October at Eagle Lake

Although we have yet to have a frost here on the island, the days are definitely getting cooler.    Yesterday morning was chilly and the wind was blowing, but I was determined to get out for a good, long hike.

I was hoping to find some nice shots of changing leaves to photograph.   Although you can hike a carriage road loop, my plan involved a couple of detours so my hiking distance was going to be around 7 miles (roughly 11km).   That’s pushing my limits for one hike, but it was a beautiful day and I had plenty of water, energy bars, and time.

On my detour over to Bubble Pond I passed this lovely little marsh area.

 

 

When I got to Bubble Pond, I found that the angle and brightness of the sun were not favorable, so I settled for  playing up the dramatic clouds and mountains that surround Bubble Pond in black and white.

 

 

For my return trip around the south and west shore of  Eagle Lake, I took the Lake Shore path, which while beautiful is a trail fraught with obstacles of rocks and tree roots.   See if you can spot the blue blaze trail signal in the picture below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reflections in Black and White

Last Saturday was such a perfect day for capturing reflections in Eagle Lake.   The air was perfectly calm and the water smooth as glass.   I decided to shoot a few in black and white to see how they turned out.   Here’s one of my favorites.

 

Peace and Quiet at Eagle Lake

While the crowd slowly builds in Bar Harbor and along Ocean Drive, the “locals” are enjoying the less obvious spots on a glorious spring Saturday.

Pulling into the parking area at the Eagle Lake Carriage road, I grabbed the last available non handicapped parking space.   Nice to see those restrooms opened again.    My adventures with using the outdoor, woodland latrine appear to be over for several months!   And enough said on THAT matter.

This would be only the 3rd time I had hiked the entire circumference of the lake.  The trip is about 6 – 6.5 miles staying on the carriage roads, but I like to take the lake shore trail where it cuts away from the carriage road and hugs the lake shore for about 1.25 miles of the trip.   It is a challenging section of trail, and on New Year’s Day this trail kicked my butt (note to self – STAY on the carriage roads in winter).

 

 

The water was high and clear, and there were numerous spots where I had to leap from stone to stone (Karate Kid anyone?).   Definitely, a good balancing exercise.    There is a section of moderately intense “bouldering” as the trail winds along  the edge of the lake.   The option is to hike the carriage road around and over a small mountain, but you lose sight of the lake, and I was feeling a need to view that crystal clear water.   Also, as bike traffic picks up the carriage roads, taking this stretch of trail gets you away from that and back to more solitude.

 

 

If you look closely, you can see that the deciduous trees on the hills surrounding the lake are starting to leaf out with their green buds.   It is interesting how in town, where I live, the trees are 75% leafed out, where here, a mere 4 miles inland the trees are only 25% leafed out.   I continue to be amazed at the variation and variety that occurs within this small geographic area.

Back on the carriage road, and nearing the end of my walk,  I passed one of my favorite benches.  I have yet to find another like it in the park.  It has no marker, I don’t know who built it or who put it there, but it is a beautiful granite bench, and it beckons me.

 

 

Why yes, thank you, I WILL “set a spell”.   And so I did.

 

 

Enjoy your week, where ever you are and no matter what you are doing.      If it goes well, cherish it, if it is a tough week, remember; all things are temporary and “this too shall pass”.

 

Climb every mountain

Yesterday, I hiked Pemetic, the 4th highest mountain peak on the island.   If you will recall, two weeks ago I hiked Champlain which is the 5th highest peak, so I’m literally “working my way up”.

Pemetic is the name that the Wabanaki Indians gave the mountains here, meaning “range of mountains” or “mountains seen at a distance.”   The Wabanaki seasonally fished, hunted, gathered berries, clams, and other shellfish in this area.    So it is only appropriate that one of the mountains retain this name.

Setting Out

This trail begins next to Bubble Pond, and is a steady uphill climb, with one or two (are you serious?) moments in terms of steepness.    I was very glad that I had my backpack in which to stash my camera and water bottle, as the fewer distractions the better.  I also had my handy-dandy emergency whistle hanging around my neck, which is something I hope I NEVER need to use.

After a mile of uphill hiking, I began to get above the tree line and was rewarded with some great views of Bubble pond below, Cadillac mountain directly across from me, and the Atlantic Ocean beyond.  In the opposite direction, I could see across Frenchman’s Bay to the mainland of Maine (pictured below).

