Sunday, October 11, 0630
THE COMMUTE
Yesterday was an exercise in patience, for everyone. I knew that it would be, though. At least for me, anyway.
I knew that the family wouldn’t be packed and ready to go by 8:00am, when I intended to leave.
I knew that the kids would be challenged to remain content during what would become their longest-ever car ride.
I knew that I would need to repeatedly ask the kids to sit ‘properly’ in the seats for safety.
I knew there would be frequent stops, sometimes only an hour apart.
I knew that it was going to be a lonely ride as everyone in the family would be plugged into their device and I would be left with my music and podcasts, same as my commute every morning, only 11x longer.
There were some surprises along the way though to.
I didn’t know that Christine would get out of bed until after 7:00.
I didn’t know that Victoria would spill the contents of a large bag of chocolate covers fruits into the crevices of the back seat.
I didn’t know that – despite avoiding Boston – we would experience an hour delay between Lowell and the New Hampshire border, because 8.5 hours in the car isn’t long enough already without traffic delays in the mid-afternoon on a Saturday.
I also didn’t know how heavily it would weigh on me if there were leaves on the trees as we drove through Maine (PS there were, and there weren’t, and there were, and there weren’t … even the next morning, after driving the final hour in the dark, I won’t know if the family is going to be happy, disappointed, or indifferent about the views they are going to witness.
But not all surprises evoke anxiety … some are pleasant
I thought I’d have to ask the kids to talk more quietly and to kick the seats less, but I didn’t, so there is that.
THE ARRIVAL
Bar Harbor was PACKED. We found the place easy enough, but finding a spot to park proved challenging … until we were able to get into our apartment and discover off-street parking.
The apartment is old, but clean.
The location is a fantastic one. It is a shame that we are in the middle of a pandemic, because we are one block from the supermarket, one block from a brewery (the only one in town), and everything is within walking distance.
We looked everything over before bringing our things into the apartment and everything seemed to check out. The beds passed a cursory inspection and everything seemed clean. I brought out the Clorox wipes and disinfected all frequently touched surfaces (just in case): remote controls, door knobs, drawers and pull handles in the kitchen, fridge, microwave, light switches, counter tops, table tops, chair backs, toilet, faucets … and probably a few other things that I evading me.
THE EATS
After bringing everything in from the car, we ordered food and went to the local grocery to grab food for the next morning. EVERYONE was masked and EVERYONE was following the one-way signage throughout the store. Folks were distancing and taking turns to access popular areas (e.g. the beer cooler). But still – it was busier than we felt comfortable with, so we got cereal, milk, frozen chocolate waffles, novelty ice cream (while still in the frozen foods aisle), a large container of spring water and checked ourselves out (actually, Christine checked out, I walked out early with the kids to reduce density in the store).
Dinner was from the Side Street Cafe. The kids had wings, Christine and I had Mac and Cheese (her with lobster, mine with spicy chicken). The place was packed when we arrived, but the food was only fine. Christine and I shared a Cushnoc Brewery Lawyer-Up Coffee Porter; it too was fine, but unremarkable. We have one more in the fridge for later in the week.
By the time we were all done eating dinner, it was well past 9:00, and everyone still had to take showers; the kids would go to bed by 10:00, Christine and I by 11:30.
Sunday, October 11, 0730
TODAY’S ITINERARY
By the looks of the crowded streets and eateries in the town last night and leaf-peeping season’s reputation, the park is probably gonna be PACKED today and tomorrow, because this is Columbus Day weekend. That and people (us included) are probably COVID-tired and want to do something. So – today’s goal is to see as few people as possible.
The kids have already risen from bed this am (approx 7:00), so we’ll be certain to get them (and us) to bed at a more reasonable hour tonight. But for now, they are watching Food Network while Christine is still resting. If I were in a hurry to get up and going, I’d wake her up, but today is gonna be a slow one as we ease the kids into the week while avoiding people in the park.
