Guess what we did a few days ago. We visited the Sugarloaf Outdoor Center here in Maine. Why? Because I took Laura out to a birthday lunch at Longfellow’s in Kingfield and the outdoor center is right up the road in Carrabassett. It’s only a 15-20 minute drive farther north on Rt. 27, so I figured, “What the heck. Let’s do it.”
Birthdays are always better if the person celebrating the birthday is taken out for a special day. My goal is to do more of that. The issue with Laura and me is, we’ve been together for a good long time. Activities fall by the wayside. Things become comfortable. “I’m going to take you out someplace fun for your birthday this year,” I’d say. “Okay, that sounds great,” she’d reply. And then the day of, “It’s cool if we just stay in today. It’s kind of windy out there.” And then we both stay in and do exactly what we did the day before, whatever that was. It’s classic and this sort of occurrence takes effort to overcome. So that’s what I did this year – I put in some effort, refused the offer to stay in and we had an interesting time exploring something new and eating a nice lunch. After that, we jogged over to Annie’s for a couple of cups of coffee for the ride home. That’s what I initially wanted – the coffee. They were the impetus behind the entire trip. Everything else was fluff. (Not really.)
This is what we encountered upon entering the outdoor center drive.
Talk about a winter wonderland. More on that below.
I checked Google Earth to see what we’d be in store for at the outdoor center. I wasn’t sure where exactly it was located, so I thought it might be helpful to get some sort of a street view to assist. Doing that actually did help. For some reason, my brain sometimes needs this type of support.
A few years ago, a gentleman from either Anson or Emden (I can’t remember which one) visited us at the house. He was interested in us watching his dog for a few days while he was at work. He explained that he was in charge of keeping the ice skating rink cleared of snow and smoothed and ready for skating. Laura and I thought his story was fascinating because we weren’t aware that an ice skating rink even existed at Sugarloaf. The man told us, “Oh yes, it’s located right at the Sugarloaf Outdoor Center,” he said. Which, of course, gave me pause because I wasn’t aware there was an outdoor center either. Just goes to show how much I know. Either way, it took Laura and me three or four years to make it up that way. I thought it’d be neat to check out the rink, the center, and I also wanted to drive through a small neighborhood of mountain cottages. Cottages located at the bases of ski mountains are always very nice to be around, so I thought taking advantage of our time up north doing that would be time well spent. Unfortunately, the destination cottages I had in mind never came to fruition. I missed the road entirely. We did, however, visit an alternate neighborhood, which I’m sure was just as good. Everything else was visited as intended though, which was super cool.
The drive to Sugarloaf was fairly uneventful. The wind was active during the morning hours, but began to fade by the time we passed through Kingfield. As we approached Carrabassett and Sugarloaf though, conditions changed dramatically. It was like we had entered another state entirely. Snow began falling, the winds picked up once again, and the trees were covered with snow left by a previous storm. Needless to say, we were loving it. The scene gave us the ultimate winter vibe. Freezing cold, blustery, and a beautiful base of hard packed snow – covering everything, even the parking lot.
I was reminded of the last time I visited Mount Snow in Vermont. It gets unnervingly frigid up there too.
You already saw the drive into the center. I didn’t take many more photos, but I did manage to grab one of the skating rink.
The rink was closed because of terrible conditions. The aforementioned storm not only dumped snow, but it also dumped rain. Those things coupled with warm and then bitter cold temperatures froze the resulting slush into nearly solid, albeit lumpy and bumpy, ice. The men who were charged with keeping the rink cleared and up to snuff had their hands full. It took multiple days, but they got the job done. A day after we visited, that is.
We visited the interior of the outdoor center and chatted with an employee for about 15 minutes. It was explained to us that there was a retail store available, which sold snow shoes, cross country skis, outdoor clothing, and a few other items. Outside, besides the skating rink, there was an entire trail network available as well. One upon which to use the gear one might purchase inside. Most importantly though, the center offered the most stunning view of Sugarloaf Mountain. The employee led us to the view and Laura and I captured some photos. It’s a shame there was a big snow squall cloud directly in front of the mountain though. We could barely see the trails. Also, just past the birch tree is a frozen, snow covered pond. I’m guessing we would have had better luck with our photography during the autumn.
If you squint your eyes and really stare, you can see the trails in the distance, just above the pine trees.
Basically, we hung around for a while taking photos and then we left. My stomach was growling and I was ready for lunch. As we headed down the hill from the center though, I snagged one more photo. This is the Adaptive Outdoor Education Center (AOEC) and it encompasses a giant yurt, which is what I was actually taking a photo of.
People who live in Maine, for some reason, love yurts, so I thought I’d share. If I had the chance, I’d certainly enjoy touring one to see how I like it as well.
After we left, we toured that neighborhood I mentioned above, visited the Carrabassett Animal Hospital (because I had some questions about my cat), drove south to Kingfield, ate lunch, and then visited the gas station (Annie’s) across the street for some coffee. All in all, I’d say the day was a success. Next up, I think we’ll head out to Conway, New Hampshire again. I’m getting a hankering for a nice winter visit to the White Mountains. Until next time!
