Jim's Fall Hike - Fryeburg to Lubec, Maine - Prologue

Jane and I are on the eve of resuming the East coast hike. Early tomorrow morning we will drive back to Fryeburg Maine, just over the NH state line, where I finished a four-state, 230-miles hike in June. This will be the final leg of a four-year walk up the East Coast from Key West FL. It should finish in early October in the town of Lubec on the Canadian border in eastern Maine. With over 2200 miles done in eight segments, I have completed 90% of this journey.

If the weather forecast is to be believed, I will start off tomorrow in a heavy downpour that will continue for most of the day. In deference to the weather, I will wear my waterproof hiking boots instead of the usual sandals. And instead of the usual hiking stick, I will be holding an umbrella unless the wind makes that impractical.

My 240-mile walk across Maine will take 16 days with two breaks, so there will be three segments of 5-6 days each. After the first five days, we will break for a week and drive to NJ so I can attend a Board meeting. I will also hike 23 miles to “fill” two gaps caused by blisters and bad weather during my walk through that state last fall. Then we will return to Randolph Maine to resume the hike, heading over the following five days from there to Ellsworth, just north of Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park. From Ellsworth we will drive home for a week of doctor appointments and meeting commitments and a Red Sox game in the last week of the regular season. Returning to Ellsworth on the first day of October, I will pick up the Downeast Sunrise Trail, an off-road bikeway that I will walk for 58 miles. A final two days of road walking in far-east Maine will bring me to the Canadian border in Lubec.

While our overnight plans remain fluid for the last two segments of the trip, we have identified a number of Bed and Breakfast options along or close to the route. The first of these will be a two-night stay at a B&B in Auburn, the only urban community this hike will take us through. We recently overnighted there, really enjoyed the accommodations and are looking forward to a return visit.

This hike will mostly be along rural roads and off-road byways. The changing colors of the trees and fields, and the cooling temperatures should make this a visual delight and a comfortable walk. 

As usual we plan to record our daily experiences and observations in a journal that will be emailed out to our readers every three or four days. We love reading your comments on what we have to say, so don’t be bashful about sharing them.