Maine

Field of flowers along the coast of Maine.

The trip had now taken me to Upstate New York for the show in Syracuse.  Tiffany would fly out of Syracuse and then I'd have about three weeks to explore Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire.  Crossing into Vermont and Maine allowed me to tick off the last of the fifty states.  I'd been to every state, not on this trip but over the years, except Vermont and Maine, so it was somewhat of a milestone for me.  I think on this trip I ended up in something like 32 states.  Most of them I'd been to before but was still racking up the numbers.  My original plan was to cross over into Canada  New Brunswick and Nova Scotia but to be honest, I was road weary and just didn't feel like doing the extra miles.  Once the decision was made not to cross the border, I opted to spend that time along the coast and up in the northern woods of Maine exploring some of the backroads before pointing it south for the next shows in Maryland, Virginia and the last one in Atlanta.  I'd also heard that the coastline was as good as Oregon's.  It's not.....not even close in my opinion.  Don't get me wrong, it's scenic and all, just not like the west coast. One down side is everything is private, expensive and overrun with people.  They've got more rules and regulations up there than a simple man can keep track of.  No dogs on the beach, no dogs on the boardwalk, private beach, no beach walking between 5-9 pm, private sidewalk, stay off jetty, stay off the dock, private marina, no parking, no camping, private trail, no bikes, no fishing, it goes on forever. If that's not enough, I'm not a fan of established campgrounds and finding places to camp for free is tough along the coast.  There just isn't much public land like out west. I guess if you're from the area you might know of some spots but I had a hard time finding them.  When you did find something that you thought would be fine someone would show up and run you off.  Yes, I got run off by law enforcement and civilians alike. You stop and ask a local where you might find a backroad to just pull off somewhere to spend the night and they look at you like you've lost your friggin mind.   Everything along the coast is controlled access in order to get that mighty dollar or to keep the riff raff out.  Bar Harbor is nothing more than a huge tourist trap.  Two hours there and I'd seen enough.  It is literally crawling with people during the summer months. A lot of money people with big fancy homes along the coast.  I did enjoy the 4 nights I spent in Acadia National Park just outside Bar Harbor but that was the exception along the coast.  The National Park had nice campgrounds at a reasonable rate and I got lucky, as the ranger had a section where they were placing only adults so I didn't have to deal with screaming kids.  Once you leave the coast and get up into the northern woods of Maine it's a different story and one can find plenty of solitude and some good boondocking spots, but it's still nothing like out west.  Vermont was kind of a bust for me as the weather was miserable.  I really didn't get to see much of it. I did have to stay in the town of Brattleboro for two days and nights as Petey had to see a vet.  Nice little town with a lot of history but it rained the majority of the time.  I guess I'll have to go back.

One thing I checked out prior to crossing over into Vermont was the historic Fort Ticonderoga on Lake Champlain   This is well worth the stop if ever in the area.  I really like old history stuff like this and all of the staff dress in full regalia and perform all tasks just like they did in the period.  Very few people were there due to the nasty weather and I was lucky enough to meet the gunsmith who was working on one of the museum pieces.  They have an extensive gun collection to view. He let me hang out with him in a side room and was a real interesting fella to talk with.  They really get into the daily re-enactment and don't have power, heat or lights to the old fort.  All work was done by hand and they were even preparing their lunch over an open fire.  I didn't get any outside shots as it was raining like hell all day. 

After spending the day at the fort there was a nearby small ferry which crossed Lake Champlain over into Vermont.  I missed the last ferry of the day so spent the night there at the ramp to catch the ferry the following day.  Great spot to spend the night right along the lake. As you can see, I was heading into some bad weather on the Vermont side.  This weather would stay with me for the following week.

Petey had to spend all day at the vet so I spent the day roaming around looking at old churches hoping it'd help Petey.  This one was abandoned and over 125 years old.  He was having his teeth cleaned and I always worry anytime they have to put him under.   I was happy to pick him up later that afternoon. 

A little groggy, but he survived.

Camped in the VFW parking lot in Brattleboro, Vermont that night.  While Petey was recovering a storm passed through that evening and I caught some good light as the sun set.

After the drenching rains in Vermont I dropped south and headed towards the coast of Maine. I got as far north as Bar Harbor.  I lucked out and had perfect weather for the week or so I spent along the coast.

 Nubble Lighthouse, York Maine.

Shoreline Acadia National Park

 Cape Neddick, Maine

Seal Cove, Maine.

I had planned to follow the coastline all the way up till I ran into Canada but had a change of plans.  I'd seen enough of the coastline and the associated crowds so I wanted to get back off the beaten path a little so headed up towards Baxter State Park.  It's located in the north woods of Maine where the Appalacian Trail ends at Mount Katahdin.  It's really not a State Park as it's not controlled by the State of Maine.  Guy by the last name of Baxter, go figure, donated over 200,000 acres back in the early 1900's and set up a private trust with some pretty stringent rules in order to keep the area wild.  I was looking forward to spending a week or so in the park but when I get there I'm told that no dogs are allowed in the park, period.  Not even allowed in the campgrounds, much less the trails.  It was either get rid of Petey or move on.   Disappointing as I had wanted to summit Mount Katahdin.  A river guide I met told me of an area I should go check out if I was looking for some solitude and the possibility of seeing some wildlife.  It was close by so I headed off the following morning.  It's an area which is on some kind of list to be designated a National Monument and is getting a lot of attention Maine National Park/Monument. Within its 3.2 million acres there really isn't any type of infrastructure, just some dirt  roads, a few hiking trails, couple of outhouses and that's about it.  From my observations and talking with the locals they want to keep it that way and do not want to see the area designated a National Monument.  If you mention the proposed monument in a coffee shop you'll get an earful on the matter real quick. I spent five nights in here and saw quite a bit of signage entering the area as to why the locals didn't want it.  I'm sure if they pave it, throw in some real shitters, few gift/ice cream shops and an overpriced campground the hordes will eventually show up.  I'm all for protecting areas like this as long as they don't turn it into another Disney Land.  Locals say save it by not issuing any type of development or land use permits but keep the damn government out of it.  I pretty much had it to myself, other than the millions of skitters and a few Moose, for the five nights I spent there.

 Mount Katahdin in the background.  Ending point for thru-hikers on the Appalachian Trail.

Drone shot of camp looking towards Mount Katahdin. 

Camp visitor.

 Couldn't believe how much noise could be generated from a small pond I was camped near one night.  Had to of been hundreds of these guys in there.

Mom and her chick.

  Walked right up this bull before I even noticed him.  We stared at each other for awhile and then he disappeared in the brush.

Another young bull right across from camp one morning.

 Wooden bridge crossing the Penobscot River.

Drone selfie.

Beaver on a perfectly still morning.

Drone shot with a moose crossing the marsh in the foreground.  I never fly the drone in close proximity to wildlife and when I launched the drone I didn't notice the Moose.  As I was flying the drone up this creek I noticed it and ended the flight.  Got a couple of distant shots and then brought it back to me.  The drone, not the Moose!

White Mountains of New Hampshire and points south next...............