The Bold Coast - Cutler Preserve

This hike caught my eye because it travels along 100ft cliffs on the coast, and it would be easy to make a full day of this hiking trip. According to what I've read, the 5.8-9.8 mile loop (depends on the route you take) includes barrens, bogs, maritime forests, and a completely exposed hike along the coastal cliffs. In late summer and early fall, whales can sometimes be seen passing through the Grand Manan Channel on this hike. This really makes me want to wait until late August or September to make this hike, as it would make the trip just that much more awesome to get to see the whales from the cliffs.

Evan's Notch - Blueberry Mountain Loop

This is a moderate 4.5 mile loop hike in the Maine portion of White Mountain National Forest. It is said that it is a particularly beautiful hike during the fall when the foliage begins to change. The hike includes a small gorge known as Rattlesnake Flume, and a popular swimming hole known as Rattlesnake Pool. Although the names do not sound very inviting, be assured - there are no poisonous snakes in Maine :)

Evan's Notch - The Roost

I was thinking it would be a good idea to go on a weekend trip and combine the climb up the Blueberry Mountain Loop with the climb up The Roost. This is a shorter hike of about 1.2 miles that brings you to a view of the Wild River Valley with views of Grafton Notch and Mahoosuc Range. A weekend trip when the foliage changes would make for some spectacular photos!

Mahoosuc Notch

This 6.5 mile round trip hike is considered a difficult hike and has been referred to as "The hardest mile on the Appalachian Trail". This hike includes climbs over boulders and through caverns as you make you way through the notch. Hikers need to pay careful attention to their footing (especially when the terrain is wet) as the terrain is very uneven. What caught my eye about this hike were the massive rock formations on the trail that were created when the glaciers receded from the area during the last ice age (see photo).

Mount Kineo

This is a kayak/hiking trip on Moosehead Lake (the largets lake within one state east of the Mississippi). The hike itself is only about 4 miles round trip, but the only way to the mountain is by water. It is on an island in the middle of Moosehead Lake. You can either paddle across yourself from Rockwood or be ferried over by the Kineo Boat Launch which departs from 8am to 5pm on the hour. If you do not have your own kayak, rentals are available right in Greenville. Not only does this climb boast 800ft cliffs, but once you reach the top of Mount Kineo, there is a restored look-out tower which offers a 360 degree view of Moosehead Lake. Henry David Thoreau made two trips to Mount Kineo and had this to write about it - "The celebrated precipice is so high and perpendicular that you can jump from the top, many hundred feet, into the water which makes up behind the point. A man on board told us that an anchor had been sunk ninety fathoms at its base before reaching bottom! Probably it will be discovered erelong that some Indian maiden jumped off it for love once, for true love never could have found a path more to its mind." This is now one of the trips I am most excited for.

Gulf Hagas

This is probably the one trip that I have been waiting all winter to be able to make. I first heard about the "Grand Canyon of the East" from my soccer coach at University, but at the time I was so caught up in other things that I did not pay it much mind. This winter, it suddenly came back to me, and I started doing research. Gulf Hagas is near Brownville Junction in the 100-mile Wilderness (the most remote section of the Appalachian Trail), and once this wild landscape was also home to Katahdin Ironworks. Iron ore was mined from nearby Ore Mountain and brought here to be turned into pig iron. The iron works succumbed to outside competition and closed in 1890, but you can still see remnants of the blast furnaces used to super heat the ore. The 8 mile loop hike is considered moderate to difficult, and includes side trips to many waterfalls and pools. A site referred to as "The Hermitage" is home to a stand of old growth white pines (see photo).

South Turner Mountain/Sandy Stream Pond

This hike is considered by many to be a great introductory hike to Baxter State Park. It is located at the South Enterance, and it is a good idea to come early because when the parking lot is full - there are no more hikers allowed on the mountain. While South Turner offers a great view of Katahdin, it is from the Millinocket side - and the best view (by a long shot) can be found from the other side of the mountain (try the North Traveller hike for this one). I will say that it is the view that has caught my eye for this hike, though. It offers great views of Russel Pond, Whidden Pond, Basin Ponds, and Little North, South and Great basins of Katahdin. It is a moderate 5.5 mile hike where a camera is a must have.