The most recent of our Next Century Hikes was held this past Saturday on a section of Maine’s Appalachian Trail that is not so well traveled: the area between Flagstaff Lake and the Kennebec River, more specifically the Carry Ponds.  There are no high mountains on the A.T. here, and no side trails that go to other peaks.  There is, however, a really interesting side trail that was completed just a few years ago – the Great Carrying Place Portage Trail.

In the fall of 1775, Benedict Arnold – then a rising star in the Continental Army, and years away from becoming the traitor we think of today – led an army of about 1,100 men by sea from Cambridge, Massachusetts and then up the Kennebec River to the Great Carrying Place in what is today Bingham, Maine (on Route 201).  The army’s destination was Quebec, then held by the British, but first the army had to reach the city by the inland route since the St. Lawrence was heavily defended.  The route was comprised of portages from the river to the Carry Ponds trips in bateaux, flat-bottomed boats that were hastily made for the expedition, and from there up the Dead River to Lake Megantic in Quebec.  Unfortunately, the expedition was beset by trouble from the start.  There was a late-season hurricane, the route was arduous, the men were exhausted and eventually many deserted.  The eventual Christmas Day assault on Quebec ended in failure.

Fortunately for hikers today, the Arnold Expedition Historical Society has recreated the trail with 95% certainty up to West Carry Pond.  The route is orange-blazed and has a number of signs along the way.  There are a number of roads and camps in the area of the ponds and the route needs to be followed carefully, but it’s easily done for most of the route.  The Appalachian Trail runs with the Arnold Trail from West Carry Pond to near Long Falls Dam Road.

For the Maine A.T. Land Trust hike, we were planning to cover the route from the Great Carrying Place on the Kennebec River to Arnold Point on West Carry Pond.  We were accompanied on the hike by Norm Kalloch, a volunteer for AEHS who owns a camp in the area.  Despite his protestations to the contrary, Norm knows everything about the Arnold expedition and the land along the route.  As soon as we set out, he told us about the challenges the men faced, the context of what they were doing, and how the landscape we were seeing related to what Arnold’s men saw and experienced.  There were places where historic artifacts have been found, sites where Arnold’s men camped, hauled and even where they died, and much more.  Hikers can get used to seeing the A.T. and its environment a certain way, but with Norm’s help we were able to look at the landscape differently.  This is one of the things that makes Maine’s A.T. so special: the existence of trails, history, recreation and heritage all in one place.

The total distance we covered was about 13.5 miles, but this included a number of detours and anybody can hike any distance of the Arnold Trail depending on how far they want to go.  We didn’t quite make it to Arnold Point, but it was a wonderful hike nonetheless!

If you are interested in hiking the Arnold Trail in Maine, head over to http://www.arnoldsmarch.com/ for more information.  See you out on our next hike!

The Maine Appalachian Trail Land Trust conserved the land on the east side of Saddleback Mountain in 2004, and there’s a recently-opened trail through the property to the Appalachian Trail in the section between Saddleback and The Horn (two of Maine’s 4,000-footers in the High Peaks region).  As part of the land trust’s stewardship duties, we send volunteers to help maintain the trail under the leadership of Maine Appalachian Trail Club.  MATC maintainers maintain and manager 267 miles of the A.T. in Maine.  Many of the land trust’s members, directors and staff are members of MATC.  Some maintain sections of the A.T. in their own right.

Maintenance trips are usually done 2-3 times per year, depending on the condition of the trail.  Both the A.T. (white blazes) and official A.T. side trails (blue blazes) are maintained by these volunteers.  Being a relatively new trail, the Berry Pickers Trail did not require much maintenance this year – just a few blowdowns and encroaching spruce branches.  The land trust will have another trip in September to tackle low-growing vegetation and generally check in the trail.

If you are interested in maintaining a section of the A.T. or a side trail, or in corridor boundary monitoring, you can find more info at matc.org.  This article is a pretty good summary, too.

Our roster of spring and summer hikes is up – head on over to our events calendar to sign up!

As we move into spring (finally…), the Maine Appalachian Trail Land Trust is planning our roster of summer hikes.  These trips are free to the public if space is available, and members get initial access to the RSVP.  We also lead groups on guided hikes – if your organization or group wants to hit the A.T. with us this summer, please contact us at info@matlt.org.  This service is free.  You do not have to pay anything to have your group to this.  Hike availability is subject to scheduling, however.