After breakfast (the kids picked out special sugar-laden cereals last night … he chose Frosted Flakes, she chose Cinnamon Toast Crunch), I’ll go to the store and pick up a few other items that we need (e.g. sponge for dishes, supplies for a packed lunch). When I get back, we’ll pack up a suitable lunch and I plan to go to Schoodic Peninsula.
I was initially planning on exploring the western half of Desert Island, but Michael reminded me of Schoodic Peninsula, and I think that (if we are gonna do it) today is the best day. It will almost certainly have the lightest foot traffic (by everything that I have read). It also allows us to get a slow start on the day as it isn’t too large and there isn’t a ton to do, and it still affords us the time to do what we want to do later for dinner, family games, and a reasonable bedtime.
The forecast is calling for sun, a high of 60, and winds starting at 20 mph and reducing to 10 mph by the end of the day. The prospects for a nice day are very good. #fingerscrossed
Monday, October 12, 0800
Wow – the kids were AMAZING yesterday.
My goal yesterday was to avoid the crowds, and – oh boy – were we ever able to do that. We did not see more than 10 people on the trails all afternoon, and it was a looooong afternoon.
Schoodic penisula offers a road that travels along the coast, one way and counter-clockwise, starting in the northwest corner. It has parking areas along the way that afford people an opportunity to stop, park, and walk 0.3 to 0.5 miles to any of the most popular spots on the peninsula. This would have allowed us to get on an off the peninsula in short order after seeing everything, but we would have been with people all day long, which wasn’t my intention.
In reviewing the trail maps, we could (instead) to take a 3.2 mile hike (Buck Cove Mountain Trail) through the center of the wooded peninula to its most prominent outlook. The kids will occasionally walk 3.2 miles with us at Green Lakes (granted, not always without complaints), and 400 feet wasn’t too much of an elevation gain, so I figured that would be the best route to take for the day. 8.3 miles and more than 1000 feet of total elevation later, I wondered if I made the right choice.
I should have planned a bit more carefully, recognizing that kid’s legs aren’t quite as efficient as mine. The guide book had said that we would be able to traverse the 3.2 miles in 1.75 hours, so I didn’t think it would be too challenging. In the end, it took us 50-75% longer to travel the same trail with 5 potty breaks for Victoria, lunch, and stopping to take photos. The east-facing overlook view was very, very nice … it offered the kids the longest and most beautiful view that they have ever seen. Both Victoria and Austin remarked how neat the view was and they both captured some pictures at the top, Austin being disappointed that he wasn’t able to capture a genuine landscape image instead of a few “snapshots” (his words not mine).
By the time we reached the summit/overlook it was 3:15, and we had to decide between doubling-back for another 2.5+ hours, or continue onto a ranger/maintenance road that would take us to the road on the western side of the peninsula. We chose the latter, walking the 2.5-3 miles back to the car by walking the shoulder of the road. It was a great … we walked, talked, and laughed as a family. Austin was goofy; Victoria was holding my hand. Even when they were complaining, they were smiling. I won’t soon forget this walk or this evening.
By taking the road, we were hoping to guarantee that we would return to the car by 5:00, so that we could still see a little bit more on the peninsula before the sunset, and our plan worked out perfectly. We arrived back at the lot a little after 5:00, used the facilities, and hopped in the car in hopes of seeing what I expected to be one of the prettiest views of the ride, at the outlook at the Anvil.
We hopped in the car and Austin immediately asked if he could turn on his gaming system … while we drove the western shore of the penisula during sunset, overlooking the ocean, while on vacation. It begs a series of questions about values, maturity, and maybe even my parenting, but those can be answered at a much later date, I suppose.
8-10 minutes later, we arrived to the Blueberry Hill parking area as the sun began to set. We jumped out of the car and began to hike a 0.3 mile trail to discover yet another overlook. It was the funnest hike of the day with some light scrambling, but the pay-off was not what I was expecting. The view was staggering, but not the one I thought we were rushing to see. Still, we got to see the sunset then setup the tripod for a quick family picture at the outlook before racing back down to the lot before we lost any remaining light of the day.
