The hikes on the Maine trip – Other aspects of staying in Millinocket – Ruth Bader-Ginsburg – Donald Trump’s campaign difficulties – Daily statistics
“Apart from that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?”
The trip to Maine was rather like that familiar joke. There was indeed a great deal to enjoy, despite the episode related earlier. To begin with, one couldn’t ask for better weather. It was cool but never chilly, with low humidity, and not a drop of rain fell during the length of our stay. Then, too, the foliage was beginning to turn, and even though it had not reached peak by the end of the week it was fascinating to see the progress of the change of leaf color on a day-to-day basis. The autumnal colors of the leaves in New England are brighter and more vivid than those of the trees in the mid-Atlantic states, and by the end of our stay there were many areas with an extensive variety of hues and tints.
And then the hikes themselves were uniformly pleasant and sometimes memorable – but perhaps it is best to take the hikes in order individually.
9/19 – JK, JB, and I arrived one night earlier than the other five members of our group, and on this day we took a loop from the Abol Bridge campground just outside Baxter State Park itself. We went on the Appalachian Trail (AT) to the Blueberry Ledges Trail, a pleasant walk through woodlands of mixed birches, maples, pines, and firs, going gradually upwards but never very steeply. There were occasional rock scrambles but on the whole the gradient of the ascent was mild. We met one through-hiker as we approached the end of the trail, which is slightly over four miles long. He told us that he had already completed the AT twice within the past five years. He was taking the Blueberry Ledges Trail this time because it cuts out a little distance from the approach to Mt. Katahdin. The other end of the trail makes a T-intersection with the park road, on which we walked about ¼ mile to the AT and turned to get back to the parking area. However, this section of the AT is considerably longer than the Blueberry Ledges Trail – nearly 10 miles in all. It skirted around Grassy Pond, Daicey campground, Little Niagara Falls, and Big Niagara Falls. We were to see these falls again on 9/24, but we paused to look at them. After we passed the falls we had to go over various rock scrambles, none of them very long. Then the AT flattened and it paralleled a stream for several miles. About a mile before the end a creek that drained into the stream was bridged by three logs spaced rather far apart, and crossing on them was precarious. The bridge that had been there earlier was washed out and the logs had been put down as a stopgap. It was obviously a work in progress; I was to use this bridge again on 9/26, and by that time the logs were placed more closely together and were more sturdily anchored to the ground. The hike was about 15 miles, with 2000 feet of elevation gain.
After our return we connected with the others, who had split their drive into two days and had arrived in the early afternoon. We had pizza delivered at the house where they were staying. We all contributed various other items we had each purchased from the local grocery store (which is surprisingly well-stocked) and had an enjoyable evening chatting mainly about our travel experiences and planning the hikes for the other days.
Traveling, incidentally, was certainly smoother than it has been in the past; the virus is still making an impact on the roads, reducing congestion considerably. I have never had such an easy drive on the New Jersey Turnpike, for example, within memory – and I have been on it many times, having both friends and relatives in New York. I was able to use cruise control for the greater part of the way.
9/20 – We did a set of three smaller there-and-back hikes at the Kidney Pond campground in Baxter State Park. All had trailheads along another trail that skirts around the pond.
Sentinel Mountain, the first of these, is 2.1 miles each, beginning about ½ mile from the parking area. It was a fairly moderate ascent until the last ¼ – ½ mile, when it became a steep rock climb. JK said that this section of the hike reminded her of the Adirondacks. Eventually we reached a rock ledge with a view – somewhat obscured by trees, but still looking downwards onto the stream below. The ledge was extensive and there was room for everyone to sit together.
Upon returning to the main trail, we backtracked 0.2 miles to the trail leading to Celia and Jackson Ponds. This trail was much easier, being fairly flat and considerably less rocky than the Sentinel Mountain Trail. Celia Pond is rather pretty, but small and not especially outstanding. Jackson Pond is larger and more interesting, with views of the surrounding mountains on the other side of the water. The trail was about 1.3 miles each way.
Only JK and I did the third trail, which led to Rocky Pond after 0.6 miles. Again, the trail was fairly flat and not especially rocky; the pond itself had many boulders projecting from the water. All of the ponds were clear, and the deeper parts of them were dark blue, without any dilution of color from muddiness or algae growth.
