In the planning of my daily itinerary for my vacation I dubbed Tuesday as "Adventure Day". This is the day of my lakeside respite where I get away from the camp and take in some sights of the region that I do not normally see during family visits to where Carol comes from and the technical college we both attended. So, Patches and I began the day by heading to Aroostook State Park in Presque Isle. In the 35 years I've been driving up through Route 1 in northern Maine I've seen the road sign directing people to the park and at times wondered if there was more to a somewhat unheralded state park than a couple of picnic tables, a half mile unkempt nature trail and a muddy pond shoreline. I did expect more than that and was pleased to find what exceeded those expectations. ASP presents itself immediately on arriving at the entrance. Beautiful trimmed lawns along pristine Echo Lake, gravel roadways and parking lots well maintained. Boat launch area, spacious lakeside picnic area, playground, wooded campsites for tents or camper trailers, swimming access and a nature trail across the twin peaks of Quaggy Jo Mountain which has a short challenging part but is otherwise a nice 2 - 3 hour hike and a nice view on the north peak where on a semi-clear day you can see Mount Katahdin. It was a hike I was hoping for and this was just what I had in mind. It took a couple of hours and on the recommendation of the park ranger we took the approach up the south peak. There is a steep loose rock slide which is part of the trail and though difficult to climb (Patches was less than thrilled) would have been on the nasty side to clamber down. In the first half hour on the hike I had worked up quite a sweat. In a few short steps this put me at the south peak which was woods covered so other than an opening at the top of the rock slide I came up didn't have any view of the surrounding area. A steep descent to start the trail to the north peak then a really nice terrain across to the north peak and a gentle approach to the top where the reward was the view. The remainder of the trail to the base was a very nice finish. Being a Tuesday near the end of summer there weren't very many people in the camping area so I have no idea about if there is a busy period but if you are in the area and need a campsite or picnic location check out the Aroostook State Park.
After leaving APS my plan was to get close to the new wind turbines which overlook the town of Mars Hill. Carol, Ian, Lois, Jim and I have spoken spoken about his new addition to the view driving along Route 1 several times and for some reason I've had a bit of a fascination with wind generated power ever since I first heard of it. I drove over to the ski lodge at the base of Mars Hill Mountain and saw that there was no access there to the wind turbines. Opening my Gazetteer I see that there are several roads forming a rectangle around the mountain and headed to the south to circumvent the 28 turbines that run along the mountain's ridge. This route also brings me back to the road for my next destination, Fort Fairfield. Once I made the turn that brought me along the other side of the ridge I see more clearly the layout of the generators and farm houses that were nestled up against the hill. After making another left to go west I came to the end wind turbine which was only about 200 feet from the road where the service entrance, with a no trespassing sign, which I concluded would lead to the control station of the turbines. Regardless I was close enough to get a good look at it and the relatively low sound it made during it's operation. Curiosity satisfied I move onto Ft. Fairfield, drove through, saw nothing I wanted to stop for, nice looking town though, then headed for Caribou where I stopped in to visit my father-in-law, Alton, at the nursing home after which Patch and I made beeline for the camp. Enough adventure for one day.
This is the rock slide we had to climb, fun factor = 0.
"I've had enough, is it time to go back to the lake?"
Just above the rock slide there was an opening in the trees where I took this photo. I didn't know that when we got to the top of the south peak I wouldn't have any view at all. That's Echo Lake to the left and someplace called Canada over to the horizon.
"Does one of these signs say, shortcut to the camp, on it?"
About ten minutes from the north peak was this scenic picnic table. Not knowing how muchfurther to the peak we rested a few minutes,
had some water and a photo op. I wanted
lunch at the peak.
"Come on Patch, smile for the camera like you're having a good time!"
The view from the north peak was not disappointing, this is looking out to the northwest.
This is pretty much due north, Presque Isle International Airport in the center and the technical college Carol and I attended is to the right.
Finally, one of my life's goals has been met, looking up at a real wind turbine, how kewl.
A nice touch to the landscape.
Not much for a sunset last night, more gray than anything and not much for cloud patterns. Tonight may not be much better.
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