We entered the forest on a soggy trail edged with beds of soft moss, creeping winterberry and bunches of Christmas ferns flattened from months under snow.
It was early afternoon on a Monday in April, and my car stood alone in the gravel parking lot for Long Cove Headwaters Preserve in Searsport.
Silence wrapped around us. Not a twitter or peep from a bird or bug could be heard. I strained my ears to detect the shush of wind, distant and gentle, moving through the treetops. Somehow, the faint sound only added to the stillness.
Sometimes I find silence to be peaceful, but in that moment, I only felt impatience.
Spring is a time of noise and movement, of birdsong and rushing water and migrating creatures. But by all appearances, the forest was enjoying a midday nap.
My canine companion, Juno, dashed back and forth on her leash, antsy after days of rain. So I quickened my pace, following tree trunks marked with blue blazes.
The 456-acre preserve stretched out before us, a patchwork of forest and wetlands. Owned and managed by Coastal Mountains Land Trust, the property was acquired in two pieces, from Central Maine Power Co. in 2010 and the Whitten family in 2014.
The preserve has a figure-eight trail system. The Blue Loop, measuring 1.2 miles long, starts from the parking lot. Deeper in the forest, the Orange Loop branches off, marked with orange blazes and measuring 1.4 miles.
Mud squelched under my rubber boots as I approached the edge of a woodland pool. I scanned the water for a gelatinous cluster of frog or salamander eggs. No luck, though I spotted salamander spermatophores, small, irregular, blobs of sperm left by male salamanders for females to pick up.
I imagined wildflowers and fiddleheads hiding just beneath the surface of the sodden duff, ready to burst forth at any moment.
In the meantime, low-lying evergreen plants dominated the forest floor: the glossy, almond-shaped leaves of wintergreen; the trailing vines of partridgeberry, dotted with the occasional red berry; and frilly, clover-like goldenthread, its thin, yellow roots snaking through the soil.
At a trail intersection, we turned onto the Orange Loop, which was fittingly marked with orange blazes. You’d be hard pressed to get lost while exploring this simple trail system.
The forest was made up of a wide variety of trees, all mixed together. Balsam fir often crowded into the edge of the trail, offering their rich fragrance, interspersed with spruce, hemlocks and towering white pine trees. Last year’s aspen, birch, beech and maple leaves crunched underfoot.
Porcupines can often be found in the hemlock stands, according to information about the preserve on the Coastal Mountains Land Trust website. Evidence of black bears, moose, coyotes and snowshoe hares have also been found throughout the property.
The website also states that each spring, wood frogs and spotted salamanders breed in the property’s many vernal pools. So as I walked along, I kept checking for movement in pools of water near the trail.
About halfway around the Orange Loop, I was in luck. A boisterous chorus of quacking wood frogs grew louder and louder as I approached a small wetland area.
While I couldn’t see them through the trees, I could imagine dozens of the small, brown frogs floating in the shallow water, their throats billowing with each cluck.
Nearby, a hairy woodpecker drilled feverishly on a tree trunk, then produced a series of short, sharp chirps. The forest was waking up. Naptime was over, and I happily embraced the noise.
Directions: The preserve is fairly easy to find. From Route 1 in Searsport, take Mt. Ephraim Road west for 2.6 miles, then turn right onto Savery Road. Drive about 0.6 mile and the preserve’s parking lot will be on your right, marked with a sign that reads “Long Cove.” A kiosk at the trailhead includes a trail map
