This Labor Day (2007) Kathy and I decided to go to Maine on vacation. Kathy had only been to the southern reaches of Maine in college, and I had never been but always wanted to go. With Kathy being 6.5+ months pregnant we decided this was the perfect opportunity to do something lighter instead of our usual western wilderness vacations.

We spent the first five days of our vacation in Baxter State Park (BSP) in the Maine North Woods. BSP is renowned by New England hikers as being a must visit location, and is widely regarded as one of the last true wilderness experiences in New England. The remainder of our Maine adventure was spent traversing the Maine Coast from roughly Lubec, ME to Acadia National Park. This region of Maine is often referred to as "Downeast & Acadia". Our Downeast & Acadia plans included hiking the Cutler Coast (a.k.a. The Bold Coast) which is a wonderful hike along the craggy Maine coastline, with the remaining three days spent in Acadia National Park.

The favorite parts of our Maine vacation were car camping in BSP with all the luxuries of home, hiking the Traveler Loop in BSP, hiking the Cutler Coast, and playing in the tidepools of Acadia National Park. Maine is truly a wonderful location for an outdoor vacation, and offers tremendous diversity including mountains and sea.