Mere Point Sunsets – Week 1 – 6/6/20

One of my favorite things to do as we spend time at Mere Point is to watch the sun set. Because the end of the point, just a short walk away, offers such an expansive view of the bay and the surrounding islands it almost always looks great. During our extended stay in Maine in June I tried to get out to see that sunset almost every night. And now, after an unacceptably long delay, I’m sharing my experiences on those evenings.

First up, we have the evening of June 6th. This sunset was initially somewhat disappointing with thick clouds near the horizon keeping the glow to a minimum. However, as you can see, it came through in the end.

The next evening offered another set of mixed results. The clouds were again thicker than would be ideal, but just as the sun dipped down to the horizon it lit up the underside of the clouds with a soft pink glow that reflected down to the water. I really liked how the perfectly smooth tide pool gave a view of the cool gray clouds overhead as well.

The next evening the clouds looked much better, and I decided to return to that same tide pool to see if I could catch it with better lighting. In the end I’m not sure if it’s a better or worse picture, but it is certainly interesting as well.

The more time I spent at the end of the point the more I tried to mix up the angles I was capturing. After all, no matter how interesting the sunsets, they will all start to look boring if they keep repeating the same shot. Given that, I spent some time the next evening capturing this view looking at the dock to the north west. I love the way the setting sun was lighting up the seaweed and rocks.

The next couple nights were spent with other activities including everyone’s favorite: the zoom calls. However given how the first few days of sunset hunting came out, I was hooked.

6/22/20 Mere Point Fog

To start things off, I have a couple of odds and ends style photos I wanted to share. The first one is a shot of the end of Mere Point with the classic red buoy in the background. I liked how this one lone seagull seemed to be taking in the view, perhaps just waiting for a crab to show itself.

We also had this little friend stop by the plastic pool that was sitting in the back yard. Our jumpy friend spent a few hours swimming around (to the delight of my niece and nephew) before heading back into the woods where they came from.

After a couple weeks of glorious weather, we got a whole different treatment. Over the course of a couple days we were essentially fogged in for the whole time. However, the weather never really got bad enough to force us to hunker down, so we just kept on enjoying the outdoors. I had a lot of fun capturing the quiet mood on the point as most people stayed inside. Everything felt like it was hushed and wrapped up in a blanket. The heron silently fishing in the seaweed fit right in.

6/20/20 Mere Point

We took a number of walks while we were up in Maine. One of the highlights of these walks were the flowers that people have planted in their yards. The lupine was particularly beautiful with various colors on display. My favorite were these red and pink ones that were lit up by the setting sun.

I have included a few more shots of other flowers below, along with one very excited puppy out for a walk as well.

6/20 Mere Point

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Today I have a grab bag of shots from our stay at Mere Point. I have been working on a larger themed collection of shots as well so I apologize for the relative silence. I promise there is more coming.

These photos were taken on various kayaking trips and walks around the point. We were very lucky with the weather for an extended period of time, so we had plenty of chances to take in the nature that is all around there.

6/13/20 Whaleboat Island

By this time we had been in Maine for nearly two weeks, but had not yet gotten the motor boat, so I was looking for ways to get out and explore a little further. I decided to up the kayaking ante again and make the trip out to Whaleboat Island. Given how often I have passed this one by I have wanted to explore it for quite a while.

I set our on a beautiful Saturday morning with very little in the way of wind or waves and made my way out. I took my first break at the goslings, a pair of small islands a little over half way out to Whaleboat. You can see Whaleboat on the horizon at the left edge of the image.

Though it was the longest crossing, the next stretch went quickly, and I pulled up near the campground at the north end of the island and got out. My original plan was to explore the woods a bit and see what the interior of the island looked like. As it turns out though, the interior of the island is an impenetrable tangle of downed trees and brush. It would have been a tough bushwhack in the best of conditions, but my shorts and flip flops definitely did not help.

