Before the full moon

It's been a beautiful weekend. I cut the grass for the final time, cleaned up the garden, saved red bellied snakes from being run over and fussed around with the compost pile.  The coyotes have been digging around in it again, well, ok, all the time. I don't put any meat or other type of attractants, but the rotten tomatoes I have thrown there have really gotten the most attention. Tomatoes strewn all over the yard. Some with chunks taken out, others only teeth marks.

Last week we had rain, the week before that cold, and here it is Sunday night I'm out walking the dog in the moonlight with a t-shirt and listening to crickets And yes we have had some snow, grauple really. But honestly September and October are great times up here.

Our beautiful weather continues today. With a near full moon last night, I watched a coyote hunting the edge of the field for meadow voles.   Most of the leaves are off now, the smell and sound of them underfoot is one of my favorite fall things.

And finally I had done a panorama up at Baxter , which I realized I hadn't worked on, and so here it is. Click on the this link to see it larger. Katahdin from Daicy Pond

Saddleback

Saddleback's summit behind the cloud

Arctoparmelia centrifuga, aka Target Lichen

Snyder

Saddleback's summit

Balsam fir,  Abies balsamea

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Last week I went up Saddleback Mountain with a close friend and  Snyder. The day started off rather nice down in Rangeley, warm, sunny, a beautiful fall day.  Saddleback meanwhile was under clouds at sunrise, but after a couple of hours it cleared off.  The next day a storm was expected and on the climb up, the clouds came down.

Bald Mt undercast

Bald Mt, elevation 2442 ft.

Baxter memories

Mushroom and Indian Cucumber Root (Medeola virginiana)

Pitcher Plants  in bloom (Sarracenia purpurea)

Tree erotica

The Library at Daicy Pond Camps

Sandy Stream Pond in the rain

Campfires

South Turner Mountain overlooking Sandy Stream Pond

Asters

Mushrooms abound

Mountain Ash berries on Creeping Snowberry

Chimney Pond

Chimney Pond elevation 2194'. It's one of the highest ponds in Maine, and has massive dumps of snow.

Trail down to the pond

Chimney Pond Ranger Station

Looking into the Great Basin

Cow moose on the trail

Just one of a few small brooks

Roaring Brook

Chimney Pond. For most Katahdin hikers, it's the focus and the start of their climb of Katahdin.
It was 36* F when we got there, higher up the mountain had a glaze of ice and snow. That was on September 16. Winds were gusting to 30 mph or more down on the pond. 

If you want to read some of the fascinating history of the park, pick up John Neff's book Katahdin: An Historic Journey - Legends, Exploration, and Preservation of Maine's Highest Peak  and Steven Clark's book  Katahdin: A Guide to Baxter Park & Katahdin. 

Water

Big Niagara Falls

Katahdin reflection

Katahdin at sunset

The Owl (center)

Daicy Pond

Rainy day at Daicy Pond

Doubletop Mt (far right) and Moose Mt from Kidney Pond

Most people go to Baxter for one thing. Hiking Katahdin. It's too bad, ok not really, it leaves some very beautiful lakes and ponds untouched. Both Kidney Pond and Daicy Pond have old style sporting camps on them. Back in the 60's, the Baxter State Park Authority bought the camps and now rent the cabins ( beautiful old log cabins)  out to park visitors. No power,running water, just plenty of scenery.

Baxter 2011

Nesowadnehunk Stream, Mt Coe (left), and Mt OJI

MT OJI

woods detail

Glacial Erratic

Along the AT

Along the Appalachian Trail

Coming home after a vacation seems bittersweet. You long for more time, but being home helps make it less , I don't know what it is. Home is good.
It's a good 4 hours to Baxter from here, but taking the the state routes and not going by interstate the trip is a journey, the start of resetting the mind.

 The trip to Baxter takes time,you pass through small towns, go past a covered bridge, fields and miles and miles of woods. An hour after going into the park, we arrived at our campsite. The first night there gave us a thunderstorm, and more rain on Wednesday, but who cares?

This is the first of several posts about my trip, plenty of photos to go through, relax, it will take some time.