Ship Harbor Trail
19 June 2024
I rolled out of bed for another nearly cloudless sunrise. A handful of herring gulls helped me with the photos.
One last try with the sun filter shows, if you click on this and zoom way in, a sunspot at about 7:00.
Our stay included breakfasts by the pool. Today, the construction workers were hauling wood for the seawall onto a flatbed truck. It was noisy and the smell of diesel wafted towards us from a lift truck out of sight on the path.
Beyond the breakwater, a cruise ship made its way in.
I took some more photos of the Shore Path restoration from our hotel room balcony.
We decided to drive to the opposite side of the island to walk on a short path at Ship Harbor. To get there, we had to drive the long way around because of the missing chunk of road at Seawall. There was sewer work being done in Southwest Harbor, which took the road down to one lane.
The Ship Harbor trail is near Bass Harbor, on the southwesternmost tip of Mount Desert Island. Jack has been hobbling around on a bum knee that physical therapy isn't doing much for. I chose this path because it was short, mostly flat, and scenic.
Halfway around, we found ourselves picking our way across the rocky shoreline. Oops.
We came across a small trail that led to a rocky beach. Jack stayed at the top while I ambled down for some photos.
We were almost back to the car when I heard a high-pitched call from the water. I opened up the Merlin app on my phone and took a listen. Osprey!
That was enough for Jack's knee. He retreated to the hotel room. I decided that I wanted to visit another short trail close to the southern edge of town. The trailhead was a mile from the hotel. To drive there I'd have to detour around the Main Street construction and it would be 1.3 miles. It made more sense just to walk.
On the way, I decided to go around the construction by turning onto a side street. Exile House, where I'll be staying by myself during the second half of our Nova Scotia trip, is on this street. I found the tiny house. As I walked past, I imagined all sorts of scenarios in which I'd be left out while the rest of the group did things together at the Party House around the corner. On the other hand, I thought, I won't have to share a room or wait in line for the bathroom.
Back on Route 3, I walked uphill, right past the trail entrance. I doubled back and texted Jack that I'd found it. He replied that a verdict in the Orange Jesus fraud case was expected within the half-hour.
The Compass Harbor trail, which goes to the coast in less than half a mile, intersects with the Schooner Head trail, the latter following Schooner Head Road all the way to Schooner Head. I stayed on the Compass Harbor trail.
I stopped mid-trail because a chorus of birdsong surrounded me. I opened the Merlin app and let it listen.
As I was recording, a text came through from Jack. Guilty on all 34 counts! It was 5:08.
For a minute, I forgot all about the birds.
The trail opened up to a collapse.
I found a side path.
It went around the missing section.
The Egg Rock lighthouse was in view, so I took some more pictures of it.
Not sure of whether the trail was a loop or would meet the Schooner Head trail, I doubled back.
When I reached the guilty guilty guilty spot, the birds were still chirping away, so I opened Merlin again.
There was such a cacophany of birdsong that I couldn't distinguish one from another.
On my way back to town, I went down the side streets again. This time I made a point to find the house that the rest of the group would be staying in. I passed two ginormous places, one of which was the party house. It was almost next to the end of the Shore Path, the part that turns away from the coast and goes through the woods to meet the road.
I was tempted to walk around the sign, but I behaved myself.
I hope this is open when I come back in August. It's how I plan to get to the sunrise from Exile House.
Our dinner reservations were at the Balance Rock Inn, an over-the-top fancy hotel in a giant house on the water behind Balance Rock. I don't ever bring anything but sneakers and jeans on vacation. They let me in anyway. I'm not sure there's a dress code, but I'm probably close to breaking it.
We sat sort of outside, even though it was chilly. We were on a porch with makeshift plastic windows to shut out some of the cold. It was far better than being in the too-dark and too-stuffy indoors with the live jazz pianist in the bar across the room.
I sat facing the water. Suddenly, Bald Porcupine lit up gold. I stood up and went to the edge of the porch to get some pictures with my phone,
A minute later, I saw the sky, left my seat, left the porch, walked across the yard, opened the gate at the far end, and went onto the Shore Path just past where the permissible part in front of the inn ended.
Curious about what we were missing at the pier, I pulled up the Bar Harbor Cam.
I think I lucked out being on the Shore Path.
We skipped dessert and went back into town for ice cream. We mostly don't eat ice cream at home. It's a vacation food.
There are four shops in Bar Harbor. The two most crowded are CJ's in the center of town and Ben and Bills closer to the water. Jordan Pond is even closer to the pier. Mount Desert Island Ice Cream is on Village Green, within view of CJ's.
Ben and Bill's is the largest. It's a candy shop too. On one side is a wall of chocolates and candy, some of which might be as old as the building, stacked against glass that faces the center of the shop where the line snakes up and around. The wall continues in the back with salt water taffy. Having grown up close enough to the Jersey shore to know what real salt water taffy is, I don't bother with this stuff. It's shaped wrong. Lining the top of all the shelves is a vast assortment of lunch boxes for sale, because why not. The rest of the store is devoted to ice cream, including their signature lobster ice cream.
CJ's looks the most old-fashioned. There are faded posters taped on the windows advertising shakes and dairy-free choices. There are hand-lettered signs hanging all over. There are plastic tables and chairs on a little porch attached to the shop. The flavors are creative in a standard sort of way, and, as far as I can tell, lobster-free.
Mount Desert Island Ice Cream goes off on the creative side to the point of not selling anything boring at all. One has to be in the mood for this. On this trip, I tried "lemon poppy jam," which is exactly what it sounds like: lemon ice cream with poppy seeds and swirls of strawberry jam. It's reeeeaaaaallllly good!
Jordan Pond is small and often enough not open late. We stuck our heads in at one point and decided nothing there interested us. I don't even remember what they had on offer. I'm sure it's fine. We've been there a couple of times. They have one of those souvenir penny-squashers outside.
I don't remember which one we visited this night.
I didn't set the alarm for sunrise. I was too tired.
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