I remember the first time I visited Flagstaff Lake, more than 40 years ago. We approached via the Long Falls Dam Road that winds seemingly endlessly through a sparsely populated area of Franklin and Somerset counties. It was one of those cold, windy, gray days that makes one think of the Simon & Garfunkel song “A Hazy Shade of Winter.” When we arrived, it was apparent that the water level of the lake had been lowered, and one could see tree stumps left over from when they cleared the area before it was flooded. The stumps, along with the ground around them, were the same gray color as the sky, and it made for a scene I will never forget.

— Tim Crockett, Brunswick, Maine