Maine: Final Prep

One day to go before departure, and excitement is running high. I'm still going (*frantically knocks wood*), having promised everyone that I will be smart and do the right thing. (I think I'm always smart and do the right thing...but every female who shares my last name has doubts.)

I'm packed, and I'm kinda shocked at the bulk of stuff I'm taking. I have one big duffel bag that's completely stuffed, a small duffel (also stuffed) as my carry-on, and my day pack for incidentals. I don't think I've grossly over-packed - the big duffel has my tent (which Eric and I will share) and sleeping bag, which are bulky. I've also packed clothes for all temperatures - days could be warm, but the nights will probably be down in the 40's, and we have to be prepared for rain. So that's a lot of layers, and the fleece and rain gear is bulky. We're planning on a quick laundromat stop on the transfer day between Acadia and Baxter, so I'm really packing for 4 days instead of 7.

One thing I am bringing, after assuming I wasn't bringing it, is my travel guitar. It never occurred to me that it was possible, but Darling Wife said (after listening to me lament), "Why can't you bring it? I see people with guitars in airports all the time." A light went on. Of course she's right. A quick check of the US Airways baggage rules (under special items) shows that a guitar case is just another checked bag. The "special items" page made me chuckle at some of the things people fly with: not just golf clubs and ski equipment, but surfboards, fishing tackle, and get this - antlers! It's nice to know that if I bag a moose, US Airways will let me bring the rack home.

Something that bothered all of us on the Dakotas trip was the "buy and leave" items - camp chairs and coolers mainly. Stuff that was so cheap and so bulky that we bought it there and left it next to the hotel dumpster before flying home. That kind of waste offended all of us, but there didn't seem a better option. Well, a better option occurred to me - "buy and donate." It still makes no sense to pay to carry a $10 camp chair on a plane. But a quick Google search shows two Goodwill centers in Bangor. We can buy camp chairs and coolers there, and donate them Tuesday before flying home. Problem solved.

Specific hikes and trails will be determined when we get there. Eric has done some research on Acadia trails. I think Cadillac Mountain will probably be a must-do (and *not* a long, steep, or strenuous climb.) Beyond that, there will be plenty of short trails to coastline vistas. Baxter is more of an unknown. I have the National Geographic topographic trails map of the park, and there are many possible options. We'll talk to the rangers when we get there and decide what to do.

Here's a slide show of Acadia N.P. scenes.

I'll post trip reports when I return.

My Northernmost Point

Warning: random and pointless trivia from a map and geography geek to follow.

The thought occurred to me that this trip to Maine might take me further north than I've ever been. The other possibility seemed to be my 7th grade band and orchestra trip to Ottawa, Canada. Well, Google makes it so easy to find out random and pointless trivia that I was able to find:

• Mt. Katahdin: 45.9044 degrees north latitude
• Ottawa: 45.4214

So yes, we will be going north of Ottawa.

But then I did some thinking and a little more Googling, and discovered that I've been significantly further north, and without crossing a border. In the fall of '10, my aikido friends and I did a trip to Seattle over a long weekend. They flew home Sunday morning, but I stayed until Monday, as I had a free flight on Southwest, and for some reason couldn't use it on Sunday. So I dropped them at the airport, kept the rental car, and drove out the Olympic Peninsula for the day (trip report here).

Reading my trip report and looking at a map, my northernmost point that day was at Pillar Point on the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Consulting Google, it wins by a large margin:

• Pillar Point, WA: 48.2167

Yeah, the things that keep a geography geek amused. :-)

Maine: New Plans

Unbelievably, the calendar now says September. That means a few things (in addition to the obvious, "Holy smokes, where did the summer go?!?") It means back-to-school for Younger Daughter (11th grade, today), and off to college for Elder Daughter (two more weeks to go.) And it means that Maine '13 is 8 days away.

