Maine's Lobster and Trails

Esah Samajpati’s article “Magnificent Maine: Hikes and Lobsters on Mount Desert Island,” will make anyone want to visit Maine, hike (even if you don’t like it), eat lobster (even if you don’t like it), and coast the harbor with a beautiful sunset (who doesn’t love that?). It seems like a perfect story book vacation.

Paying the entrance fee, we drove into Acadia National Park’s 27 mile long Park Loop Road winding gracefully through the greenery, connecting various points of interest. By now, the sun had come out and we could see every bend of the road opening up to vistas, each more breathtaking than the next. There is no end to the things you can see and do at Acadia National Park. There’s Sand Beach, Jordan Pond, Thunder Hole, Otter Point, Cadillac Mountain, Gorham Mountain, The Beehive, Abbe Museum, Bubble Rock and many more.

As the hike progressed, we came upon a plaque in memory of Waldron Bates. He set the trend of utilizing stone stairways and iron-rung ladders to help hikers. Thanks to him, the Beehive Trail is accessible to amateur climbers like me.With the sun warm on our faces and the cool mountain air refreshing our very souls, we trudged uphill. Ignoring the Cadillac Cliffs trail, we followed the trusty blue marks and soon came upon what is known as the false summit.

Cracking open the shells with the nut-cracker, I dug out the soft white meat with a prong, dipped them into the butter and put them straight into my mouth. Nothing like fresh sea-food to round up a coastal hike.

Turning into the lane, we saw a band of three playing live Jazz. Spotting a brief break in between numbers, with the applause refusing to die down, I walked up to the pretty lady in a flowing skirt and asked her if it would be okay to mention her in my travelogues.

The Perfect De-Stresser Vacation

Being a woman, and in need of a vacation i saw Bonnie Way's article, "Jasper, Alberta: A Great Girlfriend Getaway." The beautiful scenery set a sence of tranquility as i was reading her story. I am desiring a getaway just like this after her explanations of the beautiful scenery, getting away from exams to enjoy outdoors instead of stuffing our noses in our studies. Bonnie Way sold me on the trip to Jasper, Atlanta for sure.

“It’s too bad we’ll be driving the most scenic part of the highway at night.”
We’d miss most of the mountains that made the last hour’s drive between the park gate and the town of Jasper so beautiful.But as our truck followed the curves of the highway through the mountain valleys, I realized how wrong I’d been. A full moon hung low in the sky, casting its silver glow over the snow-capped mountains, wide rocky riverbeds, and smooth ice-bound lakes.

A short bridge took us across to an island on the lake, dotted with picnic tables and benches for best viewing the scenery around the lake. In March, the bridge wasn’t necessary -- the lake was frozen solid and we could have walked out to the island. Smooth, white snow spread out for miles around us, stretching across to the foot of the mountains rising on the far edge of the lake.

Some hikers before us had made a snowman on the lake, who grinned merrily towards the bridge while pointing one stick hand up at the mountains over his shoulder. The early afternoon sun brought out the shadows and contours of the snow covering the peaks and made the snow on the lake into a million pieces of cubic zirconium sparkling at us.

As we rambled back along the trail, lost in our thoughts, I caught sight of a large elk standing just up the hill from the trail.“Don’t look left, Carrie,” I said in an even voice as I reached for the camera on my belt. Big animals made her nervous, and so Dawn and I kept up a smooth, rambling conversation, just to let the elk know we were there, while we continued our even pace past him. Another curve in the trail made us pause at the sight of nearly half a dozen more elk. Instead of heading to the trailhead at a parking lot near the Jasper Activity Center, we decided to take a shortcut straight down the hill and back into town, leaving the elk to peacefully munch whatever dry grass they could find.

Athabasca Falls is another popular tourist destination, crowded with tour buses in the summer, but virtually abandoned in March. Here we found more ice than other places we’d hiked, because of the spray from the waterfall. The steps and walkways were icy, particularly the stairs which were no longer stairs but instead a slide.The falls themselves had frozen into icy white formations, with turquoise-green water bubbling and churning in small holes, hinting at the spring to come. Though it was much less water than usually flows through the falls, it had worn the ice as smooth as the rocks around it that had been polished by thousands of years of water.

Pretty Foliage, Great Skiing, Hiking, Oh My!

