Maine Style Memorial Day

Every Memorial Day weekend since I was pregnant with my oldest son, my hubby has headed off in to the woods of Maine and going hiking. He likes to climb mountains - for fun. Although he was woefully unprepared and over-packed that first year, the love has continued to grown as have his skills in packing and making that pack nice and light to carry. He is passing this love on to our sons.

This Memorial Day, however, it was suggested by my sister that we all go hiking together as a family. She remembered climbing Borestone Mountain in our youth & thought it would make for a good family hike. I'm just going to say this...my memory of that hike & hers were very different.

B has already been on a number of overnight hikes with Dad. He insisted on carrying his big pack for the day so that he could get ready for some this season.

We arrived at the mountain around 10:30am. By the time we had covered ourselves liberally in bug spray & had our packs on & ready, we headed off, with a cheerful spirit - at that point anyway.

Look at that cheerful spirit!

I should probably say right here & now, in the spirit of full disclosure, that I am not a fan of hiking. I know that the views are awesome at the top, but it's the whole getting to the top that does me in. I know that if I was not overweight, that the "walk" to the top wouldn't be as difficult. I know all that. I still don't like it. And add to the fact that all the black flies are waking up here in Maine and I have to admit that my "cheerful spirit" did not hold out to the top of the mountain.

Unlike me, these boys LOVE to hike!

The first part of the hike isn't all together that bad. It's pretty much a logging road albeit straight up the mountain. About halfway up the mountain is a lake with a nature store there. There is a nominal fee to hike there & you sign in here & pay. We had our boys pose for photos & took a short break. Then the real fun, um, hiking started.

The wide logging road was reduced to a path through the woods that went up & over lots of tree roots and rocks. We soon came across many stone steps. Did I mention we brought all the boys - including our four year old?

J actually did very good. I'll even say this publicly, he did better than I did. I stayed right behind him & daddy was right in front of him. I encouraged him to be a little "mountain goat" & use his hands to climb. He scampered up the steps very well.

Nearer the top it was more technical climbing. We had to lift him up in spots. While going up was hard, my concern was getting back down!

The views from the top. Perhaps my hubby will be kind enough to leave a comment about what the views are of as I just think they are pretty. ;-)

My hubby - king of the mountain.

J taking a little rest at the top.

While getting back down was a tad bit scary - for me - we all did fine. N did slip once near the top & I just about lost it at that point. However, Daddy was right there to stop him. In fact, if you'd like to see a great photo of N at the top, click here as it's on my photo blog.

There was beauty everywhere on the mountain. While my body still seems to be recovering, overall it was fun. However, I did meet my "one-hike-a-year-quota" with this hike so next time Daddy & the boys can go it alone. ;-)