heard that people also love the Andover Guest House (207-392-1209) amd Pine Ellis (207-392-4571).

For a fee they will shuttle you to Rangely. I found that using the shuttle service saved me some major hitch-hiking since I could just leave my car at the hostel... backpack several days and get a ride back to the hostel and my car.

The whole area is so wonderful tobackpack in... I'm getting itchy just thinking about it!”

“Wow. Great suggestions and info.

Keep 'em coming!”

“Yes, keep em commin. I will be hangin out in ME after the white trip and eventually over to Nova Scotia. All help welcome! Yo bear!”

“Hey Mountainchick. Great site. Hadn't been there for probably a year.
Yes, folks (some of us at least) read this stuff!
Do you have more names than Sybil?”

“Sybil?”

“yeah ped, I meant more the surrounding areas (Rangeley Plantation, Oquossic, Stratton, Carabassett Valley and the nearby townships - that whole bumpy section on my raised relief map, lol) rather than the town of Rangeley itself.”

“mountainchick, Those are very cute boys you have!”

“Thanks Sunshine. . .They're my sunshine. Okay, that was corney. You get the point. :)”

“tarabull - I lent my mail boat schedule to a friend and never got it back - prolly out of date, anyway. As I recall, there was a boat fairly early in the morning, one mid -day, and one late afternoon. As far as getting on to dayhike, I think it was first-come, first-served. In season, (now) the mail boat goes all the way to a dock at the camping area as well as the town, which will save you a 5 mile hike to the trails. The boat ride is under half an hour, so if you catch the early boat, you ought to have time to get in a full day of hiking.

Anybody considering an overnighter or two on Isle au Haut, treat your food as if you were in grizzly country. There is not a bagging method on earth that will protect your food from the red squirrels there. They give a whole new meaning to tenacity, cleverness, and obnoxiousness. Bear canister or metal tin only!

Have to agree with most of the others - skip the Whites. They'll be overcrowded, anyway. There's a lot of really great hiking, scenery, and canoeing in Maine.

And again, if you want some directions to get you from NY to ME off the interstates and through some nice scenery and small towns, email me and I can email or fax you maps and directions.”

“Wow, I'm surprised to hear that we should skip the Whites for hiking in Maine. I'll have to run that by my boyfriend. I'm pretty sure he's got his heart set on hiking in the Whites.

steiny - i'll send you an email. Thanks!!!”

“The Isle au Haut ferry schedule is here: http://www.isleauhaut.com/schedule.htm.

I've only hiked in the white's once so I really can't compare, but it certainly was different. I'd choose Maine first any day, but I live here.”

“Tarabull there is great hiking to do in the Whites... and since you will be there in the middle of the week, you will miss the crowds. I hike the Whites because they are closer to me than Maine.
Classic hikes in the Whites include the presidential traverse, Franconia Ridge and the Bonds. Three great links (try searching key terms like "traverse," "presidential," "Franconia," the "Bonds" for info on hikes in the Whites are:

White Mountains Server
AMC Campsite: Hiker's journal
Lexicomm's site

AlpineZone.com might also be worth a try... especially for posting questions. On the other sites, its good ettiguette to do a bit of a search and look around before posting questions. Rad ain't the only one who gets touchy when someone posts a question he spent a long time answering a few days earlier.”

“Have fun. Let us know how the Whites are. Some of us will be there in 3 weeks! YAHOOO!”

“Will do Walkindude.

We started packing tonight. Do you know that feeling when you pull out the backpacking gear. I was rubbing my face on my oh-so-smooth sleeping bag. Pretending that I was sleeping under the stars. OOOOHHH I'm so excited for this trip.”