AD3: A nearly perfect day

We awoke relatively late to a beautifully sunny and clear sky. Today’s plan was to ferry over to Mt Kineo (small island in the middle of the lake) and hike to the top. The shuttle boat leaves every hour on the hour so we had planned to take the 10am shuttle which gave us plenty of time for a leisurely breakfast. On the menu today: fresh berries, Skyr and GF granola. Plus some bonus pan au chocolate (GF of course – when you find a new Shar’s product you just gotta try it. Verdict: yummy!)

Because we are staying 5 minutes from the boat dock, there was far less preparation necessary for today’s departure. We only had to dress for the hike and grab the bare necessities since we could easily return to the flat after the hike. We got there in plenty of time and joined other hikers, and a few golfers, for the 10 minute trip.

Half of island is private property with houses and a golf course and half is a state park with a mountain that peaks at about 1800 feet. The total height is a tad shy of the 2100 feet for Little Moose Mountain from Monday’s hike but the vertical climb is steeper: 905 feet basically straight up. Or at least that’s how it felt. Which meant that I was in heaven – when you have the choice, go up! We chose to climb the Indian trail on the way up as it was shorter but steeper. (Note to self: when choosing a trail where a significant portion is scrabbling up sheer rock, your hiking poles are pointless. ) The views along this trail are amazing so it seems a little anticlimactic when you get to the summit and you can’t see anything for the trees. But there is a fire tower – it’s only 60 feet up old steel slatted stairs to a small wooden observation deck. You are correct: Frank didn’t make it. His vertigo was having none of it. Even I had a bit of a hard time and I’m not afraid of heights! The view was outstanding – the photos don’t do it justice. And there aren’t enough of them because the camera ran out of memory right as I started taking pictures and I didn’t want to spend more time at the top than necessary. Fellow hikers we had been passing intermittently on the climb up had arrived and they were being kind enough to give me my space so I didn’t want to take too much time. (There would be NO chance for social distancing on this platform!)

So back down I went and we headed back toward the lake shore along the Bridal Path which is much less steep and rocky (my knees were grateful!). We arrived in time for a quick stop at the bathroom in the golf clubhouse before catching the shuttle boat back to the shore. We headed home for lunch – great use for leftovers! – and they proceeded to change into swimwear and went in search of a great place to swim.

We hit several public “beaches” and by that they mean a bumpy area where water laps in a way conducive to walking into the lake. None of them were quite our speed (too much flotsam or jetsam collecting nearby – my OCD was having none of that!) so we soldiered on and found ourselves back to the dock area where we got the shuttle earlier. Across from the boat launch was a lovely grassy area with a pebble entry to a pretty deep part of the lake. A circle of women chatting over their Corona seltzers while their kids swam was our sign to investigate. The water was cool and clean and the swim was absolutely fabulous – just what the doctor ordered after a strenuous and sweaty morning.

Then it was time to shower and head out for dinner. We chose a restaurant in Monson that we had driven by several time yesterday but didn’t realize that they were good for GF options. By the time we got south of Greenville, the puffy clouds had turned ominous and we got the top up on the convertible just before the torrential downpour began. We sat in the restaurant watching the rain come down while enjoying soup (Frank says it was the best French onion soup he’s ever had) and sandwiches (a GF reuben for me please – delish!).

The skies cleared just as we left and headed north to do our daily moose stalking. It was a bit later than was ideal and things were getting pretty dark by the time we got to a stretch of road where a sighting would be likely. As I fiddled with my phone trying to find some music that we hadn’t heard a dozen times already (cell service is pretty spotty here), Frank quietly said “that was a moose”. WHAT? Where? Turn around! We found a place to turn around on the dark two lane road and head back to where he saw the dark shape with eyes that “looked right at” him. But alas, on our return we could find no moose. Our hosts did confirm that the area of road where we thing the sighting occurred is frequented by a young female so that seems to support Frank’s assertion. But we have no photographic evidence so the hunt will continue tomorrow!

Some interesting numbers for today: