Aroostook County Wrap Up

  Here are some pictures from our recent trip to Aroostook County!

 Portage Lake

The drive up was beautiful but very cold.  On our way up we passed by Portage Lake at sunset.

Cold!



That night we stopped in at the Swamp Buck in Fort Kent to enjoy the local color.

Bucks at the Swamp Buck

It didn't warm up much the next day.  We saw the sights in Fort Kent, then headed out to the 10th Mountain Division biathlon facilities south of town.

A cold morning in Fort Kent

The entrance to the 10th Mountain Biathlon Center

The 10th Mountain Center lodge and shooting range

Snowshoeing on the 10th Mountain Center Trails

After snowshoeing, we drove east along the Saint John River to Madawaska, the northeasternmost town in the United States.  On the other side of the river is New Brunswick, in Canada.

Madawaska, the northeasternmost town in the United States

After Madawaska we drove south through a winter landscape of lakes, rolling hills and potato fields.

Long Lake

Potato Fields

Ice Fishing Shanties

We spent the night in Presque Isle, the biggest city in Aroostook County.  The next morning we went snowshoeing in the Aroostook National Wildlife Refuge.

Snowshoeing in the Aroostook National Wildlife Refuge

Not surprisingly, due to the cold we were the only visitors to the refuge that week.  The ranger was very hospitable, allowing us to change into our outdoor clothing in the midst of the visitor center's numerous animal displays.

 Animal Displays at the Visitor Center

The Refuge is a very unusual property, located on the former grounds of the top-secret Caribou Air Station, adjacent to now shuttered Loring Air Force Base.

 

 A closed gate at the former Loring Air Force Base

Loring was a Strategic Air Command nuclear bomber base throughout the cold war, and the base's nuclear weapons were stored and maintained on what is now the Aroostook National Wildlife Refuge.

 A Snark missile at the former Loring Air Force Base

After touring the Refuge and Loring, we started the long drive home.  On the way, we stopped to see the Bigrock Ski Area outside Mars Hill.  A series of large wind turbines cap Mars Hill above the ski area.

 Bigrock Ski Area



Although the cold weather certainly presented some challenges, it also created a truly fitting winter background for our interesting enjoyable trip to "the County."  

Speckled Mountain in Peru, Maine

The Oxford Hills

Speckled Mountain is an old favorite of mine.  I first read about it in a trail guide (Fifty Hikes in Southern Maine) which I bought at L.L. Bean's when we first moved to Maine in the late 1980s.  It is located in the Oxford Hills, a region of small but rugged mountains about one hour north of Portland. 

Logging Roads below Speckled Mountain

The region has been heavily logged, which creates an interesting terrain with mixed hard and soft woods and many logging roads and skidder trails.

Concord Pond from Speckled Mountain

Over the years I have visited it many times, typically in January when I can ski to the base of the mountain on snowmobile trails.

Bluffs on Speckled Mountain, Black Mountain in background

Today I summited Speckled Mountain using backcountry skis and snowshoes.   

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The Northeastern Corner

Yesterday Allison and I visited America's northeastern corner, in Madawaska, Maine.  But we didn't stay long; the real highlights of our day were snowshoeing on the 10th Mountain Division Trails outside Fort Kent, and driving through pretty winter scenes of frozen lakes and potato fields in central Aroostook County.  Today we have another out of the box experience planned, at the Aroostook National Wildlife Refuge on the grounds of the former Loring Air Force Base outside Limestone.  All the while, it has remained bitterly cold.

We searched fruitlessly for a good cup of coffee in Fort Kent (we could not even find a Dunkin Donuts), then toured the town a bit in the daylight.  We quickly stopped by Fort Kent's small downhill ski area, Lonesome Pine Trails, which had good snow but was closed that morning.  Then we headed to the morning's true destination: the Maine Winter Sports Center's 10th Mountain Division biathlon facility.  This beautiful, modern athletic center is free for visitors to use, although a small donation is suggested.  The center features a main lodge with changing, shower and dining facilities, as well as a large shooting range, spectator stands and a ski waxing building.  We snowshoed on one of the groomed ski trails (staying out of the tracks, of course), then ventured onto one of the lovely dedicated snowshoe trails which wound through pleasant woods.  Along the way we saw many animal tracks, including what appeared to be those of a mother bear and her cub.

After snowshoeing, we got back in the car and headed east along the Saint John River to Madawaska.  This mill town, with an important border crossing to Edmundston, Canada, is the northernmost town in the northeastern United States.  It is considered to be one of the "Four Corners" of the United States, together with Key West, Florida, Blaine, Washington and San Ysidro, California.  We quickly drove by the border station and down the main street, then headed on to Frenchville for a good lunch at Rosette's Restaurant.

We then drove on toward Presque Isle, passing through broad snowy potato fields and by frozen lakes dotted with ice fishing shanties.  The temperature hovered around 0 fahrenheit all through this very enjoyable part of our tour.

