Hiking?
MaineKayakGirl?
Yes...
Where? Bradbury Mountain... 528 Hallowell Rd, Pownal, ME 04069
Trail: I took the Northern Loop Trail, followed the Blue blazes on the trees... it was 1.0 mile each way.
Difficulty: I am not going to rate the hike for level of difficulty... I think hiking is intimidating for people (me included) ... I don't want people to base their rating from my rating... I think some people may find trails rated 'easy' as hard so... just like I have done in my paddling blog... I want people to look at their own abilities... know that you can go as far as you want and turn around when you want. Remember you have to leave enough energy in the fuel tank to get back to where you started... and... there is NO SHAME in not making it to the summit! Set reasonable, realistic goals... start slowly ... (or very slowly if you are like me!) ... and above all else... ENJOY the journey!
For the hiking Trails, go Right... away from the horse trailers and group campsites... go towards the picnic tables and you will see the parking area.
This is the 'Ranger Station.' While it was unmanned (or unwomanned) they still charge a fee... please make sure to do your part... $4 per Maine resident. There were no trail maps here at this time of year... I am not sure if they are available at other times, but... you may want to print a map from online before going...
Okay... so... me & hiking... I don't have a great relationship with hiking... yet... I am not sure if I ever will. My hiking experience includes SHORT hikes into Sandy Stream Pond in Baxter State Park to see Moose... though I consider that more of a walk in the woods... I had done Bradbury mountain one other time and remember being able to do it, though I remember feeling winded... hiking to a waterfall off the Kancamagus Highway in NH with a friend of mine... I remember getting to the waterfall and feeling excited about making it there.. but I also remember feeling winded, stopping A LOT... and feeling inadequate... I remember a short hike as part of a field trip when I was teaching... Rattlesnake Mountain maybe... and I remember just telling myself I couldn't quit because I needed to be a role model for my students...though I don't remember hating it... Pleasant Mountain... I remember going with friends who were in WAY better shape than me... I think, though I don't remember... I stopped at one point and waited for them to go to the top and circle back for me... again feeling inadequate...
I do this thing...when I think about being physically active, especially when trying something new... I think of myself as 'the fat girl in gym class.' Now... I am not sure that I actually had that mindset when I was in gym class...except for the gymnastics unit... (I am NOT kidding when I say that during that unit our gym class was divided, boys and girls... the boys got to 'play' on all of the equipment for every class for the duration of the unit... basically they made asses out of themselves and watched what the girls had to do... the girls... were REQUIRED to choose 3 pieces of equipment AND perform a routine that had specific requirements! Again... NOT kidding! So... flashback to 1994 when I was in high school... I chose floor routine, balance beam, and I think I did bars... Me... only 6'3 or 6'4 at the time... afraid of heights...doing a routine on a balance beam???!!! Insert MANY expletives into the telling of this experience! I had to get on the thing...stand up... and if I remember correctly had to walk the length of the beam, had to do a turn of some kind... I think a jump of some sort... and I think some kind of pose where you transitioned from standing to the pose to standing again... ridiculous - especially when the boys could pass the class by rolling around on the mats!) During that unit I totally felt like a rolly polly fat girl!
Fast forward to now... when I think about the 'fat girl in gym class' I think of a robust teenager who has no upper body strength, who is probably too heavy for most equipment, who is ALWAYS last, and is always sucking wind... so when I think about trying new things... I assume it won't go well...
But... I am working to reset that thinking... and I am getting there...
So hiking... I love walking.. I can walk for miles... have walked two half marathons...but hiking... hiking is a different animal. Hiking, to me, means I have to climb. It means that I will be out of breath, will need to stop but won't want to stop because the people I am with will ALWAYS be in better shape than me... hiking means that I will feel unsteady...will probably trip and could possibly fall... I worry that I will quit before reaching the top... and will feel like a failure if I do... I assume the hike will be too long for me, too steep, too tiring... and I fear I will hate every minute of it... (Which is silly because I do love nature!) Oh... and in the warmer months... I fear TICKS... I hate those little !@$#*%*s! They creep me out! (I will work on the tick part of this once the temps start increasing again!) And... I worry about getting lost... (Lost on a Mountain in Maine is a non fictional story!)
This fall a group of my students hiked Bradbury Mountain with one of their teachers. It planted a seed with me. I wanted to hike Bradbury... and had it on my list of things to do this fall... but the fall went by quickly and then we got some early snow... and while hiking is crazy...hiking in snow...well that is just nuts!
I am on vacation from school. On Christmas I did something I have not done as an adult... I returned to MY home on Christmas night. I usually stay at my dad's and come back to my home the next day... I had been sick with the flu the week before Christmas... and had not eaten much for most of that week... once I got my appetite back I let myself eat comfort foods to recover from the flu... well my recovery led to eating some of the food I used to eat a lot... take out from multiple places over the weekend... and then, while at my dad's I indulged on Chinese food and had some other snacks... by the time I got home I felt bloated and needed to hit the reset button... so I decided that the day after Christmas I would eat right AND would do something active... and wanted to do something more than walking... I wanted to do something that would remind me of how far I have come since deciding to get healthier. Hiking. I wanted to hike...
I thought about asking someone to go with me for moral support... I thought of several people including people I don't know well, but know they are on their own journey for wellness... but 'Fat Girl in Gym Class' entered my head and I thought about how I would be embarrassed if I couldn't get to the top of Bradbury Mountain without stopping, if I was winded, if I couldn't finish...
