Short Summer Hikes in Maine

This summer I spent in Maine, where I grew up. My hometown has some really nice trails that are owned and maintained by the city. The largest of these is City Forest, and there are a few others. We went on all but 1 of them.

The Maine weather was fantastic all summer.  Sammy and I took short hikes/nature walks all over the place, in and around town.  My town and one of the neighboring towns have land trusts, and this means large conservation areas with walking/hiking trails. 

First we went to City Forest. Had a nice 3 mile hike-made a loop of the East and West trails, connected by the "rabbit" trail. Was level and easy, smelled delightful - spruce and pine. There were lots of birds, and blueberries! Mostly forest with a field of wildflowers.

This was taken with my camera phone - sorry for the poor quality. We also went through Essex Woods and Prentiss Woods, both of which I quite enjoyed, but I don't seem to have any pictures. 

I also did a short trail at Gould's Landing.  Don't really recommend it though.

 

Sammy and I also went on a trail we found at Craig's Pond, a popular swimming spot.  

There may have been others.  We made an attempt to climb Chick Hill, but it didn't go very well.  We found a trail, not sure if it was the one we were supposed to be on.  Eventually got creeped out and left!

Camp Kettle Run - June 19, 2010

June was scorching, and busy.  I didn't get much of a chance to hike anywhere. I did take my girl scout troop camping, to Kettle Run in Medford NJ.  It is one of several girl scout camps in NJ.  Saturday I got up very early, about 6 am.  I'd gone to bed early (14 9 and 10 year olds will wear you out!) and I couldn't sleep very well on those awful cabin cots.  It was lovely out - quiet and peaceful.  I was a bit chilly in my tshirt and shorts, which was refreshing, it had been so hot for a month.   I took some pictures, and then decided to explore, learn my way around and scope out our nature hike for later.  I figured I'd have a couple hours before the rest of the group was up.  I had breakfast (leftover teddy grahams and a granola bar) sitting on the picnic table outside.

I walked down and around the lake. It was so beautiful, the pictures don't do it justice.  There was a mist above the lake that looked truly ethereal. It was a bit lonely - no dog and I felt like the only person around for miles.  But the solitude was nice actually.

I swung to the right instead of staying along the lake, and walked through a stand of trees.  Eventually I came to some campsites that were more like what I was used to when we went camping as scouts - raised platforms with canvas tents. 

Kept following along and found a frog pond/marsh.  There were some boardwalks through it that led to one isolated cabin.  I turned around and came back and cut through a forest to come back to the trail, went back to the main part of the grounds, and started again around the lake.  There was a bridge to another trail which we took later that afternoon for our nature hike.  I'd show pics of that but I can't put pics of the girls online without parental permission.

I eventually came back out and headed up the main road to our cabin past the lake.  The mist had burned off the lake, letting you see the boat/swimming dock on the other side.  This is only part of a large lake that has many islands/peninsulas.

Kettle Run - June 18 & 19 2010

Monmouth Battlefield - May 30, 2010

What better place for a Memorial Day weekend hike than Monmouth Battlefield State Park? This was the scene of a very important Revolutionary War battle, attended by General George Washington himself.


We arrived early because it was supposed to get quite hot that day. Unfortunately this meant the visitors center was closed. However, a very helpful ranger went in and brought me a trail map and a couple brochures that went along paths with info-boards. I decided to wander for a bit. I walked down the hill following the fences. Someone told me that they weren't normally there, they were setting up for the battle reenactment, which would be in 2 weeks. I thought about going, but it was very hot that day.

We walked across a footbridge and around a field. I went back up the hill, and went on a trail that went around a picnic area in the front. That wasn't really what I wanted, so I looked at the brochures and decided to follow one of the historical paths. This would go down through the battlefield and show me some of the locations of key points in the battle. The fields are still working farms owned by 2 families. You could see the apple trees and small plants growing in their rows. The boards and the brochures talked about the battle. It was really amazing to be walking where President Washington may have walked.

By 11 it was quite warm. Poor Sammy also seemed tired for the first time ever. I stopped for a rest and then we pressed on. Stopped again under a big tree for some shade, then went back around through the orchard and back through the field and up. It was gorgeous and meaningful. I got a little choked up thinking about the men who had died on this very ground, fighting for our independence. I said a prayer and whispered a thank you while I was in the middle of the field.

Pictures

Monmouth Battlefield - May 30, 2010

Turkey Swamp - May 16, 2010

Met a friend and her 10 year old daughter for a hike at Turkey Swamp Park, part of the Monmouth County park system, in Freehold. I didn't get to see (or hike) as much of it as I wanted to, because the little girl was NOT happy about being dragged through the woods with her mother and her mother's friend. So we took the Alder Trail, which is only about a mile long and went around the pond.

There were many people there due to an "Outdoor Expo" that while interesting meant no peace and quiet.  There are some longer more difficult trails, so I hope to go back there to check them out.

Length: 1.2 miles

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Turkey Swamp May 16 2010

First Hike - Helyar Woods - May 9, 2010

I started with something easy, with the intention of taking on another half mile or so per week.  NJ Hiking has a page of Short Hikes in NJ so I used that to help me get started.

Helyar Woods is on the Rutgers University campus, quite close to my home.  It's a popular place for a dog walk. It's not quiet - the highway is close by. The trail went through the forest, around by a field (a plaque called it the "field of heroes") and through an old Christmas tree farm. 

Length:  About 1.5-2 miles??  I believe RU says it's 1.5 miles. It's possible we went further as we seem to have strayed from the main trail, which should have been a loop. We turned back when it was obvious this wasn't the right way. I apparently missed the main trailhead, probably because there was something going on there that day and someone was parked in front of it when we got there.  I saw it when we got out, it was over to the right of where we went in/came out.  I guess we went in the out door. 

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