Jim's Fall Hike - Part 5

Here is the journal of Jim's next three days:

Sat., Sept., 30 - We began today by driving over 200 miles to get back to Ellsworth, where I had last walked nine days ago. It was raining as we left home, but only lightly, and then just intermittently as the morning wore on. Arriving in Ellsworth at noon, we found an Irish pub that looked like our kind of place. Following lunch we drove around town, finding the hotel where we will spend the next two nights, the church where we will attend Mass tomorrow morning, and the Washington Junction train depot where I will finish today's short hike. Then we drove 3.5 miles west out of town on Route 1, dropping me off right where I had been picked up on Thursday last week - at the road quaintly named Hagan's Elbow.

After about 30 minutes of walking, I noticed someone hiking in my direction on the other side of the road. He yelled to me "where're headed?" and I responded "Lubec". " I just came from there" he says. He crosses the road, we introduce ourselves and quickly realize we have much in common. Tim Evans also is a long-distance walker, now headed to Boston, with plans to eventually go all the way to Florida. He travels alone, carries what he needs in two small packs, one on his back and one around his waist. He has hiked extensively in Europe and recommends I give that a try. He maintains a website called "roadwalking.com". I gave him my email address and we promised to stay in touch with each other. Twenty minutes later I continued east-bound and he walked off in the other direction. In all my many years of road-walking, I have never before met a stranger pounding the pavement like me. He likewise has never met a road warrior.

By 3:00 pm I was at our hotel, having covered about 5 miles, with another 2 left to do. Jane had checked in and unloaded all our luggage and other paraphernalia into the room. After a quick bathroom break, I walked just a few feet onto the adjacent Downeast Sunrise Trail (DST) that will be my pathway for the next 45 miles. As I had approached the hotel, a train full of passengers enjoying a slow but scenic ride passed me by. The nearby train depot is the end of the line for the 87-mile long DST. This afternoon I traveled just two miles on this wide, packed gravel trail, passing through wetlands that signs informed me were habitat for a great variety of birds. Mechanized vehicles are generally prohibited on the DST, with the notable exceptions of snowmobiles and ATVs. The former are not an issue this time of year, but several of the latter passed me at a moderate pace. These noisy, dust-raising 4-wheel vehicles could be a nuisance tomorrow, as it will be Sunday and I expect to see more of them then. Just as I arrived at the designated destination spot, Jane showed up and we returned to the hotel.

Miles Today - 7     Total Cumulative Miles - 163.5

Sun., Oct. 1 - It was quite cool when we got up this morning, and we noticed a thin layer of frost on the car at 7:30. After a quick and unsatisfying breakfast at the hotel, we drove half a mile to church for Mass. After a brief stop back at the hotel to change clothes, we drove to the trail parking lot where I finished yesterday's hike. Other vehicles were unloading large ATVs that I knew I would see and hear zoom past me on the trail in just a few minutes. The temperature was rising fast as I started the day's hike with two jackets layered to keep me toasty warm. But within a half hour it was warm enough for me to remove both and walk in shirtsleeves.

The trail today was variable in surface, with smooth ledgepack providing a solid rock-free treadway in some places, and loose gravel with small stones in others. As the ATVs passed me, they would create a cloud of dust and dirt, a pretty unpleasant experience for those like me that they literally left in the dust as they roared down the trail. Most of them were traveling in the same direction as I was, so they approached from the rear. But I could hear them coming, even with my poor hearing, for these are not quiet vehicles. The largest ones were nearly the size of a small car. I fail to understand the thrill of driving these off-road vehicles along a dusty trail that resembles a gravel road. Over the course of 3 hours I  counted 17 of them or about one every ten minutes. Sharing the trail with them was OK but not something I would want to do all the time. Still, it's an acceptable trade-off for avoiding the noise, smell and risk of road traffic.

By 11:30 I was feeling hungry, so I found a sloping rock to sit on to eat my Subway sandwich and banana lunch. I really enjoyed this trail today, as it permitted me some gorgeous views of the woods, fields, and wetlands through which it passes. There are mileposts every mile so I could readily compute my pace - under 17-minute miles early this morning, then slowing to about 18 minute miles later. The forests on both sides of the trail were youngish in age, and though they included some tall pines and spruces, they didn't have the girth of really old trees. So I infer that this area was heavily logged, probably about 25-30 years ago.

With 2.5 miles remaining, I left the trail to do some road-walking. This was designed to save me some distance, as the trail does an oxbow-like loop for the next several miles and I can cut the distance by walking roads and rejoining the trail. After another half-hour, I turned onto General Cobb Road. From here it should be just a mile to get back to the trail. But after half that distance, this paved road became an unpaved, gravel and grass path that doesn’t appear to have accommodated vehicles for quite some time. With Jane due to pick me up any minute now, I decided to backtrack to the paved section of General Cobb and meet her there. We met up and I drove us back to the section of the road that resembles a cow-path. As the road became rougher still, she urged me to walk it while she waited in the car. I pulled the car off road and into a field and with walking stick in hand, set off to find out if this pathway would lead me back to the trail as GoogleMaps had led me to believe. “Take as much time as you need” she says as I leave (she always has a book to read on her phone).