Sometimes we overlook the beauty and experiences that places offer, similar to how Esha Samajpati feels about Vermont and the lack of focus on it's hiking opportunities in . What is the first thing you think of when you think of Vermont? Is it hiking? As Esha Samajpati realizes, Vermont is more than a pretty foliage site and a great skiing location. Indeed, Vermont has more to offer than origionally thought when it comes to hiking experiences.

Right after checking in at the Inn, we drove off to the Stowe Mountain Resort, from where we took a luxury Gondola to the Cliff House Restaurant, set against the backdrop of Mount Mansfield at an elevation of 3,625 feet. The morning showers had made the rocks slippery. We had to crawl through gaps, walk on ledges and climb up boulders. The trail refused to level out for even an inch.


The 0.7 miles to the ridgeline of Mount Mansfield seemed to take forever. We knew that the ridgeline is accessible from either this challenging Cliff Trail or the Auto Toll Road. Obviously, we had thought this trail to be far more fun than the Toll Road but apparently it wasn’t. The air continued to get thinner and the trail trickier. Finally, I gave up. Graded “DDD” or “very difficult” by the Mount Mansfield Visitor’s Guide, this trail was not a good idea on a rainy day.


Mount Mansfield’s summit is Vermont’s highest peak at 4,395 feet above sea-level.
It resembles the reclining profile of a rather gnarly man which explains why the parts of the mountain are named Forehead, Nose, Chin and Adam’s Apple. Close by the Visitor Center, we found a sign pointing towards the Long Trail which traverses the Mount Mansfield ridgeline. The Long Trail runs 272 miles from the Canadian border to the Massachusetts line.



We strictly followed the white blazes and did not disturb any of the rocks on the trail as we came to know that the trail vegetation is rare and quite fragile. Further research (by research I mean listening to the audio CD) revealed that the Mount Mansfield ridgeline is a unique alpine eco-system, a remnant of the last glacial ice-sheets that retreated from the Northeast about 13,000 years ago. It is an Arctic-Alpine Tundra environment, the largest of three in Vermont.


We began trudging uphill, surrounded by views of Lake Champlain, the Adirondacks, the White Mountains and the Green Mountains. The rays of the sun had begun piercing the morning mist which is why we were blessed with all-round amazing views. Breathing in the crisp mountain air, I looked down at the steep drop beside me. Well, some parts of the trail are not suitable for anyone with fear of heights.


Standing at the summit, taking in the panoramic view of mountains and valleys and lakes for as far as we could see, we felt closer to nature. Blissfully quiet, the peak imparted an unparalleled feeling of joy and contentment, making everyday problems seem so very insignificant. We could have stayed there all afternoon but with a five-hour drive ahead of us, we had to retrace our steps to the parking lot.
As I said, I was pleasantly surprised. I had always imagined Vermont as laid-back and charming, perfect for a fall or winter trip. Now I know better. Hiking Vermont’s mountains in summer can be just as rewarding.

Know & Control Altitude sickness

Have you ever gone skiing, hiking, biking or done any activity that required going to high altitudes?? Have you ever felt even a hint of altitude sickness - such as dizziness, nausea, trembling, headaches, or lack of coordination? Well if this sounds like anything that you may have experienced, you may know as I do, that it is not a fun experience. I felt my first wave of sickness during a trip to Colorado to ski. One of the authors for GoNOMAD was also a victim of altitude sickness and wrote an article with some tips to help the rest of us overcome it! Below is part of her article How to Avoid Altitude sickness

Beginning at about 6,500 feet, oxygen becomes thinner, and if you are not used to it, you can find yourself in the beginning stages of altitude sickness. Your body requires time to acclimate to the reduced oxygen and changes in air pressure.

Even if you live at a higher elevation, it is still no guarantee that you will avoid altitude sickness. According to Better Health Channel, Healthier Living Online, if you’ve had elevation sickness before, you are more likely to experience it again.

*Acclimate yourself before you reach your elevation. At sea level your blood oxygen is 98%. At 10,000 feet it is reduced to 89%. With exertion you can easily drop below the level required to stay conscious. So take it easy the first day or two.

*It’s always a good idea to be in good physical shape before you exert yourself on the mountain with skiing or hiking. Not everyone experiences altitude sickness, but sometimes even a healthy person can feel out of sorts.

Young and old, healthy and not so healthy, everyone is susceptible to altitude sickness.

To finish this article, please visit GoNOMAD.com