Home on the Range..ley, Maine

A few weeks ago, Pete and I traveled to Rangely, Maine at the invitation of his parents.  They had traded their time share for a week in the Maine woods.  Honestly, my first thought was, WHO GOES TO NORTHERN MAINE IN THE SEASON BETWEEN LEAF PEEPING AND SKI SEASON? I was imagining bare brown trees, dead brown grass and gloomy grey skies.  To entice me just a little, Pete dangled the carrot of a stop in Montreal on both the way up and back.  He also promised a road trip in the Mustang and good weather.

We arrived to find that our accommodations were a cosy cabin in the woods complete with fireplace.  That was important because when we woke up the first morning, there was 2" of snow covering my "summer car"!  On the plus side, because the snow was wet and heavy and the ground was still fairly warm, we spent our days hiking the mountains in awe of the beautiful snow kingdom the snow had created.  The first day of hiking, we tried the Bald Mountain Trail located in Washington Township.  It is a fairly easy climb until you get about 2/3  of the way to the top when it changes to a scramble over large boulders to reach the top.  Pete was determined to see a moose, and we followed some tracks in the snow for quite a while, but the moose was either sneakier than us or passed  by much earlier in the day.  On our return to town, we lunched at The Red Onion on homemade chili and desserts. 

Our next hike was at the Rangeley Lakes Trails Center, a four season trail system that traversed the slopes below Saddleback Mountain Ski Resort.  The trails were gently rolling with some resembling logging trails and others more reminiscent of winding deer trails.  Part of the beauty here were the many mountain streams twisting turning and running alongside the trails. 

Our final day hike took us to Aziscohos Lake and the Black Brook Cove area where a dam built in the 1930's by the CCC's creates a natural retreat for indigenous wildlife.  The structure and architectural style of the dam is worth a look and you can enjoy a day of hiking or fishing along the shore of the preserve.  All in all, a great way to disconnect from the business of life and get back to nature.  I would do it again in a heartbeat!