Window to Tim's mind: Down East Vacation, Day 6

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.