INTO THE WILD

Among the payoffs for participants in L.L. Bean’s Outdoor Discovery Programs trip to Baxter State Park: grand summit views from South Branch and Black Cat mountains.

Discovering the beauty of Baxter State Park with Maine’s most iconic adventure outfitter, L.L. Bean

STORY AND PHOTOS BY IAN ALDRICH

It was a cool morning in early September, just after daybreak. I stood at the river’s edge, rubbing and clapping my hands as I tried to overcome my hesitation. And boy, did I need to.

For the past three days I’d been camping and hiking with seven others in Baxter State Park, amid one of the biggest uninterrupted stretches of wilderness in the Northeast. All that outdoor living necessitated a refresher, which is why on our final day I awoke at dawn and marched to the river, ready to make the plunge ... until I wasn’t.

Because the water looked colder than advertised, I instead took a seat on the rocks and remained there in an almost meditative state. In my defense, the setting had something to do with it: A morning mist was rising off the glassy waters, birds were chattering somewhere behind me, and in the near distance the early touches of fall color had descended on the landscape. As it had at other times over the past few days, the world felt not just still, but also remarkably sane.

I know I wasn’t the only one who’d reached that conclusion.

Over the course of the long weekend, our group had toured a slice of

Baxter on a guided trip with L.L. Bean’s Outdoor Discovery Programs. Along the way, we received a primer on park history via a Baxter historian, gained some valuable campsite know-how, and feasted on food our two trip leaders made from scratch. (Our first dinner: marinated salmon with potatoes, salad, green beans, and hot gingerbread topped with whipped cream.)

We were a small but varied bunch. There were two longtime friends on an annual girls’ weekend, a middle-aged couple looking to reacquaint themselves with camping. And then there was me and my buddy Adar.

There was nothing extreme about any of us—making us, in short, exactly the kind of crew that the Outdoor Discovery Programs cater to.

Our trip began early on Friday at the Bean headquarters in Freeport. After the meet-andgreets with the trip leaders, both Registered Maine Guides, we hopped into cargo vans and headed north. Three hours later, we were setting up tents and laying out sleeping bags at our park site.

The strength of these trips is in what you don’t have to wrestle with. Show up on time, pack warm clothes and maybe a book—these are the things you’re responsible for. The rest—equipment, reservations, planning—is taken care of. And no matter how early you wake up, you can bet the coffee is already going.

All of this freed us up to focus on our surroundings. Our first full morning, we broke camp after breakfast and spent the next six hours scaling two small peaks, which paid off with stunning views of Mount Katahdin, Maine’s highest mountain, moving in and out of the clouds. The following day we were back in the woods, scampering along a trail that cut beside a river. Resting on a series of rocks atop a waterfall, we took in the sights below as we refueled on local cheeses, breads, and crackers.

Could we have done this if we’d arranged the trip by ourselves? Of course. The hikes weren’t complicated; the waterfall wasn’t some secret destination. But there was something refreshing about camping and exploring with a group of strangers. When you’re thrown together around a campfire or while logging a few hours on a trail, camaraderie builds. There’s a shared experience to draw from. You feel as though you’ve been through something, even if “roughing it” just means finding a polite way of asking for seconds of the gingerbread.

Clearly, an Outdoor Discovery Programs trip isn’t boot camp. And if I really had wanted to hang at the campsite all four days, I could have. There was time to be alone. To read, to stroll, to just unwind. Which is how I found myself on the edge of that creek one early morning, willing myself into some wickedly frigid water—and finding exactly the right kind of refresher that I needed before making my return to the everyday world.

For information on L.L. Bean Outdoor Discovery Programs, go to llbean.com and click on “Outdoor Programs.”

clockwise from left: A cooked-from-scratch camp breakfast; taking a moment to warm up by the fire before a day of hiking in Maine’s largest state park; exploring pools and waterfalls on a forest ramble.