Snowmobiling in Northern Maine

Jack and I took a trip North to Millinocket, Maine last week to get in a few days of snowmobiling.
The road trip took 7 hours one way and as we approached our hotel, the full moon was eclipsing. It was so beautiful and the snowbanks were 10 feet high! In fact we could barely see out our first floor window!

The first day we rode north to Mt. Katahdin and Baxter State Park. In the 1920's a lumberman, Burton Howe of Patten, Maine led an expedition of politicians, including Senator Baxter, up Mt. Katahdin. Baxter later bought Mt. Katahdin and the surrounding land and donated it to the state for a park. It is vast and wild and breathtaking. Below is a train with logs headed to the mill. Millinocket has two large mills that many of the residents work or hope to work in one day. Presently there are about 200 employees due to retire and the waiting list to replace them is full.
About 20 minutes outside town the trail opened up, a roadway to Baxter State Park and the mountain heaved into view.
We came to this incredible boulder that has been painted and maintained by a group of people for years.

It was a perfect day...15-20 degrees, sunny and no one on the trails. We continued North and stopped at Lunksoos Camps http://www.lunksooscamps.com/ .There are a number of these camps in the wilds; open for hunters and fishermen and in the winter many will be open for lunches and a warm-up. This was a pretty nice camp, well maintained and the owner, Lee Bertsch, very accommodating. We sat at his table in the main lodge and talked for a half hour or more about everything from hunting to the economy to politics! But we had a lot more riding to do and sights to see.

We rode further North to Patten, ME, got gas, ate our trail lunch and headed back to Millinocket. By 3PM it started to chill down and I could feel it. The wind picked up and at 10 degrees, with a wind speed temp of 45 below it was a bit nippy! We got back to town at 5PM, regrouped and then went out to dinner at a fabulous place, River Driver's Restaurant http://www.neoc.com/. Definitely make it a destination if ever in that area, IF you like fine dining in a casual atmosphere.