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Winter in the Western Mountains
Rangeley, located in the western mountains of Maine, is halfway between the equator and the North Pole. However, even in the summer, the equatorial aspect of this region is absent. While the temperature does not match the extremes of the North Pole, the amount of snow that falls here makes this region a haven for those who love snow sports.
Rangeley itself has only 1200 permanent residents, and the nearby town of Oquossoc, which is native American for “landing place”, has even fewer. But what these towns lack in permanent residents is more than made up for in visitors who come to this four-season area. Fishing is what put Rangeley on the map, but the advent of snowmobiling is what truly brought it year-round popularity. In addition to snowmobiling, winter visitors can enjoy downhill and cross-country skiing, snowshoeing and a visit to a very unusual museum.
Snowmobiling
A 150 mile network of trails goes right through Rangeley and connects to trails in Canada. These trails are very well-groomed, with numerous trailside accommodations, and provide an enjoyable experience for those who prefer motorized winter activity. Rangeley also hosts a lengthy season of snowmobile-related activities, including races, fairs and other special events. Snowmobiles can be rented at Dockside Sports Center, Main Street, Rangeley. Email: dockside@ctel.net.
The Maine Snowmobile Association website is www.mesnow.com
Snowshoeing
Do you want to tell people that you’ve walked the Appalachian Trail, but don’t think that you can make it from Maine to Georgia? Up here you can not only do a very nice section of the trail, but do it on snowshoes. I have snowshoed this trail numerous times and never stop being amazed by Piazza Rock, a huge, flat, boulder with no visible supports, which seems to defy gravity while handing over the trail. The trail also provides some sweeping vistas along this relatively flat, 3.6 mile round-trip portion of the AT. There are two warming huts along this section, and one even has a cribbage board, so bring a deck of cards. Snowshoes can be rented at the Alpine Shop, Main Street, Rangeley, (800) 310-3741.
Alpine Skiing
Rangeley’s Saddleback Mountain is a great place to avoid the long lift lines and crowds that are found at many other ski resorts. Although there is less snowmaking at Saddleback than at nearby Sugarloaf, the natural snowfall is pretty heavy, since Saddleback has the highest base elevation in New England. The mountain has 40 Alpine trails and five lifts, as well as 25 km of cross-country trails. For information, (207) 864-5671 or www.saddlebackskiarea.com
Cross-Country
The Rangeley Lakes Cross Country Ski Trail system includes 65 kilometers of groomed trails, meandering through forests and fields. There is also the opportunity to go off trail and onto one of the many logging roads in the area. All trails are numbered and maps and passes can be obtained at the Alpine Shop on Main Street. For further information call the Rangeley Cross Country Ski Club, (207) 864-4309.
Orgonon
The phrase “unique experience” is overused, particularly in travel writing. However, I can think of no more appropriate way to describe a visit to Orgonon, the museum celebrating the life and work of psychiatrist Wilhelm Reich, founder of the school of Reichian psychology. Although I don’t have room here to describe Reich’s research findings and beliefs, suffice it to say that his work was unusual.
This 200 acre farm, which Reich called Orgonon, includes his home and laboratories, looking much the way they did when he died (in prison) in 1957. His paper, paintings and laboratory instruments are intact and extremely interesting to explore. Orgonon is the site of frequent art, music and other creative workshops, for children and adults alike. Check ahead for the schedule, particularly in winter.
The trails and fields are also open for snowshoeing and there are children’s snowshoes available for loan. The museum is about three miles north of town on Route 17. For further information go to www.somtel.com/~wreich/ or call (207)864-3443.
Rangeley is in northwestern Maine, and can be reached by taking Route 2 out of Farmington, then continuing on Route 4, right into downtown Rangeley. Most commercial establishments are on Main Street, about a one mile strip of Route 4, prior to its intersection with Route 16, which leads to Sugarloaf. Oquossoc, which has some nice restaurants, is about a five mile ride north on Route 17. For accommodations, restaurants, maps and other information about Rangeley, go to www.rangeleymaine.com or email mtlakes@rangeley.org.
“He who rides and keeps the beaten track studies the fences chiefly.”
–Henry David Thoreau, The Maine Woods, 1853
Welcome to my Guide to Maine, very much a four seasons state. Although Henry David’s three visits to Maine were to inland Maine, the mountain and lakes regions, the majority of visitors these days follow Route One, the coastal route, and miss over ninety percent of this beautiful state.
If I do anything with these discourses, I hope it is to introduce you, the reader, to the Maine that many travelers do not know. That includes coastal towns with walkable downtowns, inland lakes favored by locals, walks and hikes in impossibly beautiful areas and, a favorite of mine, specialty railroad runs.
Getting to Maine
Unfortunately, the car is king in Maine, as there is little public transit. The typical routes into the state are Interstate 95 and Route One to coastal Maine, and Route 2 to Western Maine. Maine is bordered on the west by New Hampshire, on the northwest and north by Quebec and on the east by New Brunswick.
A visitor could also fly into Maine, either to the Portland Jetport and Bangor International Airport. There are very comfortable Concord Trailways buses, which travel from Boston’s Logan Airport, and Boston’s South Station (the bus and Amtrak terminus), to various points in Maine. (1-888-741-8686, or their website for schedules and fares).
A wonderful development in Maine transportation is the imminent return of passenger rail to Maine. Although railroads were prevalent in Maine from the mid-1800′s on, and a key factor in the popularity of Maine as a visitor destination, the advent of auto travel put an end to Maine’s passenger rail system.
However, Amtrak will be returning to Maine, most likely in early 2001. There will be a line going from Boston to Portland, Maine, with a number of stops in New Hampshire and Southern Maine.
Even more exciting, is that there are plans to extend that line up to Rockland, most likely in mid- 2002, and link it to numerous ferries traveling to Downeast Maine, the Maine islands and the Canadian Maritimes. I will keep you informed.
Telephone
The area code for the whole state of Maine is 207.
About the Author
Lynne Williams, a resident of the Rockland area, is an attorney and writer. She travels extensively throughout the United States and Canada, most often by “alternatives to airplanes”, including trains, ships, riverboats, ferries, kayaks and snowshoes.
You can contact her by email at LWILL@earthlink.net.
