Let the fun begin . . .

Yeah, that was supposed to be the original title for today's blog, in which I explain how I'd come up with this brilliant idea to take as many of my DVDs as I could with me by stuffing them into this CD carrier. However, during the photo uploading sequence, the power -- which had been iffy at best since the huge winds started yesterday -- decided to just go out without even so much as a polite "Excuse me." I mean, really. So I decided to get on with the packing and storing of the things that were not going with me and proceed on to the storage unit, stopping off first for lunch with friends, Tony and Jen. That's when I came upon the next image . . .


Yep, that would explain a lot. It's been surmised that the current work along the embankment by a backhoe might have weakened the ground around the poles enough that one gave way due to the high winds, causing several more to follow suit. That does sound quite plausible. As you can see, though, power to my apartment had been restored by the time I got home, which was quite timely on my part as I found out they were going to shut down the bridge for two hours at 1:30, about 45 minutes after I got back on-island. October can be a really nasty month here in coastal Maine, let me tell you. Well, back to packing.

Last Day Hike

Well, today was our last day on Trails for the 2006 season. After working us like dogs this morning (just kidding), our Fearless Leader, Gary, took us on a hike up Champlain Mountain via some abandoned trails to show us some ancient rock work, and to say Thank You for all we had to put up with from him this season. What a guy!


Gary likes to give us a little pep talk/tall tale before we go out on one of these hikes. Usually it's fairly pertinent background information on where we're going, but sometimes it tends to morph into a fantastic story of some sort, complete with dramatic gesticulations. Guess where we are here.


Here we are scrambling up what used to actually be a trail. I think at this point, we're on what was called the Orange/Black Trail. It sounds like they used to blaze the trail in multiple colors, like on some of the trails I've been on in Massachussets.


Here we are taking a little breather and catching up on the spectacular view. It was an absolutely perfect day for this hike, with clear, cool air and a sharp horizon line on the ocean.


Now we're up on top and hiking the main trail past an example of a Bates Cairn. This gives you a perfect idea of the kind of awesome day we had.


And here we all are, what's left of the crew. L to R: Top row -- Dianna, Paul, Owen, Chris B, Gary (in funny hat). Middle row -- Sarah, Pete, Angela, Vincent, Brad, Ken, Jeff, Marlyse, Me. Bottom -- Chris F. Missing are all the three-month seasonals (long gone), as well as my crew leader, Keith (out for trainings), and Mike (called in sick). It was a great season, guys! So long and thanks for all the fish.

Tiny Visitor

Due to decreased activity atop the back of the stove due to the recent earthquakes -- the salt and pepper shakers used to reside here -- a little friend came and set up house to keep me company. This view offers you a sense of scale of the little critter. (Somebody needs to clean the top of this stove!)

Here's a little closer view, showing off those long forward legs. (By the way, he -- or she -- is now gone, for no apparent reason. I guess I can clean now.)

Blast From The Past

Ohmigod! I was browsing through an old photo album today and came across this photostrip from 1977 I did in one of those photo booths you don't see much of anymore. Freshman in college. Oh, yeah. I'm happenin'.

Camden Hills

Here we go on our seasonal Trail Crew hike in Camden Hills State Park. The colors here were absolutely stunning; much more than we have left on Mount Desert Island. This may be due to this area being more sheltered from the wind, maybe due to them being further south than we are. Whatever the case, it was dazzling, although it might not look that way here due to the overcast conditions. Sorry.


Here's a view of the lovely little town of Camden from the top of Mount Battie. We hiked all the way up here, but there is actually a road you can take to get to this particular point. Swell. The long strip of land on the horizon is Owl's Head, where the transportation museum is, right at the very right edge of the frame.


Just so you'll know, this was -- for all intents and purposes -- an actual working detail, and not a government boondoggle. Here we've stopped for a bit and are discussing the difference in bridge building techniques (actually, we were verbally tearing this particular bridge apart at the nails). There were a good many differences in the techniques used here and at Acadia, and we determined ours were best. Naturally!

Great Day in the Mornin'

On my way back to my apartment from telling my co-worker and carpool buddy Diana I'd called in sick, I snapped this shot of the sunrise. Boy, the folks up on Cadillac Mountain certainly got their money's worth this morning. (For the uninitiated, Cadillac Mountain is the highest mountain on the eastern seaboard and is the first place to view sunrise in the United States from October 7 through March 6. This is a HUGE attraction here, especially on New Year's Day -- for those hardy enough to hike up to get to it, as the road is closed.)

Monkey Boy Strikes Again

Here is our intrepid NPS Trail Worker hard at . . . work? Play? A co-worker and I were out doing trail assessments -- rolling a measuring wheel along a trail to pinpoint problem areas -- and the one that was assigned us was, of all trails, the Beehive. A good portion of this trail actually goes vertical more than horizontal (straight up a cliff face with the aid of rungs and handrails), so I of course couldn't pass up the opportunity to scare the livin' crap out of myself. I had to climb up the rungs with one hand, holding the measuring wheel in the other. Thank God I was a monkey in my early years.