As it turns out, the spot that I thought that we were hiking to was actually the Raven’s nest which was another couple of miles north on the road; we had passed it on the way to Blueberry Hill. It was also likely the reason why there were 8 vehicles parked in a seemingly arbitrary spot on the road. So, sure, there may have been pictures to be made, but there are always are, and I am glad that we were able to continue and end the day as we began it, just the 4 of us enjoying nature in the way that suits each of us best.
On the way back to the apartment, we picked up some seafood from the West Side Cafe: Austin had Schrimp and Scallop Fradiavalo, Victoria had Scallops, Christine has stuffed haddock, and I had fried clams. I wouldn’t make the same choice again; the rest of the family was pleased with their meals, though. The beer of the evening was a very, very nice Allagash Curieux (golden ale aged in bourbon barrels). I split the Curieux with Christine, so I had room for another: this time the Cadillac Mountain Stout from Atlantic Brewery. It was a dry stout, which was new to me. It had good flavor, but I am not sure that I am in love with the dry finish.
By the time we were done with dinner, it was almost 9:00, so the kids took showers and we all went to bed after what was a longer and more-strenuous-than-expected day.
TODAY’S ITINERARY
The kids woke at approximately 7:30 and watched some TV. From my room, Victoria could be heard saying, “My feet are sore. My legs are sore too.” They have eaten breakfast and I have asked them to start journaling this week too in hopes of compiling their images and writings with my own to include in a magazine/keepsake of this week’s travels and experiences.
I have no idea how it will work out or how much they’ll enjoy participating, but I am hoping that they appreicate the product when it is done and that it helps them appreciate the experience a little more when they reflect back on the time they are spending here.
I owe the kids a more mellow day today. So, we are planning on eating an early lunch and then going to the land bridge. It is only 2 blocks away and low tide is at approx 1:15. My understanding is that the bridge can be crossed for approximately 90 minutes to each side of low tide, so if we are out of the apartment by 11:30-11:45 we should be able to enjoy as much of it as we might desire. Once we’re back on the right side of the bridge, we’ll have an opportunity to spend some leisurely time along the shoreline which should provide some contrast to the hustling that we were trying to do at the latter half of the day yesterday.
Monday October 12, 6:10 pm
We laid low in the apartment as planned.
We all wrote and read aloud our journal entries than the kids and I played War until lunch. I got my butt whooped in both games. The first game was over in 10 minutes. The second game is still in progress, though, to be honest. I was dismissed in short order, but Austin and Victoria continue in a back and forth affair that has left 2 piles of playing cards on the floor, still awaiting a resolution.
After an early lunch, we walked the 1.5 blocks to the land bridge, which was really cool. We were able to look at the barnacles on the rocks, look at seashells, skip rocks, and take some pictures before venturing out atop the island to take in the views of the land bridge from afar. Amazingly, there were still many trees that hadn’t yet changed colors, but the ones that have changed have assumed a very vibrant and warm yellow which is very pleasing to the eyes.
When the horn sounded at 1:16, indicating that the low tide was going to start to rise, Victoria insisted on getting off the island. We tried to give her comfort in knowing that we still had another 90 minutes to make a 15 minute walk to get back to the bridge, but her anxiety was having none of it, so I accompanied her off the island and back to the bridge, where she was again at ease. There were more photos taken and more rocks thrown into the water before retreating back to the apartment for a brief bio-break before venturing back into town.
We walked along the road closest to the shore and to the park on the Northeast corner of the island prior to taking the shore trail to the south until we could take it no further. Along the way, we stopped to take pictures of the scenery and the passing boats. We even saw a schooner!
Once we arrived at the end of the trail, we elected to go into town, rather than double back. The streets were a little crowded, but (unlike home) the adherence with masking is 98-99% here. It is so nice to see. We walked north until we came to a local ice cream parlor and we each had a small bowl of ice cream. Christine had Heath Bar while Victoria had cookies and cream. Austin mistakenly ordered cookie dough with vanilla ice cream while I ordered cookie dough with chocolate ice cream and mine was far superior. And the cookie dough wasn’t it little chunks. No, it was a homemade chocolate chip cookie dough swirl. A-maz-ing.
