It's been one year since Robin and I got married; it went by very quickly for us. I wanted to do something special for Robin and I, so I secretly booked a Bed & Breakfast in Greenville, Maine for 1 night and 1 day. There has always been a B&B in Greenville that I've wanted to eat and stay at; Robin and I always drove by it while heading to Kokadjo. I called Blair Hill Inn to reserve the 3rd floor room that overlooks the Moosehead Lake, a couple of months in advance just in case.
Our anniversary is October 4th, which happened to fall on a Sunday- so after church Robin and I headed towards Greenville. I told her we are going to go somewhere for the night but I couldn't tell her where. The weather was rainy and cloudy. Upon arriving Greenville, a large fog cloud hovered over Moosehead Lake which rained on my idea of having a good view of the lake. I pulled into the B&B under the guise that I was lost and going to ask directions. After checking in I asked Robin to come inside and told her this is where we were staying.
The inside of the Inn was beautiful, it resembled its original charm with a large fireplace, dining room, game room and sitting area. After checking in, we headed up to our room that overlooked Moosehead Lake, had a king size bed, wood-burning fireplace and all-tile bathroom. We stayed in for the evening, exchanged our gifts and drank our sparkling grape juice and ate the remainder of our wedding cake, in front of the fireplace.
The next day, we got up early and ate our complimentary breakfast which was home-made by the owners themselves, while watching the previous day's fog start to burn up from the rising sun. Later on in the morning we checked out and headed towards the boat landing for Mt. Kineo. I originally was planning on having us kayak to Mt. Kineo; however I was told it's about a mile from the shore which normally is not bad when kayaking along a stream or river but Moosehead Lake is very large and usually has large cold waves. I decided to pay to take the ferry across the lake which was $10 a person round trip. Upon arriving on the island, the Sun started to peer through a section of the cloud veiled sky. I was looking forward to climbing this mountain as this was a first for both of us; I've read about the island's history. It got its name from an American Indian that was banished there and then later on it was "discovered" by "white man" a hotel chain erected a hotel on the island however several years later you can read about the hotel during the process of being torn down and it burnt down.
Second half of the entry:
After looking over the different trails I decided that we should hike the most difficult trail of the three, Indian Trail, as I wanted to break in my new The North Face hiking boots that I had delivered just in time for our Anniversary. Mt. Kineo is an interesting mountain, it's long and mostly flat up top with the Easterly end of the mountain having a very steep jagged drop off; the face of the mountain is very recognizable from a distance. The elevation is roughly 1800'. The hike starts out by walking a very flat trail on the outer edge of the Island that loops around to the Western side where all three trails begin. The Indian trail starts out steep with large surfaced tree roots, jagged ledge and slippery leaves covering the trail. The trail winds around the outer edge of the steep cliffs and boulders, allowing you to view the entire southerly side of island and lake. There are several points where you can stop and rest on boulders hanging over the edge of the cliff. As you ascend to the top of the mountain the trail started to consist more of mud, pine needles and leaves with some exposed rock. At certain points you would not think you were on a mountain as the terrain was so flat and surrounded by deciduous trees and their beautiful leaves.
We reached a fire-look-out-tower that has 6 flights of stairs; it took some coercion on my part to get Robin to climb to the top, but she did. It was such a great view, as you could see a 360° view. It was very cold and windy so we didn't stay too long, only enough to snap a few photos of each other and the landscapes. After leaving the tower I wanted to spend some time at the edge of the mountain that I wrote about earlier, the portion of the mountain that has a sheer drop with exposed rock face. I climbed down the ledge which plateaus and is enveloped with blueberry bushes which you need to be very careful walking through as some extend beyond the ledge and gives a false security of stable ground. I took a shot of our Siggs enjoying the view right before Robin took a photo of me overlooking the edge of the mountain. I sat there on the ledge for a while just taking in the wonderful view of the color changing leaves and the scent of autumn. After a while I think Robin was tired of worrying about me plunging to my death so she shouted for me to come back up to safety. We rested for a while longer and enjoyed the overlook. As we made our way down the mountain side, Robin discovered an area that has a large protruding face-shaped boulder that overhangs the cliff and it appears that it is only secured at the edge of its body. I always think of the End Times, after the Rapture, when the "Sixth Seal" is opened and a massive global earthquake takes place... all of these boulders will come down and as it is recorded in Revelations that many will say to the mountains, "Come down upon us and hide us from the face of Him that sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb."
My feet were surprisingly not sore- what a difference a good pair of hiking boots and hiking socks made. I’m glad that I once again took Robin’s advice on buying a good pair of hiking boots, socks and pants as they truly do make a difference.
Mt. Kineo is an excellent hike that anyone could traverse; there were young children and even people in the 60's hiking. The only advice I can give is make sure you have good boots and if you have children with you make sure they stay away from the edge as some of the ledge is loose and or slippery. Overall I would say Robin and I enjoyed our first anniversary together very well.