The general outline of the trip hasn't changed from our initial plans:

• Wednesday: fly to Bangor, Maine, pick up the rental car, shop for supplies, spend the night at a motel (daughters consider this last point outrageous - how can you call it a "hiking/camping" trip if you spend a night in a motel?!? I've given up arguing the point.)
• Thursday: drive an hour and a half to Acadia National Park, set up camp at the site we've reserved at Blackwoods Campground, have all afternoon and evening to hike/explore Acadia.
• Friday: hike and sight-see at Acadia. Cadillac Mountain?
• Saturday: 3.5 hour drive to Baxter State Park, reprovisioning in Millinocket on the way. We still have to decide to how to divide the day. Spend some time in Acadia, then break camp and travel to Baxter? Or get up, pack, and go? We don't have to decide until that moment. We just have to be reprovisioned and have camp set up in Baxter by nightfall. We have a lean-to reserved at Roaring Brook Campground.
• Sunday: hiking in Baxter. More on this below.
• Monday: hiking in Baxter. Break camp late in the day, drive one hour to Millinocket, where we have a motel room. Prepare for the next day's flight home.
• Tuesday: home.

This is a good plan. We'll see and hike in both "rocky coastline Maine" and "woods and mountains Maine." But here's how plans have changed.

First, Ted is not coming. He broke the news last week that busyness at his job simply won't permit him to take the time off. Of course we understand, but we're very sad. We know he wouldn't bail if he had any choice. Since these annual boys' trips started in '07, he's been on every one. Logistically, the only thing this changes is the car we'll rent. Where we had a minivan reserved for 4 people, we can now go to a much-cheaper 4-door sedan. We will miss him a lot - but not, I suspect, as much as he'll miss being along with us.

The second change is the hiking I'll be doing, which can now be summarized as "strictly non-strenuous." There was a very serious possibility over the weekend that I'd also have to bail, but I'm tentatively still on board - with the restriction that my hiking will be non-strenuous. Doctor's orders. So the placeholder I have in the itinerary for Sunday labeled "Hiking in Baxter"? That was planned to be a hike to the summit of Katahdin - 10+ miles, 3,500 feet elevation gain, part of it along a stretch called The Knife's Edge. I can't find any way to spin that hike as non-strenuous. :-)

I have ladies from 16-81 who think I shouldn't go, and I've solemnly promised that I will be smart and careful. And I will. I *will* hike, but there are plenty of mostly flat hikes along streams and to mountain lakes. If John and Eric want to give Katahdin a whirl, they have my blessing to go and give it their best. I'll happily occupy myself in and around the campground - maybe finding out whether harmonica playing attracts or repels wood nymphs....

The other possibility is that I still won't be able to go - in which case you'll find a post entitled "Arrrrrggggghhhhhh!!!!!" So, fingers crossed that I don't need to post that!

Mt. Katahdin, Baxter State Park, Maine

Camping and Sleep Schedules

I recently read an article about camping and sleep schedules, titled Camping Helps Set Circadian Clocks Straight. It begins:

A new study, published in the journal Current Biology, reveals that if given a chance, our body's internal biological clocks will tightly synchronize to a natural, midsummer light-dark cycle.

The study found that a week of exposure to true dawn and dusk with no artificial lights had a significant effect on people who might otherwise describe themselves as night owls.  Researchers found that under those conditions, night owls quickly become early birds.

"By increasing our exposure to sunlight and reducing our exposure to electrical lighting at night, we can turn our internal clock and sleep times back and likely make it easier to awaken and be alert in the morning," Kenneth Wright of the University of Colorado Boulder said in a news release.

This might be the least-surprising study I've ever read, undoubtedly co-authored by Captain Obvious, Ph.D. Anyone who's ever camped could tell you that's one of the strongest appeals of camping. You can't help falling into a natural rhythm. When the sun goes down, you sit around the campfire for a while, and then you naturally want to go to sleep (especially if you've been hiking that day and your body is a little sore). And when the sun comes up and the birds are singing, you can't help but wake up.

You don't have to make a conscious effort to change your sleep patterns - it just happens.

Speaking of which, Maine '13 is five weeks away. More on that very soon.

