The hike...

Saturday seemed liked a good day for a drive up Route 113 and a hike on Peary Mountain in Brownfield, one of the last "to-do's" on my list in that area.

The road in late morning was nearly empty and the ride most enjoyable, with time to think and look around and relax a bit.

A few miles past the intersection with Route 160 I turned off to the left on Farnsworth Road and followed the progressively rougher track for another 1 1/2 miles its end at the Little Saco River.

That's where the trail to Peary starts, on the left and thruough a gate.

It's an old woods road for nearly a mile, nice walking at a moderate grade.

The spring air was fresh and thick and smelled great. A bubbling stream kept me company for part of the way, as did black-capped chickadees and white-throated sparrows and the occasional woodpecker.

After crossing through a log yard the trail tops out at a saddle, a old stone foundation on the left and a fireplace with two stone benches on the right.

I left the jeep track here and followed cairns left uphill on a footpath. The going got steeper above with some scramblimng necessary over slippery slabs.

On the trail to Peary Mountain, Brownfield.
All photos by Carey Kish

Views opened up to the west and voila! The south summit. Complete with a big stone bench and look out to the cone of Kearsarge North and the Whites, mostly obscured by gray clouds.

Atop the south summit of Peary Mountain.

I was excited to try out my new lightweight backpacking tripod so I immediately got to work setting things up.

But after only a few test shots the camera batteries died. So I swapped in a new set and... the camera refused to work, period. With the lens fully extended.

Hmmm. Not good.

I tinkered in vain for awhile and then gave up. And sat down for lunch and drank in the quiet of the mountaintop.

I decided to skip the trek over to the north summit--a hike for another day--and headed home, bent on returning my dead camera.

Once home, and just for yucks, I popped a brand new set of batteries. And of course, the camera came immediately to life, all functions normal!

Dumbass. The spare set of batteries I'd had with me on the trail were old, dead ones.

OK now, repeat after me: "I will test my camera batteries before setting out on the trail. I will test my batteries..."

The bikes...

Sunday was all about bikes (and some rain too) at the Great Maine Bike Swap at USM in Portland, a bigtime fundraising eevnt organized by the Bicycle Coalition of Maine.

A huge crowd waited to get into the Great Maine Bike Swap at USM last Sunday.

More than 1,100 people showed up to check out a wide selection of used bikes: road bikes, mountain bikes, kid's bikes, classic bikes, hybrid bikes.

The Bike Swap featured hundreds of used bikes for sales at good prices.

In addition to a great selection of bikes for sale at very reasonable prices, there were a host of bike-related vendors on site and a full schedule of workshops throughout the day.

All-in-all it was a fun day that was all about bikes! Time to hop on and ride!

If you missed this year's bike swap, make a note on your calendar for next spring. It's likely to be even bigger and better.

1,100 people crowded the USM gym looking for a good deal on a used bike.

Jeff Miller, Executive Director mof the Bicycle Coaltion of Maine, and Maine's #1 bicycle advocate, yucks it up with bike swappers .

A week ago Friday--an unexpected bonus day off for Veteran's Day--I shouldered my pack with trail goods for the day and dashed out the door a little before 8:30 AM. I passed by my car, ducked into Baxter Woods and headed for Forest Avenue.

My semi-warped plan: To hike as many Portland area trails as I could using only the METRO bus system.

Why do that and leave my perfectly good car behind in the driveway?

Easy.

Even a road warrior like me gets tired of driving. And since I was staying local why not use the local bus to get around?

A novel concept, eh?

Not really.

You can reach nearly every trail and preserve in the Portland Trails system by public transportation, using either the METRO or South Portland bus.

The bus is inexpensive, efficient, easy to use, saves on gas, is good for the environment, and it's downright entertaining. And you let someone else do the driving and traffic-hassling.

With that in mind, off I went on my bus and trail journey.

What a day it was!

All told, over the course of 8 hours:
* I took 6 METRO bus rides, utilizing the #2, #7, #5, and #4 buses.
* Hiked 12 on-trail miles while visiting 7 different trails and preserves: Gilsland Farm in Falmouth; Stroudwater Trail, Fore River Sanctuary, Capisic Pond Trail, Eastern Prom Trail, Back Cove Trail and Baxter Woods in Portland.
* And I walked 3 on-street miles through the city.

By the time I got home in early evening I was pretty tuckered. But happily so, having visited many of the most quiet and scenic natural places in Greater Portland.

Here's a quick photo tour of my METRO-Portland Trails hiking adventure...

METRO signs indicates stopping points and route numbers.

Fellow travelers getting on board at the Downtown [Portland] Transportation Center or "Pulse."

On the trip to Maine Audubon in Falmouth.

The Presumpscot River estuary from North Meadow, Gilsland Farm.

Buffalo grass swaying in the stiff November wind.

Portland Trails sign at the Stroudwater Trailhead, Outer Congress St.

Along the banks of the placid Stroudwater River.

Tumbling Jewell Falls in the Fore River Sanctuary.

Cattails bordering Capisic Pond.

The golden needles of a tamarack, Capisic Pond.

Along the Eastern Prom Trail on the edge of the Old Port.

A colorful old boxcar.

Gulls at East End Beach.

A favorite spot for alternative artists.

Sunset over I-295 and Back Cove.

The last bus pulls away at the close of a long fun day...

Do you spend much time hiking the urban trails of the Portland Trails system? Ever use public transportation to get around?

The very first hut in the new 180-mile Maine Huts & Trails system has finally been approved for Carrabassett Valley.

A hut on the ground will establish a real presence and give the project the added momentum it needs to move forward.

Skiers, hikers and mountain bikers alike, from Maine and away, are really going to enjoy this world class trail system which will one day extend from the Moosehead Lake region to the Mahoosuc Mountains near the Maine-NH border.

It's yet another exciting recreational opportunity that is coming to fruition by forward thinking, dedicated and hard working people.

Kudos to the Western Mountains Foundation. We look forward to more good news!

But shhh... don't tell the Save Maine From Everything Coalition. They might look at this as d-e-v-e-l-o-p-m-e-n-t, and you know what'll happen then!

Eco-Challenge, X Games, Raid Gauloises... Move over! We've got our own adventure race coming to Portland this summer! Racing Ahead Inc. is organizing the Discover Portland Urban Adventure Race on Saturday, June 11th. It's going to be 6 hours of mountain biking, canoeing, urban trekking and navigation on a course in and around Portland.

This is a great opportunity for adventure racing rookies (like me!) to give the sport a good try. It'll no doubt be very demanding, frustrating and exhausting (sounds like fun, eh?!), but I bet it'll be a whole lot of fun too!

Registration is already open. I know it's only February, but getting a team together and training for a race like this will take some time. Best to get in now and get on with the regimen. You're going to be paddling and biking and hiking anyway, so why not? Besides, the better shape you're in, the more pizza and beer you can put away without guilt. So c'mon all you outdoor fanatics--get your team together. June will be here in no time.