Lesser Known Outings on MDI

Friday  Morning, July 14, 2017                                                                          Most Recent Posts:
Acadia National Park                                                                         A Cautionary Tale of Acadia – Pemetic Summit
Mount Desert Island, Maine                                                               Mountain Top to Ocean Cove – Day to Hunters

 

 

 

Today we visit a couple of places that aren’t very often visited by tourists.  The first is Lake Wood just off of Crooked Road outside of Town Hill on Mount Desert Island.  There is a nice parking lot and a bathroom provided by Acadia National Park.    It’s a small lake, just 16 acres and 11 feet deep but we have it all to ourselves and it’s beautiful.  They do seem to have trouble around here deciding what’s a lake and what’s a pond.  I’ll just call it both as the spirit moves me.

Whatever it is, it’s well back from the parking area and even further from the main road so it is quiet and secluded.  The well back from the parking area means you have to carry your kayak/canoe a fair distance or have wheels like we do.  It’s the only lake/pond on the island to which we have to cart our kayaks.

The gated road to the pond itself is all down hill, nice coming in, a bit of a haul coming out.

Probably here we could have just left the carts on the shore while we paddled the lake but coming back to find them gone would be a real problem so we take the carts apart and stow them in the kayak’s dry wells.

David’s taking the wheels off here so he can fold up the cart for storage.

 

He stows the cart in the back well and is soon on the water.

 

Another beautiful day.

 

 

The lake is tree and rock lined with no structures and plenty of reflections today in the calm water

 

 

I love the rock ledges around the pond.

 

 

 

 

The small hill in the background is probably Youngs Mountain to which there are no trails.  I call it a hill, the map calls it a mountain at 680 feet.  Wonder what the criteria for a mountain is?   These folks have never been west of the Mississippi obviously.   Hills/mountains, lakes/ponds??

 

 

 

There’s not a better way to start the day than with a relaxing solitary paddle on a quiet lake.

 

 

 

I love the clouds above and the lily pads below.   I feel like I’m in a beautiful painting.

 

 

 

David surrounded by white water lilies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wildlife sighting #1.  Seriously big dragon fly.

 

 

Among my favorite pictures of the day is this spadderdock flower in its final stage.

 

 

Coming through the lilies, I spy a beaver lodge.  So far, we have seen at least one on nearly every pond we’ve paddled here in Acadia.

 

 

 

The water is so clear I can see the underwater construction.  Boy would I have loved to see one of the engineers come swimming out.

 

 

 

This just made me laugh out loud.  I need a title or a description or a story for this.  Help me out.

 

 

 

Wildlife sighting #2.   He’s just zipping along through the water.  He does an absolutely perfect frog leg kick.  He’d win the breast stroke competition for sure.

 

 

He whipped over to this lily pad and turned his back on me.  Maybe he thinks I can’t see him if he can’t see me.  Sure am glad I did see him.  Just can’t believe how fast he was swimming.  Somehow I didn’t expect frogs to be that fast.

 

 

 

Almost all the way around.  The take out is just around the corner. 

 

 

Once back we get the carts out, strap the boats on and start up the road.

 

 

 

The up hill pull isn’t too long and our two and  a half hours on the water was wonderful.  Lake Wood is a sweet place that very few people frequent it appears.

 

 

I’ve managed to make an entire post of our morning paddle.  I know I’m not being true to my “outings” title but I’ll do a separate one on our afternoon at the equally unknown Blue Horizons Preserve.