Maine Conclusion

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We still have a three days left in our stay in Topsham Maine but based on the weather forecast, the middle of these days was going to be a very rainy one. So we decide to go out and try to get some hiking and sightseeing in before the trails get wet. This part of coastal Maine doesn’t have as many good trails like those found in Acadia National Park about 100 miles to the east. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t hikes to be found, we will just need to visit a few smaller parks and preserves in order to achieve some reasonable distance. Like we often do, we let geocaching help guide our plans and head off to Sebascodegan Island south of camp. Our goal is the Cliff Trail. A 2.2 mile loop that starts behind Harpswell Town Hall.

The trail starts out as a very nice gravel trail next to a small inlet. This part of the hike is actually handicap accessible and we have a few geocaches to find along the first half mile. We were here near low tide so the inlet looked more like an oversized mud pit.

Starting Out on the Cliff Trail

Low Tide Muck

One part of the trail was identified as the “Fairy House Building Zone”. We have come across a fair number of these in various parks all over the country. This one was a bit unusual. Most fairy houses we have seen had been constructed by someone from material they had at home and were often quite whimsical. The “rules” for the fairy homes here were to be made purely of things found on the forest floor. That definitely limits how elaborate a house design can be. In fact, we were having a hard time convincing ourselves that we were seeing a fairy home instead of a simple pile of sticks and rocks.

Fairy House Zone

Possible Fairy House?

The gravel ended and the Cliff Trail continued into the woods and became a much more normal woodland trail with planks over wet areas and lots of roots from the trees.

A More Traditional Trail

Roots

The trail eventually worked its way over to a body of water called Long Reach. And it was at this point that it became clear where the trail got its name. A short but steep climb got us to the top of a cliff overlooking the water about 100 feet below.

Overlooking Long Reach

Climb to Top of Cliff

Small Island

Up to this point we had been the only ones around, but now we started to run in several locals out for a run or walking their dogs. The trail follows along the top of the cliff for about a half mile before cutting back to the west and heading down into the woods and coming along the backside of the town’s recycling center and back to the town hall. It was a pleasant hike.

At the Edge of the Cliff

Mossy Roots

Next we would drive south onto several other islands. We had several places we hoped to check out but the weather right along the coast was looking questionable so we drove 7 miles to the other place we really wanted to see - The Giant’s Stairs on Bailey Island. This destination was a bit secluded in a fairly residential area. There were “no parking” signs along most of the road. The parking area at the north end only has a few spots and none were open. We continued down the street and eventually found a gravel pullout on one side of the road there parking was permitted and another entrance to the path overlooking the ocean.

Southern Entrance to Path 

The rock formations along the shore were very striking with them tilted up in such a way to have the layers nearly ninety degrees to the ground instead of parallel like is more common.

Cool Rock Formations Along Atlantic Ocean

Closeup View

The waves were crashing on the shore but likely would have been even more impressive had we been here closer to high tide. Near the northern end of the path, we came upon the namesake for the trail. A plaque designates the Giant Stairs although had the sign not been there, I may not have identified the staircase nature of the rocks at this location.

The Giant's Stairs

Path

Once to the northern end of the path, we could have headed up to the road and walked back to the car, but it seems that walking along the path next to the water would be much more scenic.

Very Colorful Rocks

We got back to the car to decide where to next. We saw there was a place called Land’s End Gift Shop and a Lobsterman’s Statue less than a mile south at the end of the island. So we make a quick detour down here and check out the views. There appears to be a home situated on the very small island less than a quarter mile away. It must take a different type of person to want to live on an island at the edge of the Atlantic Ocean.

Lobsterman's Statue

At Lands End

Jaquish Island

Bailey Island Beach

So far the rain has held off with us experiencing a few brief bouts of mist from time to time. Since we were at Lands End, there is only one way out so we head back north stopping at some of the pullouts overlooking some of the small bays full of boats on this dreary afternoon.

Crowded Bay Along Maine Coast

Our last stop of the day was right along Harpswell Island Road at a set of trails known as the Devil’s Back. We felt obligated to stop for this set of trails simply because we seem to have been on a run of Devil themed hikes this past year. There were loop trails on either side of the road - each being about a mile in length. We started with the trail on the west side since there was a geocache hidden along it. There were a couple of sailboats moored in the bay as we followed the trail along the water.

Uprooted Tree Along Trail

Catamaran

Sailboat

The loop back required a climb up a rather steep section that even had some heavy ropes to help pull ourselves up and out. By the time we got to the parking lot to start the loop on the east side, it started to rain and this time it was looking to be more substantial than just mist. We ended up with maybe a total of 4 or 5 miles in our three stops. Had it been a sunny day, they would have been even better but we still enjoyed the trip.

