Location: Mount Blue State Park; Tumbledown Mountain hike; Brook trail
Start time: 12:30pm
Expected end time: 4:30pm (ish)
Actual end time: 8:30pm
I don’t really remember exact times, but I know we set out for what we thought would be sort of an easy climb up to a sweet alpine lake, and it turned out to be a really intense hike/rock scramble, to a sweet alpine lake. So, at least the lake met expectations.
It was actually really fun, probably for everyone except my poor brother in law, who rolled his ankle toward the top of the trail, on the way down. One thing is for sure: Brady Loves Hiking. Jumping in the water, still not so much. And he’s not crazy about being lifted up and down big rock faces, but I didn’t want him to die, so.
zach was there in spirit :)
That sunset plus roasted marshmallows were great rewards for an incredibly long hiking day. The next day was nice and lazy, mostly at the beach and sitting around the camp fire. I think three nights is pretty much my max for sleeping on the ground, but I hope we can do something like that again next year, and maybe then Zach can come.
If you want to go hiking/camping in Maine, we definitely recommend Mt. Blue State Park. The camp sites were nice, water and toilets easily accessible (not Real toilets of course, but pretty nice as outhouses go), and shower facilities way exceeded expectations. The lake was an easy walk from the camp site, nice grassy lawn and then a small sandy beach. Kayak rentals only $3/hr! Maine loves you. Go visit.
Bananas, continued 
This happens to me on nearly every hike I take with my husband. Just around the bend, he says. Or just at the top of that rise. Hurumph. But the payoff, as you have foud, can be worth it and most of the time is.
My dad reliably underestimates the time for every hike we have ever done! It’s always “oh it’s a couple of hours, no big deal” and then it ends up being a solid 6 hours, straight up hill the whole time (or at least that’s how it feels for me). Now whenever I read hike-time estimates in guide books or anywhere else, I have to stop myself from automatically adding the “dad adjustment.”
That lake looks fantastic, I want to be in it right now.
the lake was really excellent. unfortunately we didn’t bring bathing suits so everyone (except me) got in in their skivvies. thankfully we got up there so late in the day we were by ourselves most of the time. I wanted to get in but Brady was dead set against it and I didn’t want to leave him tied to something, or wandering loose. still, just standing in it up to my thighs was worth the hike.
argh. now i want to go to Maine. this looks scrumptious!
I’m from Maine, this made me homesick. :( But it looks like awesomeness. Have you ever done the downstream trip on the Saco? Most.Fun.DrinkingandCamping.Ever.
No I have never done that! Sounds really fun. Maybe next summer! :)
Way late the the party, but OHMYGOODNESS! I’m sitting here catching up on blogs, about to write a blog post of my own, having just spent the weekend camping, and… can you tell where this is going? Yeah, I just camped at Mt. Blue! And hiked the Brook Trail on Tumbledown! And it was so much harder than it was supposed to be! Seriously, the leaflet thingie said “2-3 hours round trip.” Uh, no.
hahaha oh man! that’s awesome. gonna go read your story now..!
Ok, I posted my own Tumbledown story (thankfully, there was no actual tumbling) and I linked to yours. Watch out for the flood of new traffic; I hope wordpress can handle an extra FOUR PEOPLE (har, har, har). :)
I love the Zach polariod