My friend recently visited the park and he and his young nephew were stung by a bee there. Neither had a bad reaction to the stings but he was surprised to find that his store-bought first-aid kit did not have anything specifically to treat the injury.
After looking at my family's first-aid kit, I realized that I had some antihistamine for adults but not for kids. So on the way to our hike we stopped off at our local supermarket to pick up something for them in case we ran into some bees.
I asked Roy St. Clair, a pharmacist at Hannaford in Colonial Marketplace in Standish, what he thought was the best way to treat a bee sting in a young child. He said the remedy he recommends is a paste of meat tenderizer and water. He said to mix the powdered meat tenderizer with some water until it turns into a paste. Then apply the paste directly to the affected area.
He acknowledged my look of surprise but said a pediatrician recommended the remedy to him 50 years ago, with great results. And an assistant in the pharmacy, Louise Lieberum, said her 4-year old son was stung by a bee recently and the remedy, "worked great."
So I left the pharmacy and headed for the baking aisle. Once I purchased the meat tenderizer (seasoned or unseasoned, it doesn't seem to matter) we were off to the park.
Finding our way to the park from downtown Freeport was easy. We took Bow Street from downtown Freeport and about two to three miles down the road we spotted signs directing us to the park's main entrance.
We paid our admission fee ($3 for adults, $1 for kids ages 5 to 11) and were given a pamphlet explaining the rules of the park and detailed information about several of the trails and their mileage.
Our family decided that we would try to hike two miles since the longest hike we'd taken this season was one and a half miles. In order to work that mileage into our hike we had to combine trails. We chose to hike parts of the White Pines, Casco Bay, Harraseeket and Ledge trails. It was close enough to two miles for us to be satisfied with the challenge.
The first thing the kids noticed as we started along the trail was the smell of the ocean. They were ready to make a break for it until they realized the terrain on this ocean trail was different from our last hike at Biddeford Pool. There are small paths and/or steps leading down to the rocky shore from the Casco Bay Trail. This trail is like a ledge that runs parallel to the ocean. Parents need to be cautious about letting their kids run ahead because the path leading down to the water is steep in some places.
Once down on the rocks, we had a wonderful view of Casco Bay and the Googins Island Osprey Sanctuary. We saw several birds flying above the island and the kids wanted to get a closer look through the binoculars. My 7-year-old is adept at using the binoculars but my 5-year-old needed some help focusing them. The binoculars and bird-watching kept the kids busy for quite some time.
There were several "interpretive panels" along the Casco Bay Trail as well as some of the other trails. Each time we came upon one of these panels, the kids would run to it and yell "map, map!" (I believe they were re-enacting their favorite TV show featuring the little Spanish-speaking girl who also loves maps.) In viewing the illustrations and reading the information on the panels, we were able to educate ourselves — and, in turn, the kids — about the area. It's a nice feature.
We visited the park on a weekday and on the main trail we saw lots of visitors also enjoying the park. There were all kinds of hikers, from very small children to elderly couples to people walking with their dogs. Once we moved off the Casco Bay Trail, we saw fewer people and the terrain became a bit more challenging for the kids.
Because the month of August was so wet, some of the trails deeper in the woods were a little muddy and slippery. The Ledge Trail had lots of exposed tree roots and uneven terrain which made my accident-prone 5-year-old more cautious. But she managed without too much difficulty.
Another byproduct of all the rain was the variety of mushrooms we saw. There were various shades of purple, red and brown mushrooms. We told the girls not to touch them because they might be poisonous. After speaking with a park ranger, who was wonderfully helpful and enthusiastic about answering our questions, we learned that if you touch a poisonous mushroom you might not get sick. But if you don't wash your hands and have a snack or touch your mouth with your hands, the spores from the mushrooms can enter your mouth. And that is what will make you sick. So the best policy to teach kids is NOT TO TOUCH the mushrooms.
The trails at the park aren't that difficult to follow and most are marked. But when you move in and out of different trails, it's possible to get confused until the next trail crossing. At some point we weren't quite sure which trail we were on so I stopped to look more closely at the map. My 7-year-old was appalled to think that we were lost and suggested we "just use our compass." My husband thought it a great opportunity to teach her how to orientate the compass with the map. As we were showing the girls what to do, an older couple stopped to ask us if we knew which way to get back to the parking lot. My 7-year old pointed down the appropriate trail and suggested they follow it until it ended. She was right — and quite proud to have figured it out.
We hiked about two miles in approximately three hours, with leisurely stops to view the birds, wildlife and mushrooms and to have a picnic. This hike offered a nice variety of terrain and sights. And luckily, none of us got stung by a bee (although we did see a few). But boy, I sure am glad I packed some meat tenderizer just in case!
Trail name:Wolfe's Neck Woods State Park
Nearest town: Freeport
Region: Greater Portland
Length: There are 8 trails totaling approximately 5 miles.
Difficulty: Easy to Moderate, depending which trail you choose.
Elevation gain: at sea level
Other: The "interpretive panels" along several of the trails offer helpful and interesting information and illustrations about the area.
Hazards: Being a trail near the coast hikers should be aware of poison ivy
Directions: Take Bow Street from Main Street in Freeport. About 2-3 miles down Bow Street there are signs directing visitors to the park.
KIDS' REVIEW
The author's 7-year old viewed the birds flying over the Googins Island Osprey Sanctuary with binoculars. The island is close enough to the shore that binoculars aren't necessary but provided a great opportunity to teach the kids how to use them. Click here to see a slide show of photos.
(12 images)
Listen to the 7-year old describe her
experience on this trail...(30 seconds, 160k mp3 format)
Originally published in the Maine Sunday Telegram September 7, 2003
