Maine Vacation – Aug-14
We visited friends in Maine in August and had a great time! Highlights of our trip were the outdoors nature activities. Here, I’ll summarize the hiking, kayaking and siteseeing trips.
Hike Rattle River Trail section of Appalachian Trail
We went hiking on the Rattle River Trail section of the Appalachian Trail. We drove over to Shelburne, part of the White Mountain National Forest. The start point is close to the Androscoggin River on Rt 2.
We started on the trail-head, going South, along the Rattle River Trail. It was rocky with a gradual uphill slope. We crossed by some of the tell-take white trail makers, the signature mark of the AT. After a couple of miles, passed the AT Shelter, we crossed the river and winded and twisted our way up to a really nice waterfall. We had a relaxing lunch and walked our way back.
The trail is generally pretty easy. Our hosts supplied us with nice hikng poles. They came in handy crossing the river — the stones are slippery. In August, the river was just a trickle of water. Up at the waterfall area, it is just a small pool, with a stream of water splashing down. It’s all very calm at this time of year.
Kayak Umbagog Lake
We went kayaking on Umbagog Lake in Errol, New Hampshire.
We started at the Southern boat ramp on Rt 26 just West of the campground. We headed North passed Sargent Cove, hugging the shoreline way up Thorston Cove.
Repeating what we did last year, we paddled over to the Big Island and looked for an open camp site — we brought a picnic lunch. We tried campsites 4, 5, 1, and 9. Sorry they were all busy. That’s ok, we had a picnic lunch elsewhere.
We saw some Kingfisher; the White Lilies were really pretty, and we were delighted to see a pair of Loons with a baby Loon. Really cool! The lake is really big. It feeds the main river in the territory, the Androscoggin River. We were pleased that the weather was calm. When the winds pickup, the water can get pretty choppy.
With all the campsites full, we had a picnic lunch after our paddle at the Screw Auger Falls in the Grafton Notch State Park. It’s a really nice waterfall area with a generous number of picnic tables right on the water.
Kayak South Arm Richardson Lake
We went kayaking at the beautiful Lower Richardson Lake in Andover, Oxford County Maine.
The lake is deep and rocky, with very clear water. The shoreline is mostly rocky with some sandy sections. The waters from this lake feeds the Rapid River which flows into Umbagog Lake. The Lower Richardson Lake is part of the Rangeley Lakes region of Oxford County.
We launched at a boat ramp just North and East of the South Arm campgrounds. The ramp was busy launching a house boat and a medium sized motor boat. That was ok, we waited our turn and launched our kayaks from a gravel area just off the ramp area.
We paddled up the lake and were delighted with how beautiful the lake was. We saw Bald Eagle, juvenile eagle, hawk (sparrow?), Kingfisher, Seagull, and most impressively Loons! The Loons were swimming together, hunting for fish. As we tried to paddle away from them, they came over to us and swam around our boats. They were hooting at us in a very friendly tone. The loons were much bigger than I thought; they were bigger than ducks, and just a bit smaller than geese. At one point we counted 9 birds in one place. These are rare birds and we were thrilled to see them!
We stopped for lunch at a sandy outcropping on the East side of the lake. We easily landed our boats and sat on a fallen tree for a picnic lunch. The day was hot and we enjoyed a brief swim in the shallow waters nearby. We were surprised to see a bunch of birds chase away what looked like a sparrow hawk.
The winds were clam. And for the most part the lake waters were clam, too. The only time we had any rough water was when one of the power boats zoomed by. After awhile, we got used to turning our boats into the waves created by the wakes from the boats. There were too few big boats on the water for us to be really bothered.
Conway Scenic Railroad
We went for a ride on the Conway Scenic Railroad. We had an excellent train ride, a surprisingly good meal, and a fun hike.
We started at 11am in North Conway and took the train West and North through the scenic Crowford Notch to the Crawford Notch Depot. This is the turn around point at 25 miles in about 2 hours.
We had a one hour lay over. We went for a hike around Saco Lake, the head waters for the Saco River, the main river that cuts through Crawford Notch. We checked out the gift shop and then got back on the train.
We had lunch in the Dining Car. We ordered a really nice lunch from a short menu and enjoyed the return trip while eating lunch. The Notch train has an option of a box lunch or a full service dining car; the car was affectionately named the Hattie Evans, named for a widow of a railroad section man whose children and grandchildren are still part of the railroad community. The dining car is catered in partnership with the folks from the nearby Attitash Mountain Resort — so the food and the service have a first class touch.
The outbound leg of the tour is very nicely narrarated by a local expert, telling historical details and stories behind many of the sites. The train ride passes by several memorials to train workers — our tour guide told us their (somewhat sad) stories. At the key “post card” place on the ride, a spot with a beautiful view of the Crawford Notch, the train stopped to give us a chance to take pictures. Very nice!
The train ride started in North Conway at 500ft of elevation. The Crawford Notch station was at 1900ft. The train climbed about 1400ft. On the way back, we noticed that the train was going maybe a little faster and we could smell the brakes (not bad, but noticable). I wouldn’t be surprised if we just coasted back to North Conway. The whole trip, the change in elevation was so subtle, we never really noticed.
