2021-06-23: Rangeley Lakes

Finishing off our three-day family vacation, we spent a night along the Rangeley Lakes in northwestern Maine on our way back. Some of my earliest memories are of camping along these lakes as a young child, so revisiting them was very powerful for me. A ride home took us through Franconia Notch and the Presidential Range of northern New Hampshire.

On the night of the 22nd, a bright full-sky rainbow appeared at sunset, seen here over Rangely Lake from the back of our hotel room.

A view of Beaver Mountain over the lake and a distant boat dock from the hotel room the next morning.

A view northwest over Mooselookmeguntic Lake from an overlook called 'Height of Land'.

A more west-facing view from the same overlook beyond some conifers.

The nearby Aziscohos Mountain forms a very prominent part of the view from Height of Land.

Toothaker Island, a large island in Mooselookmeguntic Lake, straddles the line between Oxford and Franklin counties.

Although the lakes are the big draw of the region, views of the mountains are also beautiful from its many overlooks.

The nearby Bemis Mountain dominates the skyline; it seemed as though the whole landscape were culminating in this one point.

Rocky beaches along Mooselookmeguntic Lake shine brightly from within the dark forest and water.

Morning shadows darkened various parts of the terrain, including a small forested island in the lake.

Deer Mountain rises sharply above a nearer portion of the lake, where Route 17 can be see winding along the shoreline at bottom right.

Cupsuptic Mountain, seen under morning clouds to the north with the lake just out of the shot.

A sandy spit juts out into Mooselookmeguntic Lake, populated by a thin line of evergreens.

A closer view of the double-peaked Aziscohos Mountain over the distant Lake Aziscohos.

West Kennebago Mountain, another multi-peaked mountain, seen past smaller hills to the north.

Doctor's Island sits in the eastern part of Rangely Lake under mountains in this view from the Shelton Noyes Overlook.

A view farther to the east, beyond the edge of Rangely Lake. The popular Sugarloaf Mountain is at left.

The West Kennebago complex rises above Bog Island. This overlook faces Rangely Lake almost exclusively.

Spotted Mountain and its long ridge stretch beyond the town of Rangely itself, nestled along the lakeside.

A (slightly) closer view of Bald Mountain to the north.

Deer Mountain above the more distant Mooselookmeguntic Lake. I can remember sitting at the Noyes Overlook, looking at this view, camping as a child, almost twenty years ago.

Quill Hill, a peak straddled by logging trail, beyond buildings and resorts along Rangely Lake.

Nearly thirty miles distant, the unmistakable peaks of the Bigelow Mountain mastiff, another popular hiking spot, tower above the lake.

The curiously-shaped and aptly-named Potato Nubble is one of several 'nubbles' between the overlook and the more distant Sugarloaf Mountain, in the background.

West Kennebago is a very prominent peak from any north-facing overlook in the area.

On the drive back, we headed through New Hampshire's Franconia Notch, home to incredible views such as this steep cliff along the slopes of Mount Lafayette.

Cliffs along Cannon Mountain were, until about a decade ago, home to the Old Man of the Mountain, which remains one of New Hampshire's state symbols.