Give me a little spare time and I'll go happily along exploring, poking around looking for places to take a hike.

Such was the case last night while in Bangor for a couple of days doing my day job. After dinner out, and with the light fading fast, I drove to Brown Woods on outer Ohio St. near the edge of town.

Trailhead for Brown Woods, off Ohio St., Bangor.
All photos by Carey Kish

I was the only car in the little dirt parking lot. Perfect.

On with the fleece vest and it was off up the trail, following a winding path through the forest of pine and hemlock, oak, ash and birch.

A pinkish hue daubed the sky between the darkened treetops. The air was cool and fresh with the spring night. Steps down the path were muffled by the soft earth.

Pathway through Brown Woods.

A half mile or so in a side trail led left over some slabs and ledges to an abandoned quarry. As I drew close the peepers let loose in earnest with their cacophony.

Gray walls of crumbling rock rose up in the background, a shallow pond rippled at my feet.

The "Chin Chat" pit. What a sight. A sight that took me back decades.

Abandoned quarry, Brown Woods.

You see, I guess I forgot to mention that the trailhead to Brown Woods is but a half mile from where I grew up for a good part of my misguided youth. Back then it was just woods, with deer trails and snowmobile trails running willy-nilly through it.

But it was my woods. My little patch of wilderness. And I knew it completely. Through years of hiking and snowshoeing and skiing and exploring.

I built my first lean-to back in there, along an old fence line. My first tree house in a sprawling white pine above a plantation of young pines, grown now into a thick forest.

I scaled the walls of the quarry, at first foolishly unroped. Then later with shiny new climbing gear that I hadn't a clue how to use.

Then I figured out the rappelling down part, and with friends, spent many hours zipping down the cliff face like bigtime mountaineers. We even set up a wild zipline and a Tyrolean traverse once.

Somewhere in here I know I used up at least a couple of my nine lives. Certainly when I fired off both barrels of a friend's shotgun at the same time and drove myself backward into a rock wall.

Kids!

Ah, those halycon days. Catching frogs. Watching birds. Climbing rocks. Wandering through the woods. Camping out under the stars. Hot dogs and canned beans over a campfire (and in later years six-packs of Schlitz and bottles of Boone's Farm and possibly other substances. But I digress...)

It all came rushing back to me in a short hour's walk through Brown Woods. Fond, fond memories of childhood fun in a special place that helped to forge this man's eternal love for the woods and curiosity for exploring.

It was dark when I reached the car, but I'm sure it couldn't hide the big grin on my face.

Life is good, ain't it?!

There's lots of cool places to hike and bike in the Bangor area, so if you're ever up that way, stop in and take a good look-see around.

What about you? Got memories of a special place outdoors that you enjoyed as a kid?