 

I continued hiking another half mile to the summit.    From here, you really felt like you were “on top of the world”, or in this case; on top of the island!!   It was fun to look at all the different bodies of water, which after living and hiking here for nearly five months, I was able to identify quickly.   It is difficult to convey the sense of spaciousness one gets from this vantage point, but it the photographs below, I try.   (Remember, any of these images can be viewed full screen by clicking on, then using your brower’s “back” button to return to the post.)

 

 

 

As you can see, the weather was quite glorious, although it was a bit “breezy” on top of that mountain.   We really don’t like to use the word “windy” here on the island, so in that case I guess you could say I’m recovering from a bit of “breezeburn” on my face.

I never cease to be amazed at the variety of texture in the rock.  The picture below gives you a good idea of the cracked and ragged nature of some of the rock found here, especially on the mountaintops.

 

 

 

In the next picture, you can see Jordan pond and the roof of the Jordan Pond House, one of the popular destinations during the summer for park visitors.    When the wealthy first began to use this area as their “playground”, Jordan Pond was a popular destination for picnicking, and afternoon “tea”.    Today, visitors can recreate that experience by enjoying “tea and popovers” while sitting out on the lawn and enjoying the view of the pond and surrounding mountains.   The dress code, however,  is bit more casual these days.

 

 

After enjoying the views and savoring my accomplishment, I set off down the mountain.    Sometimes, going down the hill is more challenging than going up the hill.     This hike was no exception.   There were some VERY steep sections (the trail guide described the trail as nose diving), so it was all about concentrating and taking your time.   The funniest thing was as I was picking my way down the hill, and feeling quite alone, (except for the turkey vultures gliding the thermals overhead – why did I feel like they were waiting for something?), my cell phone starts ringing.    Needless to say, I didn’t stop to answer it, and I was actually glad to know I had cell phone reception at this point, but it did make laugh at the craziness of technology these days.

 

 

I was happy when I reached the NICE, FLAT carriage road that runs along Bubble Pond.   By this time I was thinking about lunch and how good the apple and peanut butter and jelly sandwich (my exotic hiking foods) was going to taste while sitting on a rock near the pond and soaking up the sun.

 

The picture below is where I had my “picnic” before heading home, and resting my tired, but happy self.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back in black………….and white

I really enjoy Black and White photography.     I think when done well, it has the ability to convey emotion in a  way that color photography does not.  Perhaps the “rods and cones” (in our eyes) are so dazzled by color that our brains aren’t able to pick up the same emotion communicated in a black and white photograph.

Such were my musings when I decided to hike out to Bubble Pond today after a fresh dusting of snow received on Monday.

Ice Grippers on and ready to go!

I decided to try shooting as much as possible in black and white.  It was a brilliant, cloudless sky (nice for hiking, not as great for shooting), there was a fresh coating of white snow on the ground, and I’m pretty much of a novice photographer – (but I sure do have fun!  🙂    Trying not to end up with a bunch of “flat” looking photographs was going to be a challenge.

My first stop was along Eagle Lake looking west.   The lake is frozen over and snow-covered, so I tried to make the mountains the focal point.  I would have liked to have had some rocks or something in the foreground, but I cropped this one a bit and just tried to keep it clean and simple.

 

Snow covered Eagle Lake

 

A bit further down the road, I found this beautiful stream with ice-covered rocks.  However, it was tough to get the definition that my eye saw in the ice using black and white.  I pumped up the contrast, and that helped, but the brightness still washed out the definition more than I would have liked.  Where is Ansel Adams when you need him?

 

 

Once I arrived at Bubble Pond, I ate lunch and scouted around for some angles to make a black and white photo of the pond more interesting.  My favorite one ended up being this shot of some large boulders with the snow-covered pond in background.

 

 

A bit more scouting in this area, yielded this lovely little waterfall on a stream running out of the pond.     A decided to use a longer shutter speed to “smooth” out the water.   I really like the dominance of the boulders in the right hand part of this shot.

 

 

And finally, on the way back, a small stream winding its way through the snow.   In an attempt to add definition to this shot, I added some sepia tone post production.  As a result I think it gives the shot a different feel.

 

 

I felt today was a good learning experience, and the next time I decide to experiment with Black and White, I’ll be able to put to use some of the things I learned from today.  And besides, it was a gorgeous day for hiking!!

And just because I can………..I’m including this color shot of Bubble Pond that I really liked!   And you can see how amazing the weather was!