After visiting Acadia National Park at the end of August 2023, I was feeling aimless - but in a good way.
I had 3 other major car camping swings under my belt, so I had experience with aimlessness. And exhilaration. And loneliness. And adventure. And the rhythm that can develop when you are out there on the road bouncing between your own extremes and emotions.
I have learned a couple of things about myself when it comes to aimlessness: 1) Always be reading a captivating book, 2) Music and nature are my key mood enhancers, and 3) Have a few highly anticipated adventures on my calendar within the next month. This can be a state/national park visit, a concert, time with a friend, a game night, a museum, etc.
So I started by picking out a few things to do on my drive home to Wisconsin from Maine: fishing in Vermont, seeing Jeffrey Foucault play a show at the Cock n' Bull in Galway, New York, and seeing Niagara Falls. Once I added those future plans to my handwritten, paper planner, I felt myself relax. It's hard to explain why, but this little bit of structure - this scaffolding - helped me to feel more secure and free to be "comfortably aimless" with the rest of my time in the northeast.
What I wanted to do in the immediate future was to jump in a lake. August = lake jumping for me.
I pulled out my map of Maine. Immediately my eyes were drawn to the western region labeled "Maine Lakes and Mountains". Sounds like my kind of place, right? I pointed Lakester west and let the universe guide me.
I soon found Oakland Waterfront Park. It is a small municipal park with a boat launch, picnic tables and a swimming area - and perfect for my needs. I went for a run through town, then jumped in Messalonskee Lake. I swam along the buoys outlining the swimming area. I read my book while air drying. Rinse, read, repeat. Rinse, read, repeat. Lunch was cheese, French bread, turkey jerky and an apple. And Vitamin D from all the sunshine.
Comfortably aimless.
In the afternoon I began looking for a good place to car camp. I opened the iOverlander app to research dispersed camping locations in the Maine Lakes and Mountains region. Suddenly I was reading the best reviews I've ever read on that app - all about Sugarloaf Outdoor Center in Carrabassett Valley. I had to go see it.
I ended up staying at Sugarloaf Outdoor Center for four days, three nights over Labor Day weekend. And loving every minute! Free car camping in a level parking lot with great amenities nearby, including bike/hike trails, swimming holes, public library with outdoor wifi and tables, and Sugarloaf Ski Resort. Other campers were friendly and welcoming, and every local that I met was kind and generous. I felt so at peace there.
Comfortably aimless.
While writing outdoors on the library patio I made a new friend named Bob. He was camping at nearby Bigelow Preserve. Bob visits the region for a month every August. He volunteers to do trail upkeep with the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, and also provides rides to hikers from Mount Katahdin to the train station. Often times the hikers he meets are folks who have just completed the entire Appalachian Trail, starting out at Springer Mountain in Georgia and then hiking 2,190+ miles to Mount Katahdin in Maine. Bob told me he likes to ask the through-hikers questions like "How has this experience changed you?" or "What have you learned from this experience that you will apply in your 'regular' life?"
I also met a local who hikes the nearby nature trails as an amateur photographer. She gave me specific directions to a swimming hole on the Carrabassett River- but made me promise not to tell others. (I'll share photos, but not the location - unless we go there together!)
Comfortably aimless.
After Sugarloaf, I visited Cathedral Pines State Park near Eustis, Maine. I was ready for a proper shower and a place to do laundry.
At the campground I met a family from southern Maine. Grandma was doing the wash and reading a detective novel; Grandpa was playing guitar while sitting in the door of their minivan; and Granddaughter rode in circles on her bike in the parking lot. Sunny and 70 with a breeze through tall, fragrant pines - I could have done laundry all day. I slung open the hatch of my Outback and read my book in the back while being serenaded with Beatles tunes. After folding laundry and getting everything packed back in place, I treated myself to a swim and a cookstove spaghetti dinner.
Comfortably aimless.
I had a Zoom call on the evening of the 5th. I logged on from a picnic table outside the campground office, and used citronella candles to ward off mosquitos.
With my one obligation for the month met, I spent another peaceful and idyllic day swimming in Flagstaff Lake, reading on the private campground beach, and staring up at the cathedral pines.
Next I headed toward Rangeley Lake State Park. I had read about great hikes near there, so I drove to the park headquarters to ask directions. No one was there, but a large map and another visitor pointed me toward Bald Mountain.
Bald Mountain was my last hike in Maine and what a stunner!
When starting from Bald Mountain Road parking area, Bald Mountain Trail is 1.3 miles to the top. It is a dirt and rock trail; gradual at the beginning, withbeautiful birches and maples provide ample shade. Nearer the summit, the trail includes very steep switchbacks. Hikers must scramble over and around granite outcroppings.
There is a metal tower at the top of Bald Mountain that allows for 360 degree views.
Exhilirating! (Click on video to see 360 degree views from the top!)
The top of Bald Mountain provides astounding panoramic views of the surrounding Rangeley, Cupsuptic and Mooselookmeguntic Lakes as well as Maine's Saddleback Mountain, Elephant Mountain, the Height of Land, and New Hampshire's Mount Washington in the White Mountains. At least three bald eagles were swooping and soaring on the wind.
And that's what it looks like to be comfortably aimless in Maine! Many thanks to all three gorgeous Maine destinations: Sugarloaf Outdoor Center, Cathedral Pines State Park and Bald Mountain Trail. I hope you get a chance to check them out!
Sojourn on!
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