Any weekend that I can head out of town with a carload of hiking gear, golf clubs, kayak and mountain bike just has to be a good one.

The car loaded to the gills and ready for any and all adventures...

And so it was a week ago when I traveled north to Branch Lake in Ellsworth for the annual summer gathering of my old college friends from the University of Maine (with at least one other Bangor High grad thrown in for good measure).

We call this event "Big Deck" and have been having fun with it for 15 years. I wouldn't miss it for the world.

Why "Big Deck"?

Well, because we're not that creative I guess. The first year we held the event it was at a cottage with a 'big deck' overlooking Southwest Harbor. And so it stuck. Even after we moved the gathering to Kathy's camp on Branch Lake--which has a smaller deck-- the next year (and every year thereafter). But we certainly weren't going to rename the event "Small Deck"!

My friend Kathy's camp (with deck) on Branch Lake, a small corner of paradise.

The Big Deck gang relaxes at lakeside.

Besides, Big Deck follows suit with the other traditional events my warped college friends and I are so fond of. Like Big Chill, the original, and our annual winter adventure to northern New Hampshire with skiing at Burke Mountain in Vermont. Then there's Big Game, another name for UMaine Homecoming each fall. And Big Fart (an event replaced by Reggae Weekend), our spring skiing weekend at the Loaf, named for Ben's infamous gas-inducing mystery meat casserole.

Back to Big Deck...

I started off the long weekend with a sweet solo hike up Mansell and Bernard Mountains on the western side of Mount Desert Island. Cool forest of spruce and fir, nice views of the ocean and the east side of Acadia, and not another soul around. I like that.

View of Southwest Harbor from Mansell Peak, Acadia National Park.

Lupines along Route 102A, Southwest Harbor.

Then it was up to the lake to meet up with the gang and have some serious fun. And we did. For two very full days.

We made multiple forays up and down the lake in kayaks, played a round of bad golf, waterskiied, swam, mountain biked, laughed and laughed, ate and ate and ate, watched bald eagles and great blue herons sweep by, lounged in the sun, admired the spectacular sunsets, lazed by the fire, and fell asleep to the sound of loons wailing on the water.

Taking a break from paddling on Branch Lake.

Paddling under the setting sun on Branch Lake.

It's an idyllic place, and with a great group of friends, you don't ever want to leave. In fact, part of me is still there now...