B-Well Beat: Hikers needed

By Christine Bruen

"Everywhere is within walking distance if you have the time." ~ Steven Wright

Attention: Franklin County, we need hikers! There have been some new hikers added to our Mapping our Footsteps group on www.meetup.com, however we haven’t had a lot of hikers join us on the hikes yet. If you like to hike or want to start hiking please contact us, we would love to see you out on the trials.

Our goal is to improve health and increase physical activity by getting community members outdoors and hiking. Over the past few weeks we’ve hosted events at Flint Woods in Farmington and Blueberry Mountain near Weld. Unfortunately, at both events no one showed up!

I can attest that it’s great to be out of the gym and outside breathing fresh air and taking in magnificent panoramic views. In Maine, there are more than 250 trail miles and 70,000 acres of parks and public land waiting for you to explore.

I encourage you to take advantage of this free opportunity to be outside and active. If you can’t make any of the hikes that are on the Web site, suggest a hike. If you use the www.mainetrailfinder.com Web site, simply choose a hike from there, pick a day that you can go, and then let us know. It’s that easy!

For the geocaching event in Flint Woods, Healthy Community Coalition partnered with Patty Cormier, who works for the Maine Forest Service. Multiple prizes were placed along the trails for geocachers to find. After recording the coordinates of each prize, we entered them into the GPS systems and waited for people to arrive. A man who happened to be going for a walk in Flint Woods stopped to talk to us, and subsequently took part; he had a wonderful time learning how to use the GPS and won prizes along the way! After waiting awhile longer and discovering that no one else was going to show up, we disappointedly trekked along the trails to find the remaining prizes ourselves.

On July 23, we set out to hike Blueberry Mountain, located north of Weld. The trailhead is just beyond a sports field at The Blueberry Bible Camp. Although no one showed up, we still decided to hike even though the weather was hot and hazy. The path immediately shoots up vertically and is very steep at times along the 1.2 mile trail. The 360-degree view from the summit is amazing and among the finest in the area even though Blueberry Mountain is relatively small at 2890 feet in elevation. That day the sun was shining and the cool breeze on the summit felt amazing. However, if you haven’t done a lot of hiking I don’t recommend this as one of your first hikes due to the steepness of the trail.

A reminder: If you are hiking PLEASE remember to check yourself for ticks, it’s important and can save you from Lyme disease. Remember also to always bring plenty of water. Happy Hiking!

“I’ve learned that everyone wants to live on top of the mountain, but all the happiness and growth occurs while you’re climbing it.” — Unknown

For more information about hikes and or our Web site please contact Program Coordinator Leanne DiMaio at 779-2933 or write: ldimaio@fchn.org