almost to nueve york...

Well, the rain finally went away Saturday in Acadia National Park, so I started hiking about 1pm. It was too late to catch the ferry to the two islands I wanted to explore, but the rain was a benefit as it forced me to do my laundry (ewwww…) and post my last blog. I managed to bag four peaks (as the mountaineers say) although they were a bit smaller than anything to brag about. Still, elevation is elevation – for example on one of the hikes, there are a series of steel ladders to get over some of the steepest spots. The trails were initially wet and a bit slippery, but they dried out quickly. I put in about 10 miles on four different trails and at least got over my target of 25,000 steps (according to my step counter). Have had some trouble meeting my goal since I left Grand Teton…
I awoke early the next morning to catch the 7am ferry to the Cranberry Islands. It dropped me off on Greater Cranberry Island and I spent 2 hours exploring as much as I could get to. There are about 40 year-long residents on the island (vs. about 200 summer residents) and there are quite a few cars – seemed odd for a 5-mile-by-1-mile island. Most are not registered – no need to. And I did see a few mopeds and a lot of bicycles. After the ferry returned I went to Lesser Cranberry, also known as Isleton. There are many more residents on this island although it’s a bit smaller. They actually have a recycling facility, which I was happy to see. Both islands offered a lot of pleasant walking and tidepooling and, of course, lots of artisans. Nice stuff but nothing I’d spend that amount of money on - all I bought was a t-shirt for someone.
I realized I was running out of time to explore New England, as I need to catch an auto-ferry out of Connecticut on Thursday afternoon. So I took off towards New Hampshire Sunday afternoon and found a campsite at the oddly-named Dolly Copp campground in the White Mountains National Forest. When I got up in the morning I was freezing – by the time I turned on the car it said it was 39 degrees outside, but it must have been colder during the night. Can’t believe it’s that cold in mid-August! I definitely need to find the warm weather. Time to head south…
Between shivers I broke camp, and then engaged a 7-mile hike I’d read about. It was listed as ‘moderately strenuous’ but I must be getting old or tired, because it was as strenuous as I’d want to tackle at this point in the trip. Oddly enough, toward the end of my hike, seemingly in the middle of the wilderness, I received a cell phone call about a potential short-term job prospect. (I always carry the cell phone in case of emergencies – sometimes when you don’t have a ‘signal’ you can still access 911.) Despite the pristine and quiet surroundings, I was glad to take this call!
After hiking I drove towards Stowe, Vermont, as I’d heard it was a nice place. On my way there, I passed by the Ben & Jerry’s ice cream factory. Screeeeech! I had to turn around and take the factory tour…which was interesting and provided free samples, of course. I guess I’ll call that lunch.
Stowe was a bit over-touristy so I didn’t stick around. There was, however, a covered bridge I knew about nearby, so I got to snap a photo. Can’t travel through Vermont without driving over a covered bridge!
I continued my drive out to Lake Champlain, which separates Vermont from New York. I’m staying in a motel in Burlington tonight and will hit south Vermont (and some hikes in the Green Mountains, I hope) tomorrow and camp there. [Interesting note: if I’m not mistaken, Burlington has the distinction of being the only place in America to have elected a Communist mayor, back a few years ago…] Wednesday I’m planning to drive through a slice of Massachusetts and all of Connecticut to camp somewhere along the Atlantic in tiny Rhode Island. That’ll put me in striking distance of the ferry for Thursday. Hope the traffic’s not too bad…I have no idea what to expect.