Side Tracked to Maine!

*if you like pictures, click on them to see them all but ... the best are at the bottom!*

Sometimes you just need to get away. Living alone, one would think that you wouldn't need to get away, well, I did. When I woke up Friday morning and looked ahead to a weekend filled with ... nothing, I decided to choose something different. I chose a weekend full of something but had no idea what that something would be ....

Friday morning, I tossed a bunch of clothes in a suitcase and jumped in the car. After work, I made a phone call or two and decided to head north to Boothbay Harbor, Maine and visit my cousin at the Welchhouseinn.com . It is run by my cousin Susan and her husband Michael ... you will not find finer people on this good earth! 

The Inn is a wonderful place atop a hill just outside downtown Boothbay Harbor. There is much to do in this little Maine town if you wish to hang around. We had a lovely set of appetizers at McSeagulls.biz and I enjoyed a great view of the harbor at night from the Inn's rooftop deck.

Saturday morning, I left the Inn and ventured north without a clue where I was going or how far. I set my sights on Acadia National Park but my photographer's eye kept stopping me. I've always been fascinated with Cat-o-nine tails and loved how they loose their fur. I took the following two pictures somewhere north of Boothbay Harbor from a beaver pond. The Maine ponds, streams and lakes are incredible this time of year as they start to transform into ice rinks!

Who says that the northern climes have no color in winter? These little flowers were fighting for sunlight and got rewarded.

Bridges have always fascinated me. I posted something similar to the picture below on Facebook and wondered if other people knew that Maine could have such a gorgeous bridge ... of course, everyone on Facebook knew about this bridge and now I know. In this case, I liked the symmetry between the tree, the old bridge and the new bridge.

I got up to Acadia National Park in Maine and frankly put ... everything was closed up for the winter. There were very few vacancies and I was considering turning around and heading back to the Welch House Inn. Suddenly, I saw this pond. The reflection of the clouds in the water reminded me of growing up in Wilmington and exploring the ponds and streams there.

Venturing further on, I stumbled upon a babbling brook. I can't tell you the name but I grabbed my tripod and camera and hustled as the sun was setting! The pictures below are fast becoming some of my favorites already!

A stone bridge crossed over the brook and yet below it, the streaming water thundered by.

Darker and darker, I rounded the corner and stumbled into another pond reflecting the end of the day.

Pitch dark and I found myself walking along the paths with only my phone for a flashlight. Sounds echoed in the silence that is the woods without super highways all around you. Fear gripped me for the briefest moment. I thought "Lions, Tigers, and Bears" and chuckled. I heard a noise to my left and held still. Real concern crossed my mind. It was a rabbit. Relaxed again, I attempted some night pictures that didn't come out very well and headed toward my car. I reached my car under moonlight and let her warm up. Looking at the gps, home was only 3 hours away and soon I was cruising at 75 on one of America's great noisy road systems.

I hope you've enjoyed the pictures ... leave a comment if you like.

Franconia Ridge

(note: trip taken on November 12, 2011)

It was a long drive up to Franconia notch in New Hampshire. Matt and I dressed warmly while still violating the rule ... cotton kills. Armed with backpack, camera, water, trail mix, and subway subs, we headed up. I love waterfalls and the first part of this trip had waterfall after waterfall. We continued to climb and found ourselves lost. Yep. That's right. You read it correctly. Somehow we were lost. After 15 minutes of backtracking through light snow, we found our way to a trail marker. It is only coincidence that I was in the lead when we got lost ... truly ... just a remarkable coincidence. I have a feeling you don't believe me. Yeah, neither did Matthew and that was the last time I led for the rest of the hike!

The pictures below barely represent the incredible beauty of that day. As we marched upwards, the waterfalls turned into ice ... literally ... ice ... thick and hard and slippery. The trees became covered with white frost. The wind picked up and several times almost knocked us over. At the start the temps was 37 but by the time we were up top, it was under 30. Soon we were above the treeline and trudging toward the peaks of the mountains. We took pictures of the incredible views but often stood in awe of the vistas. As we reached the top of Franconia ridge, 3 mountains actually (Little Haystack, Lincoln, and Lafayette), we looked down through the chill of the air and saw a wonderful sight ... a hut. A place where we could get out from the bitter elements. A place where we could eat our lunch without gloves on. A place of potential warmth but even if they don't have a wood stove, a place where we could sit at a table and take a rest.


With renewed vigor, we began our trip down. Matt got a bit ahead of me though were were both motoring pretty quickly. I watched a young man run passed me ... wearing only gym shorts ... no shirt ... just gym shorts. I wondered if he was crazy and then I remembered that some of you might look at these pictures and wonder if  I am crazy. Let me answer that question for you ... yep, crazy as a loon. So, I guess the guy without the shirt and only gym shorts was crazy. Perfect logic.


We approached the hut with glee in our eyes and a brightness of step only to find that it was boarded up ... closed. People milled around as if they were waiting for it to open but it wasn't going to. The gym shorts guy was already gone.

A breeze curled around us like a vulture eyes a dying rabbit ... a bone-deep chill struck me and Matt and I moved on. We hurried to get our body heat going again. As we descended, the ice turned to water and we sloshed through. Each of us took turns slipping and falling. Matt hurt his knee and ignored it while I re-broke my foot and whined like a hyena and eventually slowed down. 


This was one of those trips where I worked my ass off. By the time we had gone approximately 9 miles (2,500 ft elevation) and most of that was either up or down, I was extremely happy to see my car in the parking lot. My legs were numb, not from cold but from exhaustion. They shook lightly as we drove to Truant's Tavern in Lincoln, NH. 


I'm looking forward to another hike with Matt and anyone else we can drag along!


Please enjoy the pictures below and I would enjoy it if you found the time to leave a comment!

Stunning Waterfall

Flowing broadly across the rocks

Not too cold but the water was cold

Trees became snow covered. Matt climbs like a  billy goat.

Higher elevation and the colder air ... frozen waterfall.

Stunning vistas abound

How to describe ... frozen tundra?

The exposed ridge we hiked. At this time, I was about done but there were many miles to go before I sleep ....

Mount Washington in the distance. Matt said, "let's go there," and I almost became a murderer at that moment.

I'm sure when Kathy returns to New England, I'll be in trouble for this!

We literally hid behind a grouping of rocks to get out of the cold whipping wind. My nautical guess is 40 knots.

There is the hut ... more like a cabin awaiting our arrival for lunch! How excited we were!

It took a while but we're getting closer! A break from the wind and a nice seat at a table may await us yet!

What the hell?? Boarded up?

At least we still have the stunning vistas

Almost down ...