What a perfect day looks like to me

 It starts with perfect weather!  Apparently, Maine had a wet and cold summer (which, sadly had a very negative impact on nesting shore birds, including puffins....   😥😥), but is making up for it with this magnificent October. 

This perfect weather made out planned boat trip around Desert Island and Some sound, in search of the many lighthouses that dot this very treacherous coast really enjoyable.  For one thing, the ocean was very flat, which is great for people like me who get sea sick at the thought of waves.  For another, it was nice and mild on the shore, so- while still chilly when the boat was moving - pleasant offshore too.

We were early enough that we found parking at the harbor easily ( a much more impressive feat than it sounds), giving us some time to walk around town.  As I said yesterday, it is very pretty, and we like it much better when it is empty!  We even had time for the short walk on the shore by the harbor .  While we missed the sunrise, the light was still very beautiful. (see picture on top of blog).

The boat ride was all about discovering Desert Island (about half of which is Acadia national park) form the sea, look at the little harbors and villages, learn about history and see some wild life.  Starting in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, wealthy people started building summer house on the rugged coast.  

You can't see these from the road, but we got a nice view of a number of "cottages" from the boat.  Here are a few examples.  They are objectively pretty in the "It's just wrong to have so much much held by so few/Let's have a revolution" kind of way!  

Then again those same wealthy people are the ones that bought the land and insisted the government make a national park out of it - which happened in 1916.  The park was then named "Lafayette National park" but a later big donor of land was English and did not like the rFench so insisted on a name change - BTW - the joke is on him since Acadia is a French word too!  

Another goal of the boat tour was to discover many of the light houses that were built in the late 19th centuries to help with the treacherous navigation.  Most of them are no longer in use, while some have been fully automated, removing the need for people to live in these remote locations.  But I am fascinated by the lives they led - on these desolate islands, isolated from the rest of the word.  Most of them had large families to help.  One of them had 16 children living with him and his wife, so

 at least we know how they handled the isolation.....

(interesting side tidbit of information:  All lighthouse keepers are name by the US president.  In the 19th centurey, one of them - I forget which one- demanded that the all switch to the Whig party or be fired!  I guess politics has been an ugly game for a long time.....).

We also looked for wild life and saw some gannets, harbor porpoises, seals playing in the water (that's the picture on the left), and many shore birds (including one of my favorite, Eider ducks).  But we did not have the super-duper lens with us, so you"ll have to take my word for it.  (this is not optimal time for wild life watching anyway, spring and early summer are the best time if that is a primary goal). 

On the other hand, it is prime time for lobster fishing and the ocean is literally dotted with lobster buoys and criss-crossed by lobster boat!  Did you know that Maine provides 20% of the entire world supply of lobster??

We had a quick lunch at the harbor, and then headed to the National park, with the goal of doing of of the many renowned hikes (me) and some walking on the bluff (Joe).  I choose the "Beehive/Gorman loop, which is honestly one of my all time favorite hikes!  I wish I could take it home with me!

It start with a climb- basically up a shear cliff- but on a well designed and maintained "trail" with metal rungs to help with the tough part.  It's not that hard but I would not recommend it if you are afraid of heights or exposure.  What's great is that these tougher trails are much quieter than the more easily accessible part of the park.  On the other hand, there were people on that trail that i am genuingly concerned about making it to the top.....  they were really struggling.....

For me, it was just great and the views at the top were just amazing.  the summit is only at 532 feet, which does not seem that impressive, until you realize that it's basically straight up from see level....

For me, the harder parts where the very narrow ledges, but again, the views made it worth it!

On the way down, I passed the pretty Bowl pond, and then went back up to Gorman mountain (a much easier trail), and back down to the coast.  The mix of climb, woods, views, and shore trail is just unbeatable! 

The shore part of the trail is stunning too, but SOOOOO crowded! 

At the famous "thunderhole", there was a line to go down.....  But the thunder hole did not dissapoint an provided thunderous splashes even though the sea was vey quiet.

We decided to go for dinner at a restaurant by the water, but away from town.  It was still crowded, but not nearly as much and the view was hard to beat.  We had sea food of course.  It was good!

A perfect day indeed.....