We are pleased to announce that the Maine Appalachian Trail Land Trust has received a grant from the Belayer Fund of the Maine Community Foundation!

The Maine Appalachian Trail Land Trust is currently working on four conservation projects for the Appalachian Trail Landscape Partnership, which aims to bring together public and private partners to connect and conserve the natural, ecological, cultural, historic, scenic, recreational, and community values of the exceptional landscape associated with the Appalachian Trail and the Appalachian Mountain Range. Maine has two A.T. Priority Landscapes designated by the Partnership (High Peaks and 100-Mile Wilderness) and the Land Trust is spearheading two projects in each of those regions.

We are grateful to MCF for their support of our conservation work, but more importantly all the work MCF helps fund in Maine.  In 2016, the Maine Community Foundation distributed $33.5 million in grants and scholarships from its charitable funds!

The Maine Appalachian Trail Land Trust had our final visit on the ground, rather than in the air, to the soon-to-be completed Redington Forest conservation easement area.  As a co-holder of the easement with the U.S. Navy via the REPI program, it is our responsibility to ensure that the baseline documentation is completed prior to the closing of the deal.  This effectively means that we are taking a snapshot – through photos but also data and analysis – of what the property looks like when it is conserved.  This will ensure that we, as stewards of the land in perpetuity, have an accurate picture of the conservation values we are aiming to protect.  In fifty years, people should be able to look to the baseline as a document by which stewardship standards can continue to be measured.

It’s also fun and exciting to get out on a new project area and do some exploring!  Just make sure that your truck has good tires when you head out on remote logging roads.  Thanks to board member Claire Polfus and board vice president Pete McKinley for coming along!

By Louise Jensen

It felt like a late summer day when four early morning risers and one spunky black lab named Shyla arrived at our meeting place in New Portland. From there we consolidated cars and drove another 30 minutes to the Appalachian Trail trailhead located on East Flagstaff Road.  We had a beautiful day ahead of us to hike Little Bigelow Mountain.

Little Bigelow is part of the Bigelow Range in Maine’s Bigelow Preserve. The Preserve is made up of over 36,000 acres of publicly-managed land near Stratton in Western Maine. This beautiful mountain range encompasses 7 summits including the 3,040 foot peak of Little Bigelow.  The first section of the hike rises gradually through a dense forest of hardwood alongside a brook that, under normal conditions, would be gushing along but in near-drought conditions showed many sections of the brook to be dry or at a trickle.  This was not welcome for some very late-season northbound through-hikers in search of a decent water supply whom we met later in the day.

We continued along the trail in a shimmering canopy of gold leaves overhead and then across some beautiful ledges where we had gorgeous views of Flagstaff Lake, eventually arriving at the East peak. From the East Peak we had amazing views of Sugarloaf and the rest of the Bigelow range. The warm temps, blue bird skies and the autumn fall colors all contributed to an idyllic setting for a long lazy lunch break on the ledges.

Before venturing out to the “true” and viewless summit, 2 southbound hikers stopped and chatted with us for a few minutes telling us that they did not start in Baxter park but just outside it which was rather curious. We soon learned why: a cat was traveling with them in a backpack!  Pets are not allowed in Baxter State Park, hence the outside-the-park start. The A.T. is filled with all sorts of wonders.

The hike along the trail to the summit was still quite lush and green for this time of year. We ventured a little further in search of another view of the Lake but instead found another ledge with yet another fabulous view of the range. As this supposed lake view was nowhere in sight, we opted to turn back before this hike turned into a 10 mile affair instead of a 6 or 7 mile one!

Tired but happy we headed back to the trailhead.  Everyone agreed that we had one of the most perfect days to be in the Maine mountains.

The Maine Appalachian Trail Land Trust was fortunate to once again receive a donated conservation flight from LightHawk, an organization whose mission is to accelerate conservation success through the powerful perspective of flight.  Practically speaking, they get really awesome pilots to fly over some amazing landscapes and take conservation people with them so they can gather data, take photos, inspect properties and get a new and comprehensive view of the landscape.  We were fortunate to have pilot Scott Cianchette take us on a flight over Redington Forest and Maine’s High Peaks.  As part of our acquisition of a conservation easement, we are required to complete a baseline documentation report outlining the conservation values and features of the property.  Seeing all 10,000 acres from the air goes a long way towards doing that.

Thanks to Jonathan, Audrey, Scott and everybody at LightHawk for helping to get us up in the air.

Every year, the Maine Appalachian Trail Club hosts a hike for partner organizations who do work along Maine’s A.T.  This year, there were attendees representing MATC, Appalachian Trail Conservancy, the National Park Service.  The purpose of the hike is to get partners out on the A.T. for a day of catching up, seeing the trail, and mostly unwinding from a busy season in the field.  This year the hike was up Little Boardman Mountain in the 100-Mile Wilderness, right in the KI-Jo Mary Forest.  A spectacular area for outdoor recreation, there are several ponds near Little Boardman and the views from the top are pretty good.  It was a great day in the field and a nice chance to reconnect with some good folks.

The High Peaks region recently celebrated two A.T. communities with all-day celebrations featuring games, giveaways, food, music, entertainment and more.  A.T. towns are considered assets by all that use the A.T., and many of these towns act as good friends and neighbors to the Trail.  Rangeley was designated an A.T. community in 2012 and Kingfield just last year.  The two other Maine A.T. communities are Monson and Millinocket.  Millinocket will be holding their annual Trails End Festival from September 15 to 17th.

Here are some highlights from the Rangeley Trail Town Festival on September 2nd:

And some from the Kingfield’s A.T. Community Celebration:

By Louise Jensen

It was a perfect late summer day for a hike. Our destination: Avery and West Avery Peaks, the two highest on the Bigelow range, via the Firewarden’s trail.  Although, the shortest route to the col (lowest point between two peaks), it is probably the steepest way to go, but that did not deter us. The three of us arrived before 9am to find the parking area overflowing but we found a nice little pull off where we tucked the car in and geared up and headed out. We passed the Stratton Brook Pond, the Moose Falls Campsite and then began our steep ascent to the col. Several sections of stone “steps” are there to make climbing a bit easier and if you turn around for a moment, you will get some great views of Sugarloaf. Finally, reaching the col, we took a quick break to layer up, have a snack and, of course, take a few pics of the trail signs and the AT blazes.

We headed east to Avery peak first where we met a few other hikers (but no through hikers yet), and settled down below the stone remnant of the fire tower for a lunch break. Cool, breezy and sunny, we enjoyed the much needed rest and nourishment as we took in the spectacular views of Flagstaff Lake and West Avery peak. Another feature on this peak is the plaque honoring Myron H. Avery, a Maine native, who was instrumental in extending the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail from Mt. Washington to Katahdin and he also founded the Maine Appalachian Trail club in 1935. A nice reminder of the history of the AT in Maine.

After chatting with another hiker who was working on his NE 100 highest, and the usual picture posing, we headed back down to the col to head over to West (Avery) Peak, the higher of the two peaks.  We met two through-hikers in the col, one from North Yarmouth, ME and one from Pittsburgh, PA, but they were moving along rather quickly and did not pause long to chat. When we reached the summit, we found it pretty crowded with mostly boy scouts and other groups so we continued past the packed peak to sit and relax while taking in more of those amazing views. After about 20 minutes or so, we reluctantly gathered up our packs and headed back to the col to make the steep descent down the Firewarden’s trail. The whole hike took just over eight hours and we all agreed that it was yet another glorious day on the trails in Maine.