Category Archives: Hiking

I’m not sure if I mentioned this in a previous post but I have to tell you folks, I love the Petite Manan Wildlife Refuge. The two main trails there are amazing.

I went there yesterday, since it’s the safest place to hike during what is now hunting season.

Tell me, how much sense does it make that people can hunt in state parks? I mean, the rest of the forests in Maine aren’t enough? What about people like me that like to hike in the fall? Supposedly we still can though, I don’t know about you, but I don’t feel safe walking trails in the woods knowing there are people around with firearms looking to shoot something. And before anyone jumps on me about all this, yes I wear bright colors (which was difficult in itself for me because my wardrobe is nearly totally black), and yes I announce my presence with noise/coughs/talking to my hiking companion/etc through out the hikes on trails in state parks where hunting is allowed. You’d think that if hunting is allowed in certain areas the park rangers would put up signs either prohibiting hikers from trails during hunting season or, at the very least, warning people that hunting is allowed. I didn’t know you could hunt in state parks until I looked it up online.

I don’t think it’s right, myself. I guess it’s just because I’m against hunting. Not hunters, mind you, that’s their choice (their misguided choice in my opinion, but still their choice). It’s just the act of shooting a defenseless animal that I’m against. People say it’s for population control but when you stop and think about it, what right do we really have to “control” any population when we can’t even control our own?

Anyway, this isn’t supposed to be a rant on my beliefs about what I think is right and wrong so I’ll reign it in and get back to my original topic.

Where was I?…

Oh yes…

Yesterday I went to the Petite Manan Wildlife Refuge (where hunting is prohibited) and spent the day on the trails.

I started off on the John Walker Hollingsworth, JR. Trail. This trail winds out to a point with an awesome view of the Petite Manan Lighthouse (I posted a picture of that in a post a while back).

While on this trail, I took a picture, well, several pictures, of this squirrel that was showing off in a tree close by me. I tried out the spiffy ten shot per second burst rate on my new camera. That’s pretty good for catching subjects in motion. But unfortunately, I wasn’t able to catch the squirrel when it looked directly at me. It waited until my camera was recording and processing the images. By the time the camera was done and I had lifted it to take a few more pictures, the squirrel had taken off.

A little while later, maybe about a quarter of a mile further down the trail, I came across another squirrel, or it could have been the same one, I’m not sure. At first I thought something was in the grass moving around but as I got closer I could see little pine cones falling from a tree. I looked up and saw the squirrel nibbling on them then tossing them over the branch it was sitting on. The little bugger looked down at me, sat for a second staring at me, then tossed a pine cone at me. And the damn thing hit me! I laughed, told the squirrel it won, and that I was leaving. I then headed out to the end of the trail.

What I really want to catch a picture of on one of my hikes is either a deer or a moose. But, where it’s getting into hunting season I’m sure they’re all avoiding these well traveled trails.

I think maybe I’m going to take up snowshoeing this winter. I’m sure I’ll get some nice pictures then.

I have other stories about other trails and other pictures to share, but I think I’ll save those for later.

Until next time folks…

Keep on rockin’ on.

[^_^]

~A.M.

Here I am, to rock you like a…um…well, I probably shouldn‘t finish that, my luck I’d probably get sued or something for copyright infringement for using the lyric, so I’ll just say I’m here to rock you.  Deal?

Ok, deal.

I’m not sure how many of you will consider this rock worthy, but I’ll continue anyway.

For those that were unaware, my birthday was yesterday.  Woo  (That was sarcasm there folks).  Just another day out of the calendar year.  Nothing important.

Anyway, yesterday I went hiking.  It was the definition of a “crisp fall day.”  Cold yet nice.  I climbed Pigeon Hill in Steuben and got a few decent panoramic photos (my little Sony HX1 can do some amazing things!).

After returning from Pigeon Hill I went on to the Birch Point Trail in the Petite Manan Wildlife Refuge.  I’m a bit bummed because the foliage around here kind of sucked.  We didn’t get the bright vivid colors I was hoping for.  It was basically a tree turning a sickly shade of yellow here, another a bland red there, then bam…all the leaves fall.

Today I went hiking yet again.  This time closer to home.  I had started down the hiking trail of Roque Bluff’s State Park earlier in the year, around August or something but the bugs were out so thick that I had to turn back.  Today, I got to experience the trails, bug free.  And I must say, I’m impressed with them.  More so than I thought I would be.

I managed to get some very interesting pictures while I was there.

Let me set the scene for you.

I was walking down the trail, searching for wildlife (we all know how elusive animals can be when you’re looking for them), and any kind of tree in full fall bloom, when I heard the unmistakable chatter of a squirrel right over my head.  I looked up to see this plump little rust colored squirrel on a branch maybe two feet above my head.  It just sat there, staring at me and chattering its little head off.  I managed to get a picture before it ran off to warn its friends of my approach.

Now, I just love how the lighting worked out in this photo.  A lot of people would disagree and say it was a bad shot, but I think it gives it a unique and neat quality.  I tried to sound all artsy and technical right there.  FAIL.

