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.