Foot and Paddle: One morning in (Western) Maine

The hour is early, shortly after 6:00 a.m., when my chocolate Labrador retriever, “Moose”, and I step to the marshy shore of Saddleback Lake in Northern Franklin County. The low morning sun silhouettes the nearest east lying peaks – Potato Nubble and the twin summits of Saddleback Junior. A mist hovers over the lake, about halfway across, rendering the far shoreline indistinct.

The air is utterly still. Later in the day, as the temperature rises, so will the wind, but for now, nothing moves – not a ripple on the water, not a blade of marsh grass. On the half-mile hike to this point, via the Lake Trail of the Rangeley Lakes Trails Center system, I heard a pileated woodpecker rattle away on a white birch, but now, at waters edge, all is quiet.

I stand and watch, and begin to see. Well beyond Potato Nubble, to the northeast, rise a series of high peaks – the Redington Pond Range, and the Crocker Range. Their western slopes lie in dark shadow, but against a clearing sky their profiles are distinct and dramatic. These are two of the lesser-known high peaks of Franklin County, blocked from view for those who live south of the Saddleback and Sugarloaf Ranges. But here, in the North Country, I enjoy this particular rare perspective.

As so often happens when I hold quiet, scan the horizon, and peer into what is nearby, discoveries unfold. In the morning mist I discern the faint outline of a loon, appearing to float as much on the mist as on the water. The mist raises, falls, raises again; the loon appears, fades from view, reappears. A loon call breaks the silence, coming from another quarter. A partner loon slips into the periphery of my field of view. Now, the two of them bob mysteriously in the mist.

Nearer, the slanting-in sun touches the grass islands and the mud and grass shoreline of the shallows. Where water meets grass, this fresh light sparkles, the shore gold-trimmed. I startle! A bullfrog “garumphs”, draws silent; sounds forth again. When a sound like that breaks that silence – , that gets my attention! A hundred yards off, and a few feet in from the wetland, rise two high white pines. The upper branches show a curious wear – greenery to either side of the branch, a bare space in the middle. These are perches of a bald eagle. Indeed, I have come here on other occasions and seen an eagle in one of these pines, but not today, not at this moment. The fishing must be good elsewhere.

There are other discoveries: a beaver lodge, where, now that the sun is up, the beaver are likely resting from the work of the night. There is another sound, other than that of the bullfrog. It is a low roar, and comes from across the lake. There is no wind. What might it be? I conclude that it is noisy Haley Brook, running high with snowmelt, rushing down the northern slopes of the Saddleback Range. With no other sound to compete, the brook has the soundstage of the lake all to itself. If I were chatting away, or if the breeze had picked up, I might have missed Haley Brook’s contribution to the moment.

Close on, twin cedars reach over the water at a 45 degree angle. The near woods are thick with red maple, fir, pine, and other cedar. The only way for these trees to go in search of sunlight, is outward. In another setting, where there is deep water, they might serve as jumping trees, or even rope-swing trees, but not in these shallow and muddy waters. They have this piece of shore to themselves.

My stomach signals a yearning for morning oatmeal. It is time to go, to head back up the trail – a wide cross-country ski and snowshoe route in winter – and turn to what lies ahead in the remainder of the day.

There are dozens of bodies of ponds and lakes, beaver bogs and streams, in our Franklin County, each offering its own set of views, changing play of sun and clouds, and discoveries of birds, and frogs, and wildflowers, and what have you.

One of the joys of living in Franklin County, is that there is a place such as this one, not far from just about anywhere in the county.

Find one, or two, or three of these, and make them, in a sense, your own.

Talk to neighbors and friends for suggested places. Mornings and evenings are particularly good times to be near water, as these are times – at the edges of the day – when the light plays, and the winds shift, flowers close or open, and diurnal creatures make way for the critters of the night hours.

Head out with a member of the family, or a dear friend. If there are children in the family, do bring them along. You will likely remember a morning such as the one I enjoyed, for a long time to come. If there are children in the picture – who knows? – they might even write a book about it.

Note: The Rangeley Lakes Trails Center is a cross-country ski and snowshoe center. Outside of the winter season, it is usually unstaffed, but is open to the public for walking or mountain biking on its many trails. A trail map is advised, and may be obtained from the website (search online), or by taking a phone photo of the map display at the headquarters, 524 Saddleback Mountain Road, Rangeley.

If you are exploring Franklin County this summer, consider making some of your food, supply, and gas purchases in the small communities of the more remote parts of the county. Local stores rely on visitor business in order to remain open year-round, through “thick and thin”. Business traffic may be off because of COVID-19, and therefore your purchases will be appreciated.