Portsmouth 3 [Great Bay NWR]

I decided to take a nature break this morning. Great Bay National Wildlife Refuge is only a few miles from Portsmouth, so that was a convenient location. When I arrived around 8 AM, it was cool and cloudy. Reasonably pleasant weather, but the forest was dark, making photography difficult.

As I was heading out to walk the two mile loop trail, another car pulled into the parking lot. The gentlemen driving it asked me what I knew about the location as he had never been here before. I said were in the same situation, and I would see him on the trail. Simon did indeed catch up to me pretty quickly and we ended up walking the trail together. This turned out to be very good luck for me as Simon is relatively local (he hails from Salem, MA) and is very familiar with the flora and fauna of the region. As well, he was very good as spotting birds as well as other things and found me some opportunities that I otherwise would have missed.

We had the chance to delve into a number of my favorite topics - civil and human rights, history, and the general state of affairs the world finds itself in today. He had a rather unique perspective both because he grew up in the Salem area and because he has Native American ancestry. We also talked photography, as well as auto mechanics. I described my current car repair situation and because he has worked as a mechanic he could give me an informed opinion. He echoed the advice I have received from several other mechanics, that it was safe to drive the car until Monday when I could get the repair completed.

Although rain was not predicted today, the drops started to fall just as we were walking out several hours later. The timing was good as it rained pretty much the rest of the day.

Tomorrow I drive North to Maine. The route looks a little inefficient on the map, but there is no way to drive through the NorthEast corner of the U.S. without some eventual backtracking to head west again.