In Maine, our fun usually means some activity outdoors from hiking, camping to down hill, cross country skiing, white water rafting or slew of activties guaranteering physical activity for better health.

In Maine you don’t have to worry about crowds, too much traffic or crime. Here is a Maine site that is a one stop shop for lots of Maine outdoor recreation, especially covering hiking one of my favorite activities. The state of Maine has many parks, here is one area to consider, the Allagash Wilderness Water Way.

Over 200,000 acres of land surrounds Baxter State Park and Mt Katahdin is not the only mountain to hike but Maine’s tallest mountain hogs most of the spotlight. The snowcap peaks of Katahdin are pretty surprising, stunning, memorable. My four kids and I have climbed many parts of the Baxter Park collection of mountains. Starting with Horse Mountain which is about 1400 feet high, easy for the smaller kids to tackle, conquer as they work their way up. In Northern Maine also suggest Echo Mountain at Aroostook State Park in Presque Isle. Or Haystack Mountain in the Mapleton, Castlehill area of Aroostook County.

Had a fraternity brother room mate in college at the University of Maine at Orono who was from Longmeadow Massachusetts. He was in to techincal climbing. The ropes, pitons, sneakers with the extra rubber surface to help in the climbing up and over, out from rocks spider like. I think I will still be hiking with maybe a walking stick someday when I get old and need one to help steady myself, but not push the rope technical climbing hobby. Little Chick and Big Chick in Clifton Maine near Old Town was where Chris and I tried my first foray in college in to the technical climbing with ropes.

There is something unnerving about crawling vertical, straight up using just your fingers to pull along small rock out croppings. Cracks to fit your finger tips in to and hope just your fingers can hold, lift the entire weight of your body while forgetting the distance to fall to earth below that is underneath all you do. To actually defy gravity by climbing up, out and around stone formations. Pushing with your toes, swinging out on a rope you hope is anchored properly but knowing you’ll be the first to know if it was not.

Needless to say, never put technical climbing apparatus, stocking stuffers on my list to Santa over the years. Not scared of heights, just want more than my finger tips, toes to work my way up the side of a sheer rock surface. Funny that way. Call it a quirk but used to a trail, trees along the side of it when I climb, hike.

Or maybe you need some salt water, sea air in your outdoor fix of Maine. With many islands dotting the ragged, jagged, jutting in and out coast line, sea kayaking to explore these little “countries” off Maine has a serious attraction. With over 3000 Maine islands, it may take more than one or two summers to hit most of them, to float and paddle around a few.

For more surf and turf adventures, Maine white water rafting is a fun trip down the Kennebec, Dead, Penobscot Rivers. I have gone on trips with Unicorn Expeditions out of The West Forks area and also on Northern white water rafting on the Penobscot River. You can have a party of eight to ten people and when they remind you to keep your legs up if you get sucked out of the raft, hit by a wave so those legs don’t get broken. You eddy out along the river after the major rush of water, dodging river centered rocks for a meal prepared on open fires. For the fall trips, wet suits are available to take the chill out of the Maine air when you get wet from either the river ride or the water fight with buckets with another rafting group in your party.

I’m Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers
207.532.6573
Email info@mooersrealty.com