Since this was the day on which the accident occurred, JK and JB and I did not get back until late. We had to wait for the tow truck to arrive, and then three of us sat together on a seating area that was designed only for two passengers. After we returned to Millinocket and refreshed ourselves, we went to the house where the others were staying. They had various plates of food already prepared and we ate a buffet dinner together, which was a very welcome end to what had been a trying journey returning from the park.
9/21 – I was not able to hike on the day after the accident because I had to make negotiations with various parties. After I was on the phone with the insurance company and went to Medway to get an idea from the auto shop as to when they could examine the car and provide an estimate, I walked around Millinocket itself. It is an odd place. None of the houses are cramped or undersized; all of them have driveways, several are quite large, and many have features such as covered garages and porticos. Yet the overall effect is rather shabby. The sidewalks are uniformly uneven and in disrepair, interspersed with grass growing through the cracks. Gardens are kept on a small scale and not many house owners bother to mow their lawns. The “downtown” was a single street with few businesses or shops in operation, and with only a couple of places that serve food.
And the question is: why hasn’t some enterprising developer tried to build the place up, in the style of other trail towns such as Kent, CT or Damascus, VA? Even places such as Hot Springs, NC or Duncannon, PA, which are relatively lackluster, have much more to offer in the way of stores and restaurants than Millinocket. After all, many outdoorsmen pass through the area – not only hikers, but hunters, fishermen, canoeists, kayakers, cross-country skiers, snowmobilers. There is the potential of realizing a thriving trade, if only an investor were willing to initiate it. But It does not appear that anyone has made such an attempt. It is true that such an undertaking would require substantial funds to begin with, and Maine is a poor state. But it is difficult to believe that there is no one in the region with sufficient resources.
9/22 – Again we went to the Abol Bridge campground, where we did a there-and-back on the AT going south. The famous 100-mile wilderness begins just past the bridge beyond the campground. The trail goes along the road for a few hundred yards, then turns aside and enters a dense forest area. But the most daunting feature about the 100-mile wilderness is its length. Other than that, much of the trail through the area goes up and down far less steeply than in other parts of Maine. This section of the trail has no especially noticeable features, but the foliage was striking. Even in the three days since we first began our hiking the autumnal colors had become much more widespread. The sign at the northern terminus of the wilderness is similar to the one I saw three years ago at Monson, the southern end, warning hikers that they should carry food for ten days if they are attempting to cover its entire length.
9/23 – On this day we went up Mt. Katahdin. It was by far the most challenging of the hikes, about 11 miles round trip, with 3900 feet of elevation gain. In some ways it was similar to hikes I have done in Colorado, beginning with a relatively moderate ascent and reaching a much steeper one as the trail approaches the summit.
The first 3.3 miles ascends to the Chimney Pond campground. It is rocky in places but the gradient in this segment is never particularly taxing. The trail contains many rocks and tree roots on the surface, as is typical of Maine trails in general. About a mile from the trailhead there is a view of Katahdin from a distance. I did not pause there going up, but upon the return I took a few photos there.
From the campground I took the Saddle Trail, which, as the name implies, goes up to a saddle located on the plateau at the top of the mountain. This segment was about 1.2 miles, of which about ¾ mile consists of boulder fields ascending very steeply, almost perpendicular at times. It was merely challenging going up; but the return, going down, was very frustrating – it was a continual struggle to maintain balance and it seemed to go on forever. The photos I took from the top of the saddle were clearer than the ones at Baxter Peak, which had some cloud cover.
