Upper Falls at The Cataracts, Andover, Maine

 

My favorite Maine hikes are always chasing waterfalls. Today I went with the always-fun Bionic Yowie, We've been friends since high school (and that is a loooong time ago!) but only recently started hiking together. 

There are two trailheads close together on East B Hill Road in Andover. We did Dunn Falls a couple of weeks ago; today was The Cataracts Trail. The Cataracts is the easier of the two. 
It was a perfect day for hiking, sunny but not too warm. I almost wished it had been warmer, though, because this trails includes several swimming holes. 

All in all a beautiful trail on a beautiful day. 

Sometimes you're driving down a road in Maine...

...and the cars ahead swerve out of their lane, but you can't see anything in the road. When you get up there, you see why: a snapping turtle is trying to cross!

This happened to us on Saturday. I find them to be fearsome beasts; luckily Doug is braver than I & gave this grande dame a lift across the road. If there was any doubt where the name comes from, it became very obvious, as she tried her damndest to bite his fingers off. He lifted her by placing his hands as far back on her shell as possible, just forward of her hind legs, and still she almost got him.

Once safely across the road, she continued to glare (in a dignified way) but stayed long enough for a photo before lumbering away.

The View From Black Mountain

Summit view

When you're self-employed, there are no set bounds on your working hours. As a result, you can find yourself just always working. In October the year I turned 50 I realized I had let an entire, precious Maine summer go by without a single outdoor adventure.
To avoid a repeat, my husband and I started a tradition: we will plan something fun together for his birthday, in mid-July; our anniversary, at the end of July; and for my birthday, in August. We might have more, but we never have less than three summer-fun days.

For Doug's birthday, he wanted to hike black mountain, to examine the exposed ledge at the summit for beryl crystals. I can't say I recommend this hike,

Doug, trudging to the summit

unless you, too, are interested in Maine minerals; it's a very steep round-stone road, and not especially pretty. The view from the top, though: that was amazing.

Didn't see much wildlife, surprisingly - not even birds, except two very startled - and startling - partridges. Well - and a lot of deer flies, and some weird looking shiny-black flies, wide as AMC Pacers. I think maybe they were tachinid flies? Pretty freaky looking, anyway.

Black Mountain is home to one of Maine's icons, however - we didn't encounter a moose but we saw clear evidence they had been there: 

The walk down was, unsurprisingly, more pleasant. Here's a view of Roxbury pond, seen coming down the mountain:

We finished the day with a stop at Rowe's Afternoon Delite, a classic Maine roadside stand for burgers & onion rings. I wanted scallops but they only take cash! There's a sign saying where they nearest ATMs are but honestly I didn't want scallops that badly, so I settled.

Moxie Falls, Moxie Gore Township

The trouble with photographing waterfalls is that you can't really get a sense of the scale of the thing. Rocks can be any size. Trees and branches have a pretty broad range, too. In this photo, the tiny little people to the top right of the falls are key to get an idea of the immensity of the drop.
Moxie Falls, in the township of Moxie Gore, plummets an incredible 90+ feet. That's three times the height of my house. The pool at the bottom of the falls is nearly 17 feet deep but I wouldn't recommend a dive.

If you aren't from Maine, you probably think of the word moxie as a anachronistic synonym for spunk or courage. This comes from the soft drink made in Maine, which in turn took its name from a patent medicine which claimed to build up one's nerve. This was before the FDA was created, when companies could make all the unfounded medical claims they wanted! But hey, how about that Big Government tyranny, amirite?

But I digress.

In Maine, the name Moxie is associated with a stretch of water feeding into the Kennebec River - Moxie Pond, Moxie Stream, Moxie Falls. It seems to derive from an Abenaki word meaning "dark water." The soft drink takes its name from the region, and adjective comes from the soft drink.

The trail leading into the falls is a relatively easy hike. It's wide and flat most of the way, but does include some steep staircases as you approach the falls. There are wooden viewing decks from which the view is maintained by Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands - they trim back branches and brush to keep it clear. By which I mean, don't crawl out on the ledge trying to get a better view!

A Maine man, Garth Coon, was killed 2005 when his companion, who had been swimming in a pool

near the top of the falls got swept away by the current. He tried to save her, but they were both pulled over. Though badly injured, she lived; sadly, he did not. 

There is a much, much safer swimming hole upstream, within the series of small drops known as Junior Falls. The day we were there a youth group was enjoying it, splashing around, sitting on the natural bench the ledge makes just under the falls. 

This pool is also pretty deep - people were doing cannonballs from a low ledge on the far side. It's a fast-running stream pretty deep in the woods - the water is clean and clear. The hike, while not arduous, is sort of a self-selecting mechanism; most people who are willing to walk that far into the woods to take a swim are also the sort who wouldn't leave beer cans and other trash around. 

It's a pretty drive to Moxie Gore, and the area gets a goodly lot of visitors to hunt, fish, canoe, and tube. (Bullfrog Adventures will take you on a gorgeous, safe, and surprisingly cheap tubing trip.) As a result there are several little restaurants and brew pubs on 201 for you to grab a bite & a pint on the way home. 

Mama Moose & Babies

Taken near Moosehead Lake. Totally sweet, and also DRIVE CAREFULLY in the wooded parts of Maine.