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Northwestern Wilderness Of Maine
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Northwestern Wilderness Of Maine High
The photograph above: is the summit of Sally Mountain, looking toward Attean Lake. The trail is below. The Canadian Pacific Railroad parallels the shore of Attean Lake. Moose River, McKenny Bridge, and the Attean boat landing, are to the left of Attean. The mountain with the dark green peak, across the Attean Lake, is Owl's Head.
Several decades ago, I was a frequent visitor, hiking to the peak of Sally Mountain. On convenient days, I could drive to the boat landing, at the mouth of Moose River on Attean Lake, take a boat across Attean, to the trail leading up Sally Mountain. It didn't take long to pick up a sturdy walking-stick and hike up to the summit. On the mountaintop I could enjoy a lazy day basking in the sunshine, soaking in the view.
On semi-convenient days, I could take a boat from my boyhood back yard, heading toward Mckenny Bridge across Big Wood Pond, up the Moose River to the boat landing at the mouth of Moose River on Attean Lake, head across Attean to the trail leading up Sally Mountain. You had to be extra careful traveling up Moose River in the summer. The river is very shallow and the submerged boulders are the size of hippopotamus. Most of the natives turn off the outboard and pole up the river. It takes a little longer to hike up to the summit. From my boyhood back yard to the trail at Attean Lake is a much longer boat ride, but it is beautiful along the way.
Before I was old enough to drive, or take a boat up Moose River, I usually hiked along the Canadian Pacific Railroad carrying a walking-stick. On warm spring days, it was a treat to feast on wild strawberries that grew along the tracks. When I got to Mckenny Bridge, it was spooky crossing the Moose River on the bridge. I always imagined getting halfway across the bridge, not hearing the speeding engines of the super long Canadian Pacific freight trains, zipping along through the wilderness, racing the sound barrier across the Northwestern Wilderness of Maine. Several times, I had to jump off the rail, but always far from McKenny Bridge. Hiking along the railroad is a time to be very alert.
Early spring days usually meant black flies were enjoying the warm sun, so unless you wore bug dope, you kept active whacking the air in around your head, as you ran down the tracks.
Actually, hiking was the way I usually traveled from my back yard to the peak of Sally Mountain. The return trip was downhill most of the way!
When I was younger, I wrote to penpals all over the world, and it was fun to take letters along with me, to read in a place as beautiful as the sumit of Sally Mountain. Mountain tops are magical places. The air is fresh with a mixture of fragrances, usually pine, spruce. cedar, and wild flowers. The only sounds are the wind, birds, and tiny animals. You think different thoughts in these highlands, Your mind lifts with the elevation. You sometimes feel small compared to the distant horizons. You sometimes feel greater, with powers to see far beyond the vallies you spend so much time in.
If you are ever in the neighborhood of Sally Mountain, park your motorcars, and pick up a walking-stick, I promise you, it will magical.
The photograph below: is the summit of Sally Mountain where an old Fire Tower once stood, looking toward Big Wood Pond and the towns of Jackman and MooseRiver. The mountain beyond is Boundary Bald Mountain. The horizon to the left reaches into the Province of Quebec, Canada.
Photo Credits on this page:
Kevin Duquette - San Francisco, California