JohnHuth Posted July 20, 2017 Share Posted July 20, 2017 I know a bunch of people have done this, but it was on my bucket list. I paddled with my buddy Dan Carr. On Friday (July 14), I drove up to Portland, catching the tail end of the MITA Board of Directors meeting, and hitched a ride out to Jewell Island, where we toured the island and spoke with the care-taker Vinnie. On a busy weekend, they may get 100 people camping there - pretty amazing that it's in such good shape. On Saturday, we drove up and hit Blue Hills Falls for some fast water work. This was the first time I saw it, and was very impressed. Dan got me to work up from eddy turns, but that 'paddle across the rips sideways' thing got me, and I swam. Not for naught, as we got to practice a T rescue. Sunday, we left on the circumnavigation from Seal Cove, which is a great put-in spot - paddled mostly in the fog until Bass Harbor, when the fog lifted a bit. We ran into two other paddlers, Joe, and Calla, who are both guides. It turns out that Joe took a course on weather I gave at a MASKGI event in Portland earlier in the year. They're sectioning the whole trail. When we got to the point of closest approach to Great Cranberry, we peeled off, back into the fog. Our securite' call was answered with someone calling "speed bumps" back. Oh well. Set up camp on Crow, and then paddled over to the Islesford Dock Restaurant for beer and dinner, then paddled back. The sunset was absolutely amazing. Monday morning had more fog, and we have a couple of crossings in the fog to Mt. Desert proper. The paddle along the SE corner was spectacular - seeing the cliffs and the rocks coming and going out of the fog was an amazing sight - saw climbers on Otter Cliffs, checked out Thunder Hole, then Sand Beach, then up toward Bar Harbor. The seas were pretty calm, but could definitely feel the reflected swell - which is neat - it gets broken up into smaller pieces by the uneven shoreline. We pulled out at Bar Harbor, and I splurged on a lobster roll. The fog cleared, and we had a wind at our backs pushing us along. Finally, we found a good campsite on a Maine Coastal Heritage Trust Island. Perhaps the one useful bit of information in this post is the existence of that campsite near the bridge over the Narrows, which can help make the circumnavigation work in terms of timing. The site itself was kind of buggy - but that was also because there was zero wind to shoo away the skeeters. Tuesday - paddled through the Narrows - something of a slog through Western Bay, but then a great paddle through Bartlett Narrows - it seems like a small pod of harbor porpoises were following us quite close. We 'portaged' over a gravel bar connecting Moose Island to Mt. Desert - an odd formation, and then pulled back into Seal Harbor. All-in-all, I would say nearly perfect conditions - not too much wind, no rain, some fog. Good eating, good company, great views - a worthwhile trip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prudenceb Posted July 20, 2017 Share Posted July 20, 2017 I've done virtually all of MDI in pieces, but never on one trip. Your adventure sounds great. Looking forward to meeting your buddy Dan for a paddle further north...or rather, downeast...in August with some NSPN folks and others. Prudence Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnHuth Posted July 20, 2017 Author Share Posted July 20, 2017 Hey, Pru - Dan told me about that Bold Coast trip. Alas, I can't make it because I have to travel, but it sounds like a great trip. He's done a lot of scouting to add it in to the MITA-sphere - knows a lot of places to take out and camp, has been talking with local folks there, and coordinating with MCHT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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