Tag Archives: hiking

Uncategorized

A little bit of this and a whole lotta nothing.

20 Comments

.

In case I don’t say it often enough, I love my little Maine town.

.

.

Keep your boring lost dogs and cats, we have befuddled bovines.

.

.

And free flowers.

Is it any wonder we love living here?

❤️

Bored by sitting in a doctor’s office waiting room the other day I scrolled my phone and stumbled on a stupid “What would a Barbie from your state look like?” site.

.

.

Maine Barbie goes hiking… in a mini skirt with perfectly coiffed hair.

I’ve been hiking in Maine. Trust me, women do not look like this.

On the other hand, they had my birth state of New Jersey down pat.

.

.

Jersey Barbie has bling.. and attitude to spare.

.

.

Yes, I’m posting about grapes.

But not just any grapes.

.

.

Margarita grapes.

You’re welcome.

.

Uncategorized

Fisherman’s Walk… part three.

1 Comment

.

The Wiggly Bridge is correctly named. Though I might add wobbly, swaying and creaking to the title.

.

.

Once you cross it, you’re on the protected side of a preserve.

.

.

Quiet, peaceful and quintessentially Maine.

.

.

So we walked.

.

.

Into the woods.

.

.

It was basically just a small loop trail that skirted the coast in sections.

.

.

And before long we were back at the beginning.

.

.

Wiggling and wobbling.

.

.

A closer look at the motion.

.

.

Even my husband enjoyed it enough to take pictures.

.

.

So ended our day of confused hiking. We may not have started at the right spots for either walk but we thoroughly enjoyed them both.

I did have to laugh as we departed the bridge. Walking up the road to our car…with the wiggly wobbler behind us and to the left … we finally saw a sign directing us to it.

.

.

The fact that it’s pointing in the opposite direction did not surprise me one bit.

🤣

.

Uncategorized

York Cliff Walk .. part two.

26 Comments

.

If you ever visit Maine you have to do one of the cliff walks. It’s a truly fabulous way to experience our coast up close and personal.

.

.

Rugged, rocky and glorious.

.

.

You won’t find many straight sandy beaches here and that’s just fine with me.

.

.

Windswept and craggy is more my style. Look at that house! Pure perfection.

.

.

If you don’t mind a little wind.

.

.

The cliff walk is well named as you’re basically walking along the edge of a cliff.

.

.

Some sections are wider than others but the views are all the same.

Beautiful.

.

.

Was I in rock heaven?

.

.

You betcha!

.

.

I know it’s hard to tell but this is a photo of a bald eagle fishing the ocean.

.

.

Such majestic creatures.

.

.

Around this next bend was a beach.

.

.

And nice we ducked through the trees…

.

.

To be continued…

.

Uncategorized

York Cliff Walk ….. part one.

6 Comments

.

After the pretty but oh so short Fisherman’s Walk path, we knew there had to be more to see so we continued onto the beach.

.

.

Reaching the curve….

.

.

We found another path.

.

.

Knowing it wasn’t a continuation of our first walk but eager to explore new ground… we kept going.

.

.

Past some fragrant wild beach roses.

.

.

And up some large stone steps.

.

.

Through some root bound trees.

.

.

Where we caught glimpses of the ocean. Some of the walking was treacherous, but I’d figured out that we were on another of my bucket list trails – the York Cliff Walk – so we sucked it up and hiked.

.

.

Nice.

Tell us when we’re already committed.

.

.

To be continued…

.

Uncategorized

Viles Arboretum… the finale.

21 Comments

.

Finishing the outer loop trail brought us close to the end of our walk.

.

.

Another sculpture.

.

.

That my not a fan of modern art husband had a hard time deciphering. I keep telling him you don’t have to understand art … just enjoy it.

.

.

The lilac gardens were next and though it was a small area ….

.

.

The scent was gloriously large.

.

.

Even she thought so.

.

.

Or maybe she didn’t. It’s hard to tell.

.

.

We really enjoyed the time we spent here. A true hidden oasis in the middle of our state’s capitol.

.

.

I had to laugh that my husband has the old wooden apple press shown on that sign.

.

.

So there you have it.

A full tour of Viles Arboretum.

.

.

