Rain on Maine

I did not hear a woodpecker this morning.  I heard, "Splink", or "Blatt", or "Dwoink, dwoink dwonk".  Consistent but changing forms of rain.  It was inconsistent and not an issue last night with the fire, but in the morning the weather was more intense and penetrating to the point that the original plans for the day were scrap.

The rain convinced me that hiking was impossible, so just taking a look at things in the rain was the way to go.  JayMe and I did the 27 Mile loop road. I introduced him to many of the drooling picture sites and I really enjoyed that because of the weather the park was not crowded and I could park at popular sites and see them less populated.  After the trip, including the run to the peak of Cadillac Mountain, we headed back to camp earlyish.

In the afternoon, I walked the hike that JayMe did yesterday.  It was great.  Not Yosemite great, but great without being really great.  It walked along a harbour and had many stunning viewpoints as well as rock hopping.  But what made the hike into an eternal memory was the confrontational deer.

I was a mere football field distance away from the end of the hike.  The path was so wide that 3 people could walk side-by-side.  Just a long slow double-ess curve remained to the parking lot.  I turned the first bend of the long ess and there was the confrontational deer.

Upon first sighting, Hi Aunt Sue, I froze.  The stag froze also.  Thirty yards down the path if front of me was a deer. We were about eye height equal, but his ears had me by a half foot.  And his baby antlers only added another foot.  So yes, he have me by about a foot and a half.

After unfreezing, I smoothly pulled out my camera.  Yoga like, I positioned myself and by extension the camera into a picture that I hoped to capture the front half of the animal while he grazed.  I aimed, I saw through the viewfinder a great picture.  I clicked the button, and the camera audibly whirred to auto focus.  And this young, beautiful deer, from now on to be called The Enemy, twitched his ears.

The enemy had heard me, and now that the auto-focus focused, the picture was snapped.  The camera clicked, loudly.  The flashbulb unexpectedly went off in the dim light. The enemy now turned and had all foor of its hoofs on the path I needed to proceed past. I took two steps back.

The enemy held his position, but eyed me nervously.  An then he ate and ate and ate.  I took a lot of pictures. (to be displayed later)  And when the enemy continued eating, I sort of got bored.  And I wanted to get by.  So I broke by silence and whistled.  The enemy heard it, and assumed a stance of running away.  I yelled, "Shoo!!".  The enemy cranked his long neck and looked directly at me.  I waved my arms and yelled "Get the &*^%  out of here!"  And to my surprise, the enemy advanced taking a few steps toward me.

I retreated a bunch of steps.  The enemy went back to eating. After repeated attempts I was able to flush the enemy just a bit off the trail...we had to parry and strike before I got him to move.   I think this was a teenage deer who I ran across and had little experience dealing with me, and we both learned a lot about the exchange.

I had an excellent seafood bisque at the local restaurant and headed back to camp.  After JayMe rescued my attempt at starting the fire, we spent the night happily enduring the inconsistent rain and the brief sky views that were provided.  I did see by far the best Moon show I have ever seen...the moon was nearly full and was sporadically and just partially masked by racing clouds. The best I ever saw from the moon, but I still haven't seen the Milky Way.

RT

Maine Stay

We woke early enough.  We packed and repacked the car.  We left early enough from the motel just shy of 7:30 AM.  At the Acadia National Park visitor center yesterday they told us that if we arrived by 9 AM, and waited in line, we should be able to get a spot at their first-come, first-served campsite.  So we headed onto Desert Island, and sped for the camping ground in order to get there by 9AM.  We crossed over to the Island and through some decision making fumbles, we ended up on the 27 Mile Loop Road that possesses the best that Acadia has to offer.  I'll come back to that loop road 3 full times before I will leave Acadia.

But the loop road was not where we wanted to be.  The bad assumption that JayMe and I made was that the loop road is where everyone goes, thus that is where the campsite must be.  The campsite was on the other side of Desert Island, and before we knew it we were backtracking and running late.

Nonetheless, arriving at 9:15 was good and shouldn't be a problem.  I told JayMe, "We'll get a site."  We did not get a site.  Neither did the car that arrived 90 minutes before us, because they also checked in to the campground two miles down the road where we spent the next two nights.

Technically, we're not camping in Acadia NP.  We're camping on Desert Island, where most of Acadia is, but Acadia is not all of Desert Island.  Rockefeller like moneys slowly and secretly purchased all of the most beautiful parts of Desert Island, then donated them to us dumb taxpayers.  (And now I get to go visit them and experience them and be exalted.)  The rest is still privately owned and surrounds the parts of Desert Island that are Acadia.

Camp at the campground at Bass Harbor, ME was a little spot just footsteps from a part the island that is Acadia's.  We were very efficient at setting up camp and by noon, we were fully encamped.  We could relax. Around 2 PM I decided it was time to really do the 27 Mile Loop road, and JayMe was up for a hike to the Natural Seawall.

We parted ways, and I was off to see Acadia's biggest attractions on the 27 Mile Loop road.  If I had a Camera-to-computer connector, you would now be looking at a series of Acadia pictures that would make you drool with envy.  (Pictures to be added later.)  If I had a Camera-to-computer connector I would be able to floridly describe how awe inspiring the sites I saw were.  (Florid description to be added later.)  Suffice it to say that choosing to highlight a trip to Maine by focusing on Acadia was the right choice.  The beauty and awe factors are there.

