TRIP #5, 2014--Blueberry Fields

Blueberry Fields Forever
It's a little warmer out this morning. That's good. But a layer of clouds is giving us a white sky. That's bad.  Just when a high tide provides us photographic opportunities, we lose the blue sky!
We got up an hour early this morning.  The cell phone alarm went off at 7:00 a.m. as usual, but it was really 6:00 a.m.  Because we had driven so close to New Brunswick, my cell phone had auto-corrected to the Atlantic Time Zone.  We never would have guessed what occurred if the same thing had not happened to a gentleman in the restaurant last night.

The gentle, rolling shoreline of Roque Bluffs State Park
provides a beautiful setting for meditation.

By carefully following the map we found Roque Bluffs State Park.  The name suggested an isolated promontory with high cliffs.  "It's not what I expected," said Andy.  We parked near the trail sign and set off through high grass and wild flowers past some abandoned apple trees.  Evidence of animal life dotted the path.  Vegetation varied greatly from lush grass to deep pine woods, as we circled the peninsula from Starr Trail to Houghton's Hill Trail to Mihill Trail to Pond Cove Trail to the return Starr Trail.  It was probably 1.5 miles of gentle up and down over millions of tree roots and soft deer moss, but the varied terrain and peeks at the ocean inlet and Englishman's Bay made the walk pleasant and interesting.

Blueberry fields along the highway turn red with autumn's chill.

The Birch Point Trail at Petit Manan National Wildlife Refuge
starts with a blueberry field of wild flowers. 

We drove to the public access boat dock on the point for scenic pictures of the water and stopped again on our way back to U.S. Route #1 for pictures of the changing blueberry fields. Already red from autumn chill, they cap the hillsides with blankets of color.
Catherine Hill Winery was only open from 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Saturday.  "We could sit for two and a half hours," I suggested wryly.
"I don't think so," scowled Andy.
The winery, established in 2011, was in the town of Cherryfield, the blueberry capital of the world.  But the "Everything Blueberry" folk festival was still two weeks away.  I lost all the way around on this one!
Petit Manan National Wildlife Refuge wasn't easy to find, but we watched carefully for Pigeon Hill Road. "We're going to do a longer trail here, but it's a peninsula that's almost an island, so the terrain shouldn't be too hard," said Andy.  I looked at the map to see what he was talking about.  Only a narrow band of land connected the "island" refuge to the mainland.
The Birch Point Trail with two short side trails to overlooks was 4.6 miles through maple, birch and alder forest.  Wherever the sun broke through along the edges of the trail, thick bunches of baby balsam fir, the most popular kind of  Christmas tree, grew in patches.  An interpretive sign explained that only the strongest ones survive.
Interspersed near the beginning of the hike were extensive fields of blueberry bushes and wild flowers in a multi-colored collage that morphed in the breeze.  I kept thinking of John Lennon's song, but with my rendition it was "Blueberry Fields Forever."

Lobster Point attracts sea birds like cormorants and puffins.

After a mile of hiking, we took the short side trail out to the Carrying Place Cove Overlook.  There, Adirondack chairs looking out over the water provided a perfect break. At Lobster Point Overlook we saw four cormorants sunning themselves on a rock outcropping.
Beds of sphagnum moss lined sections of boardwalk, as we made our way out to Birch Point in Dyer Bay.

Birch Point at the end of the peninsula insulates visitors
from the outside world.

Picking our way among the seaweed piles and rocks, we had Birch Point all to ourselves.  Low key and peaceful, the scenery here was enjoyable, even if it was low tide.
"Here I could live," said Andy. "This is the spot for my summer home."
The trail back was a much quicker walk with chances to photograph some low-growing forest plants and wildflowers. I later identified the forest carpet as bunch berry.

As the sun sets, a brisk
breeze sweeps across the
water of Dyer Bay from
the Atlantic Ocean.
 

Specializing in blueberry wines, the Bartlett Maine Estate Winery on Chicken Mill Road provided a nice break after the hike.  We browsed for 15 minutes as an earlier group finished their samples, and then we joined two other couples for tastes of wild blueberry dry, blueberry semi-dry, blueberry zinfandel, coastal white, honey mead and loganberry wines.  Pleasant company made the tastings even more fun and relaxing.

A distant shadow, Mount Dessert Island rises above
Frenchman Bay from the viewpoint on U.S. #1.

                                        We found the lighthouse in Prospect Harbor, but it turned out to be a government-operated Coast Guard Station enclosed by electrified barbed wire.  "So that's it for today," announced Andy, and he headed for Ellsworth.  A scenic viewpoint off of U.S. Route #1 gave us a peek across Frenchman Bay at Mount Desert Island, the highest point on the East Coast.  Andy said the first point the sun hits when it rises on the United States is Eastport and Cadillac Mountain on Mount Desert Island.  It was 5:00 p.m. and totally overcast.  No sun here.  The Mountain rose majestically in shadowy outline from the grey sea.  It will challenge us tomorrow.