Goose Eye No. 3 (2023)
Personal Narrative
It Was Once Somewhere
Hiking “Low and Local” in Western Maine
Amy Wight Chapman
At the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, in the spring of 2020, the Appalachian Mountain Club urged people to “hike low and local,” rather than traveling long distances from home, hiking on crowded trails, and running the risk of injury and the need for rescue, thereby putting rescue personnel at risk as well. In fact, in order to get more people to heed their advice, and stay off the higher, more challenging mountains, the AMC even told peak-baggers that ascents of 4,000-footers and other high peaks completed during state-mandated stay-at-home orders wouldn’t count toward the lists it oversees—White Mountain 4,000-footers, New England 4,000-footers, and New England Hundred Highest.
As it turns out, I’m the poster child for the “hike low and local” directive. Staying close to home has never been a hardship for me, and when the pandemic hit, I was forced to do what I’ve been telling people for years was one of my life goals: to never leave Oxford County—whose 2,000 or so square miles, I’ve long maintained, have everything I really need, including endless opportunities to get outside and explore.
Oxford County offers some of the finest “low and local” hikes imaginable. Over the past few years, I’ve used the PeakBagger app on my phone to make rewarding new discoveries (as well as some scratchy, buggy bushwhacks), nearly all within a few miles of home, most in the company of my adventurous son and enthusiastic granddog.