Returning to camp, JayMe had also enjoyed his hike, but it is clear that he should have joined me for the loop road to more fully experience the park.  After a clear and comfortable night at the campfire, where we vigorously talked (argued) about fire maintenance, the expectations for the morning were high.  On my tour of the loop road, I picked up hitchhikers who had just completed a long hike and needed a ride to their car.  After quick niceties, I asked these experienced Acadia hikers what is the best hike to do.  They agreed that the Sargeant Mountain-Ponobscot hike, at 3 hours, is the one.  So that hike is the plan for tomorrow.

In this perfect wonderland of light depravity, we watched the stars and saw a gazillion of meteors.  That's what I'd like to be able to say.  Unfortunately, totally un-fun clouds were everywhere; no stars could be seen.

I am writing the blog of this day with backward looking knowledge of what actually happened the next morning.  But going to sleep that night, I was really excited and had expectations of a hike that could rank near the top of my all time favorite.  Little did I know that when I awoke the next morning, the hike would be soaked, the campsite would be soaked, and emotions were underwater. (Hint, it rained all night!)

Cheers,

RT

P.S.  From now on, I will be referring to the guy with me on the trip as JayMe.  When reading this, it may be easier for you to just read it as the boy name Jaime.  As for why I picked this monicker, it is a bit of a pun...his first name starts with the letter J (Jay) and his last name is my first name.  So, J. Scott is now JayMe. I asked JayMe to pick out his own monicker, but he gave me nothing.

Low Maine

Leaving the vicinity of Concord, NH, and heading along a non-interstate path, we were able to breach the southern tip of Maine around 10:30 AM. Earlier, I awoke early and just after dawn, to the rhythmic pecking of a woodpecker. If you haven't heard a woodpecker, it is like an echoing, poignant, dull throb.  "Poink, Poink, Poink, Poink, Poink, Poink, Poink!"  Seven in a row, and then surprising silence for just enough time to reconsider the defeathering, and then another few batches of Poinks and I wished the hard nosed bird was dead.

Wrap up of the campsite was a bit slow, but possessing the flattering combination of no required destination and no required timeline, how could it matter?  At 10:30 AM, sitting on a Visitor Center bench at the southernmost point of Maine, I saw visions of grandeur and made the call that we'd be camping in Acadia, watching the Peresids meteor shower, on the shores of the Atlantic, in a magical national park, as the last embers of our fire died out this night.

Unfortunately, it doesn't always work out the way you think.  We were a bit late getting to Acadia, arriving around 4 PM, and apparently the first-come, first-served camping spots are usually filled around 9 AM.  This is the first time I wanted to camp in a National Park and have been rejected...Oh, NPS You're so good, I can't be mad at you; I forgive you.

Tomorrow morning, 9AM, I'll be in line for a camping slot.  Tomorrow night, and probably the night after that I will be lying on my back, looking straight up, and if the sky is clear, and if the moon is shy, I could see meterorites.  And I'll probably do something during the day too worth writing about.

RT
(why no pictures?  Because I either can't find or worse forgot to bring my camera to computer transfer line.  I'm taking pictures, though only a handull so far.  I'll look again for the connector, but I may have to insert the photos later.)

Towards Maine

295 to NJTPK to blah, blah, blah, and at long last we get past Hartford, CT, and the road gradually begins to follow the contours of the land it inherited, and it's beginning to feel like a Road Trip.  Getting of the interstates to avoid Boston took us on a path through Vermont, and toward Concord NH.  A pretty good first day, we escaped the east coast, and travelled on some not-so-well beaten paths, to end up in or near to Henniker, New Hampshire.

The town of Henniker is famous for being the only town in the world known as Henniker.  It's a fact!  I know it is because I read it off the placemat at the "Country Diner" we had for dinner.

After seeing a promo for the "Mile Away Campground" in Henniker, NH, we drove a mile and arrived at a sanitized version of a campground.  Even our tent site had plug-in electricity and fresh water.  An opportunity to test camping skills was required.

I succeeded at tent assembly...perhaps even excelled.  Inflatable mattress skills were rated as proficient, but needing attention.  Ice and drink procurement were again exceptional.  Fire starting was pass fail.  Then pass fail pass fail pass; I think the drizzling rain was conspiring against me.  Actually, with the leaf coverage that we had, the intermittent rains were really refreshing.

Camping out again confirms how much I miss that time when I was RoadTripping for the first time.

Off to Maine

Hello.  Do you remember me?

I am embarking on another road trip.  A small one.  Really just heading up to Maine for a go see.  Perhaps it's not a road trip.  But it has the feel of it.

The goal of this little two week excursion is pleasure.  Which makes it the same as all the other things I wrote about on this blog.  Simply, I'm going yo have as much fun as I can.  Which means I am seeking out beauty, savoring foods, and enjoying whatever comes along.  I've looked back on my previous blog posts, and I can't discern anything other than that was the purpose of the trips.

I just wrote there was no other purpose, but I do have a purpose in this state.  So for this trip, I'm heading to Maine.  I will be able to tick off my 49th state that I have visited.  Only Alaska remains.

So, I guess I'm back blogging for a week or two.  However, this trip is a bit different.  I may be camping out a bit more than usual.  This increased camping is because I am travelling with another enthusiast who owns actual camping gear like pots and pans, utensiles, coffee pot, and fishing equipment.  For the first time I will have most of the stuff needed for a multi-night camping trip.  We may even be able to hike to a camping ground and stay over night there.  And we might even catch, clean and cook our own supper.

We will perhaps be off the grid a lot, I may not be able to blog often, But I'll try to get a posting out, every so often.

Cheers,

RT