Lessons Learned

After about a year of not posting at all on this blog I figured it was about time to update it. My first hike of the season came very late this year, I've been busy with work and summer classes and other such things up until now. I've also been late to hike due to the fact that none of my friends have been available to go when I have.

Finally after getting fed up with waiting for the freetime of my friends and myself to align properly I decided to go on my first ever solo hike on a trail that I've been scoping out for a while now. The trail that I decided I'd hike was the Bold Coast trail in Cutler, Maine. The trail is located about 16 miles past the intersection of route 1 and 191 in East Machias or 4-ish miles past downtown Cutler. I didn't arrive at the trailhead until about 6:30pm so I had to make good time to make it the 4 or so miles down the trail to the Fairy Head camp site before dark.

Lesson #1: Always bring bugspray.

I should already know this one. I've lived in Maine my whole life and I know how bad the bugs can get here during the summer. Even though I know the importance of having pleny of bug dope, in my rush to get going and make it to the trailhead it fell somewhere by the wayside. When I finally made it to the camp site around 8pm or so, I began setting up camp at a designated spot overlooking the ocean. A couple who had come up from portland had grabbed another one nearby. Unfortunately a swarm of mosquitos had already laid claim to the exact spot I was going to put my tent. I'm used to dealing with bugs, and a few mosquitos will never have me fretting, but the bugs were so thick it made cooking almost impossible. They were flying into my stove and latching onto my uncovered lower legs and any bare skin they could dig into. After being chased into my tent after a very hastily (and not very well cooked) dinner I fell quickly to sleep.

Lesson #2: Always bring your trashbag.

A trick a friend of mine taught me was to put a trashbag in each large compartment of your pack, that way when it rains really hard and you have to pack up camp, your tent and rainfly don't get everything else in your pack wet. they also lend added protection beyond your regular pack cover in case the sky decides to open up on you mid hike. Well apparently I had thrown out and forgotten to replace the trashbag that I kept in my pack. When I woke up the next morning, instead of catching some of the first rays to hit the sun in all of the U.S. I woke up to the sound of steady rain coming down outside. After waking up and taking a look around I decided to pack up camp. The mosquitos from the night before had apparently not been deterred by the rain so once again I was racing against bug-bites to get everything taken care of. Once my bag was packed up I set off to finish the roughly 5 and a half mile coastal section of the loop back to the trailhead. Even though it was raining and I had been chewed up and spit out by bugs the coastal leg of the trail was completely worth it.

This trail has plenty of picturesque cliffside views of the ocean, as well as winding it's way through the forest, several bog areas, and a stone covered beach. You don't have to worry too much about this trail being crowded like many of the other ones further down the coast in Acadia. This one is certainly a gem worth discovering for anyone willing to venture out of the way of the summer crowds.