Maine - Monhegan Island hiking

After lunch at the apartment we headed out to do some hiking using the Trail Guide we had bought at the ferry office.

We walked through the village amazed by the flowers still in bloom.

There were lobster buoys scattered everywhere. Judy read afterwards that lobster season is closed on Monhegan Island from June to October which explained a lot of the lobster fishing  paraphernalia lying around.

One of my favorite photos. The blue sky, rock, pine and white house with white flowers, just something about it.

We walked up to the lighthouse and its buildings (a museum that we went into last time we were there)

Then off we went onto the trails.

Someone had put a little pine cone on to each piece of fungus.

Our theory is that it was a small child tired of walking.

The trail we were on ended at cliffs and craggy coastal views

in both directions.

We continued to scramble along the coastal path

which, at times, was quite challenging,

but very scenic.

But eventually we were faced with a cliff that we didn't feel we could manage.

Contemplating what we would do next we spotted some porpoises and while watching  them we saw a couple of seals

and spent some time enjoying them surfacing periodically and looking around.

We took a trail into the centre of the island and saw evidence of beavers.

It passed through an area called Cathedral Woods.

Ferns were starting to turn colour, lit by dappled sun.

The woodland trails were much easier walking.

The other side of the island didn't have the impressive cliff coastline, facing the mainland it had small rock islands and shoals. The island is 1.7miles by .7 miles, easy to cover in an afternoon of walking.

No smoking is allowed on the island, just in the village, and it is stressed in all the literature that a fire on the island would be disastrous.

The rental guy had told us that there were no stores or restaurants open on the island (really annoyed the lady at the little supermarket when she heard that) so we carried in food for supper and breakfast, and of course wine to drink on the balcony

While we

watched the

sun go down.

 We had been up early, had an exhilarating boat ride and hiked about 6 miles on some rough terrain. No wonder Don nodded off while playing cards, and we waited a while before waking him as we thought he was in deep thought about his next move.  We laughed hysterically and then decided it was time for bed.