Bar Harbor ME – Gorham NH
Thurs September 6, 2018
(~378 miles)

I awoke early and made a cup of hotel room coffee to jumpstart my system. I packed the bike as a school bus came by on its rounds, then I got going again on Route 3 towards Bar Harbor. The view at Hulls Cove is usually worth a quick stop to take it in, and this morning was no exception. I could see fog banks out on the water, but didn’t yet consider what this might mean for my lighthouse photos.

There were a few miles of construction just outside town and traffic was only being allowed one-way through. I was lucky to tag onto the end of a line of cars just before the flagman flipped his sign over to “Stop”. I bypassed the downtown area using a couple local roads and reconnected with Route 3 on the other side.

I knew there was a view somewhere that would allow me a view of Egg Rock Lighthouse, and turned down Schooner Head Road in search of it. When I got to where my GPS was showing the closest spot of land to the lighthouse, I pulled over and bushwhacked a bit up the slope to see if there was a clear view, but nothing doing. I continued on until the road entered Acadia Park at Overlook Road, which ended in a small parking area with views out over the water. This was the spot! However, the fog made things rather tough and I took several photos trying to get my tour flag and the fogged-in lighthouse into some sort of focus together. I’m hoping the IBA is merciful when evaluating this photo. 🙂

My next possible target, Bear Island Light, was at the southern end of the island so I hopped on the Park Loop Road and rode through the empty checkpoint. I have an annual parks pass that may or may not be expired at the moment, but I fully intend to renew it and wasn’t worried about cutting through the park to get where I needed to go. I passed through Seal Harbor and began looking for a possible spot to see out to Bear Island, but the road was lined with heavy woods and private residential properties, so I had to accept this one was a no-go from shore and continue on.

I circumnavigated Somes Sound on routes 198 and 102, down through the villages of Southwest Harbor and Bass Harbor to arrive at Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse. The lot was completely empty at this early hour, and it’s not possible to see the lighthouse tower from that vantage point. I left the bike running while I walked down the short path through the trees to the shore. Then came the long stairways down to the rocks, which I had forgotten about since my last visit years ago. I ended up trekking down in full gear and helmet to get a decent angle for the photograph.

I completed my circle of the island back up 102, over the causeway and into Trenton. I’d routed myself off the beaten path onto ME-230, which outlines the Trenton peninsula before dumping you out in Ellsworth to cross the Union River. 230 wasn’t really anything special…there were a few views near the beginning of my detour, but it was mostly a straight quiet road lined with trees and houses. Still, a good road to know about to avoid most of Ellsworth’s commercial strip in busier seasons. I picked up ME-172 to head down the Blue Hill peninsula, through the town of Blue Hill and down to Brooklin, where I crossed over to route 175, down to the Lookout Inn on Harriman Point.

I had read that a short hike was needed to get out to Blue Hill Bay Lighthouse (low tide only), but was hopeful that the structure would be visible from land without making such an endeavor. There were some people gearing up for a hike in the parking lot of the inn and I stopped to ask if they knew where the lighthouse was (they didn’t). Just then a woman innkeeper came out and told me it was about a mile walk, but the tides were wrong. Due to the position of the lighthouse on it’s island I wouldn’t be able to see it from the mainland.

She gave me permission to ride on down to the point, where the inn has a wedding function pavilion set up, to take a look for myself. I did so, navigating the dirt lane down to a beautiful open hillside with views out over Blue Hill Bay. While I was able to barely see the keeper’s house on Green Island, the tower was indeed hidden. I chalked this one up as a no-go and motored back up the lane, waving thanks to the innkeeper and her guests as I left.

Passing through Sedgwick and Sargentville, then over Eggemoggin Reach on the impressive two-lane suspension bridge, I arrived on Little Deer Island and headed west to the very end for a nice easy photo of Pumpkin Island Lighthouse, waving to a few locals out for a walk enjoying their Friday.

Enjoying more of the lovely roads on the peninsula, I picked my way north and west on routes 176 and 175, then back down to the historic town of Castine, for a snap of Dice Head Lighthouse.

Completing my arc of the peninsula back on US-1, I stopped for a late breakfast sandwich and a stretch at the McDonalds in Bucksport. One more lighthouse to go for this trip, and I bagged it a few miles down the road in Stockton Springs, detouring out to skirt Fort Point State Park for a shot of Fort Point Lighthouse.

Now, a blast west on ME-3/US-202, back out towards Augusta. This time, I spotted the South China post office out of the corner of my eye as I passed and swung around to capture it for the Melting Pot tour.

I picked up I-95 in Augusta and blasted south 30 miles to the greater Poland area, south of Lewiston. I’d identified three villages within Poland as likely targets. This time I was able to capture all three – first Poland itself, then the smaller sections of East and West Poland.

Then it was north on ME-26 to the town of Norway, which – together with South Paris – was a bit more built-up and congested than I would have expected for being out here in western Maine.

     

I left route 26 in West Paris, cutting north on the remote and curvy ME-219 to 108 along the Androscoggin River. There, I stopped in at my third town named “Peru” in New England (popular name I guess – easy to spell??).

Crossing over the river to US-2, I immediately spotted the town limits sign for Mexico, ME, which completed my bonus hunting for the day.

Now, it was just a sweeping run west on US-2 through Maine along the river and a few miles into New Hampshire to my weekend destination of Gorham. Just before passing through Bethel, I spotted a black bear running across the highway a couple hundred yards ahead. I love their hitching lope, with stiff outstretched front legs. I slowed down and tried to get my road camera poised, but he disappeared into the brush by the time I pulled up.

I pulled in to the Royalty Inn in Gorham just after 16:00. The NER trip had officially started yesterday, but it seemed most people still hadn’t returned from their day’s ride yet. I greeted a few folks that were hanging around and got the bike unpacked. After winding down a bit in my room as other bikes started pulling in, I joined the growing number of riders socializing in the parking lot and relaxed among friends until it was time to head across the street for dinner.

Tonight’s meal was at Libby’s Bistro, and I ordered a burger which was cooked rare as requested, washed down with a nice local brew on draft. It was a good meal, catching up with familiar NER folks at my table, and getting to know some newcomers to the group as well.

Our table eventually broke up as people left, so I drifted over to chat with a more familiar group. Here, I had the dubious honor of being presented with a special t-shirt commemorating last year’s bison encounter in Yellowstone.

I made tentative plans to join the group tomorrow on their ride, along with a visiting journalist who is researching a book. Eventually, we all strolled back to the hotel to chit-chat some more before retiring for the evening.