In search of a view

As forecast, a glassy calm and bright sunshine greeted us as we emerged from below. Just the right conditions to tackle the 0.75nm dinghy trip to ‘town’ and an 8 mile round trip walking along one of the several trails ashore on Isle au Haut. We chose the Duck Harbour trail since it promised ‘great views’ across Penobscot Bay. Armed with ‘deli-style’ sandwiches from the Maine Lobster Lady's van parked strategically just outside the General Store, we set off on the well marked and maintained trail through the pine forest. 

The trail was somewhat uneven, with raised roots and rocks to negotiate but mainly slight inclines and descents, with occasional pine-needle strewn level sections; no problem. But after the first hour or so, we could see mist was rolling in from the coast over the tops of the trees, so the sunshine became patchy. A little further on, the sky became quite overcast and we reached a section of the path running close along the shore. There we met a group of three elderly gentlemen walking in the opposite direction. “How much further is Duck Harbour?” “Oh, about 3 miles” came the reply. This meant we had at least another hour’s walking; not a welcome revelation as we were already flagging a little. Never mind, we thought, we’ll be there about lunch time and we’ll eat our sandwiches, admire the view and hopefully find a friendly car driver from whom to hitch a lift back to town. So on we trudged. The path was nice until it ended and we found ourselves on a gravel track leading right inland to the head of Duck Harbour and back down the other side, so another 30 minutes walking for us. The sandwiches were really ‘deli’ (in every sense) and most welcome after two and three quarter hours fastish walk. Wild raspberries and blueberries served as dessert. Lovely.

Now, that view: where was it? The trail map showed that another short walk to the point was required. Just as we were about to embark on this final leg of the hike, a friendly face appeared on the path. It was Homer, closely followed by Dee (fellow mariners) who had sailed their boat Cinderella from Laundry Cove anchorage (see previous post - Lobsters and Ospreys) this morning down to Duck Harbour for a hike up Duck Harbour Mountain. A quick comparison of experience revealed that all of us were tired and we were not relishing the 3 hour walk back to our dinghy tied at the town dock. Also it quickly became clear that there were no cars in the vicinity from whom to catch a lift and the only other hope of a ‘lift’ was from the Mail Boat which calls into Duck Harbour twice a day - but it would be travelling in the opposite direction for our purpose. Cinderella to the rescue! Homer and Dee would be sailing back up the passage, to ‘town’, and kindly offered a lift on board, which we gladly accepted. As Cinderella emerged from Duck Harbour, the ‘view’ should have appeared, but...

only grey fog occupied the area where pine-clad islands and blue water should have been. As Cinderella left the shore behind, the fog became thicker; the lighthouse was only just visible.

About half an hour later, we stepped ashore at the Town landing where we had left our dinghy 4 hours earlier. Walking back would have been so much more unpleasant and we wouldn’t have had the good company. Thanks to Homer and Dee and their trusty sailing vessel Cinderella for rescuing us!

Now in Southwest Harbour to reprovision etc. Moving up into Somes Sound -  technically the only fjord on the eastern Atlantic seaboard - this afternoon (Sunday) to Somes Harbour at the head. From there we will be well placed to explore and enjoy the Acadia National Park.