Once the plateau is reached, it is still 1 mile to reach the peak. The gradient, however, is much less steep, and progress was easier both ascending and descending. However, it was very windy, sometimes gusting to 50 MPH. The last 0.2 miles went through another boulder field, but it was considerably less difficult than the approach to the saddle. The plateau is above the treeline and thus has something of the stark grandeur typical of mountaintops above a certain elevation: bare and windswept and rocky, with little vegetation except varieties of grey moss and some twisted shoots growing close to ground. Several mountain trails, when this point of the ascent is reached, proceed along a narrow arete, but the plateau at the top of Katahdin is very broad and consequently there is little danger, even with the continual wind gusts, of falling down the mountainside. (There are other trails to the summit that are somewhat riskier in this respect.) I lingered at the Baxter Peak, the highest point on the mountain, for a few minutes, but although the views of the valleys below are impressive, the cloud cover that lingered about the top of the mountain made the photos that I took rather indistinct and wraith-like. There were perhaps a dozen hikers scattered about the area around the plaque at the highest point. I had expected a greater number of people, for it is a popular hike. But our group had started early and I completed the ascent in 3½ hours, so it was only 10:15 when I arrived. It probably is more crowded later in the day.
I had lunch during the return downwards, pausing at the Chimney Pond campground after climbing down the Saddle Trail. At that point the most arduous portion of the hike was complete and I went along the return via the Chimney Pond trail at a more relaxed pace, pausing on occasion to take photos. I returned at 1:25. The others were taking somewhat longer to complete the hike, and one of the rangers, when I fell to chatting with him, suggested that while I was waiting to take a brief extension to the Sandy Spring Pond, a there-and-back trail of about ½ mile each way. This is a pleasant way to unwind after the exertions of ascending Katahdin and then returning. The trail is nearly flat and not especially rocky, and the pond afforded a view of the mountain from below.
Mt. Katahdin, incidentally, can be reached from the other side by means of the Appalachian Trail; in fact the summit at Baxter Peak is the trail’s northern terminus. Although it represents the longest single climb on the AT, it is not the most difficult. Mt. Washington and other peaks in the Presidential Range are more taxing. I often felt a sense of strain going up Mt. Washington, Mt. Adams, and Mt. Madison, whereas the ascent to Katahdin, although it certainly required a certain amount of perseverance, was considerably less daunting than these.
9/24 – After having completed the climb to Mt. Katahdin on the preceding day, we were all in the mood for a less ambitious hike as its sequel. We returned to the Kidney Pond area and skirted around the pond until reaching the Lily Pad Stream Pond Trail. This leads to a rivulet that can be crossed by canoe. The park had a couple of canoes resting against the bank; if we had planned matters out more carefully, we could have obtained the keys to unlock them from the park rangers and used the canoes to paddle to the other side. Instead we returned to the trail that went around Kidney Pond until it came to another point in the rivulet, which was capable of being forded but would certainly would not have left us dry-shod. We did not wish to walk several additional miles with wet shoes and socks, so we backtracked and went to the Daicey Pond campground parking area on the other side of the stream. From there we went along the Appalachian Trail to the Little and Big Niagara Falls that I had seen earlier with JK and JB. Now we had the leisure to contemplate them without haste, resting on the rocks and watching fishermen at the base of each of the falls casting their lures. I took off my boots and socks to dip my feet in the water at Big Niagara Falls, which was cool but not chilly. The total amount of distance covered was 6½ miles, with little elevation gain – 400 feet, or perhaps 500 at the most.
After this hike we had a meal that could be described as either a late lunch or an early dinner at a restaurant just a few miles outside of the park. Considering how destitute Millinocket is of places to eat, this restaurant was surprisingly elegant, situated alongside an extensive lake, with a small but attractive garden just between the lake shore and the outside dining tables. The weather became slightly cool and windy at times, but never unpleasantly so. Both the food and the service were excellent.
9/25 – I could not hike on the 25th, being obliged to go to Bangor Airport to try to make arrangements about a car rental and to have the car towed from the auto shop to a second one that has more extensive repair facilities. I strolled about Millinocket again in the afternoon, where on one street I read a sign posted in front of one house that greatly amused me. It began with the words “No soliciting!” in large letters. There then followed, in letters with a slightly smaller font, these lines:
We’re too broke to buy anything. We know who we’re voting for. We’ve found Jesus. Go away!
The dinner we had that night is worth mentioning. TW picked up some lobsters at the supermarket nearby and we had a splendid meal. I have not eaten lobster for nearly a year, and it was quite an indulgence to dine on freshly caught lobster in Maine.
