Sunday June 7th Kate and I headed out for a day trip this time exploring the North West part of Maine. We got on the road early and started out way towards Rumford to check out a waterfall. We arrived where the directions direct us which was next to the River Valley Chamber of Congress which is next to Pennacook Falls and a Paul Bunyan & Babe the Blue Ox Statues. The Paul Bunyan statue in Bangor is more well-known, but this is the only Babe the Blue Ox statue in Maine.
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| Top of the falls by the Chamber of Commerce |
Pennacook
Falls is a series of drops that extends down the Androscoggin river
through two dams totaling 176 feet. The section by the Chamber is from a
dam and is quite lovely, but down the
river is a gorgeous natural falls that we discovered by chance when we
went to look at the old downtown section and it is a sight to be seen.
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| Down the River a bit |
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| Leading to the mill |
I
like Tourist information booths and Chambers and any places you can find
the area information cards to guide books so you can try to find
anything in the area that you might want to check
out someday.
Leaving
Rumford we traveled north on 17 towards Coos Canyon, but along the way
we stopped at the Black Bridge Bakery in Mexico. When we walked into
the entrance way it smelled like my Memere
& Pepere’s house. This is an out of the home bakery that
specializes in baked goods as well as various meat pies and you never
know what you’ll find. I selected a Molasses cookie and a Pumpkin
Whoopie Pie with cream cheese filling, Kate a standard Chocolate
one with peanut butter filling.
The
cookie was great and it left a molasses flavor that stayed with you in a
good way. Later in the day we ate our Whoopie Pies, Kate said the cake
was dry but peanut butter filling was good.
Mine was extremely delicious! The cake was moist and the filling was
very flavorful! If in the area again I would stop and get another
without hesitation!
The
town of Roxbury features a series of large wind mills or turbines that
you can see along route 17. Kate and I are weird as we like them and
things like this. We came across a spot where
you could see them all really well and the power lines didn’t obstruct
the view so of course I grabbed a few photos.
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| Zoom in to see the turbines |
Coos
Canyon in Byron is right off route 17 in a parking area across the
street from the Coos Canyon Rock and Gift shop. An extremely short walk
later around a fence you and walk down on the
rocks of this remarkable natural wonder. The pictures don’t quite do
it justice but they are several small cascading waterfalls and unique
rock formations.
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| The picture above this one was taken from the ledge on the righ |
At
this point of Route 17 you enter the Rangeley Lakes National Scenic
Byway, one of several National Scenic Byways in Maine Kate and I have
explored. Off to the left you will come across
a turnout called Height of Land that has an amazing view of
Mooselokkmeguntic Lake, the surrounding mountains and Valley. The
turnout was built in 2011 and the Appalachian Trail crosses just prior
to it. Kate was hoping we’d come across some hikers looking
for a ride into town so we could pick them up. Sadly we didn’t.
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| Mooselokkmeguntic Lake |
A
few miles down the road is the Noyes Overlook on the opposite side of
the road with views of Rangeley Lake and the surrounding area. This
scenic view is older and like many Scenic turnoffs
in Maine that are 20 plus years old the tree growth has obstructed the
view. Which is why most people probably don’t stop at them anymore,
however Kate and I can’t help ourselves and stop of most scenic views
and historical sites.
The
next stop on our journey was to the Bennett Bean Covered Bridge in
Lincoln Plantation. Built in 1898 this Paddleford truss bridge spans 92
feet over the Magalloway River and is no longer
open to traffic however, it makes a wonderful spot for a picnic! It
was gorgeous out with clear skies and a breeze to spread out a blanket,
have a bologna and cheese sandwich, and let the boy kicks his feet a
while.
Because we were only 4 miles from the New Hampshire border we drove there as well, just to go to New Hampshire.
Our
day was not over as we next stopped at Smalls Falls in Township E. Of
all the places we visited today this one boasted the most people.
Smalls Falls has a parking area, bathrooms, and
many picnic tables with this coal powered BBQ grills. Smalls Falls
features a slightly difficult hike up an area of forest that has been
left in its natural state. From top to bottom the total drop is 54 feet
with 4 separate drops separated by pools that
people have been known to dive and swim in.
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| Natures stairwell |
The
lost stop of the day was in Phillips at the Sandy River & Rangeley
Lakes Railway for a ride on their narrow gauge train. The ride itself
round trip is very short totaling maybe 10 minutes,
however the whole experience usually lasts about 50 minutes. Unless of
course you are on the last ride of the day and there are talkers in the
group then it can be more like 100 minutes, which it was.
The train takes out to their roundhouse where they do repairs on the trains. This is also when they talk about the car you rode in to get there. We rode in one of two cars that were built in 1884 by the Laconia Car Foundry in New Hampshire. The floor and seats had been replaced, however, the brass fixtures that held the kerosene lanterns and the hat and coat rack at each seat were the originals ones installed 131 years ago.
We headed home finishing the day driving a total of 244 miles. It was such a fun day, I can’t wait for the next!
Later Readers!
