[Jounral entry for August 27 – September 7, 2021; Shin Pond (Mount Chase, Maine), with stops at Lower Range Pond (Poland, Maine), Sabattus Pond (Sabattus, Maine), the Orono Bog (Orono, Maine), Hay Lake (North Penobscot, Maine) and Lake Auburn (Auburn Maine), too].

August 27, 2021. Still in New York. I walked a loop in the southern part of Tallman Mountain State Park, starting from the south lot. The morning is clear. The sun is lighting up the trees along the bicycle path. The canopy is a rich green. The seasonal pond at the cliff edge has water. The summer has been unusually wet; the pond was dry this time last year. The view from the South Overlook is hazy. The Hudson River below me is calm. I pass several spider webs and admire the perfection of their spiral layout. An unusual number of Bullfrogs inhabit the seasonal ponds along the middle levee path. They jump noisily into the water as I stroll by. 1:00

We arrive at Range Ponds State Park (Poland, Maine) in the late afternoon. The day is still crystal clear. We launch Tephra, our Nelo Waterman tandem kayak from the public launch and paddle a loop in Lower Range Pond. We pass a couple, fishing from a boat, who point out to us a Bald Eagle sitting atop a White Pine Tree along the lake shore. We pass the tip of the Esker and then paddle a wide loop around the central part of the lake. A couple of Loons paddle by, calling gustily. After pulling ashore, we have dinner of moussaka at a picnic table on the beach, heated up on my Colman stove. The sun sets over the lake, making the sky above the western shore glow red. 1:00

August 28, 2021. In the morning, I drive from the Motel 6 in Lewiston, where Dallas and I are staying, to Martin’s Point Park, on the southwest shore of Sabattus Pond (Sabattus, Maine). The day is grey and low clouds hang over the lake. I walk a loop of the park, which is small, wooded and strewn with large granitic boulders. I then walk Shore Drive, Old Wood Road and Laaperi Lane north along the lakeshore. Many wildflowers are blooming along the roadside, including purple Roadside Aster, Tall White Aster, Goldenrod and Marsh Woundwort. 1:00

In the mid-afternoon, Dallas, Ed Abbott and I hike a loop in at Range Ponds State Park, through the woods along the lakeshore. After Ed leaves, Dallas and I take Tephra out onto the lake again. A Loon suddenly surfaced right in front of us, so we had a great close-up view of its beautiful checkered black-and-white plumage. I suppose that it had been diving. We kayak the length of the lake, passing under the Poland Corner Road bridge and making a U-turn just short of the dam. We sighted a Kingfisher, by the trees along the lakeshore. And we sight another Bald Eagle, this one flying high above the lake. Afterwards, we have a moussaka dinner at a picnic table on the beach. 1:30.

August 29, 2021. On or way up north, Dallas and I walk the Orono Bog Boardwalk (Orono, Maine). It is a raised wooden boardwalk that loops first through a flooded woodland and then through a Sphagnum Bog. We park at the Bangor City Forest lot at the end of Tripp Drive in Bangor Maine, and have lunch sitting at a nearby picnic table. We then hike the boardwalk. We pass many Pitcher Plants – some green and some red – growing up from the Sphagnum moss. A few are blooming, with a solitary, waxy flower. A sign that we passed indicates that another carnivorous plant, the Sundew, grows in the bog, but though we look for it assiduously, we cannot find it. We pass patches of Tussock Cotton-Grass, with its white cotton balls atop thin, tall stems. 1:30.

We stopped briefly at the Mt. Katahdin overlook along Interstate 95 in North Penobscot. We can see Salmon Stream Lake below us and the smaller mountains of Baxter State Park in the distance, but Katahdin, itself, is shroud in clouds. We arrive at the Shin Pond Village resort (Mt Chase, Maine) in the late afternoon and checked into our rental cabin, Moose Hill. It is a small but nicely set-up wood cabin, one of a row of about a dozen cottages that are part of the resort. It has three rooms, a large room that’s a combination kitchen, dining room and living room, a bedroom with two bunk beds, and a bathroom. After moving in, Dallas and I walk down to the resort’s boat ramp, on Lower Shin Pond, where Dallas takes a brief swim. Purple Aster, Tall White Aster and Turtlehead are blooming along the lakeshore.