After our ice cream, we walked back to the apartment for showers, video chatting with family, video games, and showers. I went to the grocery store for a few items, including some new beers.
Christine is looking for restaurants for dinner right now.
Monday, October 14, 9:15 pm
So – dinner was a bust.
We tried ordering from the Thirsty Whale, but they couldn’t accept take-orders, because their kitchen was reportedly “slammed”, so we instead ordered from Geddy’s. Austin chose to order a ‘gourmet’ pizza, Victoria asked for fried calimari, Christine had a burger with New England clam chowder, and I tried to eat (haddock) fish and chips before instead eating a PBJ sandwich. You see, Victoria (inexplicably) didn’t like her calamari, so I offered her a taste of my haddock, which she immediately took a liking too, so my meal slowly became hers as I stopped eating my plate and kept moving more and more of my portion from my plate to hers. The beer of the night was Allagash’s Night Sky stout, which was good … but … I preferred the flavor of the Cadillac Mountain Dry stout more, even if not the finish, and both stouts still pale in comparison to the buttery-ness feeling of the coffee porter from Saturday night.
I think the itinerary for tomorrow is already set. The morning skies may be clear but will quickly yield to thickening clouds by noon, I think, so we are going to drive in and try to ascend to the Bubbles first thing and (hopefully) enjoy the view of Jordan Pond from above. If the clouds are already in place by morning, we’ll just walk around the pond instead. The afternoon will most likely include us vegetating at the apartment as nearly an inch rain falls from the mid-afternoon through the early morning on Wednesday.
Tuesday, October 13, 3:15 pm
This is the second day in a row where things have gone perfectly to plan and I am happy for it.
We were all in bed early last night, the kids before 9:00 and Christine and I at 9:30. The kids needed the alarm or Christine to wake them, but I am not sure which is true. I am not sure, because I wasn’t in the apartment when they awoke.
You see, Victoria had to empty her bladder at 2:00 in the morning, and my sleep had been broken ever since. So when my eyes opened at 5:55, I elected to get dressed and go for a walk to the shore to see if I could make an image at sunrise. The clouds were low, but at least there were some clouds to add some interest to the morning sky … the forecast doesn’t look promising for any sunrise images the rest of the week, I don’t think. Maybe Thursday, but I’m not keeping my hopes up.
So, I walked to the shore and found one composition that I liked, but it quickly became apparent that it was going to disappear as the tide was quickly rising at my feet. I then walked a bit farther south to try to capture an image featuring the large erratic on the shoreline. I experimented with some longer exposures with a 10-stop filter, but I needed to focus stack (I think) and bracket images, so I pulled it off the lens in favor of a 3 stop filter than I could still change focus with. I genuinely don’t know how good or bad the final images will be, even now as I type this, because the day has been busy and I haven’t even looked back at the images from the camera today.
Upon returning back to the apartment, the family was eating breakfast and were packing up to go out for the morning and early afternoon. The forecast looked like the rain was going to arrive at 2:00; the clouds were already rolling in and were only going to get thicker. With the rain starting in mid-afternoon, I asked Christine if she wouldn’t mind packing lunches for us while I got dressed for a hike around Jordan Pond … we would save the Bubbles for another day, when the sun was shining and lighting the trees around the pond below.
As we drove into the park at 8:30, I was glad that we had already planned on going to Jordan Pond, because the parking area for the Bubbles was already full. NOTE TO SELF – arrive at 7:00 to get an easy parking spot for the bubbles.
The walk along the west side of the pond was very pretty today; I imagine it must be beautiful in afternoon light on a sunny day. But it was cloudy and we started our walk at 9:00 am, so today was not one of those days. Even still, I thoroughly enjoyed the walk and looking out at the colors. The park is definitely in full-on peak foliage and we are so lucky to see it, even if for only a few days.
The kids eagerly took pictures throughout the walk, and we managed to keep Victoria away from the hydration pack, so we were able to walk all 3.2 miles around the pond without interruption from her bladder!
