Moose up the Road Apiece!

Posted on March 14, 2017March 14, 2017 by Dusty Roads

Rangeley, a town in Franklin county Maine has a population of around 1200 until the tourists come to town. Rangeley is the center of the Rangeley Lakes Region, a major resort area.

It looks like a June vacation will be an excellent time as far as the weather is concerned. Watch me jinx us by making a statement like that! But really. When I check the average temps the average high in June is 69 degrees and the average low is 47 degrees. Nice sweater weather. Of course they did have a record high of 90 degrees and a record low of 27 degrees. There’s been no snow in June and only an average rainfall of less than 5 inches. But if it rains there’s a bowling alley. We can all go bowling!

I want to go to Maine in June for the moose. The moose is the state animal of Maine. Moose spotting becomes an activity late spring to Mid-summer. Seems to me June falls right in the middle of that range. The best time for spotting moose seems to be early morning or evening and noon to 2 pm. Sounds like moose like to have lunch too!

Calves are born in late May to early June right on track with our June vacation . I can visualize the photos now. Early morning has such beautiful light!

One of the activities I’m thinking about is a Moose Safari. There are both walking safaris and water safaris in canoes or kayaks . I know how to canoe but I’ve never been kayaking. That would be a new adventure. Plus there’s plenty of hiking trails. Also sounds like a lot of waterfalls on these trails.

One location in particular that caught my eye is The Hunter Cove Wildlife Sanctuary, sitting along Route 4 between Rangeley and the town of Oquossoc, the sanctuary offers nearly two miles of looped, flat, hiking trails leading through moose country. The sanctuary, as well as the lakes, is home to deer, foxes, loons and other bird and animal species.

I’m used to wildlife sanctuaries. I visit them in Massachusetts all the time so this might belong on my list.

I’m ready for June to arrive and my Maine wildlife adventure to begin.

Jackson Falls

Posted on December 27, 2016December 27, 2016 by Dusty Roads

I may not have gotten the photo I had in mind when I drove to Jackson NH but all was not lost.

Over lunch at a local restaurant several people asked me if I’d been to the “Falls” yet. I told them no and asked where it was. Turns out, not far from the center of town at all.

So having chased the snowless sleighs around for a bit I decided to give that a rest and see if I could find Jackson Falls.

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Just after making the turn by the Wentworth Inn ( I think that was the name) I drove up a hill. At the top was a place to pull over . There were quite a few cars there considering it was quite cold and beginning to spit some snow flurries. It turned out to be a wedding party getting their photos done. I didn’t want to intrude so decided to drive around some more and come back in a little bit.

I completed a circle that passed lots of scenic farms and finally brought me back to the covered bridge.

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I figured that was enough time for the photo shoot to end because the bride had to be freezing but I was wrong. The bride and groom were still there. Most of the rest of the wedding party had left. Trying not to intrude I wandered downstream away from the photo shoot but when I turned to photograph the falls I couldn’t resist a shot with the bride and groom standing nearby.

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This is one of my favorites from that day’s adventures.

I want to find a nice decent job as a helicopter pilot.

Posted on November 27, 2016November 27, 2016 by Dusty Roads

Well maybe not but our Tuesday morning adventure did involve a helicopter.

Of the 3 of us, I was the only one who had ever been up in a helicopter. My first ride was back in 2008 in Sedona. It was an awesome experience. But Sandy has steadfastly refused to even consider taking a helicopter ride. Of course Kathy didn’t know this and she pushed hard for a chance to see Maui from the sky.

To my surprise Sandy agreed with very little argument. I don’t know what that was about but we found ourselves booked with Sunshine Helicopters for a flight over Haleakala and the Road to Hana. I was hoping for some good aerial photos. Alas, this was not to be but the seating worked out for Sandy and Kathy.

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The 3 of us were assigned the back seat, Kathy to my left and Sandy to my right while I was in the middle.

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That meant that both Kathy and Sandy had windows where they could take pictures but I soon found that my seat pretty much prevented that. In fact it was hard to see much of anything.

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The front seats had a couple and they where constantly bouncing around, heads or hands always managing to get into the frame. The other seat was occupied by the Pilot. So much for getting shots out of the front window.

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Still it was interesting and fun and I am thrilled that I was there when both Kathy & Sandy experienced something new.

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The Road to Hana

Posted on November 25, 2016November 25, 2016 by Dusty Roads

The Road to Hana has to be the number 1 attraction in Maui, or at least close to it. Everyone knows about the Road to Hana.

