When Governor Baxter Day is held in two weeks in Portland, a more famous conservationist will share in the celebration of the governor’s legacy. And when Teddy Roosevelt seemingly speaks to us from the grave, he’ll tell stories about his time in Maine and how it was a time that shaped his life, perhaps even […]

Hiking picks up in a Maine summer, and often enough, the whole family participates, creating lifetime memories that may last decades and maybe more.

When Benton MacKaye proposed the Appalachian Trail in 1921, he envisioned a long trail extending from Georgia north to New Hampshire’s Mt. Washington. Were it not for the dogged determination of trail pioneers like Arthur Comey, Arthur Perkins, and Maine’s own Myron Avery, that’s where it might have ended. Instead the trail was pushed on through the wilds of the Maine woods. And on Aug. 14, 1937, the final two miles of the 2,000-mile AT were opened by a Civilian Conservation Corps crew on the remote ridge between Spaulding and Sugarloaf mountains in western Maine. The AT was complete, and its northern terminus was Katahdin!

OQUOSSOC — If Erin Hulyk’s family stopped coming to Cupsuptic Lake, she would lose a lot of what summer means to her. The 8-year-old from Massachusetts said she would lose out on fishing with franks, swimming in a lake, feeding the ducks and visiting with her chipmunk friend, “Stubby.”

We are now halfway through summer and the days are getting shorter by about three minutes per day. Along with the annual Perseid meteor shower, we also will have a daytime occultation of Venus, and a close conjunction of Mars and Saturn that will turn into another quadruple conjunction similar to one we had last month.

Within a short drive of more than half the population of Maine, and with the only reminder that civilization is near being the sound of traffic on Route 1, is a special kayaking adventure that will come to many people, as it did to me on a recent paddle, as more than a surprise. It’s a reminder that even in the most unexpected places, another Maine resource is just waiting to be explored.