One week until hiking in Maine becomes a long awaited reality! Actually leaving this coming Thursday morning, and I'm stoked, as this has been a dream of mine for years.
I'm attending the ATC hosted by MATC in Waterville, at Colby College. I did scale a few of my hikes back to account for six days of hiking, but I definitely want to hike to Avery and West Peak via Firewarden's Trail and down Horns Pond. That's a hike that I've been looking forward to. Most of my hikes will be around Bigelow, although I did sign up for a hike at Tumbledown Mountain. I may take a day off from the mountains and hike somewhere in Acadia. So, basically, to sum it up, most of the miles will be Bigelow-Carrabassett Valley and towards Caratunk/Moxie Pond.
What can I expect to see in regards to wildlife-beside dirty hikers and bugs? I understand black bears are common in Maine, what areas seem to have the most sightings for black bears? I will admit, I'm probably a typical tourist, and I would love to see a Moose. How often does someone from Kentucky see a moose, after all? What's the likelihood in seeing moose in Bigelow or Carrabassett Valley? Needless to say, I'm excited that Maine seems to be free of venomous snakes, especially after nearly planting a foot on a Copperhead at Virgin Falls in Tennessee two weeks ago.