Last night we stayed in Presque Isle, the largest city in Aroostook County.  We are reassessing our plan to stay until tomorrow, due to continuing cold weather which may make downhill skiing at Mars Hill unpleasant.  But today we plan to see the city, then head to Limestone for some more snowshoeing.  Stay tuned!

P.S. - We have plenty of good pictures, which we will share at the end of our trip after we have downloaded them.

The Road to Fort Kent

Allison and I are now at the Four Seasons Inn in Soldier Pond, Maine (the town is actually Wallagrass), where we arrived last night after driving up from Falmouth.  The drive was beautiful; we took a "back way" through the center of Aroostook County, rather than the more common Route 1 along the Canadian border north of Houlton.  Later this morning we will do some snowshoeing at the Maine Winter Sports Center's biathlon facility in Fort Kent, then we plan to do a meandering tour through Madawaska and Caribou before heading to Presque Isle.

For the ride up we had a beautiful clear day but it was very cold.  There were nice views of Katahdin from the highway north of Millinocket.  As we headed further north and it got later in the day, the temperature started to dip.  It went negative just north of Patten and continued dropping all the way to Soldier Pond.  We passed through small towns like Masardis and Ashland, stopping to photograph a colorful sunset over Portage Lake, then continuing on through Eagle Lake.  The temperature dropped steadily, finally reaching -8 before we arrived at our destination.

After unloading our car and relaxing for a while at the inn, we headed into Fort Kent to get some dinner and see the town.  Fort Kent is on the south side of the St. John River; Canada is on the north side.  The border station is at the bridge over the river.  Just south of town is the campus of the University of Maine at Fort Kent, and the Maine Winter Sports Center is just south of the campus.

There aren't too many restaurants in Fort Kent, but we visited two of the local hot spots: the Mill Bridge, and the Swamp Buck.  Our innkeeper had advised us that the Mill Bridge is a bit fancier (it's all relative), while the Swamp Buck is more of a sports bar atmosphere.  We had some pizza at the Mill Bridge, and an after dinner drink at the Swamp Buck which was lively with a distinct deer hunting theme complete with trophy mounts, etc. (watch for pictures in a follow-up post).

This morning it is not as cold as we expected.  When I went out around 8 this morning the temperature was -2, quite a bit warmer than had been forecast.  I put a drop light and blanket in the engine compartment of Allison's Mercedes last night, but it was probably unnecessary.

Now we will get suited up for some snowshoeing, then head over to the Maine Winter Sports Center.  We'll probably do a short tour of some of the major trails, then head back onto the road for a tour through Madawaska and then south toward Caribou.

     

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Prelude and Fugue

Today, Allison and I take the first step of what we hope to be one of the most memorable and worthwhile journeys of our life together.  We will be traveling to Soldier Pond, south of Fort Kent in Aroostook County at Maine's northernmost extremity, and from there will tour Aroostook County visiting attractions such as the Maine Winter Sports Center in Fort Kent, and Bigrock Ski Area in Mars Hill.  We are handling some unexpected challenges to our plans with a positive, flexible attitude.  But after a week of momentous life events, we are ready to hit the road!

50th Birthday at Work 

The events leading up to this trip have left our minds spinning.  Last week I happily celebrated my 50th birthday, an occasion which is bound to lead to some self-examination.  Allison and I also finished our jobs.  As described elsewhere on America Out of the Box we have decided to use some of our newfound free time to undertake a series of trips to the corners of America.  Our trip to Aroostook County will be the first of those trips.

50 Candles

In the unorthodox spirit of America Out of the Box, we will be visiting Aroostook County during what is likely to be the coldest weather of the year.  We anticipate temperatures (absolute, not wind chill) of -20 fahrenheit or lower.  This morning our innkeeper called to warn us about the bone-chilling temperatures, and offer us the opportunity to delay our visit.  But Allison and I have timed our trip to Aroostook County to experience these extreme conditions, so the warning only heightened our resolve and excitement. 

Naturally, such weather creates some challenges for both people and vehicles.  My Toyota 4Runner is excellent in winter conditions and has been a model of reliability, so we had planned to take it for our trip.  I dutifully changed the oil, topped off the washer fluid with ice melter and added antifreeze to my radiator.  But then, when Allison and I took a quick trip to Bath yesterday, Murphy came along for the ride and switched on a few different and intriguing warning lights on my dashboard.  So the 4Runner is now at the dealer for diagnostics.  We are hopeful that we can still take it on our trip, but failing that Allison's all-wheel drive Mercedes should serve as a fine substitute.  So here I sit, waiting for a call from the Toyota dealer.  As soon as it comes, we will either pick up the 4Runner or else load up Allison's Mercedes, then the journey begins!

The prelude is finished, and the fugue is beginning.  You will know it has begun if you see a SPOT message sent from our home as we head out of the driveway.  Please come with us and see what out of the box treasures we can find in Aroostook County, Maine!