August 30, 2021. I take a morning walk from Moose Hill cabin, south on Shin Pond Road (Route 159). I crossed the bridge at the stream that connects Upper and Lower Shin Ponds, and then turned onto Bradford Point Road, taking it back north. I come across a sign for a beach, posted on one of the side streets, and take it down to a small beach and picnic area that is on the east side of Lower Shin Ponds. The morning is overcast and the pond is gray. I then cross the highway and walk up Gardner Point Road. a dirt road. I connect with the Carl Sprinchorn Trail, a woods road that crosses the Upper Shin Pond outlet stream via a wooden bridge. I poke around the stream for a few minutes, examining wildflowers, including Aster, Turtlehead and Mint. I passed an enormous, rectangular rock, ten feet high and twenty long. A sign said “This rock is dedicated to the memory of artist Carl Sprinchorn who pointed it and worked in the Shin Pond Patten area between 1937 & 1952”. The trail connects with a road in the Village camping area. I took it bit north to the shore of Upper Shin Pond, which was also pretty gray. I then walked back to the cabin, passing a pen, near the main Village building, housing two goats. 1:20.

In the early afternoon, Dallas and I launched Tephra from the Village boat ramp and paddled a wide loop in Lower Shin Pond. 1:15.

In the late afternoon, Dallas and I walk down to the Lower Shin Pond beach. Dallas swims while I relax on the sand, watching a group of American Black Ducks wash and preen themselves at the water’s edge. We pass False Solomon Seal with berries, Woodland Aster and a large orange fungus growing along the edge of Bradford Point Road as we walk back. 1:00.

August 31, 2021. Heavy rain fell last night but the morning is beautifully clear. I walk down to Lower Shin Pond, first to the boat launch and then to the Route 159 bridge to admire the view of the lake and the many wildflowers blooming along it shore.

In the mid-morning, Dallas and I launch Tephra from the Village ramp and paddle around Lower Shin Pond. The day has clouded up a bit, but the sky still has some blue, and the trees along the lakeshore and the nearby hills are very green and beautiful. Two nearby hills are especially prominent, Sugarloaf to the west and Mt Chase to the east (with the latter being the taller and more distant). In August 2015, I circumnavigated the lake solo in a rented rec kayak in 97:15, paddling for speed. Today, Dallas and I did it in less than 90 minutes, paddling a much faster boat and a somewhat more leisurely pace.

In the early afternoon, I drove to the Mt. Chase trailhead, at the end of Mountain Road, which is a woods road branching west off Route 11, about two miles north of the Owlboro Road intersection in Patten Maine. After a short, deceptively flat section, the trail intersects and then follows a mountain stream, going steeply uphill. The stream has one small but lovely waterfall and many smaller cascades, but the going is very tough, both because of the grade and the mud. One especially treacherous section across a steep and smooth rock ledge has a safety rope – thank goodness! Glacial striae decorate the surfaces of many of the rock ledges along this section of the trail. Eventually, the trail joins a woods road, and from that point on, till just below the summit, the going, though strenuous, is easy. This section of the trail passes a ruined cabin. The last section is steeper, but not as muddy as the section along the stream. Only on reaching the summit area do I encounter expansive views; the rest of the hike is through pretty, but closed-in terrain. The summit area consists of several rounded of bare rock (a schist, I think) surrounded by small conifers. One of these, near a shack with a solar panel on its roof, is a knob with a brass benchmark, which I suppose marked the exact summit. The views from the tops of the knobs is spectacular, with Upper and Lower Shin Ponds in the foreground and the high mountains of Baster State Park, including Mt. Katahdin, in the distance. Looking down the ridge of Mt Chase, itself, I can see another viewpoint. I suppose this to be Eagle Point, the trail to which branched off from the Mt Chase Trail just before the last steep stretch. I stayed on the summit for about fifteen minutes, and then headed back the way I came. 2:05.

In the late afternoon, Dallas and I walk down to the Lower Shin Pond beach. Dallas swims while I relax on the sand. A mature Bald Eagle with its back-and-white plumage, flys by, and then later, a couple of Loons.

September 1, 2021. An overcast day. Dallas and I launch Tephra from the Village ramp and paddle down to the far end of the Lowe Shin Pond. We take a pretty straight route, and do not curve into coves as we did yesterday. I sight a Bald Eagle flying over the lakeshore. Perhaps it’s the same one we say yesterday? 1:30.

The afternoon is overcast. In the late afternoon, I walk Wapiti Road to the bridge across Shin Brook, and then take a right-hand turn onto a gravel road that parallels Shin Brook and walked up it a mile. Lots of wildflowers: Fireweed, Red Clover, Goldenrod, Tansy, Purple Aster, Tall White Aster, Curly Vetch and a pink flower I do not recognize. I am hoping to reach a pond on the stream, but do not go far enough, I guess. 1:00.

