The Great Wander of 2026
Day 10: June 2nd, 2026
States Hiked: Maine (10 total so far)
Trails Hiked: West Quoddy Coast Guard Loop, Green Point
Distance Hiked: 3.1 miles
Elevation Gain: 292 ft. elev. gain
Cumulative Wander: 68.4 miles
Duration: 1h 16m
I had a choice: Spend the day finding a more impressive hike in terms of miles and difficulty to counterbalance the amount of travel versus hiking miles from the previous day, or prepare to commute four-plus hours to the farthest stop on the Adventure Lab to be the annoying completionist you've grown to possibly tolerate at the best of times.
When was I going to be this close comparatively to unlock this spot again?
Gods, how often I've pushed myself to be extra and excessive by that simple question...
Also gods: Maine is really, really fucking remote.
I reached the easternmost point of the United States after nearly five hours of driving, or as my standards would call it: a simple commute on the longer side of "barely counts as a road trip." The closer I got to West Quoddy however, the more "at home" I felt, as everything in the region reminded me so much of the North Shore, Superior National Forest, and the Minnesota northwoods. Moss, evergreens, jagged rock formations...
And once I stepped outside the car, wind that treated me like I'd made an offensive comment about its salinity odor.
At least the hiking trails were legit. Scratch that: at least West Quoddy had hiking trails, and mercifully they were also legit. I would've done much more, but with how long it took to get there, it was going to be tough to also make it to the other lighthouse (Fort Point) that I needed to unlock before the sun went down, even in summer hours, so I turned back much sooner than I'd have preferred.
This stripey boi of a lighthouse was quite a sight to behold, up there with Portland Head Light as opposed to some of the others on the Adventure Lab. The arbitrary points of colonialist lines and to where they extend weren't really relevant, but it was at least nice to see the preservation of historical markers nonetheless.
The hiking trails traversed exceptionally rocky cliffs, extremely reminiscent of the Superior Hiking Trail when it's near lakeside. I spotted a loon down below diving into the waves, and that alone was worth the road trip.
The fact that I only saw three other people total wandering about the state park? That was a lovely, unexpected side benefit after the crowded populations of some of the previous stops. West Quoddy itself feels like Dr. Sam Beckett made another leap and landed in the early 20th century with only a lighthouse, mercury poisoning, and their only friend: Dorkus Maximus, the jovial talking double crested cormorant.
Oh boy, indeed.
I wanted more time to enjoy the hiking trails of the state park, but I turned back halfway down the Green Point trail when considering how many deer I'd likely have to spot in the dark on the way back to South Portland, and if it seemed remote just driving, how would that factor into the duration of rescue from the impact?
Fort Point was also there.
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