Hiking and Biking

 A picture perfect morning!

Got up at 8:00, it was already 55*.  We left the cottage at 10:35 and it had warmed up to 68*.  We drove to Beech Mtn. for an easy, fairly quick hike.  We had to wait for someone to leave before we could park.  We left the trailhead at 11:15 and took the left fork in the trail.

While there still wasn't a ton of fall color, these leaves caught my eye.

We stepped off the trail to enjoy this nice view and I was able to take off the bottom section of my hiking pants.

We glimpsed this view of Long Lake, looking the other way.

This is the only summit with a fire tower.  It is occasionally occupied by volunteers, but not today.  

It only took us 35 minutes to reach the top and we could have done it faster except we were following a family with a super cute little girl, maybe 3, and that slowed us down a little.  We passed a little brown snake at one point but it was too fast for me to get a picture.

We hung out for about 15 minutes enjoying the view and the nice warm day.  Although the parking lot was full, it wasn't that busy at the summit.

Cranberry Islands (maybe)

Somes Sound

We headed down at 12:05, found a little color and spent some time with one of my favorite views of Long Lake.  Although I remembered this view, I wasn't sure this was the hike.

We ended up following the same family DOWN so, again, it took us a little longer, even though we passed them twice.  Arrived at the car at 12:45, the temp was somewhere between 69* and 72*.  

From there we drove about 20 minutes to a place on Echo Lake called Ike's Point to have lunch.  I thought it was a picnic area but it was not...hahaha  It was a boat launch but there were enough larger rocks that we were able to sit on the rocks and eat our lunch.  

The water was super clear and a woman walked down while we were there and went for a swim, although she did have a wet suit on, so I don't think it was very warm.

We changed into our bike clothes in the car...easier said than done and drove to the Brown Mtn. Gatehouse for our only bike ride of this visit, the Hadlock Pond Loop.  It's a 3.9 mile loop, crosses four beautiful stone bridges and took us about an hour.  We chose to take the loooong, gradual ascent, thankfully, rather than the short, steep one.  We would probably still be riding.  I didn't take pictures of the bridges because, quite frankly, we have done this ride a few times so I already have plenty of bridge pictures.  I did manage one picture of the only time we could see Hadley Pond.

Kind of a joke that it's called the Hadley Pond Loop since you hardly ever even see the pond.  Anyway, it's a nice ride and it did get out heart rates up.

We drove back through town and reached the cottage at 4:30.  Still 69* ;o)  We sat outside in the sun for awhile, came in when we got chilly.  For dinner, we went to Pat's Pizza in town and used our gift card for a small pizza and beverages.  The sunset was around 6:30, so we were practically eating in the dark by the time we finished, although there was one light which didn't do much to illuminate the outside eating area.  

We got back at 7:30 and started packing because we have reached the end of our stay.  We agreed it was a really nice day, we got a lot of exercise but didn't beat ourselves up too much.  

Thanks for stopping by...

;o)

Wonderland and Ship Harbor

 How did we not know about these two places in Southwest Harbor?!  We probably still wouldn't know about them except for the numerous posts on the I Love Bar Harbor Maine FB page.

It was still cloudy, cool 57* and windy when we got up.  

We left at 10:44, it had warmed up to 63* and the sun was trying to rid itself of high, thin clouds.  It's about a 30 minute drive to the Wonderland Trail, an easy 1 mile in and out walk to a rocky shore.  This is only minutes from Seawall where the waves were pretty impressive yesterday.  It's amazing how much calmer the water was today.

Pano...Wonderland Beach

My Man...Magellan

Another possible Christmas Card photo

It took us about 15 minutes to walk in and 20 minutes to walk out on the loop trail.  The temp in the car read 67*...lovely ;o)

We drove down the road just a few minutes to the Ship Harbor Trail, another easy 1.3 mile walk.  The trail forms a figure eight, one side going along the water and the other side through the woods.  One of the nice things about this trail is the restroom at the beginning!  

We absolutely fell in love with this place.  It rivals Two Lights State Park; it's beautiful but more quiet and serene and you're closer to the water.  We sat for 35 minutes just watching the tide come in and listening to the small waves against the rocks.  

Our first view of Ship Harbor

I found a couple of heart rocks but I only took photos then left them for someone else to find and enjoy.

Stairs from the "heart" beach

You don't often see water this color around Maine.  It was a beautiful turquoise.

The channel leading to the harbor

Looking into the harbor

Harbor entrance to the right, ocean to the left

Leaving the channel and heading into open waters

Reminds us of Two Lights

Beautiful day for sailing

Pano photo of Ship Harbor by Bill

It took us 30 minutes to walk all the way in, including time spent at the "heart" beach and maybe 25 minutes to walk out.  We could definitely see the fall colors in the woods.  The temp had reach 75*...woohoo!

We ate lunch at Charlotte's Legendary Lobster Pound, which we had driven past three days in a row and vowed to try.  I had a haddock sandwich and Bill had a clam roll and french fries.  Everything was delicious!  Although it was out first time there, it won't be our last.

There is no inside seating but there were plenty of tables available and the weather was perfect.  We took a look at the small cemetery located in the field next door before heading home.

It needs a little attention

We stumbled across a small coffee shop (Saint Dreux's Coffee) in Southwest Harbor and stopped for iced coffees.  It was the end of their day and we got the last of the iced coffees but they were actually quite good.  

Once we got back to the cottage, we took our coffees, our books and our Keepin' It Local cookies and sat in the sun, by the water.  I got tired of the wind and came in about 5:00, Bill stayed till the shade overtook his spot.  We drove to the Hadley Point beach for the sunset.  We always enjoy watching the sunset, even when it's less than spectacular, like tonight.

We had a super great day, found new favorites and didn't kill ourselves.  We found we can enjoy the area without needing to hike or bike every day.    That being said...tomorrow's our last day and we are going to burn some calories ;o)

Thanks for stopping by...

;o)

Cloudy, Cool and Windy

We slept late today 9:00 - it's Bill's fault, he's usually the early riser.  Not as nice today, 47* and windy.  

We took our time and din't leave the cottage till 12:15.  It had "warmed" up to 54*.

We knew today was going to be cloudy and cooler and had planned to ride our bikes but it's a lot cooler than we expected so instead, we drove into Bar Harbor and figured we would just wander around.  A lot of the businesses are closed on Tuesday and I suspect some are closed for good, thanks to the damn pandemic.  

It started spitting rain around 1:15 so we walked back down toward the pier and decided to have lunch at the Sunrise Cafe, which serves breakfast and lunch.  We ate outside on the dock.  It wasn't perfect, still cool and windy but it was outside.

We left at 2:00 and drove to Thunder Hole, thinking it would be an even better show today but we were disappointed.  The wind was blowing from the wrong direction, or the tide was too high, but whatever the reason, there wasn't a whole lot going on...except for the one idiot that always goes where they don't really belong.

He was standing out on the edge but I didn't get my camera out fast enough to catch him there.  

We did walk over to the left where the show was much better.

We left around 3:10 and drove back to Seawall where we parked on the side of the road and watched the waves through the window.

We sat and watched until 4:35, drove to the campground to turn around and spotted this deer snacking next to the road.

It didn't seem to mind sharing with the crows.  Must have been the right time of night as we drove back to the cottage because we spotted several more in the fields, including a couple of young males.

Not a great day but it could have been a lot worse if it actually rained all day.

Thanks for stopping by...

;o)