Aside from the pretty colors of the leaves, one of the highlights of the walk was coming across an apparent beaver lodge on the shoreline on the northeast section of the trail. A few hundred feet from the lodge, we started making note of trees that had been fallen by (what appeared to be) beavers. They seemed to only target white birch trees, but there were so many stumps with the trade mark point at the top and they were all the same height. Victoria was excited to find the lodge and was able to describe its features to the entire family. She knew way more about beavers than Christine, Austin, and myself – combined!
The walk around the pond today took approximately 3 hours, at least an hour of that time was spent paused and taking pictures. After a stop (and wait) at the restroom, we returned to the car with what we expected to be another 90-120 minutes before the rains would arrive. We considered going to see the lighthouse, but it was a 40 minute drive, and not even I wanted to drive THAT far … so we decided to explore a couple more ponds (Upper and Lower Hadlock) that were about 10 minutes away. Both proved to be unremarkable.
By that time, it was after 12:00 and Victoria was hungry, so we drove the car a couple of miles further south and ate lunch (turkey wraps for the older parties, pepperoni and crackers for the girl) in the car parked alongside the Northeast Harbor. I took a few captures after lunch, and then we drove back as the rain began at 1:45, almost exactly as planned.
On the way back to the apartment “Eagle Eye” (that is what Christine has nick-named herself after spotting 2 bald eagles this week) saw a bald eagle and I stopped to try to take a few pictures, but it flew away and farther from me twice before I could swap lenses and get my camera settings dialed in. By the time I was ready to capture the image, it was for all-intents-and purposes out of range and it started to rain. It was time to call it a day and return to the apartment.
So now I am in the living room writing in my journal. Austin is completing school work, Victoria is talking with her friend Maddie on her phone, and Christine is working on documentation and reports for work. I am hopeful that the kids will be able to journal this afternoon and that Christine will partake as well.
Right now, the forecast looks like it will continue to rain through 6:00 am and the clouds will start to break between 10:00 and 12:00. Now we need to decide where to go. I really don’t know what to do. I think I want to go for a good hike with some elevation change, the only question is: Where?
(one hour later)
I think I have a plan.
Parking at the Bubbles requires us to arrive at 7:00, but the clouds aren’t going to start to clear until 10:00 tomorrow, and I don’t want the views to be unrewarded, although the climbs anywhere seem to offer spectacular views, no matter where you are.
Anyway … it seems like we can start on Beech Mountain, then move to Acadia Mountain, then … well, then we can see what happens, but Gorham Mountain is available if we are so inclined. Beech Mountain is supposed to be a fairly easy 1.1 mile round-trip walk and (according to one publication) the most popular summit on the West side of MDI. Next, Acadia is not too far away by car and offers a fairly strenuous 0.9 mile hike to the summit followed by a a longer return via a loop, or we can just turn around. I think I am content to leave Gorham for Friday, when we can explore the entirety of the southeast shore, but I don’t know. That would leave us climbing the Bubbles on Thursday. Perhaps we take the drive out the the lighthouse after the second climb tomorrow?
Time will tell, I suppose.
Addendum: We purchased food from The Thirsty Whale this evening: I had the fish and chips and so did Austin, Victoria had spicy chicken tenders, and Christine had lobster bisque with a lobster roll. The food was good enough, but unspectacular. The beer of the night was a brown ale from Bigelow Brewing; it is fine enough, but nothing special.
Wednesday, 10/14, 4:05 pm
I’ll be darned, but we have another successful day in the books, I think.
When we woke up, everything was wet and cloudy, and (even though we were getting a start that was a little late) we elected to drive by the parking at Bubbles to see if there was a spot. There wasn’t, but we did get a chance to see some uneven light on the terrain to the east as we travelled along the Park Loop Road at/near the Fire Overlook, so it was worthwhile.
I handed Austin the road map – yes, a paper road map – and asked him to navigate and find our way to Beech Mountain. With the exception of confusing his left and right on one occasion, he did a great job and we arrived to Beech Mountain with the parking lot only half full and the clouds beginning to break for what would be a beautiful day.
