Most of Maine

North Bubble Peak, with Bubble Lake on the left. So characteristic of Maine.

I'm back in Jersey! Now waiting for my June 1 flight to Sweden and taking care of some last things over Memorial Day Weekend. Gotta buy some train tickets, pay a couple debts, get a haircut, write these posts, etc...

I've gone from Sarah's in Vermont, across NH with an attempt to camp (story below), up through Maine, and all the way through eastern Canada, coming back through Niagara. Pit stop in New York and now home. I will post about these in smaller chunks, easier for you to digest, over the next few days. First, the journey up into Canada:

The White Mountains

Near the peak of Mt. Hancock, before snow became an impasse.

This camping endeavor was remarkable only in that it failed. The park ranger at the visitor center wasn't very helpful in finding me a good 1-day hike and camp. He was set on a 3-day circuit around Mt. Bond (and did you know this is prime skiing season around Mt. Washington?). Admittedly, it's an appealing trip, but I didn't have 3 days. So instead I went off to a trail up to Mt. Hancock. The ranger noted there might be a few makeshift campsites around the river. 

Had to cross this river 4 times up to the peak. Not deep, but very strong and lacking obvious footholds.

I saw those, but wanted to make it further up to the peak before I settled for the night. I climbed and climbed - the trail became more enshrouded in brush with no openings to make camp. Icy snow canvassed the ground under my feet, and my shoes are NOT suited for snow, as I lamented in my last post. I saw increasing amounts of snow ahead of me and conceded defeat. Even knowing much of my hike back to my car would be long after sunfall, I wasn't in the mood to set up camp and instead braved the darkness.

Ah, and I almost lost my water bottle again, without ever realizing I had dropped it. I hopped over a muddy area, and the bottle fell out into the mud. The mud dampened the sound of the drop and I never even realized until far up the mountain when I stopped for a snack break. I figured I most likely dropped the bottle during one of my river crossings, and the bottle floated a long way down the river never to be seen again. But I did of course find the bottle in the mud on my return.

The walk of shame back to the car, about an hour of it in darkness like this.
Whyyy did I need to start thinking about the Blair Witch?

As I drove off, I spotted a moose from behind, in the periphery of my headlights. I had never seen a moose before. A moose is not just a big deer. This thing is gigantic. And getting a view straight into its rear, its outline looked something like a Slenderman demonic figure. Took a moment to compute that what I had spotted was actually just a moose. That's what I get for thinking about Blair Witch.

And the last tale of my time in the Whites was that I stopped to change my sweaty underwear at a scenic overlook beside the mountain road. It's long after sunset at this point. No car had driven past me for many minutes. I stand outside my car, changing my clothes, and right as I'm butt-naked, of course a car not only drives by on the road but pulls into the same scenic overlook. Their headlights shine right on me. IT'S PITCH BLACK WHY IS ANYBODY PULLING INTO A SCENIC OVERLOOK. I hurry into my fresh boxers and scamper into my car to finish changing.

Augusta

Downtown

I learned from my family in CT that I should try sleeping in a Walmart parking lot, as that is apparently the resting place of choice for RV campers across the country. They were right, I did feel much more comfortable in Walmart as opposed to a hospital parking lot.

Out front of the Maine State House

Major fish of Maine, including the great American Lobster

Nothing special about this capitol. The state house didn't have much to it, just a very tall dome. But the state congress was in session! I saw both the Maine House and Senate members in action, and I read about some of their bills being discussed, like allowing hedgehogs as pets without applying for a license. I also spent a little time in their state history museum. In 95° weather, the hottest of my trip, I got some lobster and left to Acadia National Park.

Maine Senate chamber

Maine House chamber from above

Congress taking a break. Typical congress!

Acadia

Panorama atop Cadillac Mountain

I was disappointed to learn that Acadia has no backcountry camping. I debated even visiting at all given the 20-some dollar park entrance fee since it would only be for a few hours after I spent the morning in Augusta. But it's such a legendary park and who knows when I'll be back in northern Maine that I didn't think this was something I could wisely pass on.

The creatively-named Sand Beach

The narrow, precarious path to Beehive Summit

Atop Beehive Summit, a very quick, steep, and fun climb.
#1 recommendation from my experienced Maine-native friend, Alex.

"The Bowl" behind Beehive Summit

I wandered Sand Beach a bit, did two short but stunning hikes (Beehive Summit then North and South Bubble Peaks), and then drove to the highest peak, Cadillac Mountain. That peak is the first place in all of America in the winter months (October 7 to March 6) to see sunlight each morning. I wasn't there for a sunrise but did hold tight to catch a sunset on my way out. 

The Bubble Rock, miraculously balanced over the ledge

Bubble Lake from South Bubble Peak

The hikes and drive up to Cadillac Mountain were fantastic, especially considering my time limit. I somehow lost the trail markers on my way up to Bubble Peak and had to sashay off-trail for a while up to the peak. My agenda was as good as I could do in the afternoon I had. But all things considered, I think I was a wee bit disappointed in the park. Maybe the cost got to me - the standard entrance fee is good for seven days but it's steep if you only have an afternoon. Even irrespective to the cost, the park was probably built up too much for me; I'm not even sure if this is a "must visit once in your life" park. On the other hand, I only did a couple hikes and some driving. There is an entire half of the park I didn't touch.

A group of islands beyond the Bar Harbor town (not part of the park), as seen from Cadillac Mountain

The last couple minutes of sun on Cadillac Mountain - a little cloudy unfortunately.

Up Next

Canada! Moncton, Fredericton, Quebec City, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Niagara. Then Albany, NYC, Trenton, and home.

The only significant piece of Maine I missed was Portland, but I've been there before, however briefly. There are great outdoorsy things in the state but it truly is mostly empty. Mountains and lakes abound.

For the third time in my life, out of three total times, border patrol really gave me a tough time as I crossed the border along Route 1. They searched every pocket of my car, holding me there for about a half hour. Maybe they just had a lot of time given that not a single other car crossed the border while I was there around 0100, but I figured I would have an easier time as a respectable clean citizen, no longer a 19 year old teen travelling with a car full of friends. I learned that the trick to hiding drugs is to store them in a jar of protein powder, because they don't bother looking at stuff that always looks like drugs anyway.

No root beers in this part of the drive. I heard Maine Root from Portland is supposed to be a good one, but I couldn't find it in neither the Walmart nor the Whole Foods I entered and then gave up.

On Repeat

Album: Børns - Dopamine

Much more chill than most stuff I listen to, but I love this guy's debut album. Saw him put on a great set at a festival once.

Song: My Chemical Romance - Teenagers

One more from MCR. Really got a lot of plays from me in a short time.

Ah and a correction if anybody is counting on me for accurate album release dates. Haim's comes out July 7, not June 7 like I claimed before. Bleachers is still on track for next Friday! Very excited. All four tracks they have teased are amazing.

Maine loves their sardines as much as I do!