This summer will be the first in our nearly seven years together that the guy and I will be in the same place. For our first few summers together, he had fieldwork away. Then we moved, and I had fieldwork away for the next few summers. But now we’re both done with fieldwork and we’ll be doing data analysis and working on writing our dissertations this summer. Come this time next year, we may be moving to another state, meaning this could be our last summer in Maine.
That means we need to get out and play together as much as we can.
It’s been a warm spring (mostly), and we’ve been eager to get out and stretch our legs. We have high hopes for this summer and are planning a bunch of hikes in the Western Mountains region of Maine, a part of the state ripe for our exploration. I’m preemptively deeming it the summer of 4,000 footers, anticipating reaching the peaks of some of Maine’s tallest mountains.
We’re warming up with some smaller mountains, such as this one. Pleasant Mountain is 2,006 feet at its summit. It’s the tallest mountain we’ve climbed in a long time–living at sea level means most mountains are a long drive away. We drove two hours through Maine’s Lakes Region to get there, just a few miles from the New Hampshire border.
Our climb up the Ledges Trail was short and steep–1,600 feet up in 1.8 miles. Starting with some stone stairs, we wove our way up the mountain around mud puddles, piles of dead leaves, and bits of emerging green. We’ve not hiked together this early in the season. It’s an exciting time to be outside, observing nature’s annual awakening. It’s also muddy and wet, but it’s springtime in Maine. What do you expect?
There’s an overlook that showcases the southeast landscape from the mountain about 3/4 of the way to the top. We stopped to take it in, then continued to the main peak.
At the summit we were treated to a showstopping scene of the White Mountains in New Hampshire, which we also hope to visit this summer. But as wiped out as we were at 2,000 feet, we ate our lunch under the fire tower and wondered how we’d do climbing a 4,000 footer…
We took the longer, more gradual Bald Peak Trail down the mountain. We spent more time along the mountain ridge as we descended and were treated to views of Moose Pond and the northwest landscape. The terrain varied pretty widely: smooth rock face, craggy ridges, and eventually we made it back to the mud, which we were guided over by a series of large wooden ladders.
We took a little offshoot trail to the Needle’s Eye, which turned out to be a thin waterfall threaded through a crack in the mountain. Kevin told me when I got dressed that morning that I looked real normcore. What do you think? (#iownnormcore #ineedahaircut)
When we reached the bottom, we had to walk a couple of miles along the road back to our car. No loop trails on Pleasant Mountain, but a cooldown stroll over some concrete was a soothing end to our first hike of the season. I’m eager for our next adventure!
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