Bar Harbor [Quoddy Head State Park]

Today I decided to escape the craziness of Acadia National Park by driving 2 hours North to Quoddy Head State Park. The West Quoddy Head lighthouse on the tip of this peninsula is the Easternmost point of the continental U.S. It is so close to the Canadian border that my cell phone received a signal that motivate it to welcome me to Canada.

I was the first to arrive to a cool, breezy, foggy morning. I was glad I had worn long pants, and it was cool enough to warrant digging out some layers. At the lighthouse I met Paula and Joe. They were visiting from a different part of Maine. I also chatted with Barry and Toni who were visiting from Maryland.

After photographing the lighthouse, I started up the bluff trail. A short way into the trail I ran into Onalee, Jeff and their daughter Jillian. They were visiting from Kansas and both Onalee and Jillian were shooting with cameras rather than phones. We started chatting and ended up spending the rest of the morning hiking together. They had hiked the full trail yesterday and had a particular destination in mind for today, Green Point, about halfway in. At Green point, you can access the cliffs which provided all sorts of spectacular views. We even found a blow hole that was so much better than the curated-for-tourist thunder hole in Acadia National Park. The cliffs did require some care, and Onallee, Jeff and Jillian kindly hung out with me while I finished taking photos so that we could all walk back to the rather muddy trail together.

It was a spectacular morning. The Maine coast is magical in the fog and even on the way back at noon we ran into very few people. The parking lot was full when we returned, but most people were there just to look at the lighthouse as the trail required some hiking expertise. The first raindrops fell as we were exchanging contact information, so out timing was good. It rained the entire drive back and the rest of the afternoon.

I had considered adding the Roosevelt Campobello International Park to my itinerary, but, for a variety of reasons, ultimately decided against it. I think that was a good decision.

Overnight rain is predicted, clearing only around sunrise, which I will attempt to photograph, depending on conditions. Stay tuned for how that turns out.