Maine Takeaway | L.L. Bean’s Outdoor Discovery Programs
How heading into the wilderness can bring you back to yourself.
By Ian Aldrich|Apr 28 2021|
Among the payoffs for participants in L.L. Bean’s Outdoor Discovery Programs trip to Baxter State Park: grand summit views from South Branch and Black Cat mountains.
Credit: Ian AldrichSo many times over this past year, when almost nothing seemed as it was before, I have thought about the long weekend I spent in the wilds of Maine, when life slowed down and my only real worry was whether I had what it took to leap into a cold, clear river.
It was along the banks of a winding waterway in Baxter State Park that I faced this challenge. It was a cool Sunday morning in early September 2019, just after daybreak, and I stood at the water’s edge, rubbing and clapping my hands as I tried to overcome my hesitation. And boy, did I need to.
For the past three days I’d been camping and hiking with seven others in the far reaches of one of the biggest uninterrupted stretches of wilderness in the Northeast. We’d scaled a couple of peaks, had lunch atop a waterfall, and sipped whiskey under the stars. But all that outdoor living necessitated a—shall we say—refresher. Which is why on our final day I awoke at dawn and marched to the creek, ready to make the plunge.
Until I wasn’t.
Because the water looked colder than advertised, I instead took a seat on the rocks and remained there in an almost meditative state. In my defense, the setting had something to do with it: A morning mist was rising off the glassy waters, birds were chattering somewhere behind me, and in the near distance the early touches of fall color had descended on the landscape. As it had at other times over the past few days, the world felt not just still, but also remarkably sane.
I know I wasn’t the only one who’d reached that conclusion.
Over the course of the long weekend, our group had toured a slice of Baxter on a guided trip with L.L. Bean’s Outdoor Discovery Programs. In addition to all that moving and sipping, we received a primer on park history via a Baxter historian, gained some valuable campsite know-how, and feasted on food our two trip leaders made from scratch.
Among the payoffs for participants in L.L. Bean’s Outdoor Discovery Programs trip to Baxter State Park: grand summit views from South Branch and Black Cat mountains.
Credit: Ian AldrichCredit: Ian Aldrich
It was the kind of trip that was pampering without feeling overly luxurious. “Any objections to peppers and cheese in your eggs?” is the kind of question we might hear at breakfast. Our first dinner included marinated salmon with potatoes, salad, green beans, and heaping plates of hot gingerbread topped with whipped cream
“Well, we like to eat, too,” explained co-leader Diane Barras as she dished out dessert. “And it’s easy to make boring stuff. But it’s fun to do something more interesting.”
Among the payoffs for participants in L.L. Bean’s Outdoor Discovery Programs trip to Baxter State Park: meals and snacks made fresh on-site.
Credit: Ian AldrichCredit: Ian Aldrich
We were a small but varied bunch. There were two longtime friends, Kim Gerra and “T” Hanson, now living in different parts of the country, who had continued an annual girls’ weekend together. “We were looking at a couple of different trips,” Hanson explained to the group, then added with a laugh, “But this just seemed like the easiest because everything was being done for us.” There was a middle-aged Maine couple, Fred and Diana Martin, looking to reacquaint themselves with camping. “We used to do a lot of this stuff, but then we had kids, careers, and it became harder to do,” Fred said. As for me, I’d traveled with my buddy Adar, who matched my love for being outdoors during the day with a coolness toward sleeping in a tent at night. There was nothing extreme about any of us.
We were, in other words, the kind of crew the Outdoor Discovery Programs cater to. Like its fellow New England–based outdoors outfitters—Orvis, Eastern Mountain Sports, and others—L.L. Bean long ago began connecting what it sells with the sorts of adventures that inspire people to use its stuff. In 2019, more than 200,000 people participated in one of its classes or trips.
The Baxter journey is one of the Outdoor Discovery Programs’ newest excursions. As with most of the bigger sojourns, it’s led by Registered Maine Guides. Ours were a pair of 30-something women, Barras and Leigh Mastin, both longtime trip leaders who’ve directed Bean programs for several years.
Our trip began early on Friday at the Bean headquarters in Freeport. After the meet-and-greets, we hopped into a cargo van driven by Barras, while Mastin helmed another that was stuffed with camping equipment, cookware, and food. Three hours later we were setting up tents and laying out sleeping bags at our park site.
Leigh Mastin, one of the two Registered Maine Guides overseeing the trip, leads hikers down Black Cat.
Credit: Ian AldrichCredit: Ian Aldrich
The strength of these trips is in what you don’t have to wrestle with. Show up on time, pack warm clothes and maybe a book—these are the things you’re responsible for. The rest—equipment, reservations, planning—is taken care of. Even down to the smallest details: When one of us needed an extra pair of shorts, Mastin emerged from the van with a few different options. And no matter how early any of us awoke, there was coffee going.
This all made it easy to take in where we were. Baxter State Park is more than 200,000 acres of wilderness. With its mountains and rivers, some 215 miles of hiking trails, and 10 different campgrounds, we were able to grasp only glimpses of what’s there.
Among the payoffs for participants in L.L. Bean’s Outdoor Discovery Programs trip to Baxter State Park: a riverside hike that culminated with lunch atop a waterfall.
Credit: Ian Aldrich
