Baxter State Park, Katahdin Woods and Waters Monument (Maine)

21 Sept

     We moved from Presque Isle, Maine (maintenance stop near Caribou) on down to Baxter State Park area and set up camp in Wilderness Edge Campground in Millinocket, Maine for a two night stay with plans to visit Baxter State park and also the Katahdin Woods and Waters monument wilderness areas.

     Katahdin is the highest mountain in Maine at just over 5200 feet and the Baxter State Park is centered around that mountain.

Mount Katahdin

     We have high hopes for seeing and photographing some moose as they are supposed to be very active in this part of Maine and when Ed called the park in advance of our arrival they said you would likely see them in any part of the park at this time.

     After arrival and getting set up we headed out in some pretty nasty weather. It was raining, windy and foggy so conditions may have been favorable for moose but not for us. The park is all dirt/gravel roads and many of them are washboard conditions so traveling is slow. We visited every place the information center recommended for seeing them and came up empty. Weather was so bad that I didn't even take the camera out so just as well!

     We had discussed having dinner out on the last night together (22 Sept) but the weather sort of messed up our cook out plans - so we decided to do the farewell dinner out this evening. We had looked on trip advisor for a restaurant and went to the top rated one in Millinocket, Maine called River Driver - it did not disappoint.


22 Sept

     We decided to do a little off road four wheeling on our way into the national monument wilderness area. We could have taken a very long way around but instead, since Ed has four-wheel drive, we decide to take some recreational vehicle roads/trails to get there. They were marked as unmaintained gravel roads and after we did it we can vouch for that as being a true description.

Entering Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument

Unmaintained gravel road

     Once in the monument wilderness area there was a self guided driving loop that took us 16 miles around to several different stops with points of interest and scenic views. The weather this day was much nicer - sunny and probably in the upper 50's to lower 60's with a bit of a cool breeze blowing. We still did not see any moose on this outing but had a very nice day including a picnic lunch before returning to the camp.  

Katahdin Mountain

Moose Hunters

Viewing the mountain

     Once back at camp Ed & Kay began some preparations for their departure the next day and prepping for dinner. I decided to ride back into Baxter to give the moose another chance to appear while Kathy stayed back and did some things. Again, no moose to be seen.

     Time to say good-bye - we've had a great time traveling together but now Ed and Kay are heading east and we are heading west. They plan to make their way down the east coast of Maine with several stops planned and continue moving south - Kathy and I are heading to New Hampshire, Vermont and New York State for some more exploring. We will catch up with the Culpepper's again in Sun City!

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