After a nice breakfast at the White Mountain Cafe and Coffee Shop we hit the road heading to Maine. A beautiful drive on a nice autumn day on long winding country roads. This is a tiny town with a dwindling population, but had once been thriving when logging was king. Our next Air b&b was in an old home that unfortunately was not well cared for or clean.
We decided to head out to Baxter State Park to get some details on hiking here and in our hope to reach the end of the Appalachian Trail at Katahdin peak. There is a decent restaurant here called River Drivers. Excellent lobster bisque and seafood. We are hoping to get our fill of seafood on this trip.
Our waiter was well traveled yet a local, so he gave us good advice on not only food selections, but hiking in Baxter.
Day 7 - Baxter State Park, Katahdin
We decided to wait until the temp was above freezing before heading into the park. After our experience hiking/climbing Mt Washington in NH, we were more careful selecting a hiking trail here. The northeast is very rocky and we took that into consideration before starting out.
We had hoped and planned to hike to Katahdin peak which is the highest point of the Appalachian Trail. We selected Chimney Pond Trail which was a moderate 7 mile hike. Again the terrain was rocky with an increase in elevation of 1,400 feet (totally different from the 4,200 ft elevation change going up Mt Washington).
The trail was well marked and easy to follow and we made it to the campground at the Chimney Pond rangers station (we had passed the ranger on our way up, she was on her way down; end of season). This was a nice area with 3-sided lean-to's for camping and water access. We had decided by this point that due to the weather and the suggestions from other hikers that the Knife Edge trail to Katahdin was not in the cards today. Snow and ice were coming in at the peak making for fierce conditions. So we viewed Katahdin from Chimney Pond trail, mostly in the clouds, but it was a spectacular sight. (Later we found out that earlier in the fall is the prime time to try to attempt this peak.)
Hiking Chimney Pond Trail.
Leaving Baxter State Park.
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