I remember hearing someone talk about Gulf Hagas in the past and thought nothing of it, and then my company’s health department hosted a hike through Gulf Hagas two weeks ago and again thought nothing of it. Last week a co-worker talked about it so I decided to look into it further. They call it “The Grand Canyon of Maine” which like anyone else that has not hiked the Gulf Hagas trail, I pictured the Grand Canyon in my mind and thought, “Yea right”. I checked MaineFoliage.com and saw that the leaf colors were moderate in the area so I talked to Robin about it and we made a date to hike all 8 miles of it (4 miles up and then 4 miles back). We both did not know what to expect other than that there are waterfalls and high ledge walls.

The weather was in the mid-sixties with clear blue skies with no breeze. Upon arriving at 10AM we paid and registered to get in; there were a lot more people hiking that day than I would have expected- I would say in total we saw about 40 people. Once we parked in Pleasant River Parking, I put my boots (not real hiking boots) on, got the Lowepro camera bags out, helped Robin put her backpack on and we headed towards the Pleasant River crossing which was about a mile out. When we arrived at the River there were a group of high school kids there crossing the ice cold, ankle deep, water. While watching them cross we changed out of our boots and into our sandals- another reason why I love my new Keen sandals, as they are so versatile for things like this. For me, the water was not very cold until the half way point of the river which by estimate was roughly 50′ wide; once we reached the middle of the river it felt like small tacks poking at my skin.

After crossing the river we put out boots back on and made our 1 mile hike to Screw Auger Falls (Map Point 3) which requires a slight deviation off trail to fully view the falls. We climbed down about 10′ overt ledge and roots until we reached the plateau of ledge that stands 8′ feet above the basin of the waterfalls. In the summer it is probably the safest area to swim if you desire. We made our way to the lower Screw Auger falls which is much larger than the upper. The viewpoint requires you to climb down 40 or so feet of steep terrain that consists of mangled roots and dirt until you reach the bottom or top of the canyon’s ledge. From there it felt like I was viewing a scene from Lord of the Rings (Rivendell); the waterfall dips down – I’d estimate around 20′- into a pool of water surrounded by trees that hung over portions of the water. Several areas from where we stood, led to an abrupt and deep canyon 80′ down. Any attempt by me at photographing the depth of this was difficult; I’m not sure if it’s the lenses that I have or if it’s my technique, but it is definitely something you should witness for yourself. After looking around and taking photos for 30 minutes or so we left and continued onwards making our way over the at-the-time smooth, root and ledge free trails. We reached the Hancock lookout, which is basically ledge that provides a narrow view of the gorge; this is where the ledge (I believe it’s ledge as I have not been able to verify if it is another mineral/strata) walls rise to their 2-300′ heights. We continued on up an incline and then all of the sudden the path stopped; we continued on as the map said a trail was there until we came to a very steep stairway of roots. Being adventurous I climbed down to an area that leveled off for about 3 feet and then a sheer drop to the bottom of the canyon. We decided to head back to the main trail, as there clearly was no discernible path for us to take.

(more…)

This April has mostly been true to its coined phrase, “April Showers” however the last week in April started to show signs of summer. We had temperatures in the highs of 88° on the 28th and the remaining week of April stayed in the mid-sixties.

Robin and I were itching to get outside and spot more Owls and other wildlife, along with kayaking, however we still had snow during the first week of April. We walked along some of the trails near the Orono Boardwalk; most trails were covered in about a ½ foot of snow. We searched for Owls for about an hour until we came across a King Rail bird that Robin spotted walking through brush; its beak is so strange looking- very long and has a slight downward curve to it. Unfortunately it was too quick for us to snap a photo. We continued on and came across freshly chewed trees; I looked around and found a Beaver house with its owner adding onto its house. The house was too far away to be able to capture a close up shot.

The following week had rained for the most part, which kept us inside at night. I have been reading through the Left Behind Series and catching up on other books I have as well as playing Xbox 360 and finishing up on the last season of Star Trek: The Original Series that Robin purchased for me. I am becoming an avid fan of Star Trek; I enjoy reading about the different races, star ships, characters, etc.

During one evening, I noticed that the tree line along an island in the lake outside of our apartment was colored in a very vibrant purple hue; Robin and I grabbed our cameras and headed down to the Field’s Pond stream to watch the sunset. This type of sunset occurs only a few times during the summer or at least that I have personally witnessed. The warm colors of the setting sun are so vibrant and a contrast of cold blue and purple clouds on the outer rim of the sunset. While watching and photographing the sunset I looked over to find Robin and she was 50 feet away taking a neat shot of silhouetted Cattails.

