Fall in Maine has always been my favorite season and every October in Charleston it calls my name. With each passing year, I’ve grown more and more home sick, longing for those crisp autumn days. I missed it so much, that this past August my family moved from South Carolina to Southern Maine for a year, to experience the beauty of New England...and fall!
After a very hot Maine August, fall soon arrived. The season I waited over 14 years to enjoy, the season I was most excited for.
But in mid November, we got snow. Not just a sprinkle of snow, we got inches of snow. Thanksgiving morning felt more like Christmas and just like that my favorite season became winter!
Isn't there something so magical about snow, how it completely transforms everything it touches? I forgot how alive the winter can make you feel.
The snow soon melted away and for almost the entire month of December we didn't see any snow in Southern Maine, other than a couple of morning dustings. We missed it, just like I longed for the cooler days of fall...we longed for the snow to return to York, Maine. Christmas break arrived and after almost a week of being inside, we were all itching to escape to find some snow.
The New Year’s weekend was upon us, so with less then 24 hours, we booked our Airbnb and headed to Sebec, Maine!
I had never been to Sebec or the Moosehead Lake area. The closest I had ever been was my summers spent at cheering camp in Bangor, Maine. I knew nothing about the area, but my trusty weather app predicted snow that weekend and there was a ski resort about a hour away…so off to Piscataquis County we went!
After 3 hours in the car, we finally arrived to the entrance of Pleasant River Guides: Wilderness Lodges and Cabins, our cozy log cabin in Maine.
The drive down the dirt road was a beautiful adventure in itself. The 1.2 mile long driveway is surrounded by white birch and pines, which were covered in a thin blanket of snow. Small signs were posted along the path letting us know we were getting closer. We drove slowly, trying to take it all in and hoping to catch a glimpse of some wildlife...we were on a mission to see a moose. Finally we reached the main entrance!
The property is a winter playground. It has everything - a large frozen pond encircled in large pines, a babbling brook, multiple trails for hiking, hunting or snowmobiling, five quaint authentic log cabins and the main owner’s lodge.
After checking in with the owner, Brenda, we quickly threw on our snow gear and headed to the wooded trail before the sun went down!
Like any road trip for our family, our car was packed to the brim with everything we could possibly need, including our new snow sleds. My boys took turns riding and pulling the sled through the path in the woods.
We took many pit stops along the trail, for rolling around and eating snow.
The golden light coming through the tree canopy was a photographer’s dream. I couldn’t get enough of it!
more eating of snow…
After our adventure through the woods, we headed back to our cabin to warm up, unpack and unwind. Eager to see more of the property as the sun went down, I grabbed my camera and headed out to explore on my own.
I watched the sun go down, something I’ve been lucky to experience almost every evening since returning to Maine.
That night we rang in the New Year, well sorta…we all fell asleep well before the clock struck midnight.
And to our excitement, on the first day of 2019, we woke up to a winter wonderland!
We spent our first day of the year as a family outside in the snow. It was a day full of walks through the snow covered woods, snowman building, sledding and shoveling snow (most of it not captured on camera). It was a perfect day and a trip I will forever remember!