So we found ourselves watching the weather reports last weekend and with another rainy weekend approaching, decided to take a short Friday afternoon hike before the bad weather moved in.
It was a brisk but mostly clear afternoon as we set out for Jockey Cap in Fryeburg. Several friends had recommended this hike and all had said the trailhead was easy to find. So we left the house without any specific directions except that the trailhead was right next to a country store on Route 302.
Now, of course, anywhere is "easy to find" when you've been there or are familiar with a particular area. I think understanding directions is an art. I have always found Maine a friendly, helpful place and the locals have pointed me in the right direction whenever I've needed help. But I've had to learn how to translate the information into something I can actually use to navigate.
When someone says, "Oh, the trail is just a mile down the road," I have to think about whether that's enough information to get me there. And to wonder if my odometer's mile is the same as my direction-giver's mile.
One of the most important things I've found in asking for directions is to ask for landmarks. For instance, which side of the road is the landmark on? If I've gone past it, what will I see? About how far from this landmark is the trailhead?
Landmarks can be highway intersections, a country store — as was the case with Jockey Cap, or a sign by the road.
We have found in our hiking experiences in Maine that not all trailheads are marked with signs, some simply have tree line markers (as was the case on our Brownfield hike last month) and it takes some eagle-eye lookouts, namely our kids, to find the stop.
And I have to take a moment to say that kids can be helpful lookouts and at the same time blood-pressure raisers. There's nothing like a peanut gallery in the back seat asking you if we're lost and if we're ever going to get there. Or even better, "Mommy (or Daddy), you should have gone the other way instead." Ah, the joys of those early-blooming backseat drivers . . .
So in addition to vague directions, I don't remember our friends telling us how unusual the Jockey Cap trailhead was. Now those of you who have been to Jockey Cap will say how could you think it's hard to find? Well, we didn't expect that the trailhead (which is set back from the road) would look like it was on private property. It just didn't feel right somehow.
So we passed the country store and went a little further down Route 302 before stopping and asking at a local business where the trail was.
A very friendly man explained where the trailhead was and I realized we had already been there. It turned out that it was clearly marked by a large sign that says "Jockey Cap Trail," once we knew to look between the Jockey Cap Country Store and the Jockey Cap Motel.
So after feeling really stupid, we parked our car in front of the motel and set out on the trail.
Early on the trail, there were some rocks that formed a small cave and the kids loved crawling in and around this area. They thought it was a "cool playground" and spent a long time exploring the cave and rocks before they would agree to continue on the trail. At that point we could see the face of Jockey Cap (and we saw mountain climbers scaling it on our way back down the trail).
There were lots of fallen leaves covering the trail, but the path to the top of the mountain was pretty clear. The ascent is steady, but with only a 200-foot elevation gain and only 0.25 miles of trail, it's easy to navigate.
Once we arrived at the top, which offers a beautiful 360-degree view, we found a round stand with a mold of the surrounding mountains and lake. The kids were fascinated with the map and had fun matching up the mountains with the molded peaks. We had to pick up our 5-year-old so she could see at the correct angle to match them up. The mold is a nice height for adults but a little tall for younger kids.
The fall colors were in full bloom the afternoon we spent there. It was a breathtaking view. The kids found a spot to sit on the rocks and watched a middle school soccer game on one of the fields below us. They also saw what looked like a Fryeburg Academy football scrimmage a little further in the distance.
The kids thought it was really cool to view the games from the mountain's height and that made the weekday hike even more enjoyable.
If you're taking young children, be sure to stay close to them at the top — there are a few places where there are steep drops. There are, however, lots of places to explore along the wooded trail at the lower elevation, so that children can run ahead and climb over the smaller rocks by the cave without much worry.
We spent about 1.5 hours on the trail with quite a bit of time spent watching the sporting events. If you're looking for a hike but don't have a lot of time, or don't want to spend too much time outside as the weather grows colder, this is the trail for you.
Trail name: Jockey Cap
Nearest town: Fryeburg
Region: Western Mountains
Length: 0.25 miles
Difficulty: Easy
Elevation gain: 200 feet
Other: There is a small parking area in front of the motel.
Hazards:The top isn't huge and there are some steep drops so parents should stay close to young children to be sure they don't go too close to the edge. Directions: From the intersection of Routes 113 and 302 the trailhead is exactly 1.0 miles. The trailhead is between the Jockey Cap Country Store and the Jockey Cap Motel.
Listen to the 7-year old describe her
experience on this trail...(53 seconds, 524k mp3 format)
Listen to the 5-year old describe her
experience on this trail...(25 seconds, 440k mp3 format)
Originally published in the Maine Sunday Telegram November 2, 2003