Robin and I attended a very full Cornerstone Baptist Church on Easter Sunday; if I remember correctly a few hands were raised at the end of the service indicating they asked Christ into their hearts, so that is always exciting to see. I received a call from Robin’s father; he asked if I would order a TV for him from Amazon. The following week it arrived; Robin and I drove to Prospect Harbor to set it up. Earlier that day we attended the annual Kenduskeag Stream Canoe Race; we sat and photographed the race at Six Mile Falls. The water wasn’t as high as last year; however people still dumped while going over the falls. I concentrated mostly on crashes and spills this year. One of these years we will actually participate in the race, hopefully without spilling.

(more…)

Day three of our honeymoon started with us leaving Stonehurst Manor and driving down Kancamagus Highway. I have read and heard many good things around this area that we both were looking forward to driving it. We stopped at the Ranger’s station and purchased a 7-day pass for $5 and headed to our first stop; an unnamed turnout. Once getting out of your car you walk down a small flight of wooden stairs which leads you into the woods that twists down a small hill and at the foot of the path are exposed boulders of various sizes which the Swift River eroded. The scene was beautiful; the shore line was lined with trees in varying stages of autumn.

Our next stop was Lower Falls which was a larger area than before, much busier as well. We walked past a rest room and headed down to a sandy bank with a pool of calm water due to be shielding by boulders acting as a wall. Further down the river the bed was actually exposed due the lower amounts of water, a floor of smoothed ledge rang along the left side which reflected the morning’s sun would cause you to slip if you were not paying attention. We continued on and found the falls which had a very pretty setting; the falls were very small but still enjoyable as you could walk out to the edge and look down. The wind picked up heavily so we decided to continue our drive.

The next stop was a little further into the byway; Rocky Gorge Scenic Area. We walked down a paved trail where you saw a calm portion of Swift River to your left and then a slant of 15-20 feet which is the gorge; if you continue following the trail a wooden bridge crossed the gorge which led to a small pond with one bench. The bridge provided many scenic shots from different angles; some of which Robin had pointed out. On one side of the bridge a maple tree overlooked the river which I thought was an excellent picture; it also provided me another opportunity to shoot colorful leaves up-close.

We were roughly a quarter of the way through the byway and we had already spent 3 to 4 hours walking around taking in God’s beautiful creation. Our next stop was Sabbaday Falls; one of which had a beautiful dirt path covered in freshly fallen leaves; along the left flowed a stream also filled full of autumn leaves. The falls are 3 tiered, the upper tier is about 8′ tall and drops into a deep emerald punchbowl. The punchbowl spills over a 20′ horsetail then makes a 90° angle turn into a flume and drops about 12′ into a very deep trough pool before flowing into the broad pool at the base. Robin and I really enjoyed this as we now have a special attachment to waterfalls as that’s where we got engaged. On the walk back we stopped and took more photos from different angles and even shot some of our rings.

We proceeded on the byway and stopped at a turnout that overlooked a valley with various mountains; we took pictures of people with their cameras and they returned the favor for us.

As we neared the end, I told Robin that I had one more stop in mind for her but it was off from the byway. Near the end of the highway is a mostly scenic view of mountains and valleys due to the increase of elevation the road takes. Although the views were very colorful I could not snap a decent photo as the sun was directly above the mountains.

(more…)

I have climbed Borestone Mountain many times, with my family, friends, etc and thought that it would be nice for Robin and I to climb together; I wanted to hike it during peak foliage this year but we will be on our honeymoon during that time so I decided to hike it today after church. We took the new scenic route vs. the 1 mile road you normally would walk on. Along the way we spotted Horse Chestnuts beside pine cones on a bed of moss. The trail consisted mostly of light elevation, tree root steps, etc. The weather was in the high 70’s with mostly clear skies. We were not able to spot any wild animals up to this point but we did spot our Sigg Bottles taking a rest.

We arrived at the half-way point where the hike actually becomes a hike; there’s a Warden’s cabin along with an informational booth near the edge of a pond. Every time that I’ve visit, I’ve always been amazed how a pond can exist on an edge of a mountain. Robin spotted a Chipmunk eating on a moss covered ledge; it was a little shy as it kept turning from my camera. Whilst standing and waiting for the chipmunk to turn a Red-breasted Nuthatch landed on a Pine tree. Robin asked if there were any turtles or frogs in the pond, as she asked I noticed a large Bull Frog resting in the water.

The hike because more interesting as the slop was roughly at a 70-80’ angle consisting of exposed ledge & roots; it’s amazing to see such large trees grasping onto ledge as an anchor to reach the sunlight. At one point there’s an area that you can climb the face of the ledge safely without gear which Robin and I did. As we ascended to the top the wind become very strong, once atop if you were not careful it would blow you over; unfortunately due to the wind I was not able to take many good photos. I was able to capture a few panoramic shots however. To my surprise we found blueberries bushels on the side of the ledge, Robin handed me a sandwich bag and I climbed down the side of a drop off onto a plateau and picked berries; as we progressed westerly we found more bushels and were able to fill the bag (roughly a quart). We plan on making a Blueberry pie, one of my favorites next to Raspberry. Our Sigg bottles very brave to pose for a couple of photos.