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| The APCs with Katahdin in Distance, from Rainbow Ledges |
On a recent long weekend jaunt up to Maine, my brother, nephew and I chose to do a short loop hike in the Debsconeag Lakes Wilderness as a warm up hike before a bigger outing in Baxter State Park. I don't get to Maine too often. But my brother needed to pick up a Grand Laker canoe that he had purchased for restoration and we decided to turn it into a hiking trip. We booked a cabin on South Twin Lake just south of Millinocket as our base of operations.
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| Dawn at the Cabin on South Twin Lake |
The Debsconeag was an appropriate choice for a hiking trip tied to a canoe pickup -- the Indian word means "Carrying Place," a name bestowed on the area because of the many lakes and ponds requiring portages between them. It's a fabulous place to hike, off the beaten path and devoid of the hoards that we expected to see in Baxter State Park the next day. We had the hike pretty much to ourselves with the exception of a couple of campers in the backcountry and a part of three in the parking lot as we were leaving.
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| Confusing Trail Sign at Rainbow Pond Parking Area |
The trails aren't really named very well and the signage is confusing, but we had the AMC Maine Mountains map and knew how to tackle it. It is basically a loop with an optional out and back spur to Rainbow Pond at the end. We did the hike in a counter clockwise direction, with the first destination being Horserace Pond. The trail has the pleasant sound of Horserace Brook all the way to the pond, which is a spectacular place. We pulled a "leaner" on some slanted boulders on the southern shore for a nice late morning coffee break.
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| Horserace Pond |
After the pond, the trail makes a long but easy climb to the Rainbow Ledges, which offer great views to Kathadin in the distance and the many water bodies that gave the Debsconeag its name. We took a second break on the ledges and then undertook a long descent back into the valley, happy to have found a lesser trafficked trail that definitely deserves another visit.
Peak: Rainbow Ledges
Elevation: 1,504 feet
Distance: 6 miles
Route: Loop, Horserace Brook Trail; Outlook Trail, Blue Trail
Conditions: Partly sunny, 60 degrees F