Remembering TRNP

It hasn't been a great hiking summer so far, for reasons both good and bad. That will change soon, as Maine '13 is rapidly approaching (more on that very soon.) But I saw a couple of things recently that made me think of the Dakotas trip of two years ago.

The first was a feature article on Theodore Roosevelt National Park on CNN. It's a nice summary with some great pictures, and it mentions the Caprock Coulee Trail as a "don't miss" hike. That's the trail we did on our first day in the park, and I agree that it's a "don't miss" hike.

The second link is a YouTube video from National Geographic titled "Red-Tailed Hawk vs. Rattler". This is interesting in itself, but all the more so because on our hike on day 2 of our TRNP stay, we saw a red-tailed hawk fly overhead with a sizable dead snake in its beak.

This brought back some good memories, and I read back over my trip reports, which made more memories come flooding back. In some ways, it seems like that was *way* longer than two years ago. Good times.

Hiking in TRNP

Ridley Creek S.P., 3/3/13

I had a little free time the other Sunday, and decided to stretch my legs in Ridley Creek State Park. I know I take RCSP somewhat for granted - it's about 20 minutes away, and the nearest "real" hiking (i.e., a trail in the woods, as opposed to walking on a paved path), so it's basically my default option for when time is limited. But it's more than a default, it's a good option, with pleasant trails and some very pretty scenery.

The goal for this day was just to get out in the woods again, as I hadn't done any hiking in...a long time. A few months anyway. So it felt wonderful to get out in the woods. The day was cold and gray, but I was dressed lightly and quickly heated up once I started moving.

I did what I guess is my standard hike - a big general loop with a couple of smaller loops thrown in. I did everything in a counterclockwise direction. I only saw a few other hikers, all of whom were dressed like Eskimos in the depths of an Arctic winter. I guess they thought I was the crazy one.

I took a few camera phone pics, and intended to put a slideshow here. But Google has changed their web albums, and if that's still an option, I can't find it. So if you're interested, here's a link to a few pics.

Distance: 5.49 miles
Elapsed Time: 1:40

Maine '13: Initial Plans

The first meeting of the Maine '13 planning committee was called to order on a recent Saturday afternoon. John, Ted, and I were present, and Eric was on board with all the tentative plans and available by phone.

The first question was "when", and we resolved that pretty quickly by process of elimination. Looking at people's commitments, middle September seemed like the only time that worked for everyone. Looking at a calendar, we settled on Wednesday 9/11 through Tuesday 9/17.

The next question was "how" (to get there), and that was also quickly resolved. Someone said that USAir had cheap flights from Philadelphia to Bangor, ME, and we found that to be the case. It looked tailor-made for us - a cheap, direct flight, leaving the Wednesday afternoon and returning the following Tuesday afternoon. It seemed so perfect that we wanted to book immediately, before anything changed. So we got Eric on the phone, got his blessing to book it, and made our reservations.

That led to the question of "what" (to do while there.) We came up with a rough outline. We want to spend time in two spots while we're there, and Bangor is about midway between them. The first is Baxter State Park, where we'll camp and hike. Baxter contains Mt. Katahdin, the northern terminus of the Maine-to-Georgia Appalachian Trail, and the high point of the state of Maine. (More about Baxter and Katahdin in future posts.)

The other spot is Acadia National Park on the coast. That's been in our sights since 1986, when our college graduation trip to Acadia was scuttled at the last minute. So between these two places, we think we'll get the two classic Maine scenes - the woods/mountain/moose Maine at Baxter, and the rocky coastline Maine at Acadia.

The rough itinerary is to get into Bangor on Wed. evening, rent an SUV, and drive partway to Baxter. We'll have all day Thursday and Friday there, presumably doing the big hike to Katahdin on Friday. At some point Saturday, we'll break camp at Baxter and drive the few hours to Acadia. We'll have all day Sunday and Monday there, then break camp Tuesday, make our way to Bangor and airport, and fly home.

Nothing is reserved yet (campsites can't be reserved this far in advance), but this seems like a workable plan.

More details to come.