Rolling fields of salty mist yielded to a brilliant blue sky as Henry Heyburn readied a dozen Mainers for a one-hour, low impact hike around Eaton Farm Preserve last week.

“Here’s a classic saltwater farm,” Heyburn said of the sleepy, sloping Wiscasset lot, formerly owned by Maine Yankee.

The property is embraced by the Hockomock Bay. Fearless outcroppings into the bay along the trail present fantastic views for photography, bird watching, seal-spying and at times, swimming and sailing by the campers at neighboring Chewonki Neck.

Heyburn, assistant director at Chewonki’s Boys Camp, leads by example. His wife and family sometimes vacation with their daughters on a Casco Bay island without electricity or running water. "Pure joy," he said. The sailor, mountaineer and established educator moved here 27 years ago from Louisville, Ky., where he was a middle school teacher.

Heyburn also worked as an instructor at Telluride Mountaineering School and Colorado Outward Bound. Now, he serves on the board of the Natural Resources Council of Maine.

Here, he became Bowdoin College’s head Nordic ski coach for five years, was employed at Hyde School in Bath, and also at L.L.Bean doing product development. As he enters his fifth year with Chewonki, he noted, “I like designing things, and so the trail development portion of this job is of great interest to me.”

Chop! He punctuated the fact with his handsaw upon a fallen trail branch as the troupe watched.

Chewonki, which yielded more than 20,000 pounds of vegetables last year, is much more than an environmental education center.

Maine Yankee sold them this land with the agreement that a public trail would be built (which it was) by the Maine Conservation Corp and affiliates. Chewonki maintains it.

Many locals nurture Chewonki’s vision for the noble trail expansion, leading to greater connectivity to Wiscasset, and even becoming the “the longest coastal hiking trail outside of Acadia National Park.” Most (but not all) abutting landowners are currently in agreement.

“I love the chance to work here, primarily because my efforts dovetail what I value,” Heyburn said. “At Chewonki, we want to create appreciation for nature and I’m happy to be a lifelong learner part of this community. Regarding the ambitious trail plans, he pointed out that “things change though so one never knows.”

With each step upon it, the soft, enduring trail seems to recall those steps a century ago, of the boys whose founder set up the first boys camp there in 1915.

For more information, visit www.chewonki.org; or better yet, visit Chewonki.