The Highs and Lows

Saturday, Sunday, Monday                                                                                 Most Recent Posts:
June 25, 26 and 27 , 2017                                                             Jordan Pond Path & Someone has a Birthday
Narrows Too RV Park                                                                        Foggy F’s Day, Cobblestone and Popovers
Trenton, Maine

 

 

 

Saturday morning after our dominoes evening with Bill and Nancy,  David slept later than usual and was rather spacey when I talked to him.  Taking his temperture revealed 101.6 and time to go to the hospital.  What is it now,  where did it come from, and how did it show up over night?  He was fine when he went to bed.  I gave him two tylenol and drove him in the rain to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, an hour away.

The emergency room did a round of blood tests, gave him some fluids, got his fever down and after a few hours sent him home to await the results of the cultures from additional tests to determine the source of the infection which was not apparent from any of the labs they did.   Wisely, they did not admit him since he can rest and keep hydrated at home better than in a hospital where he might be exposed to worse infections than his weakened immune system can deal with.  We have also found that it is difficult to get discharged once you’ve been admitted.

Over the ensuing days, he rested and slept. His temperature went up and came down.  The cultures came back inconclusive. Nothing seemed wrong but he couldn’t shake the fever.  It kept coming and going with the help of tylenol.   Eventually at the Cancer Center they  gave him a shot of neupogin and an antibiotic.  Over the next week he returned to normal.   This picture above is of him in his recovery room.  The red thing on his lap is his ever present bottle of water.  Hydrate, hydrate.

 

 

I’ve shown the little walk down at the canoe/kayak put in before on the lovely day we moved to Narrows Too.  The rock line is just below the boats.  Remember this mountain view.

 

 

 

The day following his hospital visit, I went out early while he was sleeping to check out the shore.

Although we don’t have a waterfront site, it is still possible to use the little public access to check out the shore line. The difference between high and low tide is pretty amazing. I’m so bad at estimating distances I don’t even want to guess how far the water has receded.

Here it is on this  foggy Sunday at  high tide.  Not much you can do but admire the water at your feet and the views, if you aren’t fogged in.  I’m at the same spot as the picture above but no mountains this morning.

 

 

Looking East.  There’s no where to walk today.  But there is always tomorrow

 

 

And here’s the same entry spot tomorrow,  this Monday  morning. The tide is down.  Although I suppose it may not look as “pretty”, there is a lot more to see at low tide.  compare this to the same spot above.

 

 

 

Looking east I find a very wide “beach” and since David is still sleeping, decide to set out for parts unknown or at least as close to that point as I can get.

 

 

Along the way I pass a couple of houses, one of which has a little boat tied to its steps.  Right now the boat is high and dry.  No fishing this morning.

 

 

 

I walk on the rocks and through the muck to the little inlet at the end of “our side” of the Narrows.  This has always stopped my exploration before because I have not had on water shoes to wade across.   But today it is a mere trickle of its former self.  No problem crossing and heading into new territory.

 

Things at my feet.

 

 

 

 

Neighbors

 

I walk far enough to see something I don’t exactly understand up ahead.,  Its clearly man made of stone.  But then so are a lot of things around here.

 

When I get close enough it appears to be a very large boat ramp with something on a hose that must be underwater at times.  I have no idea what it is.  Do you??

 

 

I walk up the long wide boat put in or ramp or whatever it is and at the top, I find the explanation.

 

 

It turns out this is the County of Hancock Seaplane Ramp and Boat Launch.   Seaplane Ramp?   Why would a county have a Seaplane ramp I wonder?   A little looking around provides an information board with very interesting history.

 

In 1934, New Deal workmen used local granite blocks to build this seaplane ramp and parking apron as part of Trenton’s “airport”.  Trenton is a town with an area of 28 square miles, 18 of that is land and 101 is water.   In 1930, Trenton had a population of 338 compared to Bar Harbor at 4,486.  Clearly Trenton is not a town that would normally have an airport but  the airfield was a Civil Air Patrol Base and then briefly an auxiliary of Brunswick Naval Air Station.   Both military and civilian seaplanes landed and launched here. 

In 1942 and 43, Trenton’s airport served as Civil Air Patrol Base #20 with 75 men.  Later a much smaller Navy force searched for German Submarines and flew an anti-submarine blimp to escort coastal merchant ships.  WWII submarine spotters British Fleet Air Arm Corsair Fighter Squadrons used the field in 1944 and 45 to practice simulated carrier landings

 

There is a picture in the upper right showing that torpedoing of Bald Porcupine Island was part of the training. Added amendement above the island compliments of local birds.

Bald Porcupine is one of three “Porcupine Islands” off the coast of Bar Harbor in Frenchman’s Bay.  You can see the airport in the upper left of this map and Bald Porcupine is the lower of the two islands labeled.  Well now I want to go out there and take a look at poor Bald Porcupine.  The Porkies are described as “ rugged evergreen topped” and are owned by Acadia National Park.  No wonder he’s bald.  The islands are about 6 miles off shore and you’ll need a sea kayak or a private boat tour to get there but apparently you can land on Bald Porcupine though you take the chance of being is some rough open water to do it.

 

Back down the ramp I go trying to gauge if I can go further on the shore before turning back and still cross the stream.

 

 

Off the foot of the ramp are working boats but not like the one I see on my return trip.

 

 

 

 

I’m back at the bottom of the ramp looking on around at the dry mud flats.    I think I can go a little further.

 

When I do, I’m able to see clearly the channel that goes from the Mount Desert Narrows into Eastern Bay.  That’s also visible on the map above.

 

It’s clear there has been some road traffic this way.  Wonder why?  Wonder who?  Wonder when?  Seems like this is under water a lot of the time.  I walk a short way along the tracks hoping to see what’s “around the  corner” but when I get there, there is just another “corner” further on.  I don’t know this shore line well enough to know when the turning tide will cut me off so I head back.

 

On my way I get to watch what I assume is a father and son “musseling”.   They are raking them off the bottom of the Narrows and forking them into their boat which gets heavier and heavier with each load. 

 

If you’d like to see them in action, I’ve uploaded a video here.   The camera woman leaves a lot to be desired but it shows them in action.  Takes about a minute.

 

Those are some long tined rakes piled on top of the mussels as the boat, sitting low in the water, heads away and probably back home after a morning’s work.  Or perhaps they’ll be back for another load.  It’s only 8:30am now.  I wonder how long it took them to load the boat this full.  From the video and even the pictures, you can see that this is very hard work.   If you eat mussels, perhaps you can thank this team.

 

 

I’m heading back around to my side of the Narrows just beyond the cove.

 

I’m in plenty of time ot cross the stream but the water is definitely on its way up. 

 

 

The little boat is back to floating as I walk by.

 

And here I am back at the canoe launch with the tide coming in.  It’s not yet 9:00am but I need to get back and check on David.  I  should have come back in a few hours to get another picture of this same spot at high tide without the fog, but unfortunately I didn’t.   

I love early mornings on the water or anywhere in Nature when it is so quiet and no one is around other than the birds, the critters and me.   Coming down to this spot is becoming a ritual for me.  Next plan is to come down before sunrise on a not high tide not foggy morning and see exactly where the sun comes up.  Of course “not foggy” is asking a lot here on the gorgeous coast of Maine.