Warren Island

[jtmllr]

This worked out rather well. Ferry to Islesboro, park up the road on the side for free. Very short paddle to Warren, where we had a site with our own beach for launching and landing. Kept the boats by the water rather than having to pull them up to the site. Noseeums used the beach a lot too, though.

Loons, osprey, seals, ducks, geese, deer, etc. Not much boat traffic, which was unexpected. Some route1 noise on occasion though.

Lobster & ice cream stand at the ferry terminal. Small but well equipped (good food) grocery a bit up Islesboro, easily accessed since the cars are parked on the island. Dark Harbor boatyard, on 700 Acre Island, has ice, showers, and laundry and is a short paddle from Warren. Firewood on campsite for 2$ a day, all you want. Ranger station on Warren, and has a closet full of things to borrow like food left behind, games, and even crab traps. You can get mussels from the shore at low tide and cook on site.

Being far up the bay it was very sheltered water, even with wind coming across the wider sections south of Warren. In many ways it was a bit too easy but you take those trips when they happen. We could have done two weeks easily. Three thunderstorms rolled through on arrival day, with sun in between. A few storms throughout the week but that's why they make gore-tex for the entire body. Mosquitoes not as bad as I thought, but I also came with a friend that they prefer over others, so he took the hits rather than us.

As prophesized we went north to Belfast to Three Tides (Marshall Wharf) on the last day before heading home. 3 IPAs as well as a Barley Wine, left me with an APA to round out my sampler. Full hops ensemble! The measure of a brewery is how many hoppy things they produce. Three Tides opens at 4pm, FYI. We had to kill time but it was a great sunny day and Belfast has a nice downtown and waterfront park. We were going to hit GLB on the way through Portland but my fortitude was not matched and we just came back home. Portsmouth is next door so no shortage of places to hang out here, and spent the remainder of the weekend downtown and on Little Harbor. Blurred line between vacation and home, which is the way it should be. Clean gear, repack, and head off to the ADKs Weds for an undetermined amount of time with hiking, more paddling (Lake George? Sacandaga? Lake Placid?), and plenty of hoppy things to keep the line blurred through July at least. I don't know where I'm going, when I'll be back, don't want to and don't care, so no rescues please!