Window to Tim's mind: August 2011

The morning started out cool and cloudy but not raining. That was encouraging. We decided to do some hiking down on Long Pond, near a small town called Southwest Harbor. I pack up the usual stuff in my backpack, have some light breakfast and coffee and water and we head off. We turn off at this parking lot for Echo Lake Beach. First clue. Note that this is not called "Long Pond" in any way.

I had told Michelle that our first hike wouldn't be too hard because her hiking shoes were still wet and she was wearing lighter footwear. Still shoes, thank goodness, but not hiking shoes. So we find a trailhead and off we go on what I thought was Long Pond Trail - a nice easy, but long, hike along Long Pond.

Clue #2. There was no sign calling anything Long Pond Trail. There was one called Canada Cliffs. (Clue #3) I was fooled then by another sign that says that you can't believe the names on the trails because they might be different than on our map (this makes no sense whatsoever to me, but whatever). We march down the trail. It goes away from the lake, but I'm still OK with this. I keep looking at the map where I THINK we are and figure we're still OK.

We come to granite stairs. Lots of granite stairs. We climb up. It is really a great hike, actually, and we're greatly enjoying it and I continue to believe we'll get to my trail. We continue our climb up and the granite stairs end. Now it's nice soft forest trail. Quiet, lovely. But this comes to an end also and we get to those granite rocks and climbs like on yesterday's Great Head trail. We march on.

These rocks and climbs continue to rock and climb, sometimes broken by the occasional soft trail. We climb and climb and finally come to the top, where we see a beautiful view of Echo Lake and the ocean beyond. Yes, I said Echo Lake. We go on a bit and come to another trail that we decide not to go on. Finally, I'm looking at my map wondering where the loops are I was expecting. I see the trail ahead (to more cliffs) on my map and then look at the name of the lake - Echo Lake. That, in case you're wondering, is NOT Long Pond.

I finally figure out that the only way back is, well, back. We turn around and head back down all those rocks and cliffs and climbs and stairs and get back to our car, exhausted. We figure we need food to fuel up for another hike so we head into South West Harbor. This is a very small town that is South West of North East Harbor. It is NOT on the furthest South West part of the island. That's Bass Harbor. Anyway, there are a few shops and restaurants and we stop into one advertising seafood lasagna and pita sandwiches. We hear of a tomato basil crab soup we have to try (oh my God, it was good!). Michelle feels the need for greens and orders a salad with chicken. I feel the need to continue my goal of having nothing but seafood as long as I'm in Maine and order the crabcake sandwich (fantastic!). We wanted seafood lasagna but it was not on the lunch menu.

We finish off our meal with dessert, me with blueberry bread pudding and Michelle with Key Lime pie (the opposite end from Key Lime trees, but that's a quibble). Michelle decides she is done hiking for the day and I want to go hike a strenuous hike - on Long Pond. So Michelle heads off to shop and go to the library in South West Harbor and I head to Long Pond - really - to hike the "perpendicular trail".

On my way over, I finally spot some wildlife. I see 2 elks. That was it. We didn't even see more than 4 birds that weren't seagulls, cormorants, or crows. No snakes. No bears. No moose. Not even a squirrel. Nope, I take that back! I saw a squirrel by the hotel. I actually saw a beaver in Niagara Falls. Nothing here in this national park.

So I get to Long Pond and find the trail head. It goes up a mountain. It is granite stairs. Granite stairs broken only once by iron ladders. So I climbed up hundreds of granite stairs and get to the top of the mountain. I know Michelle is waiting for me, but I'm not satisfied and I know these trails loop around (now that I have the correct bearings) so I decide to take the trail to the Great Notch. I don't know what that is, but I'm intrigued.

I set off. Instead of granite stairs, I'm greeted once again with the large rocks and cliffs and climbs. I have to go down first. It was wet and slick and treacherous, but I carry onward. I actually have to sit down for some to get down because the step is too long or the landing is too small. I walk down into one valley and go up again to the Great Notch. There were a couple of times when I saw the blue trail markers and thought "Oh, Come ON!" It was very strenuous and adventurous. Very fun. I saw very few people.