(I know MANY people talk about ho EASY Bradbury is... 'anyone' can do it... kids do it... so what if it was hard for me? What if I couldn't do it? )
Self doubt has a very loud voice... Hiking... whether it is a hike that everyone else says is 'easy' or not... intimidates me... and I need to work in that... but in the midst of it... I thought about other options.. walking Back Cove... walking closer to home... and then I told myself that was BS... that there was no reason I couldn't hike...
but I couldn't bring myself to invite someone else... I needed to go...needed to go alone...
maybe I needed to prove something to myself... I am not sure... I was nervous. Excited and hopeful at the same time, but mostly nervous... I didn't want to fail...
Here I am before the hike... in the parking lot... a little false bravado in this picture...
(I also need to learn more about layering for doing outside activities... I actually would say I 'nailed it' for this adventure... but I think luck played as big of a role as anything! I wore a t shirt under a long sleeve cotton tshirt, under a nylon long sleeve shirt... under a vest, under a fairly light weight coat... leggins under my jeans... a scarf, and a hat... wool socks in my hiking boots...)
We set off... double checking the map at the kiosk and just as I had seen online... the trail I wanted to take, Northern Loop, was listed as 'easy/moderate' and said to follow the blue blazes...
Sounds easy enough... just follow the blue blazes...
I didn't take my camera with me, just my phone... and promised myself to appreciate the beauty I knew could exist in the woods in winter... not long into my 'hike' I heard a woodpecker... not sure if you can see it, but this little guy was busy!
Gladys was really happy to be exploring a new place. Her nose did not stop he entire time. She got a little overconfident on some ice on the way up, but after slipping a couple of times she avoided the ice patches. I had debated on whether or not I needed to wear my grippers, the ones I wear when I walk Gladys in the snow/ice... but decided not to... (maybe I was looking for an excuse... if I got there and it was too icy I could quit and have a legitimate reason to not hike.... ) As it turned out I didn't need the grippers... there was some ice on some parts of the trail, but there were places on the sides of the trail that could be accessed to avoid the ice.
The ice was pretty... this section was like the ripples I see when paddling... It was really pretty.... you know.. as far as winter pretty goes!
Being in the woods is very peaceful. I kept an eye out for wildlife... not sure why, but I wanted to see a bunny! When I stopped to take a picture Gladys was not happy! She wanted to GO GO GO!
We got to one place and the sign said 'Northern Bluff' it took us a bit off our trail but we checked it out. It was nice... and I wondered if THIS was the summit, though it looked different than I remembered. I thought that maybe it was called the Northern 'Bluff' because I could bluff, and say that I was at the top...
Gladys was happy to take a moment in the sun with the cool rock on her belly!
We kept going... I liked this feeling... I expected to see fairy houses like the ones on Mackworth Island... but didn't see any. I liked the light coming through the trees, shining on the moss.
This sign cracked me up! CAUTION? Summit ahead? I would think it would way... CELEBRATE, summit ahead. I think maybe this is for people who are trail runners who may be running so fast they could fall off the mountain... or maybe they allow snowmobiles up here? I didn't know... but for this 'hiker' it was amusing!
I think this was my favorite view of the day... not quite at the summit, but the sun was so bright and inviting and reassuring...
We made it to the summit! And for a few moments, we were the only ones there... and it was nice.
Other than stopping to take a few pictures, I had not stopped on the way up... no breaks needed... no sucking wind... it felt like a walk through the woods with a few inclines...
We sat for a few minutes to enjoy the view... have some water... and reflected... I was happy I had come here... happy to make it to the top. I thought about what I have heard other hikers say... 'the view at the top is always worth it...' It was a nice view... but the part that was worth it to me was doing it...
It wasn't long before the summit was covered with people... people who had come from what seemed like all directions, from various trails... Gladys wanted to get some love from everyone... most people kept to themselves...much to Gladys's disappointment!
After one final view ... we headed down... not without doubt... I have heard people say the way up is hard, the way down is harder... because you have to be more careful with your footing and it is harder on the knees... but... I decided to think more about the laws of gravity... What goes up... MUST come down! I knew we would get there...
This girl... has added a lot to my life... Glad to have her along for my adventures.
Towards the end of the trail I had Gladys get up on this rock... trying to make her look like a rugged adventure dog! Think it worked? Ha! She does like adventures, but not sure she is rugged...
I was very happy to get this hike under my belt... I did think, once back in the truck... that I should have pushed myself to do a harder hike... that I could have done more... but I stopped myself...
As I have been on this journey to get/be healthier... I have reminded myself that I need to ENJOY the things I do. This hike, for me, was not difficult physically... I would say it was about the right balance of flat walking and inclines/declines... and I really did enjoy it. Seeing the woods at this time of year was nice. Seeing other people on the trails was nice too... reassuring in a way, that if I needed help other people were there.. but also, much like when I see other people when paddling, I felt a little bummed that I didn't have the place to myself... didn't have the same level of solitude as having an entire pond to myself.
When I got done I posted my adventure on social media... and was struck by how many other people chimed in saying they are also intimidated by hiking... other women I know, women who are confident in many ways, including regularly doing fitness classes that I would find intimidating, said that hiking intimidates them. I hope that some of these women will join me in some of the 'hikes' that are in my future.
Because of ice and snow, I am not sure how much winter 'hiking' I will try... but know that I will do some hiking in the spring/summer/fall. It is another activity that is dog friendly and can be a social or solo activity... I think I would feel much safer as I learn more about and do more hiking if I had someone else with me...but also need to open myself up to being a little vulnerable by being okay with the fact that I will probably be one of the slower hikers in the group... and giving myself permission to stop when my body needs to stop.
Looking forward to more adventures!
By the way... in warmer months... this hike would pair beautifully with paddling Runaround Pond! (It is nearby! - though if it is hot and you want to swim, Runaround Pond is not a good swimming hole... one word... leeches!)
