The Maine Ingredient
In his book “Desert Solitaire”, Edward Abbey—critiquing the National Parks system—notes:
“A man on foot, on horseback or on a bicycle will see more, feel more, enjoy more in one mile than the motorized tourists can in a hundred miles. Better to idle through one park in two weeks than try to race through a dozen in the same amount of time. Those who are familiar with both modes of travel know from experience that this is true; the rest have only to make the experiment to discover the same truth for themselves.”
This was our Teen Treks Maine Coast adventure. While the vast majority plowed down highways in superfluous fuel injected machines, we meandered northward along the tranquil beaches and crashing waves of the Atlantic Ocean; relying on oatmeal, fruit, and turkey sandwiches as a clean burning fuel alternative. Our tents routinely would squeeze into campsites amongst oversized RV’s; concerned with electrical hookups as we searched for ample firewood. Two and a half weeks of vibrant sunrises, rocky shorelines and charming New England towns—all set against a backdrop of picturesque mountains--was our “experiment to discover the same truth”. While our final odometer reading came in at roughly 400 miles—through a reverse Abbey-style calculation—it seems we had experienced the equivalent of 40,000 miles.
