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Plush Huts Bring Wilderness Closer

July 28, 2009 - WESTERN MAINE -- Arriving at the parking lot in western Maine where the trail I was going to hike begins, my eyes were drawn to a notice posted on an information bulletin board. "Trail alert," it warned. "Bear activity in this area."

"Don't worry about that," my knowledgeable companion reassured me. "That's leftover from last spring."

With those comforting words, I set out to experience an inviting new resource for those who like to meet Mother Nature on her own terms. I was walking on the first stretch of track that eventually will be a 180-mile recreational corridor linking the Mahoosuc Range near Bethel to Moosehead Lake.

This route through western Maine backcountry, leading to rustically comfortable huts along the way, is being developed by Maine Huts & Trails, a nonprofit organization with financial support from companies and individual donors. Its goal is to preserve "naturally beautiful remote areas" of western Maine, provide opportunities for non-motorized, people-powered outdoor recreation and help stimulate environmentally sensitive economic development in the region.

So far, Maine Huts & Trails has opened more than 20 miles of gentle year-round pathways, including 11.3 miles that connect two year-round lodgings. They provide lovers of the outdoors with a place to pause for a rest, have lunch or spend one or more nights in rustic comfort that includes dinner and breakfast.

Plans call for up to a dozen huts to be built in the coming years, spaced at comfortable distances from each other so that summer hikers and mountain bikers – and winter cross-country skiers or snowshoers – can reach the next one during a day outing. Anyone who has visited either the Poplar Stream Falls Hut, which opened in February 2008, or Flagstaff Lake Hut, which has been welcoming guests since January, knows that the word "hut" hardly describes the accommodations.

"Lodge" is a much more appropriate term. Each property consists of a main building that contains a kitchen, dining room, and shower and lavatory facilities. Separate bunkhouses offer a combination of semi-private (two beds and a loft bed) and group sleeping quarters (up to eight people sharing a room) for a maximum of 42 guests.

In keeping with Maine Huts & Trails' eco-friendly philosophy, the huts employ state-of-the-art utility systems to be self-sustainable. These include solar panels, wind power, wood-saving gasification boilers to provide heat and hot water and mini-hydro power that uses stream flow to operate a small turbine and generator. In addition, composting toilets need little to no water or electricity and require no septic tank.

Day visitors to the huts may purchase tasty, nutritious, made-from-scratch lunches at very reasonable prices, from a changing menu. I enjoyed a bowl of vegetable soup so thick it supported the spoon in a vertical position, served with fresh pumpernickel bread ($6), and a turkey and cheese sandwich ($4). Other regular selections include meat chili with cornbread ($7), carrot cake ($3), brownies ($2) and a blueberry muffin ($1).

For overnight guests, dinner and breakfast are included in the price. Typical evening meals are chicken Parmesan with salad and fresh-baked rolls, and gluten-free spinach casserole, perhaps topped off with a homemade brownie buried beneath a mini-mountain of ice cream and whipped cream.

The most popular breakfast is scrambled eggs and toast.

There are good reasons why Yankee Magazine designated the burgeoning trail system as "Best Walk in the woods" in its 2009 Travel Guide to New England. An inviting feature of the tracks for hikers is that in many places, they're wide enough for two people to walk side-by-side. That also allows groomers in winter to pack the snow to ease the way for Nordic skiers and snowshoers.

In places, the trails run alongside and occasionally cross bridges over rivers and streams, and rim lake shorelines that provide access to canoe and kayak excursions. Side paths and loops provide access to even more remote woodlands. Log planks help hikers traverse low-lying muddy places, and I found stone steps placed on steep hillsides to offer welcome relief.

Given the secluded areas where the routes and huts are located, animal spotting is a favorite pastime. Flagstaff Lake this summer has been home to six nesting pairs of eagles and 26 pair of nesting loons. Another 36 species of birds have been identified in the vicinity of the Poplar Stream Falls hut. Among four-legged critters that have been seen around the huts and along the trails are moose, loon, fox and deer.

Another inviting feature of the expanding Huts & Trails complex is a series of cultural, historic and nature-based workshops geared to various age groups and interests. Among workshops scheduled for the near future are a Women's Wellness weekend and Yoga Retreat (July 31-Aug. 2), Medicinal Plants (Aug. 1-2), a Weekend Photography Workshop (Aug. 7-9) and Wilderness Skies Stargazing (Sept. 12). Some programs are free for those spending the night, while there is a small fee to attend others.

Adding to knowledge of the outdoors, the sky and other topics enhances the attraction of the Maine Huts & Trails experience. However to me, the true appeal is the setting in which the huts are located and the walks, bike rides, skiing or snowshoeing through the wilderness between them. In that sentiment, I'm far from alone.

Among many favorable comments in the guest book at the Poplar Stream Falls Hut I especially liked one from an appreciative former visitor who succinctly summarized her entire experience. "It was a great pleasure to enjoy a wonderful feast in such a beautiful setting after a magnificent hike through the woods."

Perhaps even more telling is the story I heard about another overnight guest who carried an iPod because she anticipated that there would be little to entertain her at the hut. After arriving and observing the solitude and unspoiled nature in which she found herself, she never took the electronic device out of her suitcase.

By VICTOR BLOCK, Special to the Maine Sunday Telegram July 26, 2009


Lakes:
Regions: Rangeley, Moosehead, Katahdin, Jackman


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