Katahdin Woods and Water

Friday, October 7, 2016

Leaving Augusta, we headed north on 95, which was blessedly lacking in traffic, and enjoyed the leisurely drive (speed limit: 75) on a mostly open road lined with nature’s bounty of color.

I-95 North of Bangor

In August, I read an article about President Obama designating the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument in honor of the 100^th anniversary of the National Park Service, which will protect approximately 87,500 acres of Maine’s mountains, forests, and waters, including the eastern branch of the Penobscot River.  We have been through that area in years past, but never really explored it.  Thus, the name of our blog and a desire to go to see what is there.  In my research, I also learned that Roxanne Quimby of Burt’s Bees fame donated the land to the Federal Government and $100 million to use for initial park needs and future maintenance and support.  Since we are ongoing visitors to national parks and we always look for reasons to visit Maine, we made it a part of our traveling itinerary.

We chose the small town of Millinocket as our base because the Park Office was headquartered there and also because of its proximity to the “monument.”  We arrived about 3:30 on Friday afternoon, desperate for lunch. 

KW&W NM Headquarters - 3 P.M Friday - Closed!

Appalachian Trail Café - Open!

We found the Appalachian Trail Café, right next to the closed Park Office, so that’s where we ate.  A cozy, interesting place it was!  Because Mt. Katahdin is the northern end of the Appalachian Trail, lots of hungry, tired hikers make their way to this simple place.  The menu includes many vegetarian options, but I was still surprised to see a “carrot dog” listed—a whole cooked carrot on a hot dog roll covered with cole slaw!  We like to try new things, but that was a little much!  (Robin thought about ordering it just to take a picture of it.)  Robin had a crock of fish chowder and “Katahdin fries” and I had haddock sliders.  (Katahdin Fries are the poutine we have discovered in Alberta and Quebec—fries with gravy and cheese curds.)

We met a young man who had just finished the trek.  His family had met him there and were feeding him well.  The acoustic tiles of the ceiling of the café are signed by hikers who have completed the hike from Springer Mountain, Georgia, to the summit of Katahdin.  We also met another hiker who had hiked all the way from Georgia (after her job had ended) as a way to relieve depression.  As she was preparing to climb Katahdin, she fell and hurt her back.  She thought she was going to have to go home to Alexandria, VA, and wait for her back to heal and then return to hike up the mountain to the end.

We decided to head to the wilderness, the “monument,” to see the sunset over Mt. Katahdin.  We forgot we were in big country where people drive 25 miles to see their neighbors.  We also forgot that it gets dark earlier in Maine.  As we drove along a paved road in search of the park, enjoying the colorful foliage and the Penobscot River along the way, and using a map the café owner had given us, we thought we would never get there.  Finally, we found the dirt road that led into the park, and it went on and on and on—a rutted, dusty road.  After about 30 minutes of driving through the most wilderness I’d ever been a part of, not yet knowing what tomorrow would bring, we convinced each other that we should turn around and go back and return early tomorrow when dusk was not pending.  Mt. Katahdin wasn’t even in sight yet.  We ended up at sunset in a farmer’s field along the paved road with Mt. Katahdin in view, taking pictures.

Woods and Waters

Katahdin

Interesting enough, we soon learned that the “national monument” was a political issue.  We had seen large signs set up along the roads and in the towns.  Most of them read: “National Park NO!”  A few read: “National Park YES!”  Hmm.  And we thought we were escaping politics by heading for the woods!  In talking to residents, we learned that most of the locals are strongly opposed to creating a national park at Katahdin Woods. They object to the Federals interfering with their logging, hunting, fishing, and snowmobiling.  Stay tuned!