“Take NO Pictures of the Facility”

Saturday August 26-Monday August 28, 2017                                         Most Recent Posts:
Schoodic Woods Campground                                                                     Trying to Speed Up
Acadia National Park                                                                                 No Where Near the Totality Zone
Winter Harbor, Maine

 

SATURDAY August 26 – Finishing the Park Loop Road

The goal today is to finish looking slowly at the East side of the park loop road but we’re out today at high tide rather than low as we were yesterday so we do stop at those two little hidden trails to see how different they are.  The low tide pictures are in the last post above in blue if you’d like to compare them too.

 

The Winter Harbor Lighthouse looks even better than yesterday especially with a sailboat going right by.

 

In fact, there are a lot of boats on the water today.  I guess that’s becasue it is Saturday.

These are much nicer seas for paddling.

 

 

 

 

Of course we have to stop by the point and see what’s up and it’s the tide but calm seas.

 

The rocks are much dryer today so we decide to expand our explorations of the point around to the more western side where we have not been.

 

 

 

David catches a picture of me going inside the rock slab cave    I’m so little in the picture, not sure you can see me even though I’m waving..

 

 

On across the rough terrain we find some ongoing research.  Not sure what they are studying.  The covers seem to be over some catch water areas.

 

 

Boy talk about a goose egg.  Look at the size and shape of this.

 

 

 

 

 

 

There were several experiments going on and judging from the fact that some of the  tops are open to the rain and some have screening, we’re guessing they are different studies.   Wish the note to not disturb had told the title of the study.

 

 

As we scramble off the point I overhear this whining.   Hey Mom, I ‘am not’ big enough to feed myself.  

 

We do get over onto the east side and have only a couple of stops left to make but as with everything on the park loop road, they are beautiful.

 

 

 

 

SUNDAY August 27 – Prospect Harbor Lighthouse and More

 

Today we head over to Prospect Harbor to see the lighthouse. It is LOW tide and some boats are aground.

 

 

We see the light easily from the harbor and decide to drive over to see if you can actually go inside.

 

 

We drive around and the answer is clearly no you cannot visit.  Or at least we cannot.

Turns out it is a naval facility with a totally out of place geodesic dome and a razor wire fence running around it ruining the ambiance of the light house. When I step out of the car to take a picture closer up of the stupid dome, a voice on a loud speaker from the guardhouse I didn’t notice says “TAKE NO PICTURES OF THE FACILITY”. Well all righty then. As we leave, we wonder just what are they doing behind that razor wire fence?    Does Paul Dahl, of R Sanity RV Adventures,  know??

 

 

Well off to more welcoming things then. We head back over to Corea Heath where on the other side of Corea Road from the NWR short walk to the heath that we took a few days ago, there is a Corea Heath Preserve Trail owned and facilitiated by the Frenchmen’s Bay Conservancy a local group protecting the environment.  The Conservancy has protected 7000 acres in the past 30 years and have 25 miles of year round public access trails.  Well done, I say!!

In the Corea Heath Preserve, Roaring Brook flows through and widens into large wetlands  in several places.  It was anything but roaring today.  Beavers have created a pond with their dams so some of the wetlands are getting significantly less water.  Surrounding the edge of the wetland complex is a mixed forest of hardwoods, spruce, fir and pine, including a beautiful stand of the fire-dependent jack pine.

Given that this is a wetland, we were anticipating boardwalks but it’s been so dry that at first we really don’t see anywhere they are actually needed. Not even across what used to be streams.  I’ve been told that water levels can be high enough to make the boards float and thus they would sink into the water when you step on them.  Today we cannot even imagine that.   

 

 

I’ll try just to point out the highlights on this 1.5 mile loop that took us an hour and a half to walk.  One was these florescent mushrooms.

 

Then there was this giant shelf mushroom that looked like it was an extension of the tree.  Fabulous decorating Mother Nature!

