To Boldly go....Bold Coast Maine

Bold Coast Maine which is a few miles from Cutler Maine, is a rare and true beauty. Before this trip, I have been mostly backpacking on the Finger Lakes Trail and Adirondacks. This was my first trip outside the state of New York for me. I went with my brother as well as two friends from college. We spent 3 days and 2 nights at the Fairy Head campsite overlooking the magnificent Atlantic Ocean.

We stayed at a hotel at Bangor Maine before hitting the trail Friday morning. My brother and I as well as our two companions had to undergo a brutal 13 hour road trip to get there. It was everthing other than fun and not to mention the bumper to bumper traffic near Boston and Lowell Massachusetts. Even getting into Maine was pretty bad but we perserved our hardship once we saw the lucious forests of Maine.

My bro and my friend Mike hit the trail about 10 am. They took the coastal trail in towards the Fairy Head camp area. My friend Kyle and I came in around 11 am. Kyle's car's battery had some trouble, so we had to take to a shop to get it fixed. It actually was an easy fix, but on our way down we saw all these people driving out into the  bay near the Cutler Maine Militray Base  while the tide was out. We decided since we were going to be late anyways, and that my bro will have saved us a campsite, we might as well check it out. Come to find out, some of the Maine residents were digging for clams and were sellling them to some local buyers who would distribute them to bigger retail stores. Most of the men and woman that were digging were teachers, high school or college students, or even some people looking for some extra cash. It was good way to make a side income. Dig for only couple hours while the tide was out. Bring home a couple hundred dollars a day for 7 days a week. One of the kids we talked to already bought a car from a half of summers work.

The clam digging process was pretty amazing. One has to get right on their hands and knees to get them out. It's blue collar work, digging about 14 inches down in the muck to find them. I couldn't imagaine standing, back bent for 4 to 5 hours digging. The trick is to be aggressive but gentle at the same time. You have to dig deep, but the rake has the ability to smash or break the clams open. Another precaution that one should be careful of is the clams outer-casing is sharp. You can cut yourself, so you need to be careful of that as well. What most clam diggers do to get around this double-edged sword type of obstacle is scanning intently for small, pencil-sized holes. These holes, as one man was telling us could be a small depression in which is usually a case of a clam bed. Clams beds can hold 3 to 4 clams all the way up to a dozens upon dozens. Most clam diggers will put their pinky finger through these small holes to see if their is indeed some clams in their. The trick is to dig sideways to avoid crushing them if they indeed found a clam bed.

After taking our little detour on the clam diggers, it was time to hit the road again towards our destination. We didn't get to the trailhead until 11 am. We lost cell phone service 30 minutes before we even got to the trail, so we had no way to contact my brother to see if he had a spot for us. The trail head was pretty busy actually. A lot of hikers and backpackers were bustling around, getting their packs ready for a long day or weekend adventure. It was friday and I was surprised how many backpackers I ran into hiking towards the camping area who were coming back from a night or two. All I can say is that Bold Coast is bustling with hikers and backpackers, but the nice thing is you only run into them every so often. It's a big enough area where you can still find solitude in this prestine wilderness area. You might have to share some campsites however, but while we were hiking along the coastel trail and later inland, you can see a lot of areas where some backpackers had set up camp (you are technically only supposed to camp at the designated Fairy Head Landing). There is a trail log at the beginning of the trail as well. You can check to see which people are staying where and kind of get an idea how many people are Fairy Head.

Once Kyle and I were all geared up, we decided to take the coastel trail towards Fairy Head campsites. It wasn't the fastest way to get there, but we were highly anticipating the roar of the Atlantic ocean. It didn't take us long to hear it and once we got to the first lookout, we were instantly subdued by the majestic beauty and enormity of the great Atlantic Ocean. It took my brother 3 hours to get Fairy Head Landing, but it took Kyle and I 6 hours since we stopped at every lookout as well as having a nice lunch on the rocky cliffs.






(Kyle looking at the clam diggers)

Unfortunately I did not stop to take any photos in fear of not making it to our campsite that we were hoping my brother and Mike had secured for us. I often wish I had now since at the time, I thought that I would have more time to venture down the coastal trail once again. However, that did not happen since our water issue we ran into. I will explain most of that later, but right now I will show some other pictures I took around Fairy Head.

We stayed the weekend at campsite #1. It has a spectacular view from the nice rocky cliffs. You are about 20 ft above sea level looking over the ocean. At night you can hear the ocean smack against the rocks and let the nice ocean breeze sift through your tent. I highly recommend a hammock if you have one. Plenty of space to put one up. Many backpackers at the other campsites used a tarp or hammock. Make sure you check the weather forecast though. We got hit by some nice Maine rain and got soaked. Luckily we set up some tents. But if the weather is nice, I highly recommend bringing one.

Campsite 2 and 3 have a nice overlook of the ocean. However, you don't feel the solitude of campsite 1 since the Cutler Naval Base is looming over the harbor. You can see a lighthouse as well. Its pretty cool, but I prefer to be out in the wilderness. Just FYI for the campsites. Not much space for big tents, but we did manage to fit a big 4 man Kelty at campsite 1. We were cramped but we made it work. Most backpackers we saw brought small 1 to 2 man tents. They also brought tarps and just stayed under that. Kyle brought a EOS 1 Mammot tent. He fit just fine, even with our big, cramped 4 person hogging most of the space.

We ran into some water issues. We carried in 12 liters of water in since the park ranger told us bring water in. There is a stream if you take the inland trail, however I believe its a 3 mile hike to get there. I don't know what other backpackers did, but the ranger does recommend carrying in water. We ended up hiking back to the trail head to get more since we brought 2 more gallons that we saved in the car just in case. I don't have a UV pen or didn't bring any tablets to put in my water. I have a water purifier (Sawyer Squeeze) that I did not bring. There is a little pond of water near campsite 3 near the rocks. I don't know how clean that water is , but it didn't look to good.. We ended up drinking a lot of water since we scaled the cliffs once the tide went out. If I would do it over, I would probably hike to the stream to get some water. It's 3 miles there and back, but its better than hiking all the way back to the trail head which I believe it took us 4 hours (there and back). I don't remember the distance and unfortunately did not bring my GPS.

The inland trail is really nice. I must say the trails are well kept. Have log staircases, planks, bridges, etc. The coastal trail is awesome and very fun to hike. However, I caution when it's wet. Not to mention the fog near the ocean is incredibly thick and dense. But when it's sunny I believe you will want to hike the coastal trail. It's gorgeous with amazing views.



Overall, the Bold Coast was an amazing experience. I will definitely be going back there again. I highly recommend if you have the time to go out there and just admire the Atlantic Ocean. Seriously, words cannot describe the beauty and enormity. I will try to convey it in these pictures, but its nothing like the real thing. Especially at night.