Our First Hike

Posted on December 19, 2010 by

During our whirlwind honeymoon, we realized that Acadia NP was a really awesome place, so we planned to return as soon as possible, which happened the following summer. Before our trip I made sure we had all the gear we’d need; a cheap vinyl back(read: book)pack from Woolworth’s, a cooler pack and sneakers. What else could we possible need??
Our first hike was, ironically NOT in Acadia NP, but on the ‘Quietside” of the island in the Western Mountains. This area is so quiet in fact, your ears pain trying to hear any sound whatsoever. Even as you walk, the area is so thick with trees and the ground with pine needles, your footsteps are silent. A most beautiful area of back-country, away from the bustle of the park trails, offers wonderful solitude. Trying to find this trail however, is a feat beyond man. Dirt roads, one car-wide, split-offs and poor signage left us wondering if we’d ever find ANY trail. In fact, this past summer we returned with our GPS. I was amazed the GPS even showed this area in such detail. We still got lost!
We finally found a trail that headed up Mansell Mountain. Metal woodpecker trail markers were embedded in the trees,

Unique trail markers

laughing, we decided to follow them, in sneakers. Gaining elevation, losing our footing up and down the trail, we saw a ladder and iron rungs! With our hearts pumping, palms sweating and giggling with delight, we knew we had found our new love. Finally approaching the warm rock at the top, we heard clicking all around us. Click, click…what the heck is that sound? Click beetles were jumping all around us! The summit offers no sweeping vistas typical of this area, but we didn’t need a view, we sat with our cheap backpack, ate grapes and cheese and listened to the click beetles.
We returned to our B&B and rushed to find the hiking book we saw earlier. We couldn’t find the page fast enough, where is it? where is it?… Mansell Mountain via the Perpendicular & Razorback trails! Rated as DIFFICULT, 3.7 miles, 941’. Jumping up and down, I exclaimed to the Inn’s owner, “we did THIS, we did THIS!” He said, “if you did that on your first hike, then you’ll love the Jordan Cliffs trail.” The WHAT??

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Watch out for Deadman’s Curve!

Posted on December 14, 2010 by

So before I was kissing Princess (see previous post), we decided to take a ride through the Mt. Washington Valley and poke around a bit. We couldn’t do much hiking due to a recent snowfall. Mentioning our plans to our innkeeper, he warned us of the perils of Deadman’s Curve, which was the local mountain pass connecting Gorham, NH to another local town. Wide-eyed and ready for adventure, we headed for our destination. As we were leaving, with good innkeeper intent, the owner said, “remember, watch out for Deadman’s Curve”. One thing I’ve learned, now that I’ve lived here in New England for nine years is, the locals like to, shall I say, see how far they can throw the tourists. It’s not meant in a malicious way, but more for entertainment purposes.

So back to the story. Earlier I noticed the innkeeper’s pickup truck had a ‘Mean People Suck’ bumper sticker on it, which now, makes me chuckle. You will too, just hold on. Driving back from the town we visited, back through ‘Deadman’s Curve’ with snow blowing in all directions, we saw some police lights. As we approached, what do I see, but an UPSIDE-DOWN bumper sticker that says, (you know what it said) ‘Mean People Suck’. Well, don’t they now??

PS: Don’t worry, our friend was not hurt.

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Princess Likes to French Kiss

Posted on December 11, 2010 by

Every year for our birthdays, Rich and I would go away to some romantic New England spot for the weekend, to enjoy hiking and drink in the local spirit. My birthday is late November, usually falling during the Thanksgiving weekend. This particular year, Rich found an Inn located in Gorham, NH, near Mt. Washington. The owners said they were doing construction on the house on the upper floors, but we were welcome to stay in the available rooms in the adjacent wing of the house. Since it was off-season, and there was construction, an alluring discounted rate sealed the deal! When we arrived, we also discovered that there was a hostel in the back of the property for the many Appalachian Trail thru-hikers passing by. What a great dichotomy, an inn and a hostel, coexisting on the same property! When we arrived, the owners told us that some of the hikers were wintering over and doing the construction work. Impressed by this heartwarming construction contract, the noise in the house held a sweeter tone.

After enjoying our outdoor adventures in the snowy Mt. Washington Valley, tired and wet, we returned to our home away from home. In the evening, we joined everyone around the fireplace in the living room to relax. Around the couches were some scrubby men (construction/AT thru-hikers) and some dogs. One was a tiny little black Chihuahua, named Princess. I called Princess over and she jumped on my lap. I asked the man across from me on the couch whose beard could hide two Princesses, about her. We learned that he was hiking one day during the summer and found her on the trail. She followed him awhile, so he decided to keep her. As he was telling us this heartfelt story of Princess’ rescue, she was sitting on my lap liking my face (ugh, gross). He called her over, jumping on his lap, he opened his mouth wide, extending his tongue and while Princess obliged, he said, “Princess likes to french kiss”.

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Maine’s Finest (Our beginning)

Posted on December 11, 2010 by

We should have guessed that our lives were about to radically change. Our honeymoon began after driving ten hours from New York to the beautiful State of Maine. Blindly approaching Mount Dessert Island in pea-soup fog about 11PM., we figured we were crossing a bridge as suddenly the road drew narrow resulting in a near head on collision with an oncoming car.
Ayuh, Maine’s Finest of course!

Welcome to the beginning of our lives together!

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