Here is a sampling of our summer trips.  We are aiming to have one per weekend, so check back when the schedule is up (a week or so).  If you have a request that didn’t make this list, let us know!

Berry Pickers to Saddleback and The Horn
Goose Eye via Wright Trail
Old Speck
Baldpates
Puzzle Mountain
Old Blue
Bemis Mountain
Four Ponds (early season)
Caribou Mountain (early season)
Piazza Rock/Eddy Pond (early season)
Sugarloaf
Crockers
Cranberry Peak
Bigelows/West Peak
Little Bigelow
Arnold Trail hike (early season, scheduled hike TBD)
Pleasant Pond Mountain (early season)
Bald Mountain Pond (scheduled hike TBD)
Buck Hill (early season)
Barren Mountain
Gulf Hagas
White Cap

The Maine Appalachian Trail Club held their annual spring meeting last week.  In addition to tackling ordinary club business – trail maintenance responsibilities, officer elections, etc. – there was considerable time devoted to planning for the upcoming Appalachian Trail Conservancy 2017 Conference which will be held right here in Maine.  This biennial event is a gathering of people from all over the country who are connected to the A.T. – maintainers, volunteers, past thru-hikers and more.  The Maine Appalachian Trail Land Trust will be a part of this great event.

This year’s conference will feature guided hikes, workshops, an art and land conservation symposium and more.  The event will be held at Colby College and registration information can be found here.  Registration opens on May 1st – sign up for this great event because it will be the last A.T. conference of this kind!

The Maine A.T. Land Trust had the pleasure of attending a review session for an upcoming book by John & Cynthia Orcutt, who have been fixtures in the High Peaks, both for their spectacular photos of the natural environment and for their work in the Kingfield area in the Schoolhouse Gallery.  Funded partially with tax increment financing (TIF) funds for the Unorganized Territories of Franklin County, the purpose of the book will be to illustrate the beauty of the area and raise awareness for those who may not be familiar with the High Peaks region.  The book will feature images from both the Organized and the Unorganized Territories of Franklin County through a large-format presentation of about 80 fine art nature photographs.  Also, working in partnership with the Maine Chapter of the Trust for Public Land, there will be an essay discussing conservation in the region with several supporting maps.  Maine U.S. Senator Angus King, has agreed to write the Preface.

As one of the goals is to support economic development, the Maine Appalachian Trail Land Trust was invited to participate from a recreational tourism standpoint.  The book should be an important tool for economic development and conservation in the region.

Thanks to the Orcutts for their hard work!  The book will be available for sale beginning in the summer.

One of the things we stress in our conservation work along the Appalachian Trail in Maine is that the A.T. is not just a trail.  It’s a place where people do all kinds of things in addition to thru-hiking.  People mountain bike in nearby trails, they ride ATVs, they use snowmobiles, they hunt, they fish, they ski, they geocache, they retreat into solitude, make livelihoods, they meet friends.  They do even more than that.  People live in communities along the A.T.; the trail is linked to those communities and they are linked to the trail.  The same can be said about our conservation work – there’s no such thing as conserving a piece of land for a trail.  The land is conserved for the people who use the trail in all these ways can continue to use the trail.

This idea was behind the start of the Maine Appalachian Trail Land Trust’s High Peaks Initiative.  Through this program we became involved in an effort by community to brand the region as a means of economic development in Franklin County.  Stakeholders include local business, chambers of commerce, tourism officials, political figures, arts groups, local non-profits and individuals who wanted to get involved.  The land trust’s part in this process was, surprisingly enough, to acquire the trademark to the term “Maine High Peaks”.  This is not what a land trust usually does (but it’s not unheard of).  We did this because we wanted to help out a group of people who wanted to help out their community, but we also did it because we can see the connection between the Appalachian Trail and the local towns in the High Peaks.  This branding exercise will aid in economic development in the region, and that will include recreational tourism.  Recreational tourists will hunt and fish and mountain bike in the area, but they will also be hiking on the Appalachian Trail.  And without people hiking on the A.T., there wouldn’t be an A.T.