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To drive or to tour, that was the question. If we toured I could enjoy the scenery too. If we drive that would be out of the question. Then our concierge told us it was an 8 hour trip depending on how many stops we made. I like driving challenging roads but 8 hours? I could feel my shoulders get tense just thinking about it so tour it was. Another guide reminded us to take our Dramamine. Many Hana trekkers have been done in by car sickness on the bumpy, windy road.

Bright and early Sunday we were picked up in front of our resort. At first the road looked very familiar. It wasn’t long before we were passing through Paia. There was Mama’s Fish House on the left. I spotted the little roadside stand where we had turned around on our previous adventure looking for “Jaws”.

As we continued on the road became even more narrow. At times dropping to one lane wide.

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All of the bridges (there were 54 in all) were one lane so if you met another car someone had to wait but most bridges had a waterfall or deep gulch at the least.

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Once in Hana we stopped for a picnic lunch and a bit farther along a roadside stand to stock up on banana bread and Maui honey. There is nothing quite like Hawaiian Honey!

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We stopped at an ancient church made from coral that had survived devastating storms and tsunamis.

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At the 7 Sacred Pools our efforts to see them were thwarted.

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We only had 45 minutes and from the parking lot it was a good 15-20 minute hike. I talked to someone who tried to make it and he said he only had time to get to the top pool. Returning would have been all up hill. Of our tour group only 1 couple actually made it all the way down and back and they were late returning.

On the backside of Haleakala we hit the bumpiest section of the road. At one point we were right on the edge staring over a huge cliff.

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At another spot we got out to look out over deep gully. The trade winds were blowing with enough force to knock you over. There at the bottom of the ravine was an upside down crushed car. The driver had survived thanks to a passing guest on a tour like ours who spotted the injured man. It was a sobering story.

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Our tour lasted 12 hours. We arrived back at our resort in the dark; a long day. My take on the Road to Hana? Everyone should do this once and a tour is definitely the best way. If I go again I’ll drive but I won’t cover the whole distance. I’ll stop often so I can get the best photos and maybe stock up on more banana bread and honey.

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Roaring Fork

Posted on June 5, 2014June 5, 2014 by Dusty Roads

The drive back from the Cataloochee was a challenge. At least I didn’t meet any cars as I wound my way back out the 11 + miles of twisty dirt roads. The GPS gets really mixed up in the mountains. At one point I was on a narrow paved road where the curves turned back on themselves so tightly that the GPS thought I’d stopped moving! But eventually I came out just above Gatlinburg. One minute I had no idea where I was and the next I was looking a the BBQ restaurant where I’d had dinner the night before! What a full day of adventure!

The next morning wasn’t quite as promising. Dark rain clouds were threatening and the weather report placed the possibility of rain at 60%. I decided to take advantage of the diffused lighting to look for some of the waterfalls in the area. Just outside of Gatlinburg center is the Roaring Fork area.

Take a left at the light near the Space Needle then a couple of blocks down you’ll find the sign for Roaring Fork on the right. Brace yourself. It’s another narrow, one lane road. Roaring Fork is known for gushing mountain streams, historic buildings and waterfalls. This is where you find the trailhead for the Trillium Gap Trail and Grotto Falls. The trail passes behind the falls and is said to be a fairly easy hike.

I drove the one-way Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail twice trying to find a place to park to get to the Trillium Gap trail but it was packed. The only parking was over 1/2 mile down a hill from the trailhead. Then you had a 1.5 mile hike to get to the falls. I was disappointed. I really wanted to visit Grotto Falls. Everyone talks about it which is probably why there were so many people there even with rain threatening. I just didn’t feel my back would hold up to the hike especially when you added on the extra distance just to get to the trail head from the parking spot. I had hoped visiting before the main tourist season and a rainy day would mean fewer people but apparently not.

That disappointment aside this is a great little road. The stream than follows the road or vice versa is lively and gives many opportunities for photos. It crisscrosses back and forth from left to right and back with little one lane bridges providing passage for the cars.

Near the end of the drive is a waterfall called Place of a Thousand Drips. This is known as a “wet weather” waterfall. During stormy weather this waterfall is said to be dramatic. Since it was only threatening to rain it had only moderate flow when I was there. Another visitor said the area had experienced a very dry spring as well. Even so, the Place of A Thousand Drips is a really nice waterfall.