We chose to go up the steeper section first, reaching the summit after only 0.3 miles. There was a beautiful overlook before we reached the summit with 180 degree views from to the South, East, and North. The summit itself featured a fire tower, which is not open for public use, which is fine with me … I hate walking on those things. They are so noisy, and you can see the ground beneath you through the grating. It gives me the hee-bee-gee-bees.
The return to the car along the less-steep section featured my favorite view of the morning, looking northwest over Lond Pond. It was one of those spots that you could sit at for hours. We saw an osprey flying overhead as well; I didn’t even try to take a picture as it was too far out and we were too far from the water (which is arguably the best place to photograph the great bird).
After Beech Mountain, we hopped in the car and drove to Acadia Mountain. We had our packed lunches and then made the 0.8 mile climb to the summit. This was by far the most technical climbing that the kids had to do so far this week, and they did great. Austin and Victoria both found there best pace, despite not having the most grip from their footwear. Once were at the top, we were treated to my favorite view of the week (so far, anyway). While there weren’t abundance of trees in fall colors, the shape of the shorelines and islands were so neat to see and photograph. It was a real treat to be able to see views from 2 summits on one day!
These views are so much different that what we see in the Adirondacks. While the hikes are easier, and you cannot see as far, they are actually prettier and more photographic. To photograph something from 700′ elevation is so very different from photographing something from 6000′. I absolutely love it. I can only imagine how pretty the images would be if I lived here and was able to shoot when I want and choose the days when the best light is coming from the best angles under the best conditions.
When we finished making our way back to the car, it was 3:00 pm and Christine was itching to do something else, but the kids had already been out for 7 hours, and there wasn’t anything else that easily/readily fit in our schedule this late afternoon/early evening. So we came back to the apartment, have begun showering, and will likely play a family game of Scrabble and get dinner from Geddy’s again.
The kids need to go to bed early tonight, because I am waking them up at 6:00 am to get to the parking at the Bubbles by 7:00. We have driven by at 8:00 and 8:45 and it has been full, so we’ll try our hands at 7:00. Christine will pack lunches tonight, in case we need them, but I don’t think that we will. Instead, I think we will be back to the car by late morning and can go back into town for ice cream for lunch. Then Christine can window shop and pop into a store for some keepsakes/souveneirs before we drive out the Bass Harbor Lighthouse for 5:45 sunset, which will require us to leave in the mid-afternoon to explore and eventually set-up for what might be a pretty sunset photo opportunity.
Friday, October 16, 7:30 am
The early part of the morning yesterday went better than initially planned. I woke up a little before 6:00 and the forecast for the sunrise looked very promising, but we were planning on driving to the Bubbles only a few minutes after sunrise. Christine was very kind and agreed to me going out to the shore while she got the kids ready for the morning’s walk, so I threw my pack ober my back and returned to the shore path.
As I was walking, I was thinking of finding a spot that I would try a long exposure with the water receding from the camera, but when I arrived, I decided to try something different, something more quintessentially Bar Harbor. I decided to try to capture an image of the Schooner-ship that is a Bar Harbor icon.
When I arrived to the Harbor, I took my time trying to compose the image. I was tempted to try to include the hotel and exposure blend the building, but (while I technically know how to do that) the image became too wide, too busy, and the ship was not as prominent and would have been competing too much for attention. Then I had to compromise my favorite composition that framed the foot bridge in the island, because it lined the masts in such a way that they were lined up in front of each other. Once I had my tripod and camera setup, it was time to wait for the light.
The sunrise ended up being so unique. The horizon was a fine baby-blue, but the clouds above faded from were brilliant pink/fucsia to a dark grey. The reflections off the water were so unique. I really, really thought about going back to the long exposure, but the boat was moving too much. I bracketed 5 images in both a horizontal and vertical orientation (I preferred the landscape while on location) and tried to keep the boat sharp … and I kept doing the same. By the time I tried to lengthen my exposure, I was certain that the light was changing for the worse, and I didn’t have time to get focus with a 10-stop filter so I slipped a 3-stop filter on and went to F22 … I still don’t know if it flattened the water like I would want, but if it did, I’ll have to change the hue to be less orange and bring back the pink.
