Maine 2017

8/19/17 We left Grand Rapids around noon on Saturday after taking a bit longer than planned to pack up (aka gather all the paddling gear). We crossed into Canada at the Blue Water Bridge, and then drove pretty much straight through to Thousand Islands National Park and crossed back out… Continue reading →

8/22/17 There’s a one-way driving & biking loop that goes around a good chunk of the park. We started out with that to get a feel for the place. First stop was heading up Cadillac Mountain (3) for a quick walk-hike to the view of the island and Bar Harbor…. Continue reading →

8/23/17 With a little planning the night before, we decided to go to the Pretty Marsh area of the island and paddle up the West side. I think we combined two different versions of directions and ended up targeting a launch somewhat North of the marsh itself (10). This lead… Continue reading →

8/24/17 Having scoped out Bar Harbor (8) before, we had an idea of where to park and where to get on the water. We drove down in the morning a bit before high tide and put the kayaks in the water. We had looked up some of the kayak tour… Continue reading →

8/25/17 After two days of kayaking we decided to do a bit of hiking. We went back to the Park Loop and found our way to the Precipice Trail. This was reportedly the most strenuous climb and involved a lot of scrambling and a good number of ladders and ledges…. Continue reading →

8/26/17 Saturday was supposed to be our third kayaking day and we headed off toward Somes Sound in the morning. The automotive gods had a different idea. I had replaced all the Subaru brakes just before the trip and they were still wearing in just a bit, but we started… Continue reading →

8/27/17 We headed out toward Portland in the morning, opting for the somewhat more scenic route down the coast. Down the coast, in this case, meant highway between small towns instead of freeway. For the most part, I didn’t feel like it was “on the ocean” – not like California… Continue reading →

8/28/17 Monday was a walking tour of Portland day. As is a bit of a theme, we didn’t have specific plans or schedule. We drove into Portland and lucked out with some free parking on the edge of town. We wandered the waterfront docks, shops, etc and then looped up… Continue reading →

8/29/17 We decided to spend a few days in Baxter State Park.  It was a bit of a divergence from our typical gravitation toward the national parks, but worth it.  Baxter State Park is huge and home to Mt. Katahdin. We got to the park early in the afternoon and,… Continue reading →

8/30/17 The primary objective of the days at Baxter State Park was the hiking of Mt. Katahdin, the Northern end of the Appalachian Trail. We chose to ascend via Abol Trail since that’s where our camp was. Abol is a bit shorter, but steeper than Hunt Trail from what we… Continue reading →

8/31/17 Departing Maine – we took a pretty leisurely pace getting packed up and heading out in the morning. Stopped at the visitor center and a few other places along the way as we headed back toward the Thousand Islands area of Canada. We had chance, though getting close enough… Continue reading →

09/02/17 We stayed the night in the Oasis Motel in Niagara Falls, Ontario. The hotel was pretty dumpy, as it seems was the trend in that area. It probably ranked better than the Ash Fork Inn out West, but not by much. We begrudgingly gave them an extra $10 to… Continue reading →