Ending with the least expensive and smallest sculpture on offer.

.

Uncategorized

Viles Arboretum… part five.

6 Comments

.

Nearing the end of our hike there was an old well.

.

.

I’m assuming it had some connection to the old piggery we’d passed.

.

.

The arboretum hosts guest lecturers and holds classes on various nature related topics throughout the year and as you would guess…

.

.

They usually take place outside.

.

.

Though this spot didn’t look like it’s seen any action in a while.

.

.

I’ve been told this is the most popular section of the park.

.

.

And is a favorite for wedding photographs, though to be honest I didn’t find it very impressive.

.

.

The lily of the valley were nice, but heck… my hostas are more impressive than anything they had.

To he continued…

.

Uncategorized

Viles Arboretum… part three.

19 Comments

.

An hour and a half in and we were still exploring.

.

.

Which is where we found this mini pyramid.

.

.

It’s basically the same kind of stone my husband used to build my garden bed last year so I suggested perhaps he could build me one of these this year.

He pretended he didn’t hear me, but my memory is long and I have patience.

.

.

Every now and then there was a bench.

.

.

But we were always moving and didn’t dawdle.

.

.

Dappled shade is good for ferns. Add soil too wet to walk over and it’s damn near perfect.

.

.

I have to say I was looking forward to the rhododendron section of the trail. A forest full of rhodies?

Bring it!

.

.

If you’re wondering why the husband looks slightly puzzled? It’s because we were right in the middle of the supposed rhododendron section but didn’t know it.

After doing a 360, you can see why we were confused.

.

.

One bloom does not a collection make.

.

.

Onward. To the pond…

To be continued.

.

Uncategorized

Viles Arboretum… part two.

17 Comments

.

And we’re walking.

.

.

Or rather, I’m walking and the husband is reading…

.

.

This time about the arboretum’s project to reintroduce the American chestnut tree that was decimated by a fungus.

.

.

They’ve planted hundreds.

.

.

Finished reading, the husband caught up and we entered the woods.

.

.

The trails are well marked and not wanting to miss anything I made sure we did both the inner and outer loops.

.

.

Cool and peaceful.

.

.

Melodic bird song and the gentle swaying of branches.

.

.

And a burl.

.

.

Which some little creature had already hollowed out for his home.

.

.

Out of the woods and back to the meadows.

To be continued….

.

Uncategorized

Viles Arboretum … part one.

20 Comments

.

The weather was perfect. The tourists were nowhere to be seen. And my husband is still retired… for now. So I stuffed him in the car and we crossed something off my endless Things To Do In Maine bucket list.

.

.

Viles Arboretum. A 224 acre non profit botanic garden run by the state which conserves wetlands, forest and fields and offers free access to anyone wanting to enjoy miles of nature trails.

.

.

There were sculptures scattered throughout.

.

.

Most of which were for sale. Though for $15,000, we decided to pass.

.

.

Most of the walking was easy and the boardwalks over the wet areas were quite welcome.

.

.

If you know my husband, you know he has to stop and read every single word of every single plaque about every single tree.

.

.

Scrap metal bird sculpture. Lord Dudley would be terrified.

.

.

It was a lovely way to spend the day and we leisurely strolled through meadows that turned to marsh…

.

.

That turned to ponds.

.

.

That turned to wetlands…

.

.

And back to meadows.

.

.

To be continued….

.

Uncategorized

Lake Willoughby.

12 Comments

.

The undiscovered country is always the best.. and when we travel, we love nothing more than stumbling upon a place we never knew existed.

Enter Lake Willoughby in Vermont.

.

.

Imagine randomly picking a road to travel home and finding this.

.

.

Not being in any hurry, we stopped.

.

.

And groaned at the bad grammar.

.

.

But bad spelling aside…. wow.

.

.

There was a path that ran alongside part of the lake and though I wasn’t dressed for hiking, I happily headed out.

.

.

This is a glacial lake and every part of it was glorious.

.

.

My pictures don’t really do it justice, but in spots the colors were positively surreal.

.

.

The wind was ripping and I couldn’t feel my nose, but we pressed on.

.

.

Being careful not to trample any seedlings.

.

.

Mountains, rocks and a glacial lake.

Yes please.

To be continued…

.