September 2, 2021. An overcast day. Dallas and I launch Tephra into Lower Shin Pond from the Village ramp and paddle over to the bay where Shin Brook flows out of the pond. On the way back, we stop at the public beach. Dallas gets out and swims, while I drift around in the kayak near the shore, peering down into the water to see Fresh Water Mussels protruding from the bottom, the shells open a sliver, and ripple marks on the sand. The ever-present American Black Ducks are preening on the shore. 2:00.

In the late afternoon, I take a walk from the Village up to Upper Shin Pond, and then take the Carl Sprinchorn Trail over to Garner Point Road. I walk the road to it end, finding one spot where I can get a pretty good view of Upper Shin Pond. Many Maples are starting to turn, and in places I can find red leaves on the ground beneath them. The leaves and berries of viburnum are red, too. 1:00.

September 3, 2021. I walk to Ackley Pond on this drizzly morning, via Ackley Pond Road, an unpaved road that branches off Route 159 a little east of the Village. The road has very few structure and passes through low woods – much of it recently harvested – and fields full of wildflowers. I find the inlet stream of the pond easily enough, for the road crosses it. And I find a path where I can walk down to a wide spot in the stream – sort of a long, skinny pond – that I suppose is just upstream of Ackley Pond, proper. But I can find no vantage where I can view the pond, itself. I do bushwhack along a little stream for a bit, walking on its gravely bed for a few hundred yards, but it soon became impassible. I retraces my route along Ackley Road, but transferred onto an ATV track when I am most of the way back. It takes me to Route 159 near the Bradford Point Road intersection.

The weather improves by afternoon. Dallas and I drive to the public boat launch on Hay Lake. This is the one just off of Grand Lake Road, by the Forest Service station where, back in 2014, Vadim Levin and I operated a seismometer. We launched Tephra and paddle around the lake in the clockwise direction. The lake is about the same size as Lower Shin Pond, but the water seems shallower. Even though we stay a hundred yards offshore, water depths are just a few feet. We pass a low island or bar, mid-lake. It is inhabited by a few Sea Gulls. We sight a Bald Eagle flying low over the trees that surround the lakeshore. I have the impression that these are just a thin ring of trees, for I often can see sky between them, and suspect that most of the woods beyond this ring has been clear-cut. The north wind was gusty at times, and these gust really pulled at our paddles. The chop is pretty strong, especially in the southern end of the lake, and the paddling is challenging. The north end of the lake is calmer and more pleasant, especially since a little sun was shining the moment we are there. We pass a low rock scarp with prominent strata, which seems be different than the schist that is outcropping at the boat launch. We reach a very narrow arm of the lake, rest for a few minutes in this protected spot, and then continued on. We pass a cattail marsh that marks an inlet stream. The chop becomes heavier as we approach a small island in the southeast corner of the lake, and we have to paddle very carefully. We are relieved to reach the launch, which is just a few hundred yards beyond the islands. 1:20.

In the late afternoon, Dallas and I walk down to the Shin Pond beach. Dallas swims while I rest on the shore. Once again, a group of American Black Ducks were on the shoreline, dabbling a layer of detritus on the lakebed with the bills. Dallas buys a Whoopee Pies at the Wilderness Variety Store on Route 159 on the way back. 1:00.

September 4, 2021. A clear day! In the morning, I drive down to the Shin Brook bridge on Wapiti Road, which spans the outflow of Lower Shin Pond, and admire the view of the little bay. A few clouds are reflected in its shallow waters.

In the morning, I take a walk around the Shin Pond area. I do several short bushwhacks off of the camp road and the Carl Sprinchorn Trail, to spots on the shore of Upper Shin Pond. This southern end of the pond is narrow and marshy. I then walk Gardner Point Road to a place where I have a good view of the wider part of the pond, and the low hills beyond it. A flock of Grouse flutter out of the bushes as I continue my walk along the trail – a dozen or more. I then return to Route 159, cross it, and visit the beach on Lower Shin Pond. As usual, a group of American Black Ducks are preening themselves at the water’s edge. The clear air makes view of the lake is terrific. I can see the bare summit of Mt. Katahdin, with its prominent gullies, peeking over the hills on the western shore, and the much closer Sugarloaf hill, too. Finally, I stop by the Village boat launch. As I return to Moose Hill cabin, I pass several Apple trees growing along the side of the road, laden with red fruit. 1:00.

