Braving Dragon-Country for a Trek into the Maine Wilderness
Cultivating nature-connectedness in Western Maine
Crammed into the back of my family’s little yellow station wagon, my 10 year-old self watched out the windows as the mountains loomed on the horizon. With every bend in the road, every dip and hill crested, the blue-gray peaks drew closer, or rather, we drew closer to them.
Having recently purchased a piece of raw property “up north”, the whole family was going there to begin work clearing the site of our future home. The eldest of 3, I had been relegated to the back, all manner of equipment and provisions packed in around me. Yet, in spite of the close confines and the long suffering car-ride, I was oblivious to it all. Transfixed by those graceful peaks in the distance, I hung on every tantalizing glimpse.
When, at last, we crested the high hill and the forested landscape opened up for an expansive view, I was lost entirely. There, the western Maine mountains lay splayed on the horizon. A long line of gracefully rugged peaks rising from a sea of wilderness, under a sky so clear and blue it almost hurt the eyes to look upon it.
I fell in love that day─head over heels─and since then I’ve never wanted to live anywhere else.
The Maine Wilderness
Descended from a long line of Maine-natives, my family moved from the Central Interior region to the Western Mountain region after that first foray. We settled in the unorganized township of Salem, where I lived and attended school under the imposing view of Mt Abrahm.
My adolescence was spent running amuck in the Maine wilderness. During the winter we played in the snow, built snowforts, went sledding and ice fishing. In the summer we picked berries in secret wild places, climbed trees, caught frogs, and rode our bikes up and down, and up and down the hillsides. We swam in the icy Carrabassett River, fed by the many small brooks and streams coming down from Spaulding and Reddington Mountains, coming down from Mount Bigelow.
Bigelow.
There Be Dragons
Just thinking of that mountain brings tears to my eyes in an overwhelming sense of love and gratitude. That I should exist in such a world with Mount Bigelow and the Bigelow Preserve…
Lying on the northerly end of this chain of mountains, Mount Bigelow is─in my opinion─the crowning jewel of Maine’s western mountains. Spared from development in the 70’s and protected by the establishment of the Bigelow Preserve & Flagstaff Lake Public Lands, this pristine wilderness beckons me. Never have I ever wanted to live anywhere but right here near these mountains─near Bigelow.
Sadly, the majority of people who come to visit Maine never set eyes upon those austere ridges. In fact, I’m quite certain that most tourists believe anything beyond the coastal regions of the state is either a barren wasteland or it’s so wild and untamed that there be dragons still roaming there today.
This both pleases and annoys me, lol. If everyone knew of the paradise up north, they would surely assimilate the wildness into the same crowded and commercialized tourist-trap that our lovely coastline has become. Yet, to overlook such beauty and grandeur seems a great travesty.
Nature Calls
For those who dare venture further into the interior of the state, it’s the freedom to stretch-out, I think, that’s so appealing. It’s that burning need deep inside you to break free from the restrictions imposed upon us by society─to escape the constant noise coming from so many electronics and contraptions surrounding us.
It’s the need for connection to the natural world around us. The thing which makes you want to leave it all behind to go camping, hiking, fishing─or whatever outdoor activity speaks to your individual soul.
Nature calls to them. Just as it calls to me.
Cultivating Connection at Runamuk Acres
Part of my work at the Runamuk Acres Conservation Farm revolves around fostering that sense of nature-connectedness in whomever I can reach. I want to share this special place with visitors in hopes of cultivating a greater understanding, appreciation and tolerance for wild things.1
Research demonstrates that connectedness to nature is an important predictor of environmentally responsible behavior. Only through nature-connectedness can someone be motivated to protective and self-sacrificing behavior.2
Runamuk’s FarmstayBnB
When I first began hosting guests through Airbnb, I admit it was an act of desperation. I needed the money. As a solo-farmer and single-mom homeschooling a teenaged son, I needed that extra income. I still need it. Taking an off-farm job means that I am neither farming nor parenting, and I’m not willing to sacrifice either of those things at this point in my life.