I got the the Great Notch and was faced with another fork. I decided that I really needed to head back so I started walking down through the bottom of a valley. Much easier travelling if not for all the roots to trip over. I get down and am walking over some rocks in a stream and see another hiker. Apparently that distracted me because that's when my foot slipped and I fell. Surprisingly I didn't hurt my knee altho I fell on it. And didn't twist my ankle, either. What I appeared to do is sprain my toe (I don't think it's broken). And embarrassed myself. Actually I was glad the guy was there because if I had injured myself he was there to help.

So I limp back down to the bottom. Luckily it's easy through-the-woods hiking and I get back to my car. I drive in to pick up Michelle and we head back to Bar Harbor.

At low tide in Bar Harbor, you can walk a sand bar over to Porcupine Island. We knew this and intended to do it, but hadn't yet. Since it was low tide and we were in Bar Harbor, we walked out to it. It was cool that you could do it, and it offered great views of the town. Not strenuous, altho the shore of the island was rocky. We walked out, walked across the island to see the other side, walked back. The sun was peaking out. It was nice.

We walk back to the car and decide to explore the shops we hadn't seen yet. Some were very nice local art shops with very expensive things in them. Some were cheap, creepy souvenir shops. When we figured we had seen everything, we went back in to one of the main ones because we (I) really wanted some kind of souvenir. Finally, we found the right sweatshirts. Happy now, we head out of town.

Did you know they catch lobsters in Maine? Yes. It is true! Following recommendations from everyone we talked to, we head out off island to the lobster pounds. I guess the lobster fishermen use them as the middlemen to sell their goods. It is the place to go to get the freshest lobster anywhere. Stuff that came off the boat today. We find one that has parking, put in our name, and wait. You put in your name so you can order. Michelle waits and I go off to get some gas and buy some beer (these are BYOB places). When I get back, they were calling names and we got to order. I ordered the 1 1/2 pound lobster with a pound of mussels. Michelle ordered the 1-pounder. We find a seat (cheap picnic tables) inside (well, there were sort of walls, but it was open to the outside), crack open our beer and wait. I am very excited.

They call our name and I pick up 2 trays heaped with seafood. It comes with bread, corn on the cob, and slaw. And drawn butter. We eat it all. There isn't even butter left. And yes, of course you have to work for it. No "lazy-man's" lobster here (restaurants in town offered that for a couple of dollars more). We feast. Yum! I want more! Now!

Ahem, anyway we have to leave the next morning so we head back. A long tiring day.

And yes we leave at 7am local time. We stop at a town just off the island at a bakery where we get fresh blueberry muffins, breakfast sandwiches on a fresh just-out-of-the-oven croissant, and a curry chicken salad sandwich on fresh honey wheat bread. I decided to drive through New Hampshire and Vermont instead of taking the Interstate through Mass just to get a bit more New England before we're heading home. It was the right choice. They were lovely states with lots of quaint towns, inns, and shops. And views. We catch 90 in Albany and I turn the car over to Michelle. She drives us through New York, Pennsylvania, and most of Ohio before turning it back to me. I drive us into Indiana, but by now it is about 2am and I can't go anymore. We pull off at a rest stop and sleep for a couple of hours. Then I drive home. Yes, we drove straight through. 24 hours. We're nuts, but what's the point of paying big dollars for a hotel for 1 night.

"Our" lobster pound

A happy customer

Lobster, mussels, corn, slaw, bread, a nice ale, drawn butter...ahhhh....

Some "sculpture" on the rocky beach of the island

2 women talking on a bench surrounded by wildflowers

A fisherman at the end of the day

Ocean vista

Rocky shore and ocean vista

Bar Harbor from the island

Nice trail after rocky climbs

How did that hole get in there??

Trail through pines

Great Notch

The ocean in the distance

Yes, I climbed up that "trail"

And down this one

Just beautiful country

Some conservation corps work

That's Southwest and Northeast Harbors

A fire tower

Granite stairs. Lots of them

And sometimes iron ladders

Long Pond

See? I saw some wildlife. This was the only sighting

View of Echo Lake

A tree uprooted. Note how shallow and wide the roots are.

