A few hundred headstrong hikers complete the Appalachian Trail each year, and most end their journey at Millinocket to sign to a ceiling tile at the Appalachian Trail Cafe, as is tradition. It was no different for 8-year-old Asher Molyneaux of East Machias, who in 2010 became the second youngest hiker to walk the entire 2,200-mile footpath from Georgia to Maine. His...
Learn MoreAcadia National Park is located near the town of Bar Harbor on Maine’s Mount Desert Island and became a national park site in 1916. The region was initially inhabited by the native Wabanaki people and the first Europeans settled in 1763. Since then, Bar Harbor has been home to such prominent Americans as John D. Rockefeller, Jr., who invested millions into Acadia. Most...
Learn MoreOne aspect of the hike often not considered is the path itself. This, after all, is the fabled Appalachian Trail, which extends some 2,200 miles from Georgia to Maine, and one takes for granted that even though the path rose and fell sharply with the undulating terrain – calling these sections “MUDs and PUDs” for “mindless ups and downs and pointless...
Learn MoreA map is a simple thing, but without it even the most adventurous types might end up walking the same trails. Stratham Hill Park, ME now has a map including all the public and private trails in the park, town forest and surrounding lands. “When I talked to most people hiking, they mostly go the same route and don’t explore the other trails out there,”...
Learn MoreThe length of the Appalachian Trail, a famous footpath that spans from Georgia to Maine, is constantly changing. During this past hiking season, the official length was 2,184.2 miles. For many thru-hikers, it was 2,184 miles to mend blisters, create a trail name, meet challenges and explore the wilderness. But for one Maine couple, it was 2,184 miles to learn about each...
Learn MoreA new hiking trail to be built in Acadia National Park in Maine over the next year will link Blackwoods Campground with the Ocean Drive trail system. It will be built by park employees, starting later this fall. Park planner John Kelly said the new trail will stretch nearly a mile, from the Blackwoods entrance station to near the Gorham Mountain trailhead. It will cross...
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The Appalachian Trail is a 2,184 mile long public footpath that traverses the scenic, wooded, pastoral, wild, and culturally resonant lands of the Appalachian Mountains. Conceived in 1921, built by private citizens, and completed in 1937, today the trail is managed by the National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, Appalachian Trail Conservancy, numerous state agencies...
Learn MoreThe end of September is an excellent time to visit Maine and experience the natural beauty of the Pine Tree State. This fall, visitors and residents will have the added opportunity of participating in recreational and educational programming in honor of the Great Maine Outdoor Weekend and NPLD. The Great Maine Outdoor Weekend (GMOW) is a three-day long event of...
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This year marks the 75th anniversary of the completion of the Appalachian Trail, the longest hiking-only footpath in the world, measuring roughly 2,180 miles in length from Georgia to Maine. The anniversary will occur on Tuesday, Aug. 14. The original trail took more than 15 years to build and was completed on Aug. 14, 1937. Construction involved the cooperation of...
Learn MoreGulf Hagas—“the Grand Canyon of Maine”—and the scenic Henderson Brook Trail are among the highlights along a new, 8.9-mile, lodge-to-lodge hiking route connecting two wilderness lodges operated for the public by the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC). AMC’s Maine Wilderness Lodges are popular destinations for lodge-to-lodge cross-country skiing in winter, and new this...
Learn MoreWhen Stephanie Fox went to see the puppy almost three years ago at New England Border Collie Rescue, she knew the breed didn’t always make the best pet. As an experienced owner of other border collies, she was well aware of their need for constant work and attention. So how much more of a challenge would it be if she adopted one with deformed front legs? “The only...
Learn MoreWhen you hear Triple Crown most often horse racing comes to mind but in the case of Stephanie White, 1990 graduate of Medomak Valley High School in Maine, it means hiking the top three trails in the United States. A school trip with biology teacher Pam Ramsey to Mt. Katahdin when White was a sophomore in high school spurred her hiking adventures. Ramsey was telling the...
Learn MoreThe thrill of summer is long gone. The warm air breaks for a cool breeze and the spirit for adventure breaks with it. Hiking boots get thrown to the back of the closet and camping gear gets a special corner in the back of the garage. It’s time to hide indoors for another winter. It’s no surprise people don’t hike as much in the off-season. Winter...
Learn MoreIs 2012 your year to hike the Appalachian National Scenic Trail? It’s not about the gear; it’s about wanting to do it. You have to be all in. If you’re trying to figure out if you have the right stuff to walk 2,181 miles from Georgia to Maine, listen to Andrew Downs who finished the A.T. in 2002, a year after graduating from college. He now works as the...
Learn MoreFall weather will show hikers one thing: It sure is changeable. One day it’s summer-like and the next you need to wear your mitts and wool hat. Sometimes it happens in the same day. That’s typical in fall, the second-most changeable season after spring. Expecting conditions to change is part of planning for a safe hike any time of year. It’s especially important when it...
Learn MoreThe trickle of cars and buses loaded with leaf peepers will soon become a steady stream. From the rough, rocky coast to mountains and waterfalls further inland, Maine possesses some of the most stunning foliage spots in the United States. For savvy hikers, autumn is a great excuse to check out some of Maine’s best hiking trails as well as the changing leaves. This...
Learn MoreHotel guests as well as locals living near the College of the Atlantic campus will soon have a new way to access Acadia National Park’s hiking and biking trails located close to downtown Bar Harbor, Maine. About 40 volunteers, park staff and representatives of several nonprofit groups were working in a small wooded lot behind a hotel constructing a new connector trail...
Learn MoreWhile the Presidential Range in New Hampshire has the lofty 5,000-footers, just 25 miles away across the Androscoggin River and a border, Maine’s rugged and isolated Mahoosuc Range attracts a fraction of the foot traffic yet provides big mountain experiences. Widely considered to offer some of the most demanding hikes and sharp climbs of the 2,175-mile Appalachian Trail,...
Learn MoreThe Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC) Land Protection Program and volunteers from the American Hiking Society and Frostburg State University will be marking the Appalachian Trail (A.T.) boundary in Andover, Maine. Maine has more National Park Service (NPS) corridor boundary miles than any other state on the A.T.; with almost twice as many boundary miles as its...
Learn MoreHiking the nearly 2,200-mile Appalachian Trail already is grueling, and the U.S. Postal Service may make it even tougher. A plan to close rural post offices could shutter several outposts long used by hikers to receive food and gear as they walk the trail from Georgia to Maine. Closing the post offices in Fontana Dam, N.C.; Glencliff, N.H.; and Caratunk, Maine, would...
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I am Jeff Clark, founder of Internet Brothers, producer of this blog, and passionate about hiking. My regular hiking companions have designated me the lead hiker, so I suppose that makes me the slowest Meanderthal. I live in Western NC near the Blue Ridge and Great Smoky Mountains. Pisgah and Nantahala National Forests are just out my door, so the content will focus on these areas, but let me know what you would like to see on the site. 
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