I call the middle group Maine's Middle Mountains, and today's peaks (Monday, June 5, 2017) - Saddleback Mtn and The Horn - are in the purple circle:
I am antsy to get this summer's hiking underway, so I'm fine with 4-hours-driving up and 4-hours-driving back:
It was a little misty/cloudy when I got to the Appalachian Trail Piazza Rock Trail Head:
The black line I followed is actually a section of the Appalachian Trail. With a side trip to Piazza Rock and its waterfalls, I hiked a round-trip of 16 miles today (7 hours 43 minutes). I only found out later about the (much shorter) red trail which runs from Saddleback Ski Area up to the top of the ridge (7 miles versus 16!). [Maybe when I do another trip "for the views"]
Beautiful streams and forests:
and flowers:
About 2 miles in is Piazza Rock, up on a little side-trail.:
It is "a large granite slab protruding from the cliff." Nobody mentions the Wonderful little Waterfall just beyond the Rock:
The fog and mist only heightens that fact that this is a VERY WET place, with moss covering all the boulders:
I passed a girl coming down (Deede's age?) and we exchanged nice "Great Day"'s and "Have a good hike!"
And then I got to Ethel Pond:
A little further through the woods:
and I got to Mud Pond
and shortly thereafter Eddy Pond, which is big enough that there were small waves on it:
All these ponds were PRETTY COOL with the mist/fog on them!
Just before breaking out of the tree line, I passed two old guys coming down (70? 80?) and we exchanged fun comments.
By 2 o'clock I had broken out of the tree line:
I find this AT Survey Marker unusual - it is not on a "high point", or anything:
It was very windy and cloudy on "the exposed open crest of Saddleback". The guidebook says the ridge "is a particular scenic hike on a good day" - this is not one of those days!
This is the first hike of the summer, and it is hard. I have to remind myself to read my past "first hike of the year" blogs, and not try to bite off more than I can chew. I was thinking about heading back down, but then remembered that I had passed a-girl-and-two-old-guys GOING THE OTHER WAY - so just suck it up and get this done!
2:30 at the top of Saddleback:
I continued along the trail (the cairns and AT white blazes were continuous, so no chance of getting lost), but shortly after my 8-mile-mark, MapMyWalk and my iPhone just freaked out and shut down. Maybe I was near one of those "thinnies" from Haven?? I eventually got to The Horn, which was just a big red pole/post stuck in a large cairn (I walked around it, and added a round rock to the pile). I was averaging 30-minutes-per-mile going up, so I figure (with lunch) I got to The Horn around 3:30. Since I got back to the car at 6:43, I did about 24-minutes-per-mile going down. That is really good time - with its tree roots, iron ladder, and granite rocks, it was a pretty hard trail (or maybe it is just "average" for Maine!)
Thank You God for a GREAT DAY!
Monday, June 5, 2017 (left home at 7 AM, home at 11 PM)
Music today - reverse alphabetical on the big iPod:
MORNING
various artists - Surfin' USA, 1965
The Beach Boys - Surf's Up, 1971 single
On Saturday Sept. 25, 1971 I took the train from Philadelphia's 30th Street Station out to Villanova to see The Beach Boys. It was a GREAT CONCERT (similar to what I imagine a CSNY concert was like - group, then solo performances, then group again). The single Surf's Up cut is one of my favorite Beach Boys songs. click here for the review of the concert in the Villanova campus newspaper.
various artists - Summer of Love: The Hits of 1967, 1967 (7 songs)
Joe Jackson - Summer in the City: Live in New York, 2000
The Beach Boys - Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!), 1965
Suicide - Suicide [Live] [Disc 2], 2000 live
kind-of-a-lousy-loud-punk-band, but there's something really cool about driving through the backwoods of Maine on an overcast morning, drinking coffee, and listening to Suicide.
Bruce Springsteen was also influenced by the band, as evident by the song "State Trooper" from his album Nebraska. Furthermore, Springsteen also used a solo keyboard version of "Dream Baby Dream" to close the concerts on his 2005 Devils & Dust Tour, and released a studio version of his cover on his 2014 album High Hopes.
Sade - Stronger Than Pride, 1988
EVENING
Bonnie Raitt - Streetlights, 1974
The Persuasions - Street Corner Symphony, 1971
Patti Larkin - Stranger's World, 1995
Joe Jackson - Stranger Than Fiction, 1991 cd single (3 songs)
The Doors - Strange Days, 1967
Talking Heads - Stop Making Sense, 1984 live album
lyrics from "Once In A Lifetime":
And you may ask yourself
Where does that highway go?
Pat Metheny Group - Still Life (Talking), 1987
Shameless Plug: if you enjoy this blog, you may like my other one about Art Museums and National Parks (on May 27-28-29, 2017 Wendy and I visited Washington DC)
hyperlink: dixonheadingwest
http://dixonheadingwest.blogspot.com/
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