Moving on…

I managed to get another interesting picture while I was on this trail.  After I escaped the squirrel citadel, I came upon a portion of the trail that brought me up to the water’s edge.  The tide was out so there were a bunch of various types of birds frolicking about searching for fish.  I just happened to look in the right place at the right time and saw a bird I had never seen before.  I’m told, from a lady I passed on the trail, that it’s a heron.  If anyone disagrees with that, let me know cause I’m no bird expert.

Not to sound conceited or anything, but I timed that pretty damn good to have the bird looking almost directly at me.

Now, on my way back out of this trail, I stopped and took a few random shots of some leaves that were still hanging on, and probably the only tree that was still in semi-decent fall bloom.

Camera: Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-HX1, Focal Length: 100mm, F-Stop: 5.2, Shutter Speed: 1/160, ISO: 200

Camera: Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-HX1, Focal Length: 100mm, F-Stop: 5.2, Shutter Speed: 1/160, ISO: 160

Camera: Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-HX1, Focal Length: 5mm, F-Stop: 8, Shutter Speed: 1/50, ISO: 125

Camera: Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-HX1, Focal Length: 100mm, F-Stop: 5.2, Shutter Speed: 1/100, ISO: 125

If it’s a nice day tomorrow, I plan to head out for a third day’s hike.  Back to my favorite place, Quoddy Head State Park.

For now, that’s my update.

I’m back in the saddle folks.  The hike is on!  It’s just too bad it’s getting so late in the year.  I could use some more nice warm days before the bitter winter stakes its claim.

Keep on rockin’ on.

[^_^]

~A.M.

Ok, go ahead and say it….I’m a slacker….

It’s true, at least in part.

I wish I had some profound and valid excuse for not updating this regularly, but alas, I don’t. I just simply haven’t been doing much in the way of getting out and taking pictures.

Recently some things have interrupted the usual flow of my daily routine. I’m not trying to sound melodramatic here cause not all said “things” are really bad. My brother’s birthday was last week so of course I attended that shindig…Yes, I said shindig. Then I used some downtime to work on a gift I’m going to give one of my professors for Halloween this year. That reminds me, I can’t forget to make one of the crucial pieces in the next two weeks. For the bad part, I’ve been struggling with a music download I purchased…A HUGE download. 280MB. Yeah. But luckily I was able to get in touch with the man that is responsible for the file and he was nice enough to break it into pieces for me. I’m still in the process of downloading said pieces (they’re still hefty files).

So now, with my pathetic attempt at explaining my lack of updating, I’ll get to the actual update. Yay? YAY!
I’ve grown just a bit bored with the beach near my house. I’ve been taking pictures of that place almost constantly since I moved here (and that was about 6 years ago) and until recently we had nowhere else to go. Now, as I’ve mentioned in earlier posts my mother and I have taken up hiking. In taking up said hobby, we’ve found some new places around here with some rather nice trails.

For example, Tuesday we went to the Bold Coast Trails in Cutler. We followed the shortest of the trails just to see what it was like since it was our first time visiting the place. We were pleasantly surprised. The trails were marked well, and they weren’t too strenuous. At the end of the coastal trail we were on, there was an overlook point. Out on a rocky ledge we got a clear view of Grand Manan (Canada). There were fishing boats zooming back and forth checking traps. But what really stunned and excited me was the seal sighting. I’ve seen one seal in real life before about seven years ago so to see this one, and have my camera all ready was pretty awesome.

Isn’t it cute!? I just wish it had been swimming toward me instead of away.

(Camera: Sony A100. Focal length: 500mm. F-Stop: 6.3. Shutter Speed: 1/500. ISO: 200)

After the little seal showed off for a bit, it decided it had had enough and swam away. At that point we had decided we had had enough so we hiked back. After that, we went to Quoddy, had some lunch, then hiked out to Green Point. I got some more pictures of the rock formations people make there. I’m thinking I could do my gallery show (whenever my professor gets back to me about it) just on the rock stacks at Green Point. Interesting notion, no? I’ll have to explore that further.

Anyway, yesterday, we went out yet again.

That’s right….Two days in a row.

This time we went back to Petit Manan Wildlife Refuge in Steuben. We hiked the Shore Trail again and I got a better picture of the lighthouse where I had my biggest lens with me.

After we got back from the Shore Trail and had our lunch we set off to explore the Birch Point Trail. I was impressed with the quality of this trail. Granted there were a few muddy and marshy areas but that was to be expected since it was on the coast, in the woods, and after all the rain we had a while back.

The four mile loop was a really non strenuous hike which I was glad about (I’m still not in the best of shape). I managed to get a few ok shots of the water at different points but the big thing that happened was my discovery of a feather among the rocks on the beach. It wasn’t any seagull feather mind you, this thing is huge. It’s over a foot long. I’m not sure exactly what kind of feather it is but I’m thinking it’s either an Eagle or an Osprey feather. It’s cool regardless.

So in total, over the past two days, my mother and I hiked about 8 or 9 miles. And we’re planning to go back out again tomorrow, not sure where yet though. I just hope my arthritis doesn’t start acting up. Yes folks, I have arthritis. 25 and I have arthritis. Not the debilitating kind that requires constant medication but enough to cause discomfort when it acts up. Not fun. Not fun at all.

Well, I guess that’s all for now folks.

Take it easy.

[-_-]

~A.M.