I remember hearing someone talk about Gulf Hagas in the past and thought nothing of it, and then my company’s health department hosted a hike through Gulf Hagas two weeks ago and again thought nothing of it. Last week a co-worker talked about it so I decided to look into it further. They call it “The Grand Canyon of Maine” which like anyone else that has not hiked the Gulf Hagas trail, I pictured the Grand Canyon in my mind and thought, “Yea right”. I checked MaineFoliage.com and saw that the leaf colors were moderate in the area so I talked to Robin about it and we made a date to hike all 8 miles of it (4 miles up and then 4 miles back). We both did not know what to expect other than that there are waterfalls and high ledge walls.

The weather was in the mid-sixties with clear blue skies with no breeze. Upon arriving at 10AM we paid and registered to get in; there were a lot more people hiking that day than I would have expected- I would say in total we saw about 40 people. Once we parked in Pleasant River Parking, I put my boots (not real hiking boots) on, got the Lowepro camera bags out, helped Robin put her backpack on and we headed towards the Pleasant River crossing which was about a mile out. When we arrived at the River there were a group of high school kids there crossing the ice cold, ankle deep, water. While watching them cross we changed out of our boots and into our sandals- another reason why I love my new Keen sandals, as they are so versatile for things like this. For me, the water was not very cold until the half way point of the river which by estimate was roughly 50′ wide; once we reached the middle of the river it felt like small tacks poking at my skin.

After crossing the river we put out boots back on and made our 1 mile hike to Screw Auger Falls (Map Point 3) which requires a slight deviation off trail to fully view the falls. We climbed down about 10′ overt ledge and roots until we reached the plateau of ledge that stands 8′ feet above the basin of the waterfalls. In the summer it is probably the safest area to swim if you desire. We made our way to the lower Screw Auger falls which is much larger than the upper. The viewpoint requires you to climb down 40 or so feet of steep terrain that consists of mangled roots and dirt until you reach the bottom or top of the canyon’s ledge. From there it felt like I was viewing a scene from Lord of the Rings (Rivendell); the waterfall dips down – I’d estimate around 20′- into a pool of water surrounded by trees that hung over portions of the water. Several areas from where we stood, led to an abrupt and deep canyon 80′ down. Any attempt by me at photographing the depth of this was difficult; I’m not sure if it’s the lenses that I have or if it’s my technique, but it is definitely something you should witness for yourself. After looking around and taking photos for 30 minutes or so we left and continued onwards making our way over the at-the-time smooth, root and ledge free trails. We reached the Hancock lookout, which is basically ledge that provides a narrow view of the gorge; this is where the ledge (I believe it’s ledge as I have not been able to verify if it is another mineral/strata) walls rise to their 2-300′ heights. We continued on up an incline and then all of the sudden the path stopped; we continued on as the map said a trail was there until we came to a very steep stairway of roots. Being adventurous I climbed down to an area that leveled off for about 3 feet and then a sheer drop to the bottom of the canyon. We decided to head back to the main trail, as there clearly was no discernible path for us to take.

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We decided to head up to Kokadjo to visit with Dad, pick Raspberries (The best fruit ever) and to possibly kayak. This weekend was the start of August and it’s near two week straight of warm weather- nearly the first all Summer. The weather was 78 with mostly clear blue skies and sporadic southern breeze.

We arrived to the camp at around 2PM, talked for a few minutes and then Dad brought us into an area that had a lot of Raspberries; and area that I wanted to show Robin as she has never visited Big Lyford Pond. We started picking in an area that look like it had been cleared (trees cut down) a few years ago and the trees, plant life, etc. Within an hour we had about a quart of berries between the both of us, we moved on to a similar area down the road and continued picking until Robin came across fresh Bear poop and moved further down the road where we found a good sized berry patch as well as blue berries. Altogether we picked about 3 quarts of Raspberries and a 1/2 cup of Blueberries after about 2 hours- normally in that time frame we’d pick about 6 quarts or so.

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Today provided us with mostly clear skies in the high 70’s bordering 80’s; so after church Robin and I headed to Sunkhaze Meadows. The last time we were there we hiked a long a couple of trails so this time I wanted to kayak Sunkhaze Stream. When we arrived, there was no boat landing which was expected since it’s a Wildlife preserve so we parked next to a small bridge and carried our kayaks down the side of the bridge. While putting in I said the Robin that this is the type of steam I really enjoy, it’s not too wide, varies from 5-10ft and has just enough current to slowly move you along. Once in the water the current took a hold of us and slowly taxied us through bends and curves through its lush canopies and shore-lined dunes of grass and plant life. Each bend brought different sights of interest; fallen logs, boulders, open areas with tall grass and sporadic varying trees. For the most part there was very little wildlife to be seen besides a Sandpiper, female Wood ducks and a Beaver.

No man-made noises could be heard, only the sounds of lightly flowing water, a cool breeze whisping through tress and over long dune grass, and the sounds of chickadees, American Goldfinches, quacking ducks, Cedar Waxwings and the flapping of Dragon fly wings. We had an excellent leisurely afternoon kayak trip; the only thing missing was a kayak picnic. I have wanted to take a photo of my gear in my kayak so you can see how it’s carried- eventually I am going to get an inflatable sealable bag for it.

Another month has gone by without many posts; this may be the trend until I finish up some of the projects I have been working on lately. I’ve been going through all of my photos and re-editing them, retagging them and reorganizing the folder structure. I am also working on writing a coffee table book and hope to have it published this winter. The month of May was a good month weather-wise and event wise for us.

During the first week of the month, on May 2nd, Robin and I went kayaking for a second time, this time after work; we put in at Sedgeunkedunk Stream as the sun was on its descent; my favorite time of the day to photograph other than in the early morning due to its golden light. The stream itself was full of life thanks to May’s warm weather; through every bend of the stream dune grass, lily pads and other aquatic life were spurting up, providing food and cover for wildlife. I thought I had spotted a beaver gnawing at some young poplars on the shoreline so I paddled over to investigate when I heard Robin call me over in which I ignored- by the time I finished with the unseen beaver Robin had paddled over and showed me some photos she took of a Lesser Yellowleg birds. We paddled back to the area where they were spotted, on a small mound of grass surrounded by water feeding on bugs; I was able to snap a few shots and thought the lighting was excellent.

Every time Robin and I go out kayaking I keep telling her we should get a set of walk-talkies or some sort of headset as we are always drifting away from each other in search of something interesting; however if I did I would be afraid of it slipping off my head and into the water. Further down the stream I spotted several Red Winged Blackbirds perched on top of an unknown aquatic plant. I find them to be a very interesting bird- I enjoy their call the most despite that when I was younger they annoyed me when trying to find turtles in a nearby pond. While paddling down an offshoot of the stream I spotted a Canadian goose acting as a sentry on what appeared to be a nest as the other one attempted to draw us away. We sat about 50 feet away watching, photographing and listening to their wonderful deep honking.

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