After being unable to go anywhere for supper last night due to the storm, I was looking forward to something substantial this morning, and I had been thinking about those Eggs Benedict at the Black Friar all week. So we headed down there for opening time at 7:30. Aside from a few small downed branches, Bar Harbor was spared any real damage from the hurricane. The only minor issue was the lack of internet service this morning.
When we arrived the Black Friar was pretty quiet, with only one other couple waiting to be seated. But it filled up quickly. Fortunately the noise level stayed low. And the Eggs Benedict were delicious, just as I had remembered from last year. I ordered the version with grilled portobello mushroom, and Rich got the one with baby spinach (we each tasted a bit of each other’s, of course).
We came back to the room to find that the internet connection was still down. Not a big deal as it was going to be a warm, beautiful sunny day and we planned to go out and explore somewhere on the island for the day. But we had trouble deciding what to do!
We were looking for a place where I could explore and Rich would be comfortable sitting and reading for a while, and poking around and doing some gentle walking if he was in the mood. My only thoughts were going back to Bear Brook picnic area so I could continue exploring Huguenot Head and Champlain, maybe going to the Fabbri picnic area from where I could explore the Otter Cove trail and Gorham Mountain, or maybe doing something near Asticou/Thuya Gardens.
Rich’s suggestion was to explore the Kittredge Brook Forest Preserve near the MDI High School. Our map doesn’t show it in much detail, and at first glance it honestly didn’t look all that exciting. I don’t know why, but from the map it looked like the kind of trail that encircles athletic fields and wastewater ponds: fine for dog walking or for getting a run in before work, but not what I would consider hiking.
Oh, was I wrong! We parked behind the high school and were relieved to find a convenient wooden picnic table there for Rich to use while I explored the area.
I passed by the pond (yes, a wastewater pond) and ascended the first hill to, yes, an athletic field. But then I entered the woods, and the scenery and my mindset changed completely.
This place was remote, rugged, rustic, and beautiful! Right from the beginning it reminded me of hiking an abandoned trail, even though it was well maintained and very well marked. I didn’t see anyone else during my entire hike, and I passed through so many cobwebs crossing the trail that it didn’t seem that anyone had used the trail in quite some time.
Also abundant were NPS boundary markers. (I didn’t realize it until I looked at the map later, but one part of the loop follows a park boundary, and part of the loop is actually within the boundary of the park.)
Soon after the first trail intersection, I came to another intersection with a sign indicating that the northernmost loop trail was closed … but only between the months of March and August. So I figured it was fine for me to try it.
That loop was very different from the first, and both nasty and beautiful in its own way. The trail is mostly a soft pine-needle covered treadway through pine and spruce woods … with blowdowns everywhere you looked. It was a strange balance between soft easy walking and stepping over sharp snags with every other footfall. But overall I loved the peacefulness of this area, and the challenge of picking my way through the labyrinth. This section was very much like following an abandoned trail. Even though trees were blazed here and there, sometimes while crossing the areas of large blowdowns I lost the trail for a moment and had to look around to find where it continued.
After that loop, I came back to the intersection with the sign and decided to head north on the straight out and back section for a bit just to see what it was like. There are so many bogwalks in this section (as well as throughout the rest of the preserve)! This trail passes over higher ground with lichen-covered ledges, and then straight down into seas of sphagnum that, right now after such a rainy year and a hurricane, have tiny creeks swiftly flowing through them.
I turned around after less than half a mile, just wanting to get a taste of what it was like. There’s plenty more here to explore.
I took the western half of the first loop back to the car. This section was quite a bit wetter than the eastern side, and features a nice long bogwalk. (One thing to note about many of the bogwalks in this preserve, although not the really long one I just mentioned, is that they are covered with a fine wire mesh to provide traction. It works very well on the otherwise super-slippery-when-wet logs.)
Another suggestion Rich had while we were driving to the high school was to ask if I had anything to check out in the area of the Duck Brook Bridge. I did, in fact!
I had read that there was supposed to be an entrance to the abandoned Sweet Fern trail right across the bridge. The Sweet Fern Trail basically parallels the carriage road but is more level and of course, is devoid of people.
I followed the trail (which was wet, again due to this year’s conditions) out to the carriage road, then crossed over the carriage road, and walked west a few feet to find where the trail picked up again (it eventually emerges on Paradise Hill Road, just southeast of the Witch Hole Marsh trail that we often use to get into this area, although I didn’t follow the full trail today).
I took some videos of the wild water passing through the culvert in this location, and then followed the carriage road back to the Duck Brook Bridge just to compare that route with the trail. (It is steeper and, although dry, not as pleasant to walk.) I took some more photos and videos of the rushing water while at the bridge, and even found a small frog who, unlike his buddy that hopped away as soon as I came near, was willing to pose for some photos.
I followed a small trail from beneath the bridge right back to the road, where Rich picked me up.
Neither of us was very hungry, so dinner was the usual light standby: a small house veggie pizza at Rosalie’s! Along with two large Allagash Whites, of course. We lingered a long time over the beers and good conversation, and then took a walk up the street to check out the menu for the Thai and Indian restaurants (one of which we may try tomorrow) and get an ice cream cone at MDI Ice Cream. Rich got the Callebaut Chocolate and I got a blueberry basil sorbet. Excellent, and finally a nice warm evening to sit at the Village Green.