Sargent Drive, Somes Sound
1 June 2018
The first thing I did when I got out of bed was look out the window. I nearly jumped out of my skin. The cruise ship looked as if it were hell-bent on plowing right through the hotel.
So that's what that loud horn in the harbor was last night. I'd forgotten all about the cruise ships that come to Bar Harbor.
After breakfast I took a short bike ride back to Northeast Harbor, to a road that the pair of cyclists from New York had recommended. It's called Sargent Drive (and it's all I can do not to spell it like Sergeantsville). I was wiser about the limited memory in the video camera and only turned it on when the view got good. Still I had to edit down. Here are a few of the better segments of Sargent Drive:
I did this ride in true Hill Slug fashion: I stopped for pictures. A lot.
Here's a cormorant in Somes Sound seen from Sargent Drive:
Like Park Loop Road, and a lot of other roads around here, the guardrail is a line of granite blocks.
The lobster trap markers were colorful here, not yet faded by the sun and salt, I guess. This one was green, orange, and white.
This one was a nifty shade of purple. Farther along there was a shiny, dark green one.
More granite blocks and trees:
This dead tree was the first of several dozen along the shore.
I went through the town of Northeast Harbor, then turned onto Route 3, which goes around the eastern half of Mount Desert Island. I'm not sure where I was when I turned the camera on for this descent:
This metal cow is the only cow I've seen on the entire strip, so, of course, I had to stop.
Behind the cow was the harbor and Route 3 on the other side. I'd be there in a few minutes.
This is the harbor from the other side. A woman who had driven all the way from Alabama (stopping in Niagara Falls and Vermont before getting here) stopped in the turnout too. "They need to cut these trees down for a better view," she joked.
"Nah. I said. "They're good for scale and framing." We chatted a bit.
The metal cow is up on top of the bank across the harbor:
This ain't no cruise ship harbor. These are working fishing boats.
I want this house.
After a long descent I found myself at Bracy Cove, with a pond on one side of the road and a sea wall on the other.
A sign implored people to leave the rocks where they were.
Lupines!
I was getting close to Bar Harbor.
The body of water on the left in this video is called The Tarn.
The tide was low enough in the early afternoon that I could finally see how these islands came to be called the Porcupine Islands. Once you see the snout (look on the right) you can never not see it. This is Bald Porcupine.
Sheep Porcupine is on the left. Burnt Porcupine is on the right.
Sheep (if you say so):
Burnt (yeah, I can see that):
All the while, that fucking cruise ship was looming, little orange lifeboats scooting to and from the ship to the harbor like beetles.
We walked into town for lunch. After we ate I wanted to find a paper map of Mount Desert Island. Jack, having been very patient during this trip, deserved a present. We didn't buy him this life-size, plush, moose head. I convinced him that he needed two wine glasses etched with a row of tiny moose near the lip instead.
The forecast wasn't looking good for another low-cloud sunset. Fog was rolling in towards the bald porcupine.
We drove to the Sieur de Monts entrance to Acadia, where the original Abbe Museum building is. This one holds archaeological artifacts collected first by Abbe and then others. Next to the museum is the Adadia Nature Center (closed weekdays) and the Wild Gardens of Acadia. We walked through the dense gardens, which are all in the shade and laid out according to ecosystem.
I haven't seen a pitcher plant in bloom since grad school.
"Please do not throw rocks at our friendly frogs."
The sky seemed to be clearing a little. It was only 4:30 p.m. We went back to the hotel. I took up residence on the deck again. The harbor is never the same thing twice.
The fucking cruise ship was leaving!
I used my camera's 40x zoom to get the name of the monster as it silently slid away.
It disappeared into the fog, then reappeared, as if floating on the clouds.
A wisp of fog rolled over Bald Porcupine's back.
It hid the other islands
and cast a pale blue over the harbor.
We drove up Cadillac Summit Road anyway. Our first stop was at Blue Hill Overlook.
From the summit we could see the Porcupine Islands wearing cloud hats.
I had to zoom in on the Margaret Todd.
OK, so here's the picture I've had in my head for two years when I've tried to describe why Cadillac Summit Road made me jittery. From right to left: road, granite blocks, oblivion. Try being on a bike on the descending side with the wind blowing at 25 mph.
Less than a hundred yards from that spot is a turnout with a much less hair-raising view:
Yesterday's sunset was orange; today's was blue. Tomorrow's might be pink, or yellow, or red. I won't know. I'll be in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, halfway back to New Jersey.
I'm closing the Bar Harbor Cam tabs now. I'm walking out of the picture.
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