This story was initially revealed in March 2021.
Betta Stothart’s first job in Maine was as a raft information on the Kennebec River, and her second was as a journalist at Maine Occasions. At this time she is a public relations advisor residing in Falmouth.
In case you’re fired up in regards to the outdoor, there are many outrageously cool sights in Maine to discover. Rugged mountains, wild and scenic rivers, awe-inspiring coastlines. There’s additionally a selected rock within the Katahdin Area that holds particular which means for out of doors fanatics.
Pockwockamus Rock is surrounded by wilderness and inside view of majestic Katahdin, however you don’t want a canoe or perhaps a pair of climbing boots to achieve it. In actual fact, virtually anybody can cease by to see it. For a lot of, catching a photograph there has turn out to be ritualistic.
Located close to the Penobscot Out of doors Heart and on the entry street into Baxter State Park’s south entrance, Pockwockamus Rock is a large boulder with a uniquely flat face, which has a primitive folk-art-style depiction of a Maine woods scene with an inscription: “Preserve Maine Stunning.”
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Who painted the rock?
Pockwockamus Rock has a stunning historical past that entails a bunch of youngsters who have been volunteering in Baxter State Park within the late Nineteen Seventies. Because the story goes, the rock had turn out to be a goal for vandals who seized any likelihood to coat it with profanities and different unsavory content material. The graffiti-covered rock was broadly thought of a blot on an in any other case gorgeous panorama.
It was seen by a whole lot of tourists, dignitaries and rangers who would cross it yearly on their method into Baxter State Park. Lastly, in 1979, a teenage lady and her Youth Conservation Corps buddies got here up with a scheme to color the rock with an inspiring scene, and with a easy but compelling invitation. They did. And it reshaped a little bit of Maine historical past.
Dot Lamson, an environmental educator charged with main the youngsters that summer time, recalled that the crew satisfied her that merely portray a clean canvas over the graffiti wouldn’t work.
“They hoped that by portray it with a wilderness scene, others may go away it alone,” she stated. “It labored.”
Almost a half century later, Pockwockamus Rock stands as a beacon and a landmark in Maine. Its message, “Preserve Maine Stunning,” has stood the take a look at of time, and in the present day – within the period of social media – the phrases emerge as a name to motion for any who cherish Maine’s wilderness character.
Who loves the rock?
In a 2020 interview with the late legendary out of doors author George Smith, who owned a camp on the sting of Baxter State Park, Smith known as the rock an iconic reminder of the good conservationist Percival Baxter, who had the extraordinary imaginative and prescient on the flip of the twentieth century to guard a 200,000-plus acre wilderness for the folks of Maine.
“As we enter Baxter Park, we go away all our worries and considerations on the rock,” Smith stated. “The rock comprises an vital message – to maintain Maine lovely – and we’re all grateful to Gov. Baxter for his work to try this.”
One other well-known author, Aislinn Sarnacki of the Bangor Every day Information, says the rock’s message turns into much more poignant after spending time throughout the conserved wilderness of Baxter Park.
“After tenting underneath the Milky Method, swimming in crystal clear streams and climbing a few of the most opulent mountains within the Northeast, the significance of the ‘Preserve Maine Stunning’ message turns into much more apparent and urgent,” she stated.
Her household has made it an annual custom to cease on the painted rock and snap a photograph.
“The landmark has turn out to be the punctuation mark on the finish of our annual journey,” she stated.
Final summer time, the author handed on the custom to the subsequent technology when she helped her niece climb Pockwockamus Rock to take a seat on high of it for the very first time.
Numerous different Mainers have made the compulsory cease at Pockwockamus Rock and fulfilled the gratifying customized of capturing a photograph there, stated Matt Polstein, proprietor of New England Out of doors Heart, which operates Twin Pines Lodge and the Penobscot Out of doors Heart, positioned inside a brief distance of the rock.
“In case you don’t have the flexibility to climb Maine’s highest peak, then snapping a photograph at Pockwockamus Rock is a ritual that each Mainer ought to do earlier than they die,” he stated.
Who will proceed the custom?
As soon as crafted by the unique group of teenage volunteers, the painted rock was masterfully maintained for 23 years by Abbott and Nancy Meader, an Oakland couple. In an article within the Spring 2014 challenge of “Ceaselessly Wild” (the e-newsletter of the Associates of Baxter State Park), Nancy Meader famous that she and her husband labored on the rock 4 instances – in 1990, 1998, 2007 and at last in 2013. They made just a few incremental alterations, notably including a distinguished trout to the decrease entrance, which they felt was a crucial lacking aspect.
In 2013, the Meaders introduced they’d relinquish their Pockwockamus paintbrushes and made a plea to artists to return forth and assume the accountability of sustaining Maine’s most well-known painted rock. As of this writing, it’s not clear if anybody has stepped as much as the plate.
Find out how to get there
Pockwockamus Rock is positioned about 14 miles north of the City of Millinocket. From the middle of city, observe indicators north to Baxter State Park and the Penobscot Out of doors Heart. After 8 miles, you’ll see the North Woods Buying and selling Submit in your proper. Cease in for a snack after which proceed north one other 6 miles. The rock isn’t going wherever and might be sitting squarely in your proper. Don’t neglect to take a photograph of your self, which you’ll be able to share with others on the New England Out of doors Heart Fb web page.
