Maine

Where is Maine? And what is in Maine?

These are probably the first questions that come to mind. Well, you guessed right, it is in America and it basically is the first US state south and in between of Canada’s Maritimes and Québec.

And that’s what you see once you crossed the border at Houlton, ME. But it looks very similar anywhere you cross the border from New Brunswick to Maine. A lot of green and a lot of lakes and …

… a lot of great hiking opportunities. Who would have known?! It took me by surprise and I couldn’t believe what I was about to learn. I felt like I newly discovered the secret of a hidden gem that is Maine, the home of Katahdin. Never heard of it? Well, it’s about time then! This great mountain – the Abenaki word Katahdin literally means ‘great mountain‘ – is located in Baxter State Park and is the highest point of Maine. The Katahdin summit hike is also the end of the Appalachian trail and listed second(!) on the World’s best summit hikes by National Geographic! (If you don’t trust my written word, read this!)

We started our way on the Chimney Pond Trail and climbed up the steep and magnificent Cathedral Trail all the way to the highest peak, the Baxter peak at 5,270 feet (1,606 m). While we had an amazing view clambering up, it was completely fogged once we reached the summit. Not being relentlessly exposed to the sun, we appreciated the fog that provided perfect hiking conditions with its cooling effect. That was great for balancing our way along the Knife’s Edge towards Pamola Peak. But we missed out on a stunning view that I’ve only seen on a Google image search. On top of that, due to a technical error even all of our foggy photos were lost. A little consolation is that one day, I want to hike the full Appalachian trail (yes, it is a crazy idea to hike 2,200 miles, around 3,500 km, crossing 14 states) and fingers crossed I will finish this months-long journey on a wonderful day rewarding my efforts with a breath-taking view from Katahdin.

This is the only photo I still have – me after the great hike relaxing in our hammock with a refreshing drink: the perfect way to end this amazing day! It couldn’t get any better than this … well, to be fair, it didn’t. But we spent a full day white water rafting on the Penobscot River with warm and sunny weather so that voluntary and unvoluntary swims along the way were very pleasing. After those fun-tastic days inland we were headed to the shore again. On the way we stopped in Old Town to visit the Penobscot Nation Museum where I played a hand made flute. It was a truely was a faszinating and interesting encounter with the maker of the flute and Penobscot James Neptune.

A few detours later we got to Bar Harbour, a very touristy town. Everything there seems to service the masses of tourists that come out to this little penisula right off Maine’s coast. The feel of Acadia National Park was very different to the atmosphere of the Baxter State Park. With the town of Bar Harbour and the very established trails, this felt more commercial to us. But still, it is really beautiful and there’s more hiking!

We hiked along the coast and up some little mountain. The rugged and granite coast reminds of Nova Scotia and so did the weather. One moment it can be beautifully sunny and then change to dense fog within five minutes.

I jumped in the Atlantic for a camping shower. And oh it was cold! We learned from a Park ranger that because of a little mountain under water just off of the coast here, the water temperature stays pretty low year-round due to the cold water that comes down from Nova Scotia.

But this won’t ever stop me from a swim in the ocean!

Surprisingly, but almost needless to say this roadtrip to Maine turned out to be a highlight of my summer 2015!