I threw my gear in my bag and met the family as they were pulling out of the driveway to pick me up; Christine tells me that everything went smoothly in the apartment and everything would continue to go smoothly for most of the morning. When we arrived to the parking lot, we were the 2nd car. Finally!! We got the spot we needed and there were going to be few people to share the hike with.
The hike up/down the Bubbles was pretty easy. We walked up 0.2 miles to a fork where we chose one Bubble or the other. We stayed right and climbed 0.3 miles to the top of the North Bubble, there was a beautiful view of Jordan Pond both at a lookout and the summit. Descending to the fork and going back up the 0.2 mile climb to the Bubble Rock was the easiest of the two. The view was “just okay” to the north and was the only thing to point a camera at the wasn’t an erratic.
That said, the Bubble Rock erratic is a really, really neat thing to see. Much like the erratic on the shore in Bar Harbor, it is just so strange to see physics and mass at work at that scale. We took the obligatory picture of the kids and Christine at the rock and got out of the way for the other 6 groups that were waiting to take their pictures at the same landmark.
I suppose now would be a good time to mention etiquitte: I don’t know if it the time of year or just the people who are frequenteing Acadia/Bar Harbor, but the hygiene habits of those in the community over the last week has been remarkable. The bars have plexiglass between the staff and the patrons with only a small gap above the bar to slide a drink through. Indoors and on sidewalks, everyone is masked, properly, all the time in the town. I don’t see any mask chinstraps or exposed noses; people are doing what is in the best interest of their fellow man and I am loving it.
On the trails, nearly half of the people are are covering their faces full time. The others that aren’t (like us) are pulling up covering when they are crossing paths with others. And the rare person that isn’t covering up is stepping off the trail and turning away as other pass. It is such a breath of fresh air (pun intended) to be surrounded by such a community of people who are working and collaborating together in an effort of solidarity to keep each other healthy.
But anyway – back to the hike.
On the way back down from Bubble Rock, Victoria slipped. Hard. Into a large muddy puddle. She landed on her right side and hip, twisting her foot and ankle. I could tell when she gathered herself that she was scared that she had broke something. Ironically, on the way up to the top of South Bubble, she had been remarking to me that she was feeling more comfortable hiking and was more confident in her footing than she was on the first day that she went hiking. Alas, we sat at the side as I evaluated her lower leg and knee. There was no overt signs of severe injury; I told her that while I knew that she was in pain, there was no reason for concern of a terrible injury that would require us to go to the emergency department or hospital. She was able to stand and limp down the remaining 0.3 miles to the car parking lot. We pulled out an old blanket from the back of the car for her to sit on (to keep her from getting the seats dirty) and proceeded to return to the apartment.
We arrived back the apartment at 10:15 to an unfortunate surprise – the forecast changed! The forecast for Friday now included rain and clouds, and Friday was going to be our day to explore the southeast coast of the island. It was time to call an audible.
We decided to look into gaining access to the coast and there were passes available: we purchased an 11:00 am pass and would be leaving the apartment in only 30 minutes.
Earlier in the week, I had looked at trying to obtain a pass to Cadillac Mountain and there were none to be had; there was availability, however, when Christine was looking for a pass to Sand Beach, she was noted that passes were available for the mountain as well. There was some trepidation about acquiring the pass or not, but Christine said that the trip would feel incomplete if we didn’t go to the summit, so we acquired a 2:00 pm pass for Cadillac Mountain.
So, yeah – in the blink of an eye, our plans changed from having a restful afternoon at the apartment – maybe shopping a bit for souvenirs – to stopping at the apartment for 30 mins, cleaning up Victoria, then sightseeing along the coast at 11:00 until driving up to Cadillac Mountain at 2:00 pm.
Still – everything went according to plan. We were able to find a reasonable parking spot just south of Sand Beach (which didn’t interest us) then walk the ocean path past Thunder Hole and to Monument Cove. We were not visiting at high tide and there weren’t any significant waves to speak of, so there were no thunderous claps to be heard from the Hole on this date. Monument Cove was neat to see, but (like everything in the sunny mid-day light facing the sun) wasn’t especially photographic … but it was still neat to see.
