BANGOR DAILY NEWS • February 17, 2023
The Debsconeag Lakes Wilderness Area is a 46,271-acre ecological reserve that’s owned and managed by The Nature Conservancy. Indigenous people named the area Debsconeag, meaning “carrying place,” because of the many trails used to portage canoes from one body of water to another. I’d hiked in the reserve before — to visit ice caves and walk the Appalachian Trail to Little Hurd Pond. But the Rainbow Loop was new to me. In addition to visiting pristine, remote bodies of water, the loop travels up and over ledgy hills to overlooks with views of nearby Katahdin, Rainbow Lake and a number of peaks in the 100-Mile Wilderness.