Mt. Blue State Park

All good things come to an end; we had to have a less-than-awesome weekend camping after such a great stretch, right? Sure, not every weekend has been perfect in every way, but overall, each weekend has been a winner. This past one was a little bit of letdown; in fact, we ended up staying only one night. But let me first say this: if G and I had kids, we would have loved Mt. Blue State Park in Weld, Maine. But we don’t. And Mt. Blue is most definitely a family campground. It’s huge, with more than 130 sites. G and I camp for a few reasons: to be in nature, to seek peace and quiet, and to become a little more grounded in what really matters. We look for parks and sites that are big on privacy and seclusion. Unfortunately, we didn’t find much of either at Mt. Blue, but that very well could be the function of our site and not the park itself. After all, this summer of camping was not planned. But with Covid-19 changing the bulk of our original summer plans, we scrambled to book weekends at state parks, limiting ourselves to New Hampshire and Maine. And by the time we booked most of our reservations in late June and July, well, let’s just say we didn’t have the pick of the litter when it came to sites. We ended up with site #20, rated as extra large but situated in a corner, where from every angle we were looking at/into other sites.

Don’t get me wrong: Mt. Blue State Park (what we saw of it) is gorgeous, specifically Webb Lake. There were a ton of folks enjoying the afternoon at the beach when we arrived (which, of course, spiked my anxiety levels), but I can appreciate the draw of a warm Maine lake on a hot August day. I also learned that the edge of the water was the only place I could get cell service. And with an editing gig on deadline, I headed back to the site, grabbed my laptop, and headed back to the water to send an email. Deadline met. Crisis averted. But if you’re traveling to Mt. Blue, keep that in mind—you probably won’t have any service.

I wrote above (and have written in previous blog posts) that we prioritize privacy and quiet when we camp and, now more than ever, isolation. I think that what was tough about our site was that no matter where we looked, we were staring into someone else’s site. We didn’t have the marshy view of Winslow Memorial Park in Freeport; the trees and pond of Pillsbury State Park; the stands of trees of Gilson Pond Campground at Monadnock State Park, Camden Hills State Park, Moose Brook State Park; the babbling Pemigewasset River at Lafayette Place Campground, or the rising and falling tides at Cobscook State Park. In a lot of ways, the campground at Mt. Blue State Park reminded us a lot of the campground at Bradbury Mountain State Park—good-sized sites, but not a lot of privacy (again, at least where we were, in site #20). Folks were pretty quiet, but we certainly didn’t experience the kind of stillness and peace we’ve experienced in other places. There were trees, yes, but those didn’t provide much by way of a barrier. Even sitting and staring at the fire meant staring into someone else’s campsite. Ugh.

The highlight of our night away was, by far, the mac and cheese. I tried out this recipe and prepared everything ahead of time. Once it was time for dinner, all I had to do was heat it up. I was a little skeptical of the Alfredo sauce addition in the recipe, but it’s a winner! And since the recipe made enough for two separate pans, I have one in the freezer waiting for our next weekend away. After dinner, cribbage. G swept me, two games to zip. And I was oh-so-close. Stymied yet again.

We woke Saturday to cool, gray skies, packed everything up in near-record time (our routine only takes about 30-40 minutes TOPS), and made our way back home. Mt. Blue is only 2.5 hours from home, so we were back home by late morning. If I had any doubt that we made the right decision by leaving, those doubts evaporated as the day progressed. After a long stretch of high temperatures and oppressive humidity, the day’s cool, gray skies were a bit jarring and so different than the previous day’s sun. As we drove, rain drops pelted the windshield, and we knew we probably wouldn’t have enjoyed the day anyway. Would we return? Perhaps, but maybe late in the season. Maybe not during a pandemic. Lake Webb is gorgeous, but for us, there were just too many people and not enough privacy. But again, if we had a family or were traveling with others, there’s a lot to like. But coming off weekends at Cobscook and Winslow, well, we’ve been spoiled. We’ll see what awaits us over the next few weeks, as we’ll be visiting more Maine State Parks we’ve never been to: Peaks-Kenny, Lily Bay, and Rangeley. Here’s hoping for a little more of that Cobscook vibe.