BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 2, 2023
There are a few ways to hike Whitecap Mountain, which rises 3,644 feet above sea level. The Appalachian Trail, a famous footpath that spans from Maine to Georgia, travels up and over the mountain. Then there’s the White Brook Trail, a side trail that approaches the mountain from the southwest to connect to the Appalachian Trail about a mile from Whitecap’s summit. That’s the trailhead that had eluded me many years ago. A sign marked the summit. A group of hikers, the first we’d seen all day, were eating lunch nearby, enjoying open views to the south. The mound of Big Spruce Mountain stood closeby, while a line of mountains — Chairback, Columbus, Third and Fourth — stood farther away. To give them space, we took a side trail to a nearby overlook. This one faced northwest, where Katahdin stood tall. ~ Aislinn Sarnacki