A rest at the top

Echo Lake from the mist

No, that boulder seems pretty stable

Up in the clouds

Some color other than green

This is the nice, soft part of the trail

We wake up and it’s raining. Hard. We expected it, but it’s still not too encouraging. So we get ready and I go to the lobby to get on the Internet so you all are kept up to date. By the time we’re ready to go, it has mostly stopped raining. It’s cool – probably 60. Our plan is to go to Sand Beach and do an along the water hike to some cliffs. Rated “easy”.

And easy it was. It was a 6’ wide gravel trail along the road. Flip flop trail. It had nice views, but it hardly gave us any challenge. There were some granite rocks to climb out on and some people were doing some rock climbing. And there was a large sailboat WAY out there. It was pretty. And it was, for the most part, dry. We stop at a little gift shop along the way that used to be some kind of cabin which was quaint. Didn’t buy anything.

We get back to the beach, hardly stressed, and decide to do an “Intermediate” rated trail called Great Head Trail (insert comment here). Started out with some granite stairs. Uphill, but not too stressing. We get to the top of the stairs and take the right fork in the trail and come up to – a cliff. The trail is marked by blue tape on trees and blue paint on rocks. We look and the “trail” is going up these rocks. So up we go. It’s actually pretty strenuous and we have to have careful footing since it is wet. Up, up we climb, continuing to look for trail markers.

We pass all kinds of people. Some our age. Some much older. Some families, one with umbrellas. As we near the top, it starts raining. Starts out as a mist, and gradually gets heavier. I break down and put on my poncho – actually it’s the poncho from Maid of the Mist – came in handy. We continue up and down these rocks, following the blue trail markers. It’s fun. It’s adventurous. It’s probably a little dangerous – actually more than a little.

The first trail was 4 miles. It took us no time at all. This one was 1.4 miles and it took us probably 2 hours. Views were fantastic. Trailblazing was fun. Climbing was challenging. This trail is 2 loops and we pass some people coming back that we had met before and we questioned whether we were going the right way. We finally get to a trail marker where it points us to the parking lot for the trail or Sand Beach. We came from Sand Beach, so that’s where we head. Where does it go? Up the rocks. We question ourselves. But we keep on.

We meet a family of 5 – the ones with umbrellas. Their 3 kids are in a hurry to get down. One is about 10 or 11 and is racing down. The 7 or 8 year old is trying to keep up. Then there is the 4-year old. He wants to race down too, but Mom is understandably panicky about this prospect. Remember this is now DOWN these rocks we climbed up to get there. She finally has to yell at him to slow down and wait. He slips down once and claims “I meant to do that”. Then he slipped again and put his hand in a puddle and says “I didn’t mean to do that”. They go down ahead of us.

We get back down to the beach, pretty tired, actually. We felt adventurous. We see some surfers on pretty big waves. Then we meet the oldest of that family – and he’s looking for them. Later in the parking lot I saw Mom who was looking for him. Hope they met up.

We need sustenance so we go into Bar Harbor. Bar Harbor is a typical tourist town, filled with shops and restaurants. We go into a restaurant and have the fish and chips. Fresh, delicious. I sample a local brew. Delish.

We mail a postcard. Go through some t-shirt shops – actually MOST of the t-shirt shops. And for some reason Bar Harbor likes peace signs. EVERYTHING sported them. Not sure the significance. Anyway, we spent another 3 hours or more browsing shops and manage to buy one sticker for my car. The best shop was an art store filled with goods from local artists. Things like woodworking, knitting, hand-spun yarns, fashions, glass, pottery – we wanted everything. But wow, it was expensive. A hand-knitted scarf cost $125. There was a basket for $2000. Beautiful stuff and we wanted it, but not that much.

We trolled a few more stores and went home. Tired, feeling adventurous, and ready for another day’s hiking. Tomorrow? Cloudy, low 70’s. We explore the South West side of the island.