A glorious day today… sunny, cloudless, and in the 70’s with a light breeze.  A perfect day for a quick hike up my favorite little mountain.

Vicki Doudera here. I rouse my daughter Lexi  and she agrees to come with me. She’ll be off to college in one short month, so every minute I spend with her is a precious gift. We have a quick breakfast, leash the dog, and we’re off.

Mount Battie lies within Camden Hills State Park, and trails are accessible from the park entrance as well as various spots around Camden. One of them happens to be a mere 5-minute walk from our house, so today we don’t even need to use the car.

The trailhead is off Megunticook and Spring Streets in Camden.  It was once called the “Sprowl Trail” because the beautiful shingle style “cottage” next to it belongs to that family.  I call it the “Spring Street Trail” but I believe it is officially known as the Mount Battie Trail.

It’s not a long hike – only half a mile – but it is steep in places. Once I hiked it with a geologist who pointed out a huge rock face where the ocean, post Ice Age, once ended. Many of the houses in my neighborhood would have been underwater back in those damp days of melting glaciers. Once I slid on a loose rock, pulled a muscle, and sat immobile for a few hours until someone came along and lent me their pole. Such is the hiker’s life!

The views are phenomenal, and of course this is the spot described in Edna St. Vincent Millay’s famous poem. (Here’s a clip of an Italian man reciting the first few lines from the top of the mountain. )

I like this vantage point better than the top of Cadillac, but I may be somewhat prejudiced. Looking down on the island-dotted waters of Penobscot Bay with the puffed sails of myriad boats, I’m inspired.  To write, to hike, and to enjoy every moment of this fleeting summer day.