I decided instead to walk down the shore of the island along the high tide line. Though much more passable, it was still slow going. I took my time and enjoyed the varied rocks and occasional glimpse of the resident herons.

Once I made it about half way down the island where the vegetation opens up a bit I decided I should make may way across to the other side and head back. Once again, I was surprised to see just how dense things were. Though I eventually found a way, it took quite a while to get across. In the process I came across a couple glimpses of the handiwork of people who once lived on the island. Not much is left of their farms at this point though.

Once I had finally gotten to the other side, I headed back north along the shore. Surprisingly, the shore was actually quite different on this side, with much more gravel and mud. After passing a family of geese and a flock of seagulls at the northern tip of the island I quickly made it back to my boat.

With a final snack and a drink of water I pushed off and made my way back. On the return trip I paddled around the other side of the goslings and Goose Island. In the end it was a 9.5 mile paddle and a 1.9 mile walk. Definitely a highlight of our stay in Maine for me.

6/7/20 Birch Island

After our successful paddle the day before, I decided to step it up a notch and go for something a bit more ambitious. I decided to paddle around Birch and White Islands. Right off the bat the trip was harder than it had been the previous day. There was a steady wind out of the north that made progress slow and pushed the occasional wave over the bow of the boat. I took a number of rests and kept the camera safely tucked away until I came around the end of White Island. With the wind now to my back I made quick progress back down the other side.

I ended up taking a break at Little Birch Island, a very small spit of rock with a strip of trees down the middle. Apparently it is open to camping, but I’m really not sure where you would put the tent.

I then continued on to Birch Island itself, where I stopped at the Helen and Walter Norton Preserve. The preserve was interesting because it seemed to have plenty of land, but no trails that I could find. I ended up exploring the grassy fields for about twenty minutes, then headed back to my boat.

Just before I got back on the water I saw a pair of bald eagles flying around, so of course I had to stop and try to get some photos. They never really got close enough for me to capture them well, but as always it was still neat to see.

6/6/20 Upper Goose Island

I’ll start today’s entry off by apologizing that there has been a bit of a lull in new photos to share. Don’t worry though, it’s the lack of organization and editing rather than the lack of pictures that is causing this. We actually just returned from our stay in Maine, so I should now have more time to get some of the many photos I took uploaded.

First up is a little kayaking adventure we had around Upper Goose Island. The island is not far from where we were staying, and it’s only a four mile trip to go all the way around. We took a stop on one of the many tiny gravel beaches along the side of the island near a stand of trees on the edge of the water. It was a beautiful spot to relax, take some photos, and put our feet in the water before continuing around to the other side.

6/4/20 Mere Point

We were fortunate a couple weeks ago to be able to pack up all of our stuff, including our office setups, and travel up to Maine for a change of scenery. We have been working from our temporary home for a while now, and are enjoying the variety of outdoor fun that can be had here.

To start things off I have a collection of photos from around Mere Point taken on our walks. With the late spring flowers blooming, tide pools teeming with life, and a beautiful sunset there was no shortage of subjects.

6/1/20 Iris

Today I have another quick one, some pictures of a bearded iris from our yard. This was a nice surprise given that we didn’t plant this, and it usually just looks like a bunch of plain green leaves. Recently though the one bud opened up to reveal this beauty. It also appears to be home to this little spider (click to view) , who was nice enough to pose for a picture.

5/31/20 Ashland Town Forest

Another weekend in quarantine, another walk through a new town forest. This time we headed to Ashland Town Forest. Though it didn’t look like much on Google Maps, we were pleasantly surprised at the size of it and the number of trails it boasted. In addition to some beautiful (and beautifully maintaned) trails, it also had a few surprises like a pair of old cars rusting away on the side of the trail. It was pretty interesting to see how the wildlife was slowly taking over the metal. It almost felt like they were melting into the landscape.

We also saw multiple painted rocks, messages of hope, and even a plastic dinosaur decorating the side of the trail. It was clear this place is well loved by those who come here often.

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