Having had several bad experiences with long-term housemates, I found the clientèle we receive by hosting short-term stays is a better fit. What’s more, it’s allowed me to develop this environmental-education aspect of the farm that I might otherwise have not done. Runamuk’s farmstayBnB allows me to promote farm-fresh, local food and wildlife conservation simultaneously and on a very personal level, too.
What I Wanted
In my recent post “How I Bought a Farm With NO Money”, I talked about the long and arduous journey I endured to achieve farm-ownership. When I finally was able to go farm-shopping, I think the Universe must have been watching out for me, because the house where we now reside was not my first choice.
In fact, I really disliked the odd appearance of this Mansaard-style structure. I also knew full-well that the more house you have, the more house you have to heat─and clean. What’s more, despite the fact that the town of New Portland is less a town than a hamlet (and an extremely rural one at that), the property was still too much in-town for my liking.
Naturally, I wanted the classic New England farmhouse on a remote mountainside with 150 acres of mature growth forests. The one with the rustic red barn and the gnarly apple orchard out back. From an artistic stand point, the Swinging Bridge Farm was creative gold. It didn’t matter to me that it would have been a much harder slog to farm there. I didn’t care that the house was something out of the late 1800’s and still had the outhouse to prove it. That only made me love it more.
Unfortunately, one of the downsides to a government loan is the long drawn-out closing process because of the many hurdles that must be overcome to reach Closing Day. We were 6 months in before that old farmhouse failed one of its many inspections, disqualifying it from the program. I was heartbroken, but to save my once-in-a-lifetime shot at farm-ownership I scrambled to find another property that would meet all of the USDA’s requirements. That’s how we ended up here. At 344 School Street in New Portland, Maine.
That chapter of my life reminds me of Mamma Odi in Disney’s The Princess and the Frog… I think the Universe stepped in and said, “Now, Sam─that rickety old farmhouse might be what you want, but it’s NOT what you need.”
What I Needed
Dating back to 1901 with 6 big bedrooms and an attached barn, the house we now live in is ideal for my purposes. Of course it provides a comfortable home for my son and I, but what the house really does is provide a space for all of my many endeavors. And there are many, lol.
We have a Craft Room with multiple stations set up for creating. An office. A “Propagation Room” with grow racks and lights set up for starting seedlings in the dead of winter. The attached barn houses my little woodworking shop, and all of my winter hay is stored in the loft above. There’s even a garage to store all of my garden and livestock equipment.
The property itself is particularly well-suited to my needs also. We have 3 acres open for cultivation and a 10 acre pasture for grazing animals. Beyond that I have a 40-acre forest I’ve contracted to the US government for the express purpose of conservation for the next 50 years. The fact that we’re just a stone’s throw from the main thoroughfare makes the farm is easily accessible to customers and travelers.
Whenever I stop to think about where I could have ended up and how much harder that would have made a task that’s already tremendous in it’s own right, a surge of gratitude overwhelms me. Any doubts I ever had about cosmic energy or divine forces are long gone. This house and it’s ragged acreage may not have been the farm I wanted, but it was exactly what I needed. Someone was looking out for me.
A Perfect Launching Point
At the southern foot of the western Maine mountain range and just 800 yards off route 16, Runamuk Acres is a perfect launching point for recreational activities in every direction.
From the farm, it’s a 30-minute drive northward to Sugarloaf for some of the best downhill skiing on the eastern seaboard. Wanna go white water rafting? An hour’s drive northeast to the Forks will have you launching on the mighty Kennebec River.
Maybe you enjoy hiking or birdwatching? We have trails galore, in addition to the nearby Appalachian Trail and the Maine Huts & Trails system at the edge of the Bigelow Preserve.
Fishing or hunting? Yeah, we got that.
Snowmobiling is still popular in the area, with miles of interconnected trails running throughout the state and a big shindig over in Rangeley every winter. From the farm, guests can directly access the local ITS trail for a day of sledding in the depths of the Maine wilderness.
