Pilgrimage to Maine, Part Five: Bar Harbor Sunrise

Sunrise, Bar Harbor, ME

28 May 2019

I am so glad I packed my winter coat. Toasty and prepared, I take a seat on the deck and watch the sun rise over Frenchman Bay. It's 4:49 a.m. 

I wonder if this is the same crew I took a picture of last year.

Sunrise is at 4:54 a.m. It's 4:55.

I'm looking into the viewfinder, changing the focus, when I see a green flash. The sun comes over the horizon.

It's 5:00 a.m. I'm going back to bed.

Pilgrimage to Maine, Part Four: Bar Harbor Sunset

Bar Harbor Sunset

27 May 2019

I owe Jack a fancy dinner for having dragged him to the summit of Beech Mountain, during which he accumulated several dozen black fly bites, which are now itching and swelling all over his face and hands.

He picks the Balance Rock Inn, which is an old estate next door to our hotel. We're seated facing the bay. When my phone alerts me that there's one hour until sunset I figure out that we'll be finished with dinner in time to catch the last light of the day. 

Just in case we don't make it, I get screen grabs from the Bar Harbor Cams.

The sun is already down as we walk along the Shore Path towards the harbor.

I stop for a silhouette of my landmark trees.

I get as much zoom as I can from my camera, which isn't much.

It's high tide; we can't get out onto the sand bar. Instead we head for the westernmost pier.

From there I do my best to catch the sunset.

The light turns the water orange.

I can zoom with my phone, but it's a digital zoom, where everything gets pixelated.

I switch back to my camera.

I zoom a little, snap a little, zoom a little more, snap a little more, and go on until the image blurs.

The camera is too far gone to get a good focus on the LED moose above Geddy's on Main Street.

Tonight was the first clear night we've had. Tomorrow looks to be the only clear morning we'll get. I set an alarm for 4:45 a.m.