Hello Again!!!

Well, just so you'll know I haven't fallen off the face of the Earth, here I am again. I just don't seem to have the spare time these days to check in regularly, but I'll certainly attempt to do better in the future. The last time I did so, it was two months ago! I apologize for the delay, and will get right down to business.


The past two months has found me and a co-worker pounding the trails doing what's called CAC's, or Condition Assessment - Cyclical. What that means is that every five years, we have to go out on a trail and do an assessment of it and its features (bridges, culverts, railings, etc.) and determine deficiencies to write work orders against to keep them in shape. Each year we do 30 miles of trails so that by the time the five years are up, all 150 miles of trail in the park have been assessed, and we start all over again. You may remember me telling you about this last season, when I was the Wheel Man in the team (running a measuring wheel, taking waypoints on a GPS, taking photos with a digital camera), but this year I'm the assessor and work order writer, using a Panasonic Toughbook laptop attached to a "Robert E Lee" field desk (reminiscent of the old field desks used in the Civil War). This is me on the east shore of Jordan Pond writing up a work order to have this tree removed that has blown down and is draped right across the trail. It was really foggy this morning.


This lovely young thing is Kaitlin, my wheel person this year, as we assess the Jordan Cliffs Trail high above Jordan Pond. This was Kaitlin's first season on Trails, and she volunteered for this job so she could get out and see the rest of this beautiful park, instead of being sequestered on the Schooner Head Path like all the rest of the crew. She was a welcome addition, and a true asset as my right-hand man . . . uh, girl . . . uh, person. She was a huge help, however you want to say it.


A little later on in this hike, we came to the Sky Bridge (my name for it), which always reminds me of something you might find in Venezuela or somewhere like that. It has a very tropical feel to it, doesn't it? A very odd little bridge, but it was the easiest way to traverse the gully and make it up to where the trail picks up.


This is a curious little plant. While assessing the Ocean Path, Kaitlin and I ran across this peculiar plant with what appears to be berries on stalks. I need to go back and see if these ever flowered out, or if that's it. I've never seen this kind of plant before. Huh.

One of the last trails we assessed together, before she had to leave to finish up college, was Hadlock Brook Trail, which terminates at this beautiful waterfall. As we'd gotten rain the whole day the day before, the waterfall was in full bloom so we stopped for a bit and took a few photos. Kaitlin said that when she and her dad hiked the trail the week before, there wasn't much going on, so I grabbed some shots of it -- and with her in front of it -- so she could show him what it's supposed to look like. Nice place.

Well, I guess that's about all I've got for right now. Take heart, though, as I've got my first -- and probably only -- trip out to Isle au Haut coming up on Labor Day Weekend. You can bet there'll be another blog entry from that little trip, as well as a photo gallery, as there always is. I can't wait! Thanks for checking in and I'll try my best to get back a little sooner in the future. So long for now!