Sunset, Bar Harbor Town Pier
22 June 2024
Our last full day in Bar Harbor was a Sunday. There were no lobster boats going out into Frenchman Bay at sunrise.
There was a low bank of clouds on the horizon. I was in for a long wait.
Before breakfast, I stepped out onto the deck again for some more pictures.
While we were eating breakfast, a herring gull landed in the pool. I only had my cell phone with me, so I wasn't able to frame the shot or zoom in properly.
I took some more cell phone photos, this time of the Shore Path in front of the pool.
After breakfast, we hung out in the hotel room. I sat on the deck, attempting to read and also watching the water.
I took a panorama shot of the Shore Path reconstruction. On the horizon, left to right, are Bar Island, Sheep Porcupine Island, Burnt Porcupine Island, Long Porcupine Island, and Bald Porcupine Island.
As I was reading, I heard a loud "BROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONK!"
The CAT ferry was coming in.
On our way into town for lunch, we took a short walk on the part of the Shore Path we could get to.
Then we drove to Northeast Harbor, to the Asticou Azalea Garden. We always visit this spot. Jack likes it. I think it's peaceful. We got lucky in that most of the bushes were in bloom.
Ducklings:
It was mid-afternoon by the time we got back. I checked the tide chart and realized that now would be my only chance to get out onto the sand bar while the tide was about to cover it up. This is one of the things I need to do when I'm in Bar Harbor.
I stepped out onto the section closest to the harbor for some quick photos.
There's approximately a three-hour window on either side of the lowest part of low tide during which crossing the bar onto the island will not get one wet or stranded. Now we were well past that point. The tide, which eventually covers the entire bar under 10-12 feet of water, had already swallowed the far end.
I walked past a low point, still above the water, to get these photos. As I did, a fellow warned me that the tide was coming in. "I know. Thanks," I said.
The time difference between the photo above and the one below as I turned around? Two minutes.
I only got my feet a little wet. I stood with the fellow and his wife as we watched other visitors realize what was happening.
We were concerned about a couple at the far end of the bar. They hadn't yet noticed the predicament they were in.
We watched them wade across, partially out of concern, and partially out of amusement when we realized they'd be fine.
They made it across both low points without the water passing their knees. "Damn tourists!" the guy laughed as he arrived on our side.
The couple I was talking to were regulars here and living outside of Portland. They filled me in on some of the winter storm damage elsewhere Downeast. They also told me that the Shore Path wasn't going to be entirely fixed this season. Despite the donations, there wasn't yet enough money.
The tide chased us back towards the town side.
I wandered over to a spot by the edge where there was still some exposed bar. Someone who looked like a college student was out on the edge with a sketch pad. They were turning over rocks and picking things up. The tide was about to cut them off, so I said something.
We got talking. They were a student at the College of the Atlantic, doing a drawing assignment. I said that I'd considered CoA way back when, "But I didn't really know what 'human ecology' was, and that scared me off." The school only offers that one major. It's a tiny place, a few hundred students. "I don't really know either," they said. "Nobody does." Students carve their own paths. I'd have panicked.
We talked for a while, about a lot of stuff. They are still fascinated by what's out in the wild. I mentioned my wacky spider hobby. They got it, completely.
Every few minutes, as we talked, I took pictures of a cairn that was slowly going under water.
The student saw something interesting bobbing in the water a few feet away from us. I stepped in to grab it, soaking my sneakers. It was a large acorn. Oh well.
As the tide pushed us towards the road back up to town, they told me about the Dorr Museum on campus, where all the taxidermy of local wildlife is done by students. I decided that Jack and I should stop there on our way out tomorrow.
To give my shoes time to dry out, I took a detour onto a pier behind where Oli's Trolley departs.
Every time I've walked here, it's been deserted. There are brightly-colored shacks that are clearly stores, but not a one has been open.
My feet were still wet when I got back to the room. Fortunately, I always bring a spare pair of sneakers.
The wind was pushing the water in the distance, and the way the low sunlight hit it, there was an illusion of a low fog. I zoomed in to make sure I wasn't hallucinating.
I went down to the floating dock for sunset pictures again.
A few people behind me watched, and one asked if I was taking pictures through the center hole. What a good idea! So I tried.
The bird was a bonus.
There were more pastel swirls again today.
After dinner, we made a careful decision about where to get ice cream on our last night. We'd already been to Ben and Bill's a few times. We went back to Mount Desert Ice Cream, our new tied-for-first favorite.
I set the sunrise alarm one last time.
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