Sandy gets around.....: The Golden Road....and then some.....

Destination: Frost Pond Camps

Mike and I drove up to Bangor on Monday night; we'd originally planned to take off early on Monday and drive to Frost Pond that day. But, what was I thinking? Our daughter Eliza had just gotten married on Saturday! and we still had a lot of loose ends to tidy up before leaving town. So, once we got everything done on Sunday and most of Monday morning, we decided to drive up to Bangor for the night (my brother lives there), and leave from there to Frost Pond first thing Tuesday morning. Bangor is about 150 miles from our home, an easy drive up I95. Frost Pond is another 120 miles.

To get to our destination, Frost Pond Camps, we had to drive up to Millinocket and from there, take State Route 157 as if you are going to Baxter State Park. But once you get to the North Woods Trading Post, you get on the Golden Road, which runs parallell to Route 157 for a while. Why is the Golden Road called that? Some people say its because this private road cost Great Northern so much to build; others says it is called this because it offers a direct passage into one of the largest areas of contiguous forest in the U.S., creating new access to one of northern Maine's natural resources, the timber industry. Either way, the Golden Road is a town-less thoroughfare in the North Maine Woods that stretches for more than 90 miles from Millinocket to the province of Quebec.

The road is paved for the first 30-plus miles, fortunately, those were the ones we'd be driving on. We passed several log-laden trucks as we drove along the Road, but my understanding is that they don't travel the road on weekends, so you can avoid them if you really want to.

Just a few miles in, we arrive at The Abol Bridge where someone is fishing. I get out of the car to take a picture and see that that there's a campground (The Abol Bridge Campgound) which seems quite popular. From this spot, you can get great views of Mt. Katahdin in the distance . The West Branch of the Penobscot River rushes below and I get to see several inflatable yellow rafts full of paddlers.

A small store that we stopped at before heading out on to the Golden Road.

The start of the Golden Road for us....but, it actually starts in Millinocket

This is the Abol bridge

Looding down at the Abol Bridge Campground

The majestic Katahdin

this is Ripogenous Dam which we had to cross in order to get to Frost Pond Camps

In order to get to Frost Pond Camps, we must drive on the top of the narrow, 700 foot "Rip Dam" I don't have a picture of that, sorry....( a local nickname) which was built circa 1920. The 73 foot-tall dam has Ripogenus lake on one side and a deep West Branch gorge (pictured above) on the other.

After we've driven about 2 miles which seem much longer, as we have to move slowly, we arrive at our destination, Frost Pond Camps! It's pretty quiet around here, but we think we'll like it! We've had so much excitement the past two weeks, I'm pretty sure we'll be fine with the quietness. Sides, it's only for two nights!

Our campsite was right on the Lake....on a cove...which lends itself to gusty winds! we found out later.

Our first spotting of wildlife....what! a seagull? you've got to be kidding!

Making the plunge!

And, of course, the loons!

Real pretty spot.....

Gene and Steve, two guys from Hallowell, fishing.....

time to eat...

And read....my book is "Wild" by Cheryl Strayed...it's about her hiking solo across the Pacific Coast Trail.

The next morning we set off for a short hike to the waterfalls at the Frost Pond Outlet which connects to Ripogenus Lake.

The falls

Oops....more falls

Okay, this is acceptable!

Add caption

We came across evidence of some beaver activity....

The dam.....

Returning....

Back at camp....boats for rent, kayaks, canoes and motor boats

Our dream home....

Time to go for a quick swim..

Brr! later in the day....

The next day we hiked down an old road that really didn't go anywhere ....it once went to Telos Road which is another logging road that goes north to Allagash, but the culvert is out, and you can't get to Telos Road anymore.

Wildlife...this frog wasn't going anywhere real soon!

Back at camp, I took this picture which is of a boat across the lake...as Mike read

i thought it kinda looks artsy from that distance....

Mike's reading King Lear.

seriously, it was cold

and gusty winds....look at the tent! we had to shield ourselves from the winds in order to eat...

and we ended up sleeping in the car until the winds died down....

We decided to head out one day earlier....it was just always too windy and cold....seriously, it's August, I want to be hot!...and on the way out, we decided to drive back in the direction we'd arrived so that we could see the Big Eddy.

The West Branch of the Penobscot River rolls right in front of the Cherwonki Big Eddy Campground. We make our way to where we'll see some whitewater action, to an area known as the "Cribworks" a section of challenging whitwater rapids. We don't have to wait long before we see several of the plump yellow rafts plow through along with a single paddler in a kayak. I am more than happy to be an observer!

That's me! at a safe distance....

We then went west on the Golden Road a few miles before reaching the Greenville Road....

Which is dirt road that leads to Kokadjo, a fishing town....(no pics)...and then onto Greenville with a stop at Lily Bay State Park for lunch....

Sights from Lily Bay Road...

View from the Blair Hill Inn (where we did not stay, it's $400-$500 a night!!!)

We just took pictures there.....

After settling into our hotel in Greenville (which was $100) we went into town for dinner....

Pretty sunset...

Pretty sightings as we made our way back home on Friday: we stopped in Guilford as we discovered a pretty little river walk as well as in Winslow (my hometown at the Fort Halifax site)