Forest Buddies

While on blazing duty on Bernard Mountain yesterday, I came across these two nestled in a bed of mosses and just couldn't pass them up. The color on the mushroom is so dazzling. Unfortunately, the little spruce kind of gets lost in the background.

Lenticular Cloud

This morning was a strange mix of weather, but produced this lenticular cloud over one or the other of our mountains. (The one you're looking at is Norumbega, but I'd bet this partiular cloud is over Cadillac Mountain, since it's the highest.)

From crystalinks.com:
Lenticular clouds, technically known as altocumulus standing lenticularis, are stationary lens-shaped clouds that form at high altitudes, normally aligned at right-angles to the wind direction. Where stable moist air flows over a mountain or a range of mountains, a series of large-scale standing waves may form on the downwind side. Lenticular clouds sometimes form at the crests of these waves. Under certain conditions, long strings of lenticular clouds can form, creating a formation known as a wave cloud.

Check this out this awesome lenticular cloud: http://www.space.com/imageoftheday/image_of_day_031126.html

My House

Well, not really. This house is on the way over to the Schoodic Peninsula, and it's the first time in all the times I've been on this road that I've see any sunlight on the front of this house. It had to be done.

Schoodic

This is a test to see if I can post a panorama on this blog. Wish me luck. This is Mount Desert Island taken from an overlook on the Anvil Trail on the Schoodic Peninsula.

Acadia Mountain View

Since I put up the close-up shot of a mushroom on Acadia Mountain the other day, I thought you might like to see what a long shot of the view from the mountain looks like. This isn't the widest view available, but I liked it. The wider view wasn't available when I finally got to it due to a huge cloud casting a giant shadow over the entire Somes Sound area. I have a fairly nice shot of it I took the day I put up the mushroom, but it was a morning shot and the glare off the sound was too much. Sometimes you just can't win with Mother Nature.

O'Keeffe Hills

I've been searching high and low for the images I took of these gullied hills on Highway 67 just east of Fort Stockton, Texas. I was on my way back to Big Bend from home one Chistmas and just happened to look to my left, when I had one of those "click moments" I'm so famous for: The eye saw, the brain's shutter went click, and I had to stop and shoot. I need to go back there now and shoot again, as I didn't get nearly enough images of these hills to suit me. They remind me so much of Georgia O'Keeffe's work.

Acadia Mountain Mushroom

We were working on Acadia Mountain this morning and I espied this mushroom (these guys are everywhere!) which I thought had some photographic potential. Since my cousin Carol is so adept at macro work with plant life, I thought I'd try my hand at it again. I know it's not as pretty as the flower shots she sends out, but I like it.

A Cairn Kind of Day

While out blazing the trails, you run into all kinds of things that shouldn't be out there but are. Cairns are one of these. Here are a few examples of some hiker-induced cairnage I ran across today.


Here is an example of what is known as a Bates Cairn, the brainchild of one Waldron Bates. This particular style cairn is used quite extensively on the island, but are usually a little larger than this one. If you look closer, you'll notice that the coin leaning against the right support rock is in fact a quarter -- this cairn is only about six inches high!


Now, here's an interesting phenomenon. This little pine has taken it upon itself to create its own bonsai persona, but someone thought it might need a little help and added a Counterbalance Cairn. We don't typically use cairn for these purposes, but I'll bring it to my boss' attention.


This one by far wins today's prize, if in fact there was such a thing. This cairn was no doubt designed by the one and ony Dr Seuss himself, given the unique style and the delicate balancing act. Normally, when we come across cairns such as this one and the two above, we completely dismantle them and throw the stones just as far as we can into the woods to discourage further attempts at such tomfoolery. Today, however my co-worker Michael and I merely let them be in sincere appreciation. Who can argue with art?

What The Blazes?

Here is the Federally-paid vandal (me) hard at work painting 1"x3" blue rectangular navigational devices (a.k.a. "blazes" -- get it?) on the Deer Brook Trail.


And voila! Ze finished product.


My cohort in crime had to bug out early today, so I had to figure out a way to let his replacement know which way I turned at the intersection. Pretty clever, yes?


At the summit of Penobscot Mountain, and our view at lunch. Sometimes this job really sucks, ya know?

Tiffany Stained Glass

This is one of the many stained glass panels in St Saviour's Episcopal Church here in Bar Harbor. done by none other than Mr Tiffany himself. I got the complete tour and enjoyed every minute of it. The church is beautiful on its own, but these add so much, don't you think?


So I suppose I ought to provide you with an exterior view to back up that last caption. The church has its own cemetery on the grounds -- just like they did in the old days -- that dates back to the 1800s (that would be the old days). You can see one of the stained glass windows on the side of the building. I'm not sure if it was done by Mr Tiffany, though.


And a little closer view of the front of the church. The main entrance is on the right, with an entrance to the sanctuary in the apse on the left. Pretty nice, huh?


And finally, I thought I'd give you a look at the cemetery itself. I'll tell you, this is one nice place to spend eternity, if you ask me. And it's so convenient to downtown.

Different day, different camera

Okay, as your opthamol . . . opthomol . . . opth . . . aw, hell -- as your eye doctor might say, "Is this one better or this one?" You decide.

Sea Mist

Our brisk 45-degree morning made for some awesome sea mist on Eagle Lake this morning. I took this shot on the way to our worksite, but didn't have my new high-MB camera with me (figures!). I'll take it tomorrow and hope the same effect is there. Should be.

Sidewalk Signage

I caught this culprit in the act yesterday morning on my jaunt around the island and just couldn't resist adding her in here. (She was quite cute, by the way, and from Romania.) I guess you couldn't really call her a "culprit" as they advertise Geddy's gift shop this way all the time. It was great fun documenting her work anyway.

Another Foggy Morning

I always love to poke around on foggy mornings, as you never know what you'll find. I also decided to try out some new composition techniques to make things more interesting.

Lone Pine Shrine

There are places on this earth that I've found that hold me in thrall, and this is one of those. This little lone pine, standing proud and tall with outstretched branches, captivated me from the moment I first saw it and I always seek it out every time I'm out on Isle au Haut. I love this tree.

Isle au Haut

Hey, everybody, I'm back! I've been out on the little island of Isle au Haut (eye la HOE) for the Labor Day Weekend, and I've just gotten home. This is the little log cabin on Eli Creek, where I've been holed up for the past few days, and it's been just wonderful -- well, except for yesterday when I got invaded by two Ridge Runners who thought it was open for business. Put a damper on the end of my weekend, but I'm back home now, so what the heck? It was still fun and I always enjoy the time on the island away from the maddening crowds of Bar Harbor.

Ready To Sail

All packed up and ready to catch the ferry (passenger-only) over to Isle au Haut, a small island in Acadia National Park's realm. This will be my fourth outing there on a personal basis, my sixth counting work details. I never get tired of the island or of the log cabin the park has available for its personnel to use -- running stream for water, Coleman lanterns for light, mice for company. It just doesn't get any better than that.