9/26 – I went with the others to the Abol Bridge parking area. The others went on a loop to Abol Pond. They said that they were going to add a there-and-back excursion on the Blueberry Ledges Trail. Since I have been on the Blueberry Ledges Trail on the 19th, I took a slightly different route. I began by going along the Appalachian Trail to the log bridge we had struggled with on the earlier hike. Immediately past that bridge is a trailhead that leads to the Foss-Knowlton Pond, about 2½ miles each way. It is a lovely place, more extensive than most of the other ponds and with a perfect view of Katahdin in the distance. The trail itself is very easy. I doubt if the ascent was more than a few hundred feet and it was all very gradual. Much of it had clearly been in use as a fire road in earlier times. By this time the colors of the foliage were approaching their full brilliance. The scarlet of the maples and the greenish yellow of the birches were especially vivid. Afterwards I returned to the Abol Pond Trails and completed that loop. At one point the trail crossed a stream, but it was not especially difficult. To my surprise I caught up with the others; they had decided to walk on the Kettle Pond Trail instead of the Blueberry Ledges Trail. The trailhead for the Kettle Pond Trail is located close to Abol Pond itself, in the middle of the loop. I covered about 10 miles in all; their route was somewhat shorter. I was well-satisfied with my choice, since Abol Pond itself was, while pleasant enough, much less picturesque than Foss-Knowlton Pond.
For the following day JK, JB, and I all had made different arrangements for our return. I took the airplane out of Bangor. The plane ride was comfortable, leaving on time and landing 20 minutes early. Because the plane could accommodate only about 70 passengers at the most, I obtained my luggage very rapidly after deplaning. Yet the experience made me somewhat uneasy. Everyone wore face masks during the course of the flight – except, of course, whenever they were eating and drinking. It seemed to be prudent to be tested to ascertain that I did not received any infection from the plane trip once I was back at my home; and I did get tested on the morning of the 29th.
I cannot say that I was tracking the headlines very carefully while I was in Maine. Everyone in our group, of course, heard about the death of Ruth Bader-Ginsberg. When we discussed how the ill health of her final months and her lingering death created complications with respect to appointing her replacement, we agreed that even Supreme Court Justices should have term limits and should be forced to retire at a certain age – at 80, perhaps. That amount of time should be long enough for anyone. It now appears that President Trump is attempting to rush through the process of getting a new judge appointed before the election, so that it turns out that he loses he will still be able to stock our judicial system with appointees who favor his somewhat skewed views of law and order.
He is undergoing some difficulties. Mary Trump, his niece, is now suing him on the grounds that she had been cheated out of her share of the family inheritance. She seems every bit as mercenary as the family members whom she denounced in her recent book; but her lawsuit is certainly an unwelcome distraction for Uncle Donnie during the last few weeks of his campaign. And there are several articles revealing how little he paid in taxes for several previous years and how precarious his personal situation is underneath the surface of his gaudy, ostentatious style of living – although the word “revealing” here has to be interpreted in the loosest possible sense. Surely these accounts of the murkiness of his financial dealings cannot come as a surprise to anyone. Now if someone were to report that he dealt with a contractor or a business associate or an employee or a relative in an open and honest manner, I would respond with all of the shock and incredulity that the most eager journalist could desire; but reading these stories of how he cheated various corporations and the state of New York is like reading assertions that grass is generally green in color – which is as much to say that chicanery, delinquency, and turpitude in any financial dealings conducted by Donald Trump are as invariable as showers in April, or sultry weather in August, or snow falling in the winter and melting in the spring, or other, similar facts of nature.
Since it took two days to complete this entry, I enclose the statistics for both days:
Yesterday’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 33,542,559; # of deaths worldwide: 1,006,090; # of cases U.S.: 7,361,293; # of deaths U.S.: 209,777.
Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 33,826,905; # of deaths worldwide: 1,011,885; # of cases U.S.: 7,403,480; # of deaths U.S.: 210,731.
India is rapidly gaining on us; at this rate it will displace us as the country with the greatest number of cases within a week. (it’s incidence rate is still much less than ours, on account of its much greater population.) Yet neighboring countries such as Pakistan, Myanmar, Nepal, and Bhutan have much lower case rates, even though some of these have very densely populated cities.