Just to give you a feel for the experience, here's a shot I took of cousin Mary -- at the top -- when we took Beehive on with both hands available. This is actually one of my favorite trails in the park. (Old monkeys never die, they just go bananas.)


Earthquake Damage Update
On the way back to the shop after the assessment, we stopped and took a look at the landslide scour of the East Face/Precipice Trail I reported in my "Earthquake Assessment" blog. In that blog, one of the shots was looking across a talus field that once was the trail. The dark rectangle in this shot is where that portion of the trail used to be. The trees used to extend completely across along the trail.

Power Cairn

While on Beehive this morning, I came upon this variation on a cairn, and was totally taken aback. It looks as though someone was attempting to channel energy from the surrounding landscape, as the vertical stone mimics the shape of the nearby trees. Nice touch.

Cormorant

On my visit to Long Pond this morning, I came upon this cormorant sitting quietly on a mooring float. (They're pretty quiet as a rule -- I don't recall ever actually hearing one.) The sea mist continues to add atmosphere around here.

Somes Sound Morning

These autumn mornings are just too good to pass up. On an abortive attempt at an assignment shoot, I roamed around the island trying to capture this sea mist I'm so fond of. Here's today's result.

Autumn Color

While out on my boat this morning (okay, it was a rental canoe), I came across this nice display of the season's colors on Long Pond. The yellow canoe fits in nicely, don't you think?

Earthquake Assessment

After the earthquake the other night (officially a 3.9), the crew's been heading out onto the trails to assess the damage to various trails throughout the park -- at least on this side of the island. These photos are from trails on Champlain Mountain, namely the East Face Trail and the beloved Precipice Trail. Unfortunately, after much scrutiny and careful consideration, both of these trails were closed indifinitely, along with the recently re-opened Homan's Path and the popular Ladder Trail. I think you can see why.


Here is the first indication something's wrong. This is at the first intersection up the East Face Trail that takes you up to the summit of Champlain. This was nothing.


This is one of the reasons they hesitate to paint blazes in trees. If you look closely just above the rocks in the center of the picture, you can see the blue blaze on the trunk.


Believe it or not, there used to be a trail through here. In fact, the treeline extended completely through the shot, up to probably the left 1/3 of the image. The guys are standing where the trail used to be.


At this point we're on a pretty sketchy area of the Precipice Trail, where one false step could be a bad thing. Notice the new bend in the railing.


And here's a shot looking the other way from the wooden bridge, that took a couple of hits itself. These shots were not the only damage on this particular trail by a long shot, but they give you an idea of what we're up against -- Mother Nature.

So it would seem that in the last entry I made, the "thunderstorm rumble" I said I heard after the quake was, in fact, the landslides happening all up and down these mountainsides. That would make perfect sense. Thank God this happened on a Fall night and not on a bright Summer afternoon. It would've been tragic.

After The Quake

Who would've thought Maine would be a hotbed of seismic activity? Certainly not me. You expect that sort of thing living in California, of course (as I'd experienced in my 5-year stay there), but not up here in Maine. Well, last night we got our butts kicked big time, and I'm not even kidding here.

[Flashback] Last week, we'd received a couple of good bumps about 10 minutes apart, then about a half-hour or so later, received what felt like someone ramming into the apartment building with their car -- unlike the back-and-forth motion of California's quakes -- followed by another "ramming" about 10 minutes later, too. They seem to travel in pairs, from what I gather. (One small one = one big one; two small ones = two big ones; etc.)

[Return to present time] So, last night, around 7:15, I heard and felt something like the furnace next door kick in with great gusto. (This should've been a sign.) Then, about 8:00, BOOM!!! The pictures on the walls rattle, the salt shaker sitting on the back of the stove fell off, and crash, my Lego representation of the Curtiss Autoplane -- see previous blog -- hit the floor. Holy crap! I stepped outside to find my neighbors laughing nervously as we all listened to the after rumble make its way across the mountains for about another 30 seconds or so, sounding for all the world like a persistent thunderstorm. I had been just about to hit the sack, but needless to say, the adrenaline rush took care of that. It would be another hour or so before I could even think about going to sleep. Whew! That one will get talked about around here for some time, believe me.

Lego Autoplane

Well, I've been at it again. Sometimes I get the urge to build something totally out there and will build the most unlikely plane imaginable, but this time I had some help thanks to one Glenn Curtiss. This is a Lego replica of his Autoplane II, or at least as close as I could get to it. The wings need to be longer, but I ran out of long brown ones. Dang!


Here is an image of the actual thing, so you can get a feel for the design. Pretty radical, huh?