Steep Section of Trail

We had a lot of rain the following day and we were starting to question how solid the camping sites are at the fairgrounds. But we ended up not sinking or floating away. For our last day in the area, we wanted to head into Freeport. It’s only about 10 miles southwest of Topsham, so it’s a quick drive. This is a very popular destination in Maine because of all the outlets stores. There isn’t an outlet mall, per se, but to some degree the whole downtown feels like one.

Freeport Shops

We do wander around some of the shops but the real draw for Freeport at least for us is one specific store - L.L. Bean. This is the home of the company and their flagship store is huge. In fact, there isn’t just one building but several scattered around a several block radius.

L.L. Bean Flagship Store

We end up spending a long time wandering around seeing if there is something we need. I don’t find anything I must absolutely have but Chris does find some comfy slippers. There are lots of animal displays around the store as well and of course there is the iconic boot outside the main entrance.

Finally Saw a Moose!

The L.L. Bean Boot

We picked up a lobster roll to celebrate our several week stay in Maine before heading to the nearby Mast Landing Audubon Sanctuary just east of town. There are several trails with the longest one being a 1.5 mile loop. We head out for a walk and find one geocache along the way.

Start of Trail at Mast Landing

A Newer Boardwalk Section

The land used to have a stream powered sawmill. There are also a couple of old buildings that look to have been used to some degree in the past decade or so, but are now mostly boarded up and vacant.

Old House on Mast Landing Property

We do find the old granite blocks that were part of the old mill but not much else of the original holding remains. But at least there is an informational sign that talks about the mill back in the early 1800’s. It was a relatively easy walk and we were the only people wandering around today.

Large Granite Wall from Old Mill

Snake Watches Us

One last stop for the day was another one of these small parks that seem to be in the middle of private homes. Tidebrook Preserve is a 44 acre parcel south of Freeport. We drive to the parking area and it definitely looked like we were just parking at someone’s driveway. One homeowner was out trimming some bushes but they didn’t seem to be concerned about us being there. Then we noticed some signs for various trails that go through the preserve. We pick the Red Trail that heads south along the Harraseeket River. It was near low tide again so the water level was fairly low.

Fence Along Meadow

River View

The Red Trail came back out to the road and we decided to walk down to check out the view. There is a causeway out to Bartol Island but there are also private property signs so we turn around and head back up the road to the intersection with the Yellow Trail. This trail wanders around more of a meadow area that overlooks a bay. There were some maple trees that we starting to get some bright fall colors but it will be weeks before we hit peak colors. We head down toward the bay to the end of the trail.

Trees Starting to Change Colors

Overlooking the Bay

At the edge of the Bay

The trail comes back up through the meadow and sort of looks like we are walking into the backyard of one of the residents. But we continue to find trail markers and we cut into the woods to follow the Blue Trail. This section is nice too but doesn’t have the good views of the water. In all, we likely completed a 2 mile hike and found one of the geocaches along the way.

Trail in the Woods

That concludes our 26 nights in Maine this year. Combined with the 55 nights we spent in the state back in 2018, we have experienced much of Maine but we now know there is more to see and do, so we will need to keep a return visit in the cards. We still have 15 nights before our next camping reservation down in Richmond Virginia. The plan is to almost exclusively use Elks lodges as we work our way south. We have a couple of stops planned for Massachusetts with the first one being less than 200 miles away.

Since our monthlong stop to see the White Mountains of New Hampshire was actually done out of St Johnsbury Vermont, I sort of felt that we really should spend at least one night in New Hampshire before we head south. There is an Elks Lodge in Dover NH that has electric hookups and is more or less on our route so I decide we should split the distance in half and stop in Dover. We pull into driveway at the lodge and find it was lined with dozens of cars. Turns out there was some sort of event taking place in the field right next to where the electric pole is for campers. It didn’t look like the party was going to be ending soon so we headed to the large parking lot behind the lodge and found it was nearly empty. We know we can easily dry camp for one night so we don’t even worry about trying to move out front once the party is over. We head into the bar and check in with them and the bartender was fine with our parking spot.

We have been doing fairly well finding caches in counties of several of the states in the northeast so far this year but we were missing two counties in New Hampshire. This might have been another part of my reason for stopping in Dover since one of the needed counties was where Dover is situated and the other was just 15 miles or so to the northwest. I headed out in the afternoon to complete my mission.

In the town of Alton, I came upon a virtual cache that highlighted something a bit unusual. I was brought to the town cemetery which in itself isn’t odd but I was led to the grave of a horse! A former resident of the town that had fought in the Civil War requested that his horse from the war be buried next to him. When the time came to bury the horse, the town would not allow the animal to be buried in the cemetery so the horse’s grave was placed outside of the cemetery grounds near the soldier. But since 1885, the cemetery expanded and soon horse was now in the cemetery. RIP “Old Tom”.

"Old Tom" The Horse Buried in Alton Cemetery