from the top

Cadillac Mountain called to me at the end of the day. I headed up for a summit walk and a chance to enjoy subtle colors on the horizon.

to Schoodic

After a good breakfast we headed to the piece of Acadia National Park that lives on the Schoodic Peninsula. To get there from Bar Harbor we turned inland, crossing the bridge from Mt. Desert Island and eventually heading to the east. It took a bit over an hour to get to the entry point of the park at Schoodic. It's well worth the drive, especially since it is Denise's favorite part of the park.

We walked over the tilted rocks, stepping carefully and not going too close to the edge. We even sat a bit and watched the waves, listening to the sound of the ocean.

The air warmed up while we were there, back to T-shirt weather. That was really nice. One of these days the temperature is going to drop and stay cold, but for now I'm enjoying the warmer than fall days!

--- Rover

late light

As the sun was setting today I walked along Bar Harbor's Shore Path. The play of light on the water was very peaceful.

short wanders

Today was a day of short wanders. We were always in motion but we didn't hike any long trails. I don't think I can even list all of the places we wandered today. I think we spent most of the time following interesting colors.

It was a good day even with the cold start. I think the temperature moved into the 40s pretty quickly but it took quite a few hours to move to 50. Denise said that she was wearing the right layers to be comfortable.

We started the day with a quick trip to the Asticou Azalea Garden. There were some trees wearing color but I think it was more muted than when we visited last fall. After that quick out-of-the-park visit we headed into Acadia National Park to wander along Park Loop Road. We stopped whenever something looked interesting to Denise, sometimes doing a short hike, sometimes staying pretty close to our stopping point. There were places where colors were reflecting in water. I always like looking at the patterns in the reflections.

Our last stop of the day was at Jordon Pond. I don't know how Denise grabbed this photo without people in it - there were more people than I thought I'd see there. We did manage to find some quiet space though.

It was another good day.

--- Rover

brrr!

It was 34 degrees when we woke up this morning. Now it is a chilly 32 degrees, right at the freezing point. I wonder how long it will take to warm into the forecast low 50s.

Denise is wearing layers, and Blue and I found a cozy cubbyhole in Denise's new camera bag so we can stay warm. I plan to bounce along some trails today but I'm going to wait until it gets warmer. I'll stay inside until then - I just need to figure out how to peak out to see where we are wandering.

--- Rover

driving & stopping

I feel like we were in the car for a long time today. Luckily Denise didn't get tired of driving!

We visited a friend in Yarmouth, Maine last night so we were a little closer to our destination than we would have been from home. We drove on the highway at the beginning but we jumped onto smaller roads that headed towards the coast just after we hit Augusta. We wanted to see the colors and Denise wanted to be able to stop to look around.

There were places where the colors appeared to be at peak and others where the leaves were already gone. And some trees were still wearing a lot of green. Hmm...

We stopped at the Penobscot Narrows Bridge for a bit. That didn't surprise me since Denise always seems to be fascinated by bridges. This one is a narrow (only two lanes wide) cable-stayed bridge; it's very pretty. (Oh! is that an OK word to use to describe a bridge?)

Next we decided to visit Stonington. It's on Deer Isle at the tip of the peninsula between Bucksport and Ellsworth. The coast of Maine is very jagged and the roads aren't too straight. It seemed like it took a long time to get to Stonington - probably because of the windy and narrow roads - but I think it was worth the drive. Walking around the town along the edge of the harbor was fun.

After our walk we continued on to Bar Harbor. Evin greeted us when we arrived at the Holland Inn, our home away from home for the next few days.

--- Rover

a flower and a bee

Yesterday afternoon I headed to the Stevens-Coolidge Place to enjoy the flowers still in bloom. I suspect we're getting close to the "no more outside flowers" season; I'm always happy to see floral color.

There were still a few butterflies and bees enjoying the flowers.

a bee enjoying a pink anemone

practice

Oh! it's been a while since I've written. I think I'd better write one blog entry as practice since I promised Denise I would write the blog entries while we travel so she can focus on photos.

I was just going to start bugging Denise about planning a trip to Acadia National Park when she told me we are going to be traveling there soon. I just checked the long-term forecast for Bar Harbor. It looks like it will be cooler than home with fall-like temperatures and sunshine. I know Denise would like some clouds. I wonder if the weather wizard pays any attention to requests from little red dogs. Oh, probably not! I can hope though.

I'm hoping to see some fall colors and I think Denise is too.

I went looking for a foliage report and found Maine's Official Fall Foliage Website. The area along the coast is shown as having moderate color. The words next to the map say: "Central and coastal Maine (zones 1, 2 and 3) are at 50 percent color change." I think that should be good.

As always, I'm looking forward to bouncing through Acadia!

--- Rover

on the Jesup Path boardwalk, from our visit last fall

review :: Peak Design Everyday Backpack 20L

Was it fate that I received an email from SmugMug (the home of my photo galleries) with an offer for 20% off of gear from Peak Design? I had been thinking about my need for a smaller backpack to carry my photo gear and a look at the Peak Design web site told me it might be time.

My (existing) camera pack was still in good shape but it was much larger than I need for my everyday wanders. The old pack has a 37 L capacity; my new bag has a 20 L capacity. That was shocking at first glance, but when I looked at the difference between the size of the dSLR and lenses that I used to carry and the size of my Fuji X-T1 with lenses it's pretty obvious that smaller is more than acceptable.

I used the information on the Peak Design web site as a starting point, then I found a video that a photographer I respect published about the 20L version of the Everyday Backpack. Watching solidified my decision and I ordered the bag.

I've had my Everyday Backpack 20L for a bit over a week now; I've already used it for 4 or 5 photo wanders. The bag is comfortable and has plenty of space to carry camera, lenses, water bottle, extra layers, whatever I need for comfortable wandering.

Camera gear is loaded from either side of the pack and is easily accessible by wearing a single shoulder strap and swinging the bag around. Three included FlexFold Dividers can be configured to provide either two or three slots for camera gear; so far using 2 slots has been enough for camera and extra lenses. With either configuration there is still enough room in the top of the bag to carry extra layers and gear as needed.

The one thing that concerned me was the presence of a waist belt as opposed to a padded hip belt. As it turns out the waist belt works quite well, allowing me to transfer weight from the shoulder straps. So far the lack of padding isn't a problem.

I suspect there will be days when I use my larger bag but I also believe this one will quickly become my "go to" bag.

The Everyday Backpack has a minimalist look while providing needed functionality. I like it!

If you have a need for a bag like this and would like more information, take a look at the Peak Design Everyday Backpack product page and the support video Everyday Backpack Tips, Features, and Functions.

quiet

As I walked in the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge I spent some time watching a flock of Canada goose in the water. Quiet water and a quiet bird created a perfect reflection.