[Bill Menke’s Journal for Fieldtrip 13D of the QMIII Project, Downeast Maine, July 14-20, 2013] During this trip, LDEO Summer Intern Philip Boody and I (Bill Menke) searched for seismometer sites in Washington County, Maine.

July 14, 2013. I picked Philip up in New York City at 10AM. We drove more or less straight north, arriving in the Bangor Maine area at 6 PM. We passed an osprey in its nest, atop a power transmission pole right off of I95 (on the east side of the highway between miles 139 and 140).

We first dropped off gear at Kelley Storage in Orono and then had a picnic dinner at Grotto Cascade Park in Bangor. This little park, nestled against a low cliff near the Penobscot River, has a decorative waterfall and fountain. We speculated whether it is wholly artificial, or whether it is based upon a natural spring. A stream flows down the cliff, but our map shows no lake or other water source above. We had a dinner of steak and couscous, cooked on a Coleman stove. Afterwards, we walked along Route 2, which parallels the river, passing Bangor Dam and Salmon Pool Park. The park seemed to be closed, and several of park buildings (if that’s what they were) seemed rather run down. We found one spot, south of the park, where we could walk down to river level to admire the view.

We spent the night at the Brewer Motel, off of Route 1A in the neighboring town of Brewer Maine.

July 15, 2013. We spent the mornings shopping in Bangor, buying supplies at the Lowes and Sears. We then drove Route 9 to Washington County.

We stopped at the Whaleback overlook, along Route 9, west of the town of Beddington. This high point, on an esker, provides a great view of the Union River as it winds through a broad wetland. Lead Mountain is in the distance towards the northeast.

We stopped very briefly at the Log Landing campsite on the Machias River near Wesley Maine. My worries that it would be crowded proved unfounded, for we were the only campers at that extraordinarily beautiful site. It’s a shame that these public facilities are so underutilized.

We visited the Forest Service office in Jonesboro Maine, spending an hour chatting with Sgt. Courtney Hammond, who I knew from my previous trips, and another ranger, Paul Perry. Mr. Perry mentioned to me that radon levels increased in a well several tens of kilometers northeast of Acadia National Park, right after the 2006 earthquake sequence. I offered the opinion that it probably was a coincidence, for the fault plane of a magnitude 4 earthquake, like the 2006 mainshock, is only a hundred meters in length, and one would normally expect significant stress changes out to a few fault lengths – not hundreds. Still, one could not rule out the possibility that both the well water changes and the earthquakes were caused by an as yet unrecognized and broader earth movement.

Stg. Hammond mentioned to me that he had come down to New York and participated in the Hurricane Sandy emergency response. How nice of him to do so! My mother and her East Rockaway NY neighbors were very badly affected by that storm and relied heavily upon emergency workers to get their lives back into order.

We also were given some good advice on potential seismometer sites.

We had a late lunch at the River’s Edge Drive In restaurant, off Route 1 in Machias Maine. We ate a picnic table out back that had a great view of the tidal part of the Machias River. The river is about a quarter mile wide here and its banks are lined with salt water grasses such as Spartina alterniflora. We sighted gulls, cormorants and an osprey.

We then drove Route 92 down to the end of the peninsula south of Machias, where we hoped to place a seismometer. We stopped at Jasper Beach, on the east side of the peninsula, which looks out onto Machias Bay. The afternoon was sunny and clear and the view was spectacular. The beach, completely composed of reddish brown cobbles, is like no other Maine beach I know. We walked the rock bluffs at the south end of the beach. They are composed of a rock that while very solid, is composed of many angular fragments that have been welded together, without any pore space. These rocks are eroding and making the beach’s cobbles. I was uncertain of the lithology, but later learned that the rocks are a rhyolite, a highly silicic volcanic rock (and thus not technically jasper). We speculated on how the cobbles of the beach, which are in places heaped up in irregular mounds, got to be so arranged. We also viewed a small wetland, tucked behind the beach.

We then drove down to the very end of the peninsula, to a point where we could see Starboard Island. We drove a minor road, Rose Lane, to see whether we could view Howard Cove, but found the woods to be too dense to get a view.

Returning to Log Landing Campsite, we had a dinner of ham and macaroni and cheese. After dinner, I walked north on Machias River Road to the West Branch campsite, were I viewed a small set of rapids and chatted with an angler. I also visited a small wetland, located to the west of Log Landing, and picked some blueberries for tomorrow’s breakfast.

July 16, 2013. We had a breakfast of blueberry pancakes, using the blueberries that I picked last night. We then drove to Jasper Beach, where we met Mrs. Linda Lund, a local landowner who gave us permission to install a seismometer her land at Howard Cove. We drank coffee together, sitting on the cobbles of the beach, discussing plans.