In the afternoon, Dallas and I launched Tephra from the Village ramp, and after a quick detour beneath the Route 159 Bridge to see the tiny section of the lake there, paddled a broad loop through Lower Shin Pond. We passed a couple of guys in a canoe, two women in kayaks and some people in a motorboat, but overall the lake was pretty empty, especially considering that it is the Labor Day weekend. We make a loop in a cove near Pleasant Point. On the way back, we pulled up to the public beach on the way back. Dallas swam, while I paddled the boat slowly along the shore. An unusually large number – 9 - of American Black Ducks were preening and dabbling along the shoreline.

Around sunset, Dallas and I walked down Wapiti Road as far as the Shin Brook bridge. We admired the little bay where the pond empties into the brook. It was in shadow, and it still waters were reflecting the purple sky and clouds. Though up to that point we have seen little Poison Ivy in this part of Maine, we noticed that the Wapiti roadside is full of it. Perhaps the road’s southern exposure makes conditions favorable for its growth. We me a couple in an ATV and had a conversation with them about photography, local wildlife and life in this part of Maine. The man has been a Maine Guide and also a police officer. They invited me to take a ride to a spot where they said was a beautiful view of Mt. Katahdin. I was tempted, but declined on account of being tired. I’ve done a lot over the last few days.

September 5, 2021. It’s an overcast morning, with occasional flashes of sun. I walk down Grand Lake Road to the T6-R6 boundary sign, and then take a gravel road south. Many wildflowers, including Tansy, Goldenrod and Hawkweed are blooming along the roadside. I walk as far as a turn in the road that offers a good view of Sugarloaf hill. 1:00.

We meet Terry Hill, the owner of Shin Pond Village, as we are checking out. I knew her from the times I stayed at the Village during the QMIII project, back around 2014. We exchanged stories of our recent adventures, and then Dallas and I headed south.

Dallas and I kayaked in Lower Range Pond in the late afternoon. We explored the grassy aquatic meadow that adjoins Middle Range Pond, hoping to find a navigable passage between the two lakes. We find that the meadow is crossed by a line of trees growing on levee, and though the levee is cut by the stream, beavers have built a dam across the breach. We can go no farther. We also sight a Great Blue Heron, this one bluer and less gray than others we have seen recently, and an osprey, too. A White Pine on the shoreline opposite the island with the house has recently been struck by lightning. Its crown is seared off and a line of exposed woods extends down to water level. We didn’t see it last week, prominent though it be, so perhaps it was struck in the intervening time. 1:00

September 6. 2021. Dallas and I stayed the night at the Econolodge in Auburn, Maine. The morning is clear and cool, the sky blue with a few puffy clouds. We meet Bryan Abbott, Mary Dana Abbott and Ed Abbott, at Ed’s house in Auburn. Bryan wants to visit Maude Abbott’s grave, so we drive over to Mount Auburn Cemetery and stand for a while, reminiscing, at the E.F. Abbott plot. Maude’s grave marker had not been manufactured at the time of her interment, so today was the first time I see it. It reads, “Maude McCurry Abbott, Lt US Navy, World War II, Feb 6, 2020, July 4, 2019”.

Later in the day, Dallas, Ed Abbott and I walk in Range Ponds State Park, from the main lot to the wetland that’s on the other side of the pedestrian path from the lakeshore. The afternoon is starting to cloud over, but the view of the meadow with its vegetation starting to show Fal colors, and with its big Beaver dam, is very nice. 0:45.

After Ed left, Dallas and I launched Tephra from the public ramp and paddled a loop in the southeastern end of the lake. The sky had darkened from when we first arrived. We had just reached the end of the Esker when a squall started. We were pelted by wind-driven rain. We sprinted with the wind back to public launch, amid waves about a foot high. 0:30.

The squall blew over by the time we had loaded the boat back onto out car, and the sun began to shine. Dallas swam while I walked the length of the public beach. 0:20.

September 7, 2021. After checking out of the Auburn Econolodge, and saying goodbye to Ed Abbott, Dallas and I drive to the North Gate of the Whitman Spring Road Trail (North Auburn Road at Holbrook Road, Auburn, Maine). We walk this woods road south as far as the site of a long-vanished hotel, where there are nice views of the lake. Pretty wildflowers are blooming along the trail, including Purple Aster, Tall White Aster, White Wood Aster, Silverrod and Queen Anne’s Lace. A flotilla of puffy white clouds floated over the lake in the otherwise blue sky, and are beautifully reflected in its waters. 1:00

We stopped briefly at a Lake Shore Drive highway bridge, near the North Auburn Road intersection, to view the narrow, northern end of Lake Auburn. We then drive straight back to New York.