On my left are many acres of open fields, filled with low blueberry bushes, their green leaves of summer now turning crimson on the first day of October. In ten minutes I came to a gate across the road, which I easily walked around, and then a stream that I rock-hopped across. Next the roadway deteriorated more, with larger stones and broken pieces of old pavement making it more challenging for this sandal-clad hiker to proceed.  But on I went, up a hill and down the other side. Still no trail in sight. But then I see and hear in the distance two ATVs. Sure enough, I had found the trail, nearly a mile beyond where I had left Jane in the field. I will return to the General Cobb cow-path tomorrow and walk it again to get back to the Downeast Sunrise Trail.

Miles Today - 14     Total Cumulative Miles - 177.5

Mon., Oct., 2 - After a much more satisfying breakfast at a nearby Denny’s, I drove us back to General Cobb. I drove up this pseudo-road even further than where we parked yesterday. Finding a fine place to turn the car around, I did so and bid Jane farewell. As usual, she bid me “go with God”.

Jane:  I must interject now.  I was apprehensive about driving BACK on this previously described "cow path" road, but Jim assured me with much confidence that as long as I took it slow, I would be fine since I WOULD BE THE ONLY ONE ON THIS VERY NARROW "ROAD".  I drove along nice and slow and was feeling more comfortable when all of a sudden there was a pickup truck facing me on the road - and not only a pickup truck but he was towing a trailer.  Now what?   I am fairly sure that the driver was not expecting to see me.  He very nicely backed into a pull off spot and I assumed that meant I could continue on my way.   No luck since all of a sudden I saw a HUGE tractor trailer hauling a large load of hay bales.  I couldn't believe that this rig actually fit on this narrow cow path!   The pickup driver must have sensed my apprehension (AKA abject fear) because he told me just to pull into the area where he was and the tractor trailer could get by me.  I asked where the big one was headed and he said just past me.  So I pulled in and sure enough the big one got by me.  I was then free to back up and head on my way.  So much for Jim's confident assurances.  My biggest regret was that in my chaotic state, I neglected to take a picture of the huge truck.

Jim:  Off I walked on this beautiful day, with not a cloud overhead. After ten minutes I was once again on the Downeast Sunrise Trail. This being a weekday, I was much more alone than yesterday. No noisy ATVs to spoil this gorgeous morning. Soon I was looking up at the locally famous Schoodic Mountain (about 500’ higher than the trail) and walking through the 500 acres of Schoodic Bog Preserve. Later, I read on a website: the bog is “filled with water lilies and cattails, carnivorous pitcher plants, and eastern painted turtles. Industrious beavers have also made their home here, living in great lodges made of sticks and mud. And with open water at its center, the bog also attracts osprey.” I observed two huge beaver lodges, largest I have ever seen, and a very large osprey nest. No turtles or pitcher plants. The silence here, and for most of the next several hours, was remarkable, as there were no vehicles driving anywhere near, and no planes overhead. Just me communing with nature.

The trail surface was not as fine as yesterday’s, with loose gravel and small stones far more common than a hard-packed surface. Somewhat similar to walking on beach sand. But I made good time until just before noon, when my left foot seemed to be developing a “hot spot”. With no place to sit down, I awkwardly removed that foot's sandal and socks and applied a layer of petroleum jelly to it. Some grains of sand had somehow penetrated my double layer of socks and were abrading the skin. A few minutes later I came to a flat rock and was able to sit down and apply foot powder and more jelly. With still another two hours of walking ahead, I hoped this would do the trick.

It was a sunny day and with temps in the mid-60s and I was borderline uncomfortable when not in the shade. And there was little shade, as all the trees were on my left and the sun was in the southern sky on my right. The forests here in Downeast Maine are remarkably diverse in terms of types of trees, with a fine mix of pines, spruce, hemlocks, birch, oak, an occasional larch (aka tamarack), and for the first time this trip, cedar. Lots of cedar trees lining the road.

For the first ten miles, the trail intersected only one paved road. I really felt isolated. At 12:15 I saw a picnic table trail-side and decided it was time to enjoy a brief lunch. Another Subway sandwich, purchased after breakfast, was my meal. Sitting on top of the table, I was able to air out the feet while eating lunch. Twenty minutes later I was back hiking.

I later learned that this old railroad bed was not converted to a multi-use trail until about 10 years ago. Today there is little evidence of its provenance, with no rails or railroad ties visible along the route. In the gravel trail bed I did see a few iron spikes that were used to secure the rails to the ties. My destination today was a bed and breakfast in the town of Cherryfield.  When I arrived at 2:30 Jane has just checked in and I arrived in time to help unload our gear from the car. As I approached the B&B, Jane called to find out how close I was to arriving. “I am in the driveway” was my reply.

Miles Today - 16     Total Cumulative Miles - 193.5

Pictures:

Day 11 - Saturday Hike Start at Hagen's Elbow Rd

Day 11 - Downeast Sunrise Trail

Day 12 - Sunday Hike Start

Day 12 - ATVs Parked at Our Ellsworth Hotel

Day 13 - City Hall with Beautiful Scrollwork

Day 13 - Fields of Blueberry Bushes Turning their Fall Red Color