Mrs. Lund then took us on a tour of her property. She is a very energetic lady and eagerly led us along trails through the woods that led to the Howard Cove sea cliff. The view from the cliffs out into Machias Bay is quite remarkable. The sea beneath the cliffs is full of large rocky stacks, girded with seaweed. The water is turquoise blue and relatively calm. A fish weir seems to have been built out in the bay between two nearby Islands, Starboard and Stone. I can just make out Libby Island Light, in the distance between the two nearby islands.

We picked out a site for the seismometer and, after Mrs. Lund had left, spent the rest of the day building a seismometer vault on it. It was hard work, for we had to carry quite a bit of heavy material through the woods to the cliffs.

We drove Eastern Ridge Road, in Northfield Maine, on the way back, looking for another possible seismometer site. Back at Log Landing campsite, we had a dinner of chicken and dumplings (from a can). I went swimming in the river to cool off and clean up. Later, I also took a walk up Machias River Road and visited the wetland again.

July 17, 2013. We had a breakfast of scrambled eggs at Log Landing. We then drove Machias River Road, and its northward extension, Little River Road, as far as the town of Grand Lake Stream, looking for more seismometer sites. We stopped numerous times examine the terrain. Some of the more picturesque sites included: Wonderland Campground, on the Machias River, which has three tent sites among trees; First Machias Lake, off of Stud Mill Road. It is a long narrow lake created by damming the river; and Second Machias Lake campground, which has a boat launch and only one tent site.

We stopped at the office of the Downeast Lakes Land Trust in the town of Grand Lake Stream, for several of the sites that we identified were on their land. We met with their Executive Director, Mr. Mark Berry, who gave us a map that showed their complete holdings. We then drove the three roads west and north of Grand Lake Stream, Fourth Lake Road, Dobsis Dam Road and Farm Cove Mountain Road, stopping numerous times to inspect potential sites. Two picturesque spots were: Otter Point, which has a nice view of Pocumcus Lake, and Dobsis Dam, with its surrounding lakes and wetlands. Dobsis Dam has an interesting wooden fish ladder.

We drove the paved road system back, stopping at the Wabanaki Cultural Center in Calais Maine in order to use their WiFi connection. We also stopped briefly at Salmon Pond, off of Machias River Road south of Log Landing, for the view.

Back at Log Landing Campsite, we had a dinner of spare ribs.

July 18, 2013. Rain fell during the night but the morning was clear. We ate a pancake breakfast and then met with Mr. Ryan Maker, a forest service ranger, at the Wesley facility. He gave us permission to operate a seismometer at Camp Vick, on the Machias River and took us over to the site. It is a very pretty spot on a knoll overlooking the river, this section of which has stands of pickerelweed and a beaver lodge.

We made a trip to Bangor to buy more supplies and to pick up a geophone vault box from our storage locker in Orono. We saw some kind of small predatory bird – perhaps a kite – hovering over a blueberry field on our way back. We then spent the rest of the afternoon and early evening installing the vault.

I went for a long swim at Log Landing campsite, for I was hot and very dirty. I worked my way upstream to the confluence of the West Branch and the main branch of the Machias, and then up the West Branch to the Machias River Road bridge, fighting the current by half-swimming and half-wading. The distance was not long – perhaps only a quarter mile – but took at least a half hour. I sat for a few minutes on a broad ledge of granite, next to a set of low rapids. I then floated back to the camp.

We had kielbasa and macaroni and cheese for dinner.

July 19, 2013. We had a breakfast of scrambled eggs and English muffins. After breaking camp, we drove Machias River Road and Little River Road north to the town of Grand Lake Stream, and then Amazon Road and Pleasant Lake Road north to the town of Topsfield Maine. We stopped to admire a herd of shaggy, long horned Highland cows, grazing by the side of Route 6. We then spent several hours driving a roughly northwest path, through the towns of Kingman, Macwahoc and Mattawamkeag. We stopped at a parcel of Maine Public Reserved Land off of Route 2A east of Macwahoc, and walked a dirt road south through it. We passed one rock ledge with glacial scratches, but found nothing that might be suitable for a seismometer; the woods are too dense for a solar panel to work.

We then drove to Bethel Maine, a drive of some hundreds of miles which took till early evening. I dropped Philip off at Bethel Outdoors Adventure, a campground where he was meeting friends. I went for a walk along the Androscoggin River at the River Rest Area, off Route 2 in Bethel, and then checked into the Stony Brook Recreation campground in Hanover Maine, a few miles to the east. I had a dinner of eggs and English Muffins, sitting at a picnic table at my campsite. A strong thunderstorm hit around 9AM, and I retreated to my tent, as much to keep it from flying away in the wind as to prevent myself from getting drenched.

July 20, 2013. I arose at about 6:30AM, ate at breakfast of scrambled eggs and English muffins, packed up and headed up Route 26 to Grafton Notch State Park. I spent about six hours climbing Old Speck Mountain, but as this hike is documented elsewhere I shall not repeat it here. After the hike I drove straight back to New York, reaching my home in Tappan at 9:50 PM.