9 August 2022
Depart: Buckle Island anchorage 8:50
Arrive: Valley Cove anchorage 1:50
Distance: 26 nm
We woke in the morning to fog at Buckle Island.
As part of our island hopping tour of Acadia National Park, we left Buckle Island and headed to our next destination - Valley Cove. Since we had a few hours of travel time, the two older kids, Jeff, and I once again kept busy playing games - Cribbage, Skipbo, 500 Rummy, and Othello. Cribbage was a bit too math oriented for Violet yet, but Sierra was on top of this game.
While we played games below, Clark took pictures from the upper helm of the scenery on our way to Valley Cove.
We arrived early afternoon at Valley Cove. Before heading over to explore the island, we pulled out some trucks from the toy box to roll around in the cockpit. Given I would have all 5 grandchildren on the boat over the course of the trip, I tried to bring things that they could play with that were age appropriate. I really enjoy playing with toys with the kids, so we had a great time. We had Legos, boats, trucks, dolls, puzzles, books, kitchen play set with plates, cups, etc., stacking cups for the 2-year old, beach toys, etc. Our second stateroom is the play room for kids when they are on board.
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| Violet with pink truck |
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| Zoe with yellow truck |
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| Both rolling their trucks to Clark to send back to them. I played too when not taking pictures. The cockpit made a great roadway. |
Valley Cove is a place where Peregrine Falcons nest. When the falcons are nesting, the island is closed to visitors. When we arrived, it was open for touring. Still, we hoped that we might see one. Unfortunately, like the island where we hoped to see puffins - no such luck.
We saw a guide / tourist boat pull up near shore here. We could not hear their announcements or stories about the attraction of the island. I wondered if they were talking about the Peregrine Falcons.
Clark and I stayed on the boat while Jeff and his crew explored the island. I could see from the boat that they did not have to go far to be caught up in the draw of the island almost immediately. Lots of folks, kids included, stood around something on shore. Our kids joined them to have a look. After a while I texted Devon to find out what had them so engaged ...
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| Tide Pool - with lots of critters to look at! |
They stayed at the tide pool for so long that I wondered if they would actually go for a hike. They did eventually head off onto a trail.
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| Clark's ferry service |
10 August 2022
Depart: Valley Cove anchorage 9:00
Arrive: Bar Harbor Municipal Dock 11:00
Distance: 14 nm
Jeff had one more hike he wanted to tackle before our Idaho family left to fly back out west. The Beehive Loop Trail is one of Acadia National parks more challenging hikes. Devon was excited to do this trail as well; however, she had to pick up the rental car for their trip to the airport. Timing looked tight to make both happen. She was worried that Jeff might decide to take the kids on the trail by himself. I told her, "No problem. Clark will go!" To do this hike, they had to start from Bar Harbor and catch a bus to the trail head.
Approaching Bar Harbor ...
They planned to get the 1:00 L. L. Bean bus in Bar Harbor that takes visitors to the trails. Devon thought she could just make it to hike the trail and get the car. Unfortunately, the bus was delayed by 20 minutes and that was the end of Devon's ability to participate in the hike.
Meanwhile, while they were off to the trails and the car rental place, I stayed in town and went grocery shopping. I was almost fully depleted on food. This batch of folks would leave tomorrow, but the next batch would arrive the day after - I needed food and lots of it. Fortunately, the grocery store was only a few blocks away.
Before making the reservation for the dock, Clark told me it would cost about $200 for the night. Given we needed supplies, I told him that I thought it was more than worth it to be able to get some things done. It was too much of a pain to drag my laundry through town, so I decided to get one load of essentials done using our mini washer / dryer on board. Clean underwear! Yay!
I wanted to walk to the store for groceries, but I did not want to leave the washer or dryer running on the boat with no one on board. I took my "Trolly Dolly" and walked to the store. I loaded it up with everything I needed that was not fresh fruit, vegetable, frozen food, or meat. Then I dragged the trolley back to the boat to unload. As soon as I got on board I started the washer.
By the time the washer stopped, I had already heard from Devon that she was on her way back with the car and would meet me at the grocery store. I left the wet laundry and walked the mile or so back to the store. This time with shopping bags to stock up on all the items mentioned above that I did not want to drag through the streets tin my Trolly Dolly. I got my "hiking" in today only in a different manner than a vertical climb. After shopping, Devon drove me and my groceries back to the boat - a luxury!
The Beehive Loop Trail has a difficult approach and a somewhat easier one. Jeff, Clark and kids hiked up the hard trail and down the easier one. Clark told me that Violet, age 5, led the way. Then came Sierra (8), and Jeff carried Zoe (2) in a child carrier on his back. Violet is 5, so she is short. Clark said that she had to scramble more than the rest on occasion as it was harder for her to find places to place her feet for the climb.
At the end of the hike, Violet came back with both knees bloodied. When I asked her about them, she poo-pooed it as if it was no big deal. Later, Clark let me know that she did in fact cry each time she hurt a knee on the trail - she fell twice. Clark said that at points Sierra was scared, but she kept going and was proud of her accomplishment at the end. Clark said that at one point a railing was available and necessary to stay on the narrow trail. Other places had bars positioned in the rocks to form a ladder to climb. It sounded like a nightmare to me. I am glad I stayed in town to do grocery shopping and laundry instead.
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| "Warning: small children should not use this trail!" |
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| Beehive Trail Sign |
Views along the Beehive Trail ...
When they reached the top of their climb, Clark told me that they met a man who had hiked up the easy way and planned to go down the same way. He was in awe as he saw Violet come over the top. He looked at Clark and said, "She climbed up here the hard way?!" Clark delighted in responding, "Yes, and there are more." Then came Sierra followed by Jeff with Zoe on his back. The man was stunned and told Clark that he was put to shame. He asked if he could take a picture with Violet to show folks the brave girl who had climbed Beehive when he was too cowardly to try it himself.
After their Beehive hike, the team went to see the Sand Beach . . .
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| For obvious reasons, they kept their clothes on at this beach. |
and then visited Thunder Hole which was not very thunderous on this time of day.
After such a busy day on the trails and with the crew leaving in the morning, we decided to eat dinner at a local restaurant. Afterwards we found some good ice cream at a spot near the docks.
The park near the municipal docks ...
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| Ice Cream Store |
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| Wild Maine Blueberry was a popular flavor |
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| Jeff holding all 3 girls at the same time! That's well over 100 pounds. He was probably thinking "Take the picture fast!" |
11 August 2022 - time to say goodbye to the Idaho crew
Jeff and crew had a flight scheduled to leave from Boston. They needed to get going early to make their flight. Early in the morning, we said our sad farewells at the dock.
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| Zoe, Violet, and Sierra all buckled in and ready to head home. |
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