We took our annual trek up to Maine, where I put my new hip to the test. Unlike Long Island, where the terrain is pretty flat and the high point is 400 feet, Maine’s flat areas seem hilly to me.
Our first hike was Bald Rock Mountain with an elevation of 1200 feet. This has always been one of our favorite hikes with the great views of Penobscot Bay to enjoy while having lunch.
We began our hike on the Multi-Use Trail from Youngtown Road in Lincolnville. Don’t let the flat appearance in the photo fool you. This trail proceeded on a steady incline for 1.25 miles, until we reached the Bald Rock Mountain trail head.
It took us about 35 minutes to reach the trail head, partially as a result of stopping to take pictures along the way.
At the beginning of the Bald Rock Mountain Trail there appears to be the remains of an old stone foundation. We sat on the stone steps for a few minutes and meditated on the origins of this structure. I have tried to search for a history of this foundation, but the only mention
of it that I found was references to hiking around the “stone foundation” to continue on the trail.
From this point it is another 0.5 miles to the summit. We paused just before the stone steps to catch our breath and to let our hearts slow to an acceptable pace.
As we ascended the steps, we deluded ourselves into thinking that we were past the half way point and would soon find 
ourselves on the summit. Oh, the irony, when we discovered several more difficult inclines. We would walk a relatively flat section for a short time and then turn a bend and find another incline before us. I think it was around this point that I started to whine. I pointed out interesting mushrooms, admired flowers and photographed an interesting pine cone; anything to pause and calm my racing heart.
Finally, with one last burst of energy we ascended one last section upwards and found ourselves on the 
summit. We selected the perfect rock for observing the bay while having our lunch. We strolled around the top for quite some time before making our descent back to our car. Because of my fear of falling since my hip replacement, I made a slow descent with some trepidation. Despite some difficulties, I proved that I could hike hills, my hip survived, and the view from the top was well worth it.
This first “real” hike took an hour and ten minutes going up and another hour and ten minutes back to the car. It was a good first effort.
Wandering Around the Block 
Whenever I find remains of human habitation in nature areas I always wonder about them. I’ve found things like this in some of the strangest seeming places.
Glad to hear that you had success in Maine! I have yet to write about it, but I just returned from Maine. My 10th ( and last) trip with a group of International students. We had beautiful weather and a great time at Chewonki where we camped for three nights. Are you familiar with the camp? it is in Wiscasset For the second year we included a hike up Mt Battie followed by a picnic at Laite Park in Camden. We had 29 students this year – a nice group. You would have chuckled if you could have heard their surprise when we reached the top of Battie and they happened to realize that there was a road to the top 🙂 Tell us more about your trip to Maine!
Did you climb Mount Battie from the Camden Hills State Park parking lot or from the trail head off of route 52?
we did the trailhead off of route 52. when we descended, the nice folks who live in the house right by the trailhead were getting their vintage mercedes benz out of the garage. a number of the kids, and some of our counselors, were pretty excited about that.. lots of photos were taken !