From Monument Cove, we doubled back the car and then parked at Otter Cliffs. The view was nice, but not as pretty as other we had seen, and even Christine agreed with me … so we got in the car with 45 mins until we needed to be at Cadillac Mountain.
We were getting low on gasoline, so we decided to burn some time taking the scenic route to a gas station before driving to the top of Cadillac Mountain. This worked perfectly as we arrived at the gate at 1:59 and we easily found a parking spot on at the summit.
The views were spectacular, but the winds were fierce. It was crazy windy. I couldn’t keep my cameras still enough to take pictures, because the wind was blowing my entire body to and fro. The wind would gust and I’d push back against it, only to have it ease off a little and I would then teeter back into the void. I wouldn’t have been able to use a tripod if I tried; it was just too dang windy. The kids thought so too … they quickly retreated to the car while I took a few pictures as best as I could in mid-day light in 30+ mph wind gusts.
This was all squeezed in before out planned departure for the Bass Harbor Lighthouse for sunset. The plan was to arrive 90 mins before sunset and setup to photograph the soft evening light on the lighthouse. That was before discovering that I had severely underestimated the drawing power of the lighthouse during sunset on an mid-week off-peak-season evening. Long story short – we wasted 30 minutes in the car driving to within 0.3 miles of the lighthouse prior to becoming insnared in stopped traffic. I knew the size of the lot, how far we had to travel, and the likelihood of getting a nice spot to take a picture. This prompted a conversation with the kids about the meaning of the phrase “good money after bad”, as we turned around to drive another 30 minutes back to the apartment.
Everyone showered and then dinner included Pizza, our cheapest dinner of the week. We went to an eatery called Rosalie’s … we were more impressed with the proper masking of the entire staff than the pizza, but it was good enough.
To settle in for the rest of the night, we watched American Ninja Warrior before the kids went to bed.
Friday, October 16, 3:40 pm
I think vacation is officially over.
We ordered out for breakfast for the first time this all week. We tried Jordan’s (which has the best reputation in town), but they were not offering take-out, so we went to the next best place: The Great Maine Breakfast. Austin had chocolate chip pancakes, Victoria had french toast, I had blueberry pancakes with homeofries, and Christine the blueberry pancakes as well (but had a blueberry compote as well). The homefries were not cooked enough, but the pancakes were good and the kids both have left overs for tomorrow morning.
After breakfast, we went into town (despite the on-again/off-again spitting rain) and Christine and the kids window shopped while I took very touristy photos. Christine purchased a christmas ornament, Austin a sweatshirt, and Victoria harbor seal stuffed-toy. I had to walk in the rain for 15 minutes to find the storefront that featured the seal toy that Victoria had been pining for since she saw it earlier in the week, but it was worth it: she was clearly happier with her souvenir than anyone else.
After shopping, we walked along the Bar Harbor shore line, this time only 30 mins after high tide, which offered a strong contrast in views compared earlier in the week. The bottom of the erratic was submerged under the water. The sand bridge was completely covered. And – to my surprise – the section of decking/bridging to the schooner (and the schooner itself) were gone, apparently removed/disassembled until next spring. It turns out that I had captured a picture of the last sunrise to be seen with the schooner until next spring.
After returning back to the apartment, we snacked and drove back to the lighthouse in hopes of giving it one more try. Cadillac Mountain was on Christine’s bucket list, the lighthouse was on mine.
Fortunately, the wait for a spot was only one car deep and we were in a parking spot after less than a 3-minute wait. And while the tide was low enough to get in position for a nice-enough image, the lighting was far from spectacular. That said, the clouds had enough character to offer something to the image and a moody black-and-white treatment might work for the images that I was able to capture.
And while I had checked off the last thing to do on my list, I could tell that the kids had checked all their boxes as well. They didn’t even take out their cameras today, and they both appear tired. They are eager to stay in the apartment and seem to have lost their verve. They are vacationed-out.
The rest of the day today will include showers, packing, and tidying up before our return home tomorrow.