Maine Trip: North Woods (10.3.26)

After several days of walking tours in Maine's cities and boat tours to its forts, Dave and I got deep into the Maine woods.  On October 3, 2026, we drove north to the beautiful Rangley Lakes, near the borders of Canada and northern New Hampshire.

Rumford, our first stop, is at the middle bottom of the map.  The location of the Rangeley Lakes within Maine is shown in the inset at the top left of the map.

As we drove north, two things were very apparent.  First, it was clearly the peak of the "leaf peeping season" in northern Maine.  The trees were aflame.  Second, Susan Collins, who is running as the Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, has a top notch campaign team.  Everywhere we went, on our drive north, there were Susan Collins signs.  Of course, this rural area of Maine is no doubt a Republican stronghold.

As we neared Rumford, we passed the ND Paper plant.  Maine has lost much of its manufacturing, as we learned in visiting Lewiston earlier in the week.  However, this paper plant was going strong and even advertising for new workers.  I was interested to see that at least some U.S. manufacturing is flourishing!  The tailings ponds for the plant, though, looked pretty dirty.

  

There was a big statue of Paul Bunyan near the visitors center, and I thought, "Of course!"  A he-man with a big ax was right at home in the Maine woods.

In the city park there was a monument to Ed Muskie, whose Polish parents emigrated to this industrial town.  His unpronounceable Polish name was shortened, by the immigration clerks, to "Muskie."  Ed Muskie was a prominent Democratic senator who pushed through both the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act, the foundation legislation for today's environmental laws.  

Rumford also had beautiful falls, which probably supported its manufacturing with both water and electricity.

Our next stop was Coos Canyon, where we admired the beautiful gorge and stream, and stopped for an ice cream cone--maple nut, for me.

No matter how remote the New England town, it has clapboard churches and schools that look very much alike.

As we waited for our ice cream, we admired the beautiful dog of another guest.  We noticed that the cafe menu included "doggie ice cream" for $2.

Finally, we reached the overlook over the Rangeley Lakes.  The colors of leaves, water, and sky were spectacular.

As we drove into the town of Rangeley, we could see that the area was a wonderland for outdoor sports.  There were lots of cabins and B'n'Bs, and many suppliers of boats, ATVs, and ski-doos.

As we neared Kennebunk, we found a small restaurant with great food.  My seafood pasta was filled with mussels, shrimp, and scallops.