I had a great adventure last week with some new friends in the Maine Wilderness.
It was so much fun! 5 mothers (with 21 kids between us),
getting away to the woods, with other women to talk to.
And boy did we talk! For 3 days straight. The whole car ride, during 4 hours of skiing each day, while hanging out at the huts and the whole drive home. We enjoyed each talking to each other so much!
I felt like I got all my social time (that I have missed from a year of
COVID isolation) all in one weekend! :)
We talked about everything under the sun and solved all the worlds problems. :)
Hanna drove us in her 4WD truck (good thing!)
The road to the Winter Parking lot was very snowy.
DAY 1: 7.3 Miles
We also had planned to go on the green trail all the way, but the employee who picked up our bags (Brian) highly highly encouraged us to take the Hedgehog Trail, since the snowmobiles were on the green trail and were loud and fast. He said it would be much more enjoyable and to take "Cally's Trail" before we hit the black part of the trail.
As you can see, he was right. It was freshly groomed and beautiful.
But......when we took Callie's trail, it was ungroomed and was hard going. I haven't pushed myself physically that hard in a long time. The powder slowed us down considerably.
I would not take an ungroomed trail again!
When we came to a T half way down Callie's Trail, and there was no signage, we bore left (towards to the lodge) rather than taking a right (away from the lodge), assuming we can completed Callie's trail and though I was surprised that it wasn't groomed there either, I didn't feel comfortable going away from the lodge in direction. It actually connected us back onto the Hedgehog Gate Trail....which was fine..... but was a black trail and lots more ups and downs and threw us off a bit when we came out of it to see that we were in a different place on the map than we thought.
Fortunately, it was the faster route and we were able to get to the lodge just after dinner was served and get fed and into bed early. We were all bushed! No games that night!
I had a shower and felt like a new person! It was certainly an adventurous day!
Here's some more pics of Day 1:
Reaching the top of a big hill. There were a lot of them!
This was the sign that said we were half way there! Very encouraging!
The girls were great at charging ahead and trying the hills.
The hilly terrain was new to all of them.
They were honestly great sports and pushed really hard!
We had a few hot spot blisters, but no injuries, and we were so grateful!
We learned that pocket knives, scissors, precut moleskin, extra batteries and headlamps are handy! That unpackaging new gear before packing is helpful.
We learned that camelbacks freeze in cold temps and can make water inaccessible :(
We also learned that hot tea can be handy for frozen gear!
Sun going down, temps starting to drop
My old skiis did great, until I got snow packed in a binding. I had to run alongside everyone for a while. Hanna had some hot tea and had the idea to melt it, which worked great. She just had to pour tea on my binding again for me to get my boot off when we arrived at the lodge! It was frozen solid!
The food was soooo good. They even hand drew little pictures on our dinners.
Pulled pork, mac and cheese, broccoli salad and warm minestrone soup with apple pie for dessert.
Stretching and massages
Stretching and mending broken feet
Breakfast Table: Day 2
The food was good and plentiful. Plenty of hot cocoa and herbal tea too.
The water smelled and tasted like Sulfur, so the tea was very welcome!
Our Hut at Little Lyford was a 5 person. One queen, One bunk and one living room twin. No real walls to speak of, but very comfortable and warm. No electricity, no internet, no running water.
They had a very warm wood burning stove, propane lamps and by the lodge there were showers and restrooms. In non-COVID times, also a sauna.
Lisa
Anna, Holly, Me and Hanna
Feeling much rested
The lodge
Our view from the porch of "Mtn. View" hut
The front door of Mtn. View
DAY 2: Heading to Gorman Chairback
6.4 miles
This day was so pleasant. It still took 4 hours, but it was more leisurely, no rush.
Still a few blisters among us, but good spirits and compared to the strenuous last few miles of the first day, it was much much more enjoyable.
The hut we had here was a "deluxe" hut with a bathroom and shower in the hut....two electric lights, and real walls too.
It was very comfortable! Lisa was our lovely night fire stoker, and we were so grateful. Kept us warm and cozy all through the night.
One misfortune was the carbon monoxide alarm going off in our bunk room 3 times! Probably due to the propane lamps. We had to turn them off and air out several times. Woke Hanna up....was not convenient, but luckily went away and we didn't have any more false alarms.
You can see the lake behind the bell. In summer, the swimming and kayaking on the lake is phenomenal, we were told.
This camp was started in 1867 by a one armed Civil War Veteran named William P. Dean
He came up here to build a camp to attract city folk up to the wilderness. He started the camp by building an Octogon shaped cabin. The reason for the shape was because he and his 10 year old son could only carry and place a maximum length of 4 foot logs, so they made an octogon. It's still there and used, renovated very nicely.
DAY 3: 8.2 miles out to winter parking lot
Chilly morning, but not too bad. Snow storm was expected and we knew it. We were hoping it wouldn't be too bad on the skiing part and drive out. The skiing worked out fine and the drive was slow going, so we got home quite late, but safely! Thanks for driving, Hanna!
Pics from Day 3:
"Bernie" impersonation.
After a delicious quiche, fruit, bacon and sweetroll breakfast, we headed out with clear skies.
View from our hut overlooking the frozen lake.
It started to snow after the first hour, so we were in snowfall the rest of the ski trip out.
Had to stop and clean off our skis frequently as they snow was sticky.
When we arrived back to the parking lot we found a car had been stuck for an hour because they tried to drive down the trail, not realizing it was closed to cars. The driver wanted to see if we would pull them out with the truck, but we assured them we could push them out though they were sunk in deep. We rocked it! The power of 5! They were very grateful.
It was actually paying it forward because a very nice gentleman and wife had pulled us out of the snow we sank our tires into when we pulled over off the highway in Greenville. Such nice people in Maine!
Getting our gear from the shed
Visiting the cute tourist shop in Greenville
Appalachian Mountain Club Wilderness, we will be back!
It was a memorable adventure with wonderful friends!
Some recommendations from the group:
Service: Fund an entrepreneur in need at www.KIVA.org
Games: Banana Grams & AZUL
Sobering history: Bloodlands
Inspirational: Kisses for Katie (book)
Running for my Life
Budgeting : Daveramsey.com
Qube envelope app (download with Holly's referral!)
Theraputic: "Better than Happy" podcast
"Feeling Good" podcast
YA Books: The Blue Castle, L.M. Montgomery
Lunar Chronicles, Marissa Meyer
We are the Lucky Ones
Discovery of Witches Series (adult)
Music: Wildflowers, The Wailing Jenny's
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XhVILjWkNg
Harmonize, Rising Appalachia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQeg3dd-XM0
Roll the Bones, Shakey Graves
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sD72LbIk02M
The Long Run, The Staves
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQXNUGMERQM
(I got these from the AMC staff who were listening to some fun tunes while they made breakfast)
3 comments:
Looks like you had a great weekend!
We sure did! You want to fly out and come next year Robby?!
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