With the summer being as crazy as it’s been, our weekend adventures have been few and far between. We went on a couple of hikes at the end of May that I’m still dreaming about, so I’m sharing them here today. One of the things we’ve struggled with since moving to the coast is the lack of good hiking within a reasonable distance. I could go ham (I’ve dropped that two posts in a row and it’s such an outdated reference, but it’s how I do.) and hike big mountains, but the guy likes more approachable excursions. Living an hour from Acadia National Park was ideal–the trails there are a great balance of approachable and challenging, and we’ve been mourning the loss of it’s convenience these last two years. But we’re branching out and trying anything we can find just to get outside together and explore new parts of the state.
Morse Mountain/Seawall Beach–Phippsburg, ME
The first hike we went on was at Morse Mountain and Seawall Beach, just down the coast a bit from The Little House. It’s a simple trail–pretty wide, mostly paved–that travels just about 2 miles through salt marsh and old growth forest before culminating at an epic and isolated beach. We ate lunch on the summit of Morse Mountain, just 180 feet above sea level (and next to a big beach house?! Who puts their beach house on the top of a freaking mountain??). We couldn’t see much from the top since there was dense coastal fog that day. Said fog was a bummer on the mountaintop, but it was eerily gorgeous oceanside. Once we hit the beach, we walked another mile down the shoreline until we reached the end of the property. We saw gulls and plovers feeding in the sand as the tide went out, and I even put my feet in for one very frigid second. It was a beautiful spot and a great hike.
Androscoggin Riverlands State Park–Turner, ME
The second hike I want to share was at Androscoggin Riverlands State Park, which lies a bit over an hour inland from us. Inland! We’ve done so much coastal exploring the last two summers, and we are making more of an effort to see what we can get to in central and western Maine this season. The park is a mecca for ATV riders; we were one of the few cars in the parking lot without a trailer. We hiked a couple of miles down a trail along the Androscoggin River through mixed forest filled with wildflowers, ferns, and flies. There were old home foundations scattered throughout the trail which were fun to explore. It was a flat hike, but gosh, was it ever beautiful. The textures and colors of the forest are awe-inspiring to me. I loved it here.
Hopefully we can get out and discover more new hiking spots this summer. Gotta get it!
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