Down East hikes memorable Petit Manan Point, Cutler Coast trails provide beauty, variety

I am sure that most of Jeff’s faithful readers (and I know that you are out there) probably think that Jeff is incapable of having a vacation that does not involve kayaking. I am here to tell you otherwise. And, it can actually include an interesting adventure or two.

Due to a variety of family obligations and other restrictions on our time, we did not, in fact, have a boat strapped to the roof of our vehicle. So what does one do sans kayak?

Have a yard sale, of course! Seriously. The 4th of July found us sitting in our driveway greeting the hordes of bargain hunters from far and wide. (Our real motivation for this venture was to continue to provide additional funding for our daughter Elizabeth’s ambitious undertaking of the 3-Day 60-mile Komen Breast Cancer event this August in Boston).

We had moderate success and are especially grateful to the gentleman who, after making several purchases, came back with a recycle bin full of more than 100 VHS tapes “to donate for your daughter.” Wow. Thank you so much! (P.S. she is still trying to reach the minimum goal of $2,200 and you, too, can help by going to the Komen Web site at www.The3Day.org. Just follow the Donate link, enter her name and home state, Rhode Island, and there it is. You can donate online or by printing out a donation sheet.)

But I digress …

The evening of the 4th was far more enjoyable, spent in the company of good friends Tom and Donna Weber for a good, old-fashioned, All-American pizza cookout! We had white pizza, cheese pizza, everything-on-it pizza, cooked in the oven and on the grill – a first! And in case you think you need fancy equipment like the cookbooks say, you do not. Here’s some advice from a friend and former pizza chef: Have your toppings ready, grill one side of your dough, flip, place toppings, close lid, cook ’til done (this may require peeking), eat and enjoy!

And right on time, at the conclusion of our pizza-fest, the fireworks began and off to Second Street Park we went. The evening ended with dessert and stories around the portable fire pit, thanks to Mike and Amy Ludwig. What better way to spend the country’s birthday, and our 26th wedding anniversary!

Day two of vacation saw us doing chores – like Jeff prepping the Mad River Canoe which we keep “stored” in our garage (yes, we do own one, a canoe that is…) for a possible future paddle with friends. Most of the day however was spent in recovery mode from the yard sale.

So where’s the adventure you ask? I’m getting there. On Sunday we headed to the family summer home on the coast in Milbridge. A more peaceful and relaxing place would be hard to find. This visit was rather poignant, however, as Jeff’s dad, Russell, died in June. So although not the usual experience, it was nevertheless a chance to connect and reflect.

On to the adventures! Adventure 1 involved a six-hour trek to the end of Petit Manan Point. Part of the National Wildlife Refuge, the Petit Manan Point division in Steuben has 2,195 acres consisting of “jack pine stands, coastal raised heath peatlands, blueberry barrens, old hayfields, freshwater and saltwater marshes, cedar swamps, granite shore, and cobble beaches.”

Oh yes. At the Petit Manan Point entrance, the Hollingsworth Trail (so named after naturalist and photographer John Hollingsworth) is a 1.5-mile loop with views of said heaths and cobble beaches. Interpretive signs offer information on refuge wildlife, habitats, and management. For the real adventurer, however, a la Strout-style, take a right onto the first of the many beaches – this one is sandy – just before the trail loops back. From here you can wind your way along the shore, in and out of coves, and each turn is more beautiful than the next, even with an offshore fog as we had. Rose bushes, wild irises, and buoy trees greet you with both beautiful sights and smells. Wait, what is a buoy tree you ask? No rocky Maine beach is complete without one of these – a place for creative beachcombers to hang up the many (dozens?) lobster buoys ignominiously washed ashore.

If you do continue all the way to the actual Point, you will be greeted by the sight of the Petit Manan Island Light. Maintained by the Coast Guard and listed on the National Registry of Historic Places, it is also the home of large colonies of nesting birds: terns, including common, Arctic and roseate; black guillemot, laughing gulls, storm petrels, common eiders, and Atlantic puffins. Even when shrouded in fog, you will enjoy the sound of the horn throughout your trek. And, oh, the flotsam and jetsam! Bait bags of every color and shells of every size and kind.

The Point itself is littered with so much fishing debris it boggles the mind – thousands of dollars worth of lobster traps, some intact, and washed-up hunks of wood. What a treacherous ocean it can be! On our return, one sandy beach even reminded me of a beautiful spot in the Caribbean, albeit with slightly different water temperature. You may also be rewarded, as we were, with the sight of a large, immature eagle resting on the beach, two times!

Should you not feel so inclined to journey all the way to the end, turn back at any point but just be sure to finish the original loop as it will bring more enjoyable sights. The loop itself is very doable for families. Petit Manan Wildlife Refuge can be reached by driving down the Pigeon Hill Road until you see the first kiosk for the park. Drive past about a mile and there’s another parking in the middle of a field. The trail head is to your left.

Adventure 2 involved a trek along the Cutler Coast, informally known as “the Bold Coast.” Located in Cutler and Whiting, the 12,000-acre Cutler Coast Unit is operated by the Maine Bureau of Public Lands and is about halfway between Machias and Lubec. These “units” (large parcels throughout the state up to 43,000-plus acres) include a variety of landscapes reflecting “the rugged character and natural beauty of Maine’s environment.” Cutler’s unit is no exception, containing much that is typical of eastern Washington County: blueberry barrens, peat lands, partially forested ledges and thick, swampy grasslands, meadows, windswept coastal headlands, and steep, jagged cliffs that jut into the ocean along 4.5 miles of totally undeveloped coastline. And we saw it all!

There are actually several hiking trails to explore, including several loops, ranging from the 1.5-mile trailhead-to-the-coast trail, to the longest loop of 9.8 miles (we did not do that). We chose the Trailhead to Coast, then 1.5 miles of the Coastal trail to the Black Point Cutoff trail across to the Inland Trail (0.8 miles), and back along the Inland Trail 1.5 miles to the Trailhead, for a 5.8-mile loop.

The first part of the trail is packed dirt, roots and rocks as well as boardwalks over fragile and wet ecosystems. And, yes it does go up (always my first question!) However, it does so in only a few places and then, of course, that means it also goes down (sometimes just as challenging.) To say the view is worth it is the classic understatement. Even with the ever-present offshore fog, the vista and crashing waves from the 100-foot-high headland take away your breath as only the Maine coast can do. On a proverbial clear day, you may not actually see forever but it may seem that way looking at Grand Manan Island and the Bay of Fundy.

The terrain of forest and bogs also includes cobble beaches along the shore. Trees number cedar, spruce, pines and the aromatic and heady smell of balsam fir, while the flora has something for everyone with mushrooms and mosses, ferns, trillium, rhododendron, rosa rugosa, violets, iris, blueberries, and wild grasses in the meadows. Tip: bring a field guide and you will be able to identify even more varieties. And don’t forget your camera and binoculars, dress in appropriate layers for the weather, bring water and a snack, and you will have a day to remember for a long time. A great way to satisfy the need for a walk in the woods combined with the excitement and pleasure of the wild ocean.

To get there, drive east to East Machias and take Route 191 south to Cutler. About 3 miles past Cutler you’ll see the sign for the management unit and a parking area with a kiosk. The trail begins right there.

So that’s it, two adventures and no kayaking! (OK, I did see Jeff look longingly out to sea as a group of three paddlers glided by.) However, the summer’s not done yet and I’m sure that Jeff will be bringing you more tales from the ocean side.

Sources: U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, “Maine Coastal Islands,” National Wildlife Refuges.

Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands, “Cutler Coast,” Department of Conservation.