The first night in the cabin was...dark! A complete lack of unnatural lights makes for real darkness, helping us sleep solidly. The morning light revealed our view over the lake and we had to pinch ourselves to believe it was for real as the sun shone on the warm brown and auburn trees around the lake.
We'd been recommended a place to go for a hike so we drove to Camden where some mountains lay near the coast. We set off on the trail towards Megunticook Mountain and walked through carefully preserved and marked pathways up the hill. The colours were just incredible – one leaf could have brown, red and yellow in it.
After 90 minutes we reached a beautiful lookout with a fabulous view across the bay and met a couple of other hikers. People here are so friendly, they always want to know where you've come from and what y
ou are doing, and when we tell them about this being the beginning of a 5-month adventure, they are so positive. We ask everybody for recommendations of what to do – it seems the best way to get an insight into the local area.Gradually we are getting a sense of the size of this country, as I told Nicki that this was the 5th time I'd been to USA but still felt I was simply touching the surface. Europeans like to joke about Americans who never leave their own country or don't know that Holland is in Europe. But neither of us had realised that most of Maine is further North than Toronto. As we looked out at the countryside from our lookout on the moun
tain and thought back on the few days we have been here, driving 600 miles and that taking us through only a couple of states, we realised you could spend a few months just getting to know Maine. There is so very much to do and see.We finished our 3-hour walk to the top of the 1385 feet mountain and back, talking about all kinds of memories, ideas and plans. It's a good feeling to be moving under our own steam after all the driving, and we are also conscious that our next major hike will be the Inca trail in Peru, a slightly daunting but very exciting prospect. Nicki has done much more walking than me in the past so I try to get as many suggestions from her as possible along the way to prepare myself for the big hike.
Our perfect day finished with dinner at “home” in our cabin. This area of Maine is so beautiful and calming.
