I’m so bad at keeping up with this thing. I’m trying, though. I really am.
Anyway…
I never in my wildest dreams, thought I’d ever call myself a hiker. I said hiker, not hitch hiker! But here I am, planning my next outing.
I’ve always been a fan of the great outdoors but was never in good enough shape to do any serious hiking. I’m still not in the greatest of shape but I’m a hell of a lot better than I was a few years ago. I can actually walk a mile without getting tired. Go me!
So why am I telling you all this? I’m so glad you ask these questions! I’m telling everyone this because, well….because I can, really. But also so people know where some of my recent photos are coming from and how I came about capturing them. I thought it’s about time I take this blog in a more photography oriented direction.
As you know from my last blog, I went to a place called Quoddy Head State Park. The Easternmost point in the U.S. of A. A beautiful place with a light house and 5+ miles of trails. I’ve gone to this place twice now and I still haven’t seen all the trails. But what I have seen has impressed me. Spoiled me in fact.
Why do I say it spoiled me?
Well, yesterday I went to a little place called Birdsacre Sanctuary in Ellsworth Maine. I had driven past this place countless times and never realized what was there. So yesterday I decided to make a special trip down to Ellsworth and see what this place was all about. I was interested in the hawks, owls, and various other birds they have there (most of which won’t be able to be released back into the wild due to health ailments), but the trails were less than pleasing. At least, the trail I was on at the time. There were a few interesting points along the way though, like Egg Rock (Just what it’s name implies, a huge rock that looks like an egg), and Queen’s Throne (a huge tree that looks like a seat).
I’m not sure if it was because of the rain we’ve had or if the trails are always like that but they were muddy and difficult to navigate. On top of that we had to do furious battle with mosquitoes the entire way.
I did manage to walk away with a few decent shots though. Like this one.
Now, stupid me, I didn’t write down what type of owl this was. I’m thinking it’s a young snow owl but don’t quote me on it. Regardless, he was cute. Isn’t he cute? It was kind of sad though because he has what looks like a tumor or some other kind of growth on the left side of his chest. You can’t see it in the photo I took (that was done on purpose) but trust me, it didn’t look too nice. Poor thing.
He didn’t seem too afraid of me. In fact, he seemed like he was either trying to impress or intimidate me. He was about a hand’s width from the cage and sat there while I got right up to the cage and took the picture. When I lifted my camera, he kind of puffed up his chest a bit then cocked his head (as you see in the picture).
Moving on…
On the way home I decided to look into a little trail that I had read about in the Milbridge / Steuben area. I found the road easy enough but had a bit of trouble locating the actual trail. After about five minutes of searching, at last, I found it. It’s called the John Hollingsworth Trail (or the Shore Trail by locals) and it’s on the costal edge of a little wildlife refuge in Steuben, Maine.
I was afraid that it was going to be like the trails at Birdsacre but I was pleasantly surprised.
Being by the ocean there was a nice calm breeze and no mosquitoes to be found. Although there were a few murky portions of trail, it was pretty easy going most of the way. Granted it wasn’t the kind of hike someone would want to take if they’re just looking for a simple leisurely walk.
Getting out to the point where the trail met the coast there was a pretty little rock beach that was completely empty and very peaceful.
The trail continued on around the peninsula and met back at a point near the beginning.
That trail is definitely on my list of trails to visit again.
I’m psyched for next month. Saturday the 15th and Sunday the 16th to be exact. My family and I will be heading to Acadia National Park on one of those days for a day of hiking. I’ve never been there before but everyone I’ve talked to says it’s beautiful. I need to find a really good backpack to carry all my hiking supplies and camera equipment as well as a really good pair of hiking boots.
But, I guess that’ll be all for now folks. I don’t want to bore everyone to tears here.
Until next time…
Keep on rockin’ on!
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~A.M.
Audrey May Photography 