Fat-biking is fairly popular in the Kingfield and Carrabassett Valley areas, with a Maine chapter of the New England Mountain Bike Association. Locals are dedicated to maintaining trails and there are sponsored events that bring enthusiasts from near and far.
Sometimes, though, there’s no better medicine than that of a Sunday drive. With so many epic spots to see, touring the Western Mountain region is a great way to unwind and take in the beauty of nature. The Maine Scenic Byways will take you on a journey through rural Maine. Explorers can stop along the way to take in sights like Smalls Falls, Height of Land, the Kennebec River Gorge, the Chain of Lakes, Quill Hill, Moxie Falls, and much, much more.
That’s not even getting into some of the lesser-known sights to see, like Dagget Rock, the historic Wire Bridge and the Stanley Museum─home to the inventors of the Stanley steam engine─just to name a few.
An Authentic Farm Experience
There is a trend in the accomodations industry where investors will purchase old farms and homesteads and turn them into a bed and breakfast. Typically, these are more of a hobby-farm or a “gentleman’s farm”, little more than a few animals to draw the tourists to an idylic setting. The accomodations or event-venues are the real focus of those businesses.
At Runamuk, we’re an honest-to-goodness farm, growing food to feed our family and community. When guests come to Runamuk Acres, they’re getting an authentic farm experience. People are often surprised by that when they arrive here.
I’ll be the first to admit that a farmstay at Runamuk not going to be the right fit for everyone. I have no cozy cottage set apart from the main house to offer. Our guest room is inside the family home, at the back of the house and at the top of a steep and narrow staircase. It does not have it’s own bathroom.
Yet, with the common spaces separating guests from family living spaces, the house is laid out in such a way that allows plenty of privacy for us all. Aside from the inconvenience of having to go downstairs in the night to pee, I think what the farm offers intrinsically makes up for those things it lacks. And if someone is sour about it because they didn’t fully read the Airbnb listing when booking their stay, I am usually able to win them over with my fabulous farm-to-table breakfasts.
Mostly, we receive guests who are using Runamuk as a launching point to whatever adventure they’ve planned for themselves. We’re also about halfway between southern New England and Canadian regions over the border, so we frequently host travelers coming or going to Ontario, Montreal, and Quebec.
Sometimes folks come just to immerse themselves in the farm. These are my favorite visitors.
They come to escape the city, to step away from the chaos of their day-to-day existence. To revel in nature, soaking in the sights and smells, watching the birds flit about and getting personal with the livestock. They come with a keen longing to have someone pamper them for a weekend, and I am happy to give that to them.
Over the last 4 years, we’ve hosted visitors from all over the world. I’ve had guests from Argentina (they were farmers, just like me!), the French Alps, Germany, and all parts of the States. Runamuk Acres is connecting people with farm-life, nature and the Maine wilderness on an intimate level─person to person. It’s a magical thing and I’m both grateful and inspired to be in such a position to affect change at the ground level.
Braving Dragon-Country
Perhaps, like
, you have “Stuck-in-the-same-condo-for-7-years Fever” and you’re feeling the distinct urge to leave it all behind. Maybe you have too many housemates and just need to decompress somewhere quiet. Or maybe you’re feeling that pull which only grows louder and stronger within our souls, until we heed nature’s call.I bid you to consider braving dragon-country, because if you’ve visited Maine, but only saw the coastal regions, then you haven’t truly seen Maine at all. Immerse yourself in the wilds of nature. Go north.
Find Runamuk’s FarmstayBnB on Airbnb or contact the farm directly to book as stay with us at a discount. No hard feelings if a farmstay isn’t your cup of tea─AirBnB lists a multitude of options for quaint and cozy cabins in the area. You’ll probably get your own bathroom─but you’ll miss out on my pancakes. Just sayin’.
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Have you ever visited Maine? Leave a comment below to share your favorite part!
The Importance of connection to nature in assessing environmental enducation programs - Cynthia McPherson Frantz.
Samantha! It sounds fabulous. We're I not on the other side of the country I'd book a stay!
Wishing to know how to share this !!