When Once is Not Enough

Schoodic Peninsula was on my bucket list to visit.  Julie agreed to go over but, at first wanted to ride the ferry.  It costs twenty-five dollars per person so we decided to drive over.  It only takes a little over an hour and the drive is beautiful.  We planned to ride our bikes and Julie was dying to paddle in a bay.  But the ranger dissuaded her because she didn't have the right boat or a wet or dry suit.

So, after talking to the ranger about a fun route to ride our bikes, we set off on the auto tour which would eventually connect to a trail that would bring us back across the peninsula to the Visitor Center.

The Visitor Center and its grounds are beautiful

Julie near the beginning of our ride - she wanted the house on the island

A view from the road

We enjoyed a visit with a pair of woman painters just before we turned back 

Julie was dying to hike to an island. We found the one below accessible at low tide, so we stopped and I waited while she did a hurried hike.

One of the pictures I took while I was waiting for her return

The pair of us at the end of the ride

We had biked only eight miles and taken time for a little bit of hiking and had eaten lunch, so we didn't get back to the Visitor Center until mid afternoon.  We figured we had plenty of time for a do over, so drove back around to look for pictures in the improving light.  We also had several places we wanted to hike.

One of the places we wanted to visit was a steep dirt road we had passed and where we found there were several trailheads. We stopped and did a short hike, looking for good vistas.  There were a few but the sun was still too harsh for good pictures.

Julie and the trail signs

We wanted to visit the Schoodic Institute, but were a few minutes too late to do so. So we went in search of the trailhead for a suggested trail that would give us beautiful evening views of the ocean. While looking for it, we scared a  bald eagle that was sitting in a tree,  feasting on a squirrel it had just caught.  We finally found the trailhead and set off for three different viewing points of the ocean.

Headquarters for the Schoodic Institute

Even the chimney had that most unusual brick/rock work

This statue was in front of one of the buildings used for training scessions

We found the perfect doughnut - no fat or carbs - it's actually a mushroom. 

We had to sit a few minutes and watch the tide come in - so peaceful

On the way home, just after sundown, we came upon a city dock. Lobstermen were bringing in their catches, while many other boats were tied up either to the dock or in the bay.

These boats looked like they had been set up to be painted

Lobster boats at rest

The lobsters were loaded into bins and taken off - they have to be purged and brought back to the temperature of the ocean before they are ready to sell

This scene is so iconic for Maine

We were both happy we had gone to Schoodic Peninsula.  It was beautiful and had very few people using it. 

Wonder Trail and Other Wonders

Friday, June 3, 2016

On Thursday evening, I  had noticed several parked cars at sign for Wonder Land Hike which seemed to go out to the coast. It was after sunset by the time I came back by the site on the way home, so I decided to explore the west side of Acadia National Park on Friday and take a few of the hikes.

The day was cloudy, with rain showers predicted, but, even without the beautiful early morning light, the hike was lovely.

The trail led through a conifer forest with a few openings. It ended on a point of land with views to sounds or coves both left and right. I enjoyed watching a group of common eiders in the first cove. On the way back, a morning dove seemed to be posing for me. The tide was low and the day dark. This must be really magical in early morning light with the tide high.

Part of many common eiders

The hike was on a spit of land with views of the coastline on either side

At low tide

I saw this as a big OK from the tree

Incoming tide

I loved the long, dark tunnel formed by trees with the open area at the end

I kept driving around and finding other places to enjoy. One of them was the ferry stop where ferries to Swans Island and Frenchboro depart. A birding group was heading out to Frenchboro when I arrived. Taking one of the ferries might be another fun thing to do.

One of the ferries

View of the area around the ferries

The white blooms glowed in the dim light

I loved the sense of a garland along the roof of this church

Lupines were starting to bloom

I stopped when I saw a group of horses running and rearing - then fell in love with this pair

By now it was mid morning and I decided I could take another hike before meeting a friend I met in the Outer Banks for lunch. It will take a few more blogs to fully share my all my Acadia Adventures.

I'll add in an extra blog this week to begin to catch.  However, we have had over two weeks of very cloudy, rainy days so I haven't taken many pictures. Hopefully, I'll get a few good days this next weekend.

Bubble Rock Hike

June 4, 2016

I heard that one of the more interesting hikes at Acadia was the Bubble Rock Hike. So, after I got back from the Pelagic Trip and ate an omelet for brunch, I decided to do this hike on the Eastern Part of Acadia, before heading to my campsite on the west part.

I had a map of the hikes and while I figured out where the hikes were and how long they were, I didn't pay a lot of attention to the difficulty of each. This hike taught me to also pay attention to the difficulty. The hike didn't look hard, so I didn't bother to take my hiking sticks and set off with just my water bag and my camera. The first part was easy with a few stairs and short elevation changes. The trail is short and the distance from the parking lot is only about half a mile. The views in two directions were fabulous and the bubble rock was amazing. T

The trail starts off easy

It leads through a woods interspersed with rocky outcroupings

Sometimes the trail is up and over the outcropping

The view from Bubble Rock is outstanding and the rock is amazing

It's hard to believe that the rock has been there for all these years

The view in both directions is fabulous - but the trail will take me to the edge of this lake

I think these are a male and female cone on a tiny tree alon

Loved the blooms on this little shrub

Then I continued on the trail to the place where it intersection with the Bubble Divide Trail. This is where the rock scramble, in places straight down, began. I took pictures of some of the hardest parts. The following day, my friend, Lisa showed me her marked map – the one she will be using to tell people about the trails. The last part of this trail is noted as strenuous. I traveled a lot of the way on the seat of my pants and, at one place, I had to dangle from a metal bar, while trying to find a foothold. But that stretch is only about three tenths of a mile long. Then I turned around and went back up another easy trail to the parking lot. 

Starting down from Bubble Rock on an easy, well-marked trail

Then it got much more adventurous and scary - but I kept following the blue slashes, even though I was looing straight down on several of them

There must be a trail there somewhere

Down this???

Looking back - I could barely squeeze through here sideways and then had to go backwards to find the last step

A very determined tree seemed to be growing out of solid rock

Suddenly the trail got easier and shortly after that I was on the shore of the lake and ready to take the bridge to a trail leading back to the parking lot

A stream bed led along the trail 

The entire trip was only one and a third miles but it probably took me an hour and a half to hike. After that, I was ready to go back to my camp, eat supper and go to bed.

I put this blog up while at Campobello Island. on last Friday.  We were promised a mix of sun of clouds today but we've only had about two glimpses of the clouds. So I'll have to come back and take pictures but I'm going to get some reportedly fantastic lobster bisque and take a couple of hikes. Thankfully this is only about sixty miles from my house.