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Greenville/ Outdoor Sports. Fishing and hunting have traditionally been the leading activities here, although neither is quite as good in terms of take as in days gone by. "Overkill," explained a Maine Guide of our acquaintance. To compensate, some of the old sporting camps have altered their focus to appeal to nature lovers, wildlife watchers and photographers. White-water rafting is popular on the nearby Kennebec and Penobscot rivers. Hikers like the 75-minute hike up the 700-foot-high landmark Mount Kineo to a renovated fire tower, which yields a panoramic view of Moosehead Lake and environs. One of the prime waterfront spots is occupied by Lily Bay State Park, an uncrowded favorite of swimmers, picnickers and campers. In winter, skiing at Big Squaw Mountain is improving under owners (from Florida, of all places), who took over in 1995. Just outside Greenville, Squaw has two chairlifts, three surface lifts and a 1,750-foot vertical rise, facing Moosehead Lake. It offers plenty of skiing for $20 on weekdays and $24 on weekends – especially with an increase in snowmaking coverage to the top of the mountain. Cross-country skiing also is popular in the area, but tends to get overshadowed by the snowmobilers who make this their noisy base. Moose Watching. Everyone looks for moose, and local promoters say more moose reside in the Moosehead area than anywhere in the East. You'll likely spot them feeding in ponds and rivers shortly after dawn and before dusk. They're said to be at their most numerous around the roads and waterways near Rockwood and Kokadjo. A brochure outlines "moose safari" packages by land, sea and air. One of the best ways to see moose and understand their habitat is to take the two-hour moose cruise offered by the Birches Resort in Rockwood. Unexpectedly plush seats accommodate up to sixteen passengers on a 24-foot-long pontoon boat. Moose were spotted on 96 of 100 excursions in the previous summer, resort co-owner Bill Willard advised. We thought we were going to be among the four percent failure rate until, at the end of our two-hour cruise up and down a jungle-like river, a lone moose suddenly obliged up close. “Every trip is different,” our laconic boat pilot-guide said. Two more moose were spotted from a distance on the return trip to the resort. We also encountered two moose along Route 15 on the drive back to Greenville after dinner. Next morning, the pilot pointed out one feeding in an inlet during a half-hour sightseeing flight. That was it for moose of the live variety on our first four-day visit. As we were leaving town on Route 15 south, however, a highway sign warned: “High rate of moose crashes next three miles.” Airplane Adventures. Almost as much as moose, seaplanes define the Moosehead area, and their sheer numbers convey a different look and feel to this lake. Indeed, the lake is so favored by backwoods pilots that they converge every September on Greenville for the International Seaplane Fly-In, the largest of its kind in the Northeast. Since much of the Moosehead Lake shoreline and many sporting camps are not accessible by road, seaplanes get quickly where motor vehicles and boats cannot. Two commercial air services offer sightseeing excursions. We found a half-hour flight around the lower half of the lake with Folsom's Flying Service ($30) the best way to appreciate the vastness of both lake and wilderness. Other airplane sites may be of interest. Folsom's bases the last operating DC-3 seaplane, an ark of an Army Air Force plane fitted with pontoons, at Greenville's tiny municipal airport. The curious also may view remnants of the wreckage of a B-52, which crashed due to air turbulence against Elephant Mountain during the Cuban missile crisis in January 1963, killing seven crewmen. Access is via a logging road maintained by Scott Paper Co. Boat Excursions. Another good way to see this area is by boat, and a variety of craft seems to be everywhere for rent or hire around Moosehead and its tributaries. Experience a bygone era with a cruise on the Katahdin, the last of 50 steamboats that plied the lake, ferrying cargo and people to resorts and sporting camps before cars and trucks reached the area. Now the star floating exhibit of the tiny Moosehead Marine Museum beside the lake at the municipal parking lot, the diesel-powered Katahdin gives three-hour cruises of the lower third of the lake on a varying schedule five days a week (adults, $21). A six-hour cruise up the lake to Mount Kineo, with a stop at the old hotel site, departs Wednesday at 10 for $27. A small galley offers hot dogs, candy and the like. We didn't know this, so had picked up a couple of sandwiches at Auntie M's Family Restaurant (open for breakfast and lunch) across the street. Shopping. Greenville's compact downtown is of
interest to browsers. Moose are the pervasive theme at
Moosehead Traders, a general store on Main Street. A moose
motif also prevails, from banners to tea towels, at Moosin’ Around
Maine. At Mud Puddle Mercantile, a small country store and
gift shop, proprietor Helen Schacht touted a tapestry shopping bag on
wheels for $7.99 as “my best-seller.” In addition to its namesake
items, Maine Mountain Soap and Candle Co. carries baskets,
pottery and home accessories. Look for jams and jellies, cards,
baskets, books, Hummel figurines, Christmas villages and more at The
Corner Shop. Across the street, former chef Claudine Dallam, who
closed her prized Blue Moose Café nearby, now runs Claudine’s
Gourmet Kitchen Shop. A canoe hangs overhead in the Great Eastern
Clothing Co. Mike Boutin stocks everything the sportsman needs at Northwoods
Outfitters, where his partner serves up fancy coffees, baked goods
and Internet services in the Hard Drive Café. Rustic lamps with
carved bears for the base, carved birds, prints and moose, of course,
are available at The Woodcarver's Place. Just south of town, the Indian Hill Trading Post is the local version of a mall. If you can’t find what you’re looking for here, locals say, you don’t need it. Kineo Island. You want to get away from the “crowd?” A nostalgic place to visit on a sunny day is this island, actually a peninsula and site of the late Kineo House resort. For $10, you can play golf on a scenic nine-hole course (the midway point is almost at the foot of the sheer Kineo cliffs). Rent a golf cart to poke along three miles of bumpy roads on this island attached to the mainland by a 500-foot stone causeway on the far side of the lake. Swim at the secluded and picturesque Pebble Beach beside the causeway, where knowing boaters often tie up for the afternoon. Observe moose, deer, loons and eagles in the wildlife sanctuary. Hike up Mount Kineo or scale the rocky cliffs. Take a peak at the abandoned yacht club building known as the Breakers on the point, and dream of turning it into a restaurant or a B&B. The island is reached by pontoon boat (Kineo Shuttle, hourly from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. from the state boat ramp in Rockwood, 534-8812, $8 round trip). Another Kineo shuttle leaves by reservation or on demand from Rockwood Cottages, 534-7725.
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