Tumbledown Mountain

Beautiful Webb Lake in Weld, Maine

Last weekend Steve & I felt the itch to "get away" and by that I mean get into the woods. We haven't had a chance to go camping yet this season and this weekend was our last chance before September!

We planned our trip on the fly Saturday morning to Mount Blue State Park. Located in Weld, Maine and only 1.5 hours away, we were drawn to the region by Tumbledown Mountain, which we had heard was an interesting, fun climb. Saturday was sunny and beautiful, and we arrived mid-afternoon in time to set up our campsite and then go for a refreshing swim in Webb Lake. Being "city folk" we're not used to dealing with mosquitoes, and we quickly realized that toughing it out against these hungry buggers was not going to cut it. We drove a few miles back to a small general store outside of Weld. Luckily for us, the store stocked not only DEET-laden bottles of Off, but a more environmentally (and people) friendly choice called Natropel. It has no DEET and is safe for pets and kids and much much better for on the environment. Anyway, after applying this stuff the bugs wanted nothing to do with us so I'd say it worked!

After our swim, we brought our cook stove and cooler out to a nearby picnic table and whipped up dinner before the sun began to set. What did we cook? The old standby of camping meals: beans & rice. Of course we doctor this up quite a bit with diced tomatoes, cheddar cheese, avocado and hot sauce.

Steve cooking dinner lakeside

Steve was determined to have me see my first moose, and so we set out on an evening moose-hunt (via the Element) in search of the large elusive mammals. Along the way we stumbled upon a tiny, old cemetery tucked alongside of a dirt road. It was so beautiful in the evening light (in an eerie kind of way.) We drove for a while longer, but alas, no moose. Perhaps I need to go to the real Maine woods, north of Katahdin in order to see one?

An old cemetery nestled in the back roads near Weld

Back at our campsite we built a fire and laid out on a blanket enjoying the stars. There weren't too many stars out at the time, but once we got ready for bed and the fire had died down, Steve whispered, "Look up," and as I did I saw a completely star-studded sky overhead. It was truly captivating, and I realized we aren't used to such starry skies down in Portland.

Saturday morning we woke up early to no alarms but simply the natural light pouring into our tent. I'm continually amazed at how quickly our bodies synchronize with the natural world when living outdoors....we go to sleep after sunset and wake with sunrise in an effortless way that seems so impossible back in "civilization." The day was overcast and misty but still suitable for hiking. We cooked a breakfast of oatmeal, packed lunch and were off on our hike.

Steve & I at the trailhead about to set out on our hike

Tumbledown Mountain, at a respectable but not overly impressive 3,100 feet, turned out to be much much more difficult than we anticipated! This was mostly due to the rainy conditions, which made the rocky trail extremely slick. There were also sections of the trail that felt more like rock climbing than hiking...including an infamous section called "Fat Man's Misery" where the hiker must either squeeze through a small chimney (which I did) or climb up a series of iron rungs bolted into the vertical rock face (which Steve did!) In the wet conditions this felt like no small feat, and I was verrrry grateful to get back on more solid footing on the trail back down the mountain.

A few photos of our hike:

Steve making his way up "Fat Man's Misery"

A well-deserved "warning" sign at the top of the trail

Overall, it was a challenging hike though not outwardly rewarding...with no views and poor weather. As much as I try to convince myself that hiking is not about "the view" it's hard not to be dissappointed when you reach the summit of a mountain and can't see further than a few feet. But I'm always eternally grateful to be back in the woods, breathing the fresh pinetree air and getting up close and personal with the natural world. I'll be back to Tumbledown again I'm sure, hopefully next time on a sunny beautiful day.