Showing posts with label Beech Mountain. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Beech Mountain. Show all posts

Friday, July 13, 2018

Sameness........

6:09 am - Friday - July 13th - Southwest Harbor, ME - 54º F, 98% humidity, wind - CALM.....partly cloudy with a forecast high today of 72º F.  Just finished 9 weeks here at SDC.....does not seem that long.

After two days off work it is always hard to go back to work on Thursday's.  It takes me until after lunch before I'm back into the swing of it again.  There is a sameness about each work day here at SDC that I like mostly, but on the other hand I don't like.  I'm not complaining.....it is what it is.  The one thing I loved about working as Ranger at TVC (Tahoe Valley Campground) is that every single day was different for me.  I like variety, and not knowing what to expect each day, but there is something to be said for a job that is exactly the same every single day.....you do know what to expect, and there are no surprises.  I am slowly beginning to embrace that 'sameness'.

 Each morning (except Monday mornings) I walk to the 'garage' to get a golf cart key, then pickup one of the two carts available for work around the campground.  I then drive it down to the office where I pull out my time card and insert it in the time machine to get my starting time stamp.....on Thursday it was 7:53 am.  I then walk over to the pool where Tammy, Steve and Todd are finishing their morning pool work.  We then all walk back to the office together for morning coffee before beginning our work day.  I begin work at 8 am four of my five work days, and everyone else, without exception, begins at 7 am every day.......I like 8 am better.

Now, to be fair, there are two minor variations in my routine.....on Saturdays I don't do the restrooms.....my focus is primarily on cleaning sites, doing site checks and taking care of the many flowers in the campground.  On Sundays I go to work at 7 am to help open the pool, but everything else is the same except I get off work at 4 pm.

On Thursday TLE had switched shifts with Sam and worked the 2 pm to 10 pm shift instead of her usual 10 am to 6 pm time slot.  At 3 pm Tammy and Steve were done for the day so I went up to the 'garage' to pick up my favorite Stihl string trimmer and headed down to the tent site area to trim some grass.  Around 4:30 pm I headed back to the 'garage' and caught this picture looking northeast......Thursday was a very nice day in every regard......low temp, low humidity, nice breeze and beautiful clouds.....


......I was done putting away the string trimmer, and washing my cart by 4:45 pm and thus headed down to the office once again to pull out my time card and insert it in the time machine to get a time stamp.....exactly 4:53 pm, and exactly 9 hours after I began my day.

In case you wondered, here is what my Stihl string trimmer looks like

Since TLE was working until 10 pm it fell to moi to prepare my dinner.....this is something new for me.  On all the days she works until 10 pm (mostly just Sundays and Mondays) she does the initial food prep for my meal and leaves me sweet instructions on how to prepare the meal.  Sometimes it is a casserole, but Thursday it was carne asada taco salad.  I grilled the carne asada about 6 pm, cut it up into small pieces, then placed it on a bed of lettuce, sliced tomatoes and grated cheese.....easy peasy!    While I ate I watched a recording of the Tour de France stage 6.....a nice end to a pleasant day.

Thanks for stopping by!

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission which helps defer the costs of producing this blog each day.

Thursday, July 12, 2018

Life is a 'Beech'......

6:08 am - Thursday - July 12th - Southwest Harbor, ME - 58º F, 72% humidity, wind 5 mph out of the north by northwest......sunny, clear blue skies with a forecast high to day of 77º F.

Here on MDI* one is never far from a boundary sign for Acadia National Park.  On Wednesday we decided to take a hike before watching the England/Croatia World Cup semi final match at 2 pm.  There are a number of trails which can be reached right here from Smuggler's Den.....no car necessary.  Every day I work I see that fire watch tower on Beech Mountain calling to me.  The trail to Beech Mountain is about .8 miles from our Newell, so we left on foot about 10 am to hike a loop including the summit of Beech Mountain (we thought) by connecting several different trails together.......





.......within minutes we were turning left off Lurvey Spring Road on to the Beech Cliff's Trail which would ultimately connect us with Beech Mountain.......


......there it is (middle sign)....only 1.1 miles to go (1.8 kilometers if you are so inclined), but what a 1.1 miles!  This trail starts out rocky and gets rockier......



......there are long staircases made of granite, and others made from wood, but mostly granite.....


.......there are 6, or 7 metal ladders of various lengths taking you straight up in places......


....we finally made it to the Beech Cliffs overlook, and then continued on to Beech Mountain summit (again, we thought)......



 Echo Lake and its beach (on the right)



.....and this is where the signage gets a little confusing.....our goal was Beech Mountain, and we thought that was where we were going, but we somehow missed the turnoff.  My theory is that this sign (above) would have taken us to Beech Mountain, but it appeared to be taking us to the parking lot......we could see the Beech Mountain fire watchtower so took a trail that appeared to go that direction, but never got there......

 Beech Mountain fire watchtower


.......after another 1/2 mile we came to this sign (Canada Cliffs Trail to Valley Trail) which has no reference to Beech Mountain, but would take us to the Valley Trail which would take us to the south end of Long Pond, and eventually home......


.....there are a number of trails to the top of Beech Mountain and we ultimately came to one at the fork of the Canada Cliffs and Valley Trails which would have taken us there, but now we were looking at adding another 2+ miles to our hike which was already going to be close to 6 miles, and we were just not into an 8+ mile day so we turned left and headed towards Long Pond leaving the summit of Beech Mountain for another day....


......from this point on the trail was mostly packed gravel and very easy to traverse....


.....and within just a few minutes we came in site of Long Pond and the end of our trail hike, but not the end of our hike......


......we walked a short distance up Long Pond Road (paved) to its intersection with Lurvey Springs Road (gravel/dirt) which took us back to SDC.  In all we covered 5.9 miles in two hours of 'moving' time, and were gone just over three hours.....



.....we burnt 1,070 calories and averaged about 2.7 mph for the entire hike with a total elevation gain of 910 feet.  It was the longest hike we have taken here on MDI* so far this summer, and our fourth hike over all....only 20 to go!

We spent the afternoon watching the England vs. Croatia World Cup match.  England scored just over 5 minutes into the first half, and the score remained 1-nil until the 76th minute when Croatia leveled the score at 1-1.  It was still tied at the end of regulation and 6 minutes of added time.  Up next there were two 15 minute over time periods and it was then that Croatia scored the final, and winning goal to win the match 2-1 sending England home.  The final will feature France and Croatia this coming Sunday.

Thanks for stopping by!

*MDI = Mount Desert Island

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission which helps defer the costs of producing this blog each day.