Baxter state park, Maine

6/15- Today we drove into Baxter State park. We got a bit of a late start, we forgot some things and had to go back for them. Once we got there we checked in with the ranger he gave us some ideas for hiking. We went for a hike and had lunch overlooking the river. Cliff bars, dried fruit and beef jerky. After lunch we walked back and then drove to the other side of the park. The whole road is 20 MPH gravel so it’s slow going and mostly not a 2 lane road so it’s a little tricky with oncoming traffic. We got takeout from the local food truck and ate back in the room.

6/16- hotel breakfast was a little meh so we headed to dunkin instead. Drove into the park went to the end of the road had a nice hike around a pond. It was overcast so we couldn’t see the mountain but saw a beaver damn and lodge. Heading away from the pond took another path along a stream and to the edge of the bogs. Pitcher plants but no moose. We’d rented a canoe at one of the smaller lakes close to the gate when we got there, there was no paddles or life vests so we headed back to the ranger station and picked them up. We were out on the lake for around an hour saw the mountain and watched a loon fish and then it looked like the weather was turning we headed to shore. The wind was getting strong and started to rain on us. As we were trying to figure the logistics of getting the canoe out on the shallow edge a very nice local that was coming out to fish helped us pull it in and put it away. We headed back to town but took a detour on the golden rd, a slightly maintained logging road, mostly gravel. Didn’t see any moose but again nice views of the bogs and lakes. Got back to the room cleaned up and got Cary out from a local bar and grill. Oh and everyone thought it was hilarious that a bug bit me on the ear and it swelled up they kept comparing the 2 ears and laughing.

6/17- our last day here. Breakfast at dunkin and we headed into the park. We checked in with the rangers. Then we headed to able pond for a hike. He said there wasn’t much traffic yet so we might see wildlife. We did, not long after we started a black bear ran across the path not that far ahead of us. Luckily he was only interested in getting away from us. We also saw a loon and some kind of ground bird that looked like a small brown pheasant. After the loop though the birch trees and behind the beaver dam. We were almost back and Annika, and then myself, both ended up with our boots in creek due to slippery rocks. We had lunch overlooking the lake by the car. We headed further into the park to canoe. We stopped to get the keys for a different location but no ranger so we decided to just canoe there. They shared the canoe this time and I used a kayak. We were out about 2 hours the wind came up and it was a bit of a struggle to get back. On the way out of the park we did a short hike by a campgrounds to a small falls.