 

 

We did finally come to an area for which the boardwalk was welcome.  And look who we found.  One in the water below us, one in the mud below us and one on a plant hanging over the boardwalk just beyond this spot.

 

 

 

 

I’ve never seen a red dragonfly.  I think it is an Autumn Meadowhawk.  The area was covered with them. 

 

 

We find the pond created by the beavers, and their dam.  We also think the pile in the middle of the beaver created pond is a lodge.

 

 

 

The beaver dam is there on the left blocking the water from continuing its flow in the wetlands.

 

 

It’s a big wide dam necessary to keep the water from seeping out and flowing on.   It’s so big and so many trees and so much mud that I could actually walk on it.

 

 

The conservancy  even provided a bench if you want to sit a while and hope for beaver sightings either in the lodge on your right or at the dam on your left.

 

 

From  the preserve, we make a quick stop to check out Jones Pond as a possible kayaking spot.

After going down a rather scary false turn into a rather sketchy “neighborhood” with roads Ruby should not be driving on,  we do find the “pond” which  turns out to look  like a lake to us even from the picture on its sign.  It’s large enough to attract larger gasoline engines so I’m not sure we’ll include it in our list of possibilities but today, which is a Saturday at 2:00, things are calm.  So maybe that bodes well.  Sure has an easy put in spot.  This is an off the beaten path kayaking spot that we’re pretty sure, from the looks of it, is known only to the locals.

 

 

 

 

Last stop was Taft Point Preserve, also a Frenchman’s Bay Property on the corner of Jones Cove, no relation, and Flanders Bay.  There was a well maintained dirt entrance road and a 6 car parking lot ensuring that there would not be too many people hiking and today there were none.

There are two loop trails here, the Flander’s Bay Trail and the Jones Cove Trail.  They go off on opposite sides of the parking  lot.  Looks like they both go to the different waters so we arbitrarily choose Flander’s Bay to hike first.

 

Flanders Trail begins through very tall pines with a wonderful smelling needled floor and many mossy edges.  It takes us to the shore and back. 

 

 

 

 

We spend some time just enjoying the shore and using binoculars to look about. This island is a popular place.

 

 

 

On the way back to the trailhead, we are scolded by this grocery shopper.

 

The entire Taft Point Preserve  property of 68 acres of coastal frontage was just donated in 2014 by Jeremy Strater.  On our way back to the trailhead, we found what we think are two old wells which are surrounded by fencing to avoid accidents.  We did find one guy who probably jumped in but I don’t know how he’ll get out.

 

 

 

 

 

We start out again at the Jones Cove Trailhead through the woods.  Very nice and simple signs.  Someone has kindly left a walking stick but we don’t borrow it.

 

 

We can just see the water from above when we hear the loon calling.  I manage to find him with my lens.  The picture is from a long distance but it was great to hear his mournful sounding call.

 

He was ruffling his feathers in this shot so he’s uncharacteristically up out of the water.

 

 

 

 

Down on the Jones Cove beach we see evidence  of local property owners surrounding this preserved land.   Preserves make such nice neighbors.

 

The sun glistens off of the water.   We can see the mountains in the distance.  What a great day!

 

 

Such a lovely piece of property to have owned and how generous to donate it rather than sell it for development.

 

 

 

MONDAY August 28, 2017 – Continuing Our Lobster Tasting

 

It was a day of dealing with business.  Not a very exciting day especially for David.  Our black tank valve has deveoped a very small leak but those aren’t things you want to ignore so he dumps the tanks and tries every trick he can think of to no avail so we’ll be calling Randy again.  There aren’t many things David can’t fix so he’s not a happy camper.  He needs a reward for all his effort.

In our quest to try all the lobster we can find, today David goes to the Lobstore in Winter harbor and brings back clam chowder and whole lobsters.  Corn on the cob and cole slaw are traditionally served but since we have neither we substitute whole corn and a salad.   Thumbs up to the lobster and the chowder although Corea Wharf still holds the edge for us.

 

Happy Campers!!