Farther Afield

The Celebration Continues: Wolfe’s Neck Woods State Park

65 Comments

Freeport, Maine—home of L.L. Bean—is either a retail paradise or a shopping hellhole, depending on your point of view. In the summer there are so many tourists that parking places are hard to find, and most Mainers quite sensibly stay away until the season is over.

However, just ten minutes away from Freeport’s busy downtown is Wolfe’s Neck Woods State Park, 245 acres of woods and trails tucked between Casco Bay and the Harraseeket River. Wolfe’s Neck is one of Clif’s favorite places, and, as most of you know, this is his birthday week. Therefore, off to Wolfe’s Neck we went with a picnic lunch and a thermos of tea to go with cookies for dessert.

After lunch, Clif and Dee went on a four-mile hike. Because of my creaky knees, I stayed behind and had a delightful time pottering along the edge of a salt marsh.

To get to the marsh, I went down a trail and over a bridge,

past fungi of various kinds and colors.

I came to a steep rocky trail leading to a series of wooden steps and carefully went down to the water. As I reached the shore, a heron flew by, disappearing before I could get a picture.

 

I was the only one on the little beach by the marsh, which suited me just fine.

On a large rock in the water, birds—cormorants?— rested and watched.

By the shore’s edge, hermit crabs patrolled the waters.

Everywhere, there were fragments of shells, remnants of life that once was. This one reminded me of a shard of ancient pottery. Nature’s art.

All around me was the smell of mud flats and salt water, and I was completely absorbed by the marsh. A place to look.  A place to listen. A place to be.

After a while, I carefully made my way back up the stairs and the rocky trail, and walked to a grassy area where I set up a lawn chair.

Clif and Dee came back from their walk, and we had tea and cookies.

Here are a couple pictures from their hike:

Is it any wonder that Wolfe’s Neck is one of Clif’s favorite places? No matter the time of year, there is always something to see and notice.

 

 

 

65 thoughts on “The Celebration Continues: Wolfe’s Neck Woods State Park”

  4. Gee, this would’ve made a pretty interesting Walktober post, Laurie! Nevertheless, I find it a lovely place for tea and cookies, and it looks like you had a pretty day for it.

  6. You know I’d love this place. I’m glad Clif and Dee had a chance for a longer hike, and I really enjoyed your photos of your own exploration. Tea and cookies made a perfect ending for you all!

  7. What a lovely outing and lovely pics. My but we both live in a beautiful part of the world. I haven’t been to Freeport and LL Bean’s for a number of years now, and probably won’t now that the world has changed so, but it was a favorite destination for many of us from across the border for years. I remember one time decades ago, we were driving home from a family trip to DC and stops en route. The boys, who were maybe 7 and 10 so we’re talking MANY decades, had been keeping track of how many state license plates they could see. They were able to complete their lists from the LL Bean parking lot, including Alaska and HAWAII!!! A great place.

  8. This is an interesting post: it is good to see more scenery from your part of the world. Your description of “A place to look. A place to listen. A place to be” resonates with me too – the best way to appreciate a beautiful place.

  11. Lovely to see a little bit more of your part of the world. What a wonderful place for a hike, and, I bet you enjoyed having some time to look along the edge of the water, as you say, there is always so much to see. Enjoy your week of celebrating!

  14. That looks such a nice place to spend a day. The trails are clearly designed to be accessible to people who cannot walk very far – smooth, relatively flat or with nice steps. And the weather looks perfect for a picnic. I imagine that Dee being able to join you made it extra special and allowed Cliff to have a walk with company.

    1. Yes, a lovely place with all sorts of handicap accommodations,including picnic tables with wheel-chair accessibility. Wonderful! And Dee being able to join us did indeed make it extra special. They had a wonderful time on their hike.

  16. This is a lovely place! Happy birthday week to Cliff! This would make a great Walktober post. You could link it to Robin’s Walktober blog when she posts it.

  20. No wonder. I’m sorry about your creaky knees, but glad you made the most of your alone time. Your post made me think of Coleridge in his Lime-tree Bower. I like the pottery shell, the mushrooms and the views.

  21. I feel for your creaky knees but you certainly managed to find lots to look at in peace while the other two were crashing about on their hike.

  23. One of my favorite places as well. Unfortunately, we went mid-August and it was packed. Way to many people on the trails. Glad you had a good time.

  28. Beautiful images Laurie and what a wonderful place to explore and spend some quiet time to be 💚

  29. What a wonderful venue for a birthday celebration! I love that you had time to enjoy the quiet of the marshes; and that you had the peace & quiet of the place to yourself, save the critters you came across!

  30. What a beautiful park to spend time in, on such a lovely day! A shell is like ancient pottery in a way, the material gathered, formed and tended by the mollusc inhabitant. Discarded and broken after death, a reminder of a previous life when it had purpose.

  32. I’m with Clif in loving that area. The campground at Wolfe’s Neck (it used to be called Recompence, which I thought was the most evocative name) was one of our favorites–combining the beautiful shoreline with a educational farm.
    Happy 70th to Clif!

    1. Recompense is indeed an evocative name. Love it! We’ll be heading back to Wolfe’s Neck for our daughter’s birthday the end of October. I’ll poke along the shore while they go on a hike. We’ll all be happy.

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