Nahmakanta Lake Wilderness and Appalachian Trail in Northern Maine
When life gives you rain, look for rainbows! Another short stay in the Nahmakanta Lake Wilderness area gave us plenty of beauty to enjoy and felt like being worlds away, despite being only a couple of hours from our home!
Another year of pandemic restrictions, we decided to return to Nahmakanta Wilderness Area for a stay in a private cabin at the Nhmaknta Lake Wilderness Camp, about 25 miles down the private Jo Mary Logging Road In 2020, we found this place to be a safe place to visit for a respite from being stuck at home after so many months. Click here to see our report from 2020 .
This year we treated our adult daughters to a stay here with us as their Christmas gift. While we hoped for them to see some moose from a canoe during an early morning moose watching excursion their stay, we only heard and saw signs of them on the trails where we hiked over the days we visited. And despite some rainy weather we were treated to a beautiful double rainbow arcing across the lake!
A bull moose from our 2020 trip; despite only hearing moose this year, our family had amazing nature experiences at NLWC.
Despite “missing” the moose sightings, our family had an amazing visit to this vast wilderness, and saw many other animals and plants as well as hiked some storied trails along the northern most Appalachian Trail.
As soon as we arrived, we noticed this bald eagle perched in a tree along the shore.
Our cabin was comfortable for four of us, with a small bedroom with 2 bunks and 3 bunks in the main living area. Each cabin has private bath facilities, and a screen porch equipped with rockers. We enjoyed the communal dinners, served in the dining room, for vaccinated guests only, distanced and with windows open, but other guests chose to have meals delivered to their cabins or make their own meals in the well equipped propane powered kitchen.
But for us, the trip was about wildlife, hiking and paddling outdoors and family bonding time.
Although many come to hunt or fish, our family loves to seek out wildlife large and small, like dew bedazzled the work of this spider.
The lake itself was the star attraction, whether whipped by winds or shrouded in mists, every day it offered something different to see. Occasionally, we’d see a heron fly out of the grass, or hear loons calling out to eachother.
Nesuntabunt at dawn
Our daughter added this entry to the cabin journal, complete with illustrations after noting how many young children stay in this large cabin with their families.