On Saturday we decided to change campsites again and Trox went for an early morning ride on a scouting expedition. He found us a wonderful site near Little Austin Pond. He had to hike-a-kayak for about a tenth of mile once we got there but it was well worth it! The site was just a pull off from the logging road that we had driven down for what seemed like hours. Amazingly it was completely level! Others had camped there before as evidenced by the pile of rocks that could be arranged to form a fire ring. We arrived there mid-afternoon; set up camp; and headed for the water.
 |
| Our campsite near Little Austin Pond |
 |  |  |
| The trail to the pond - 0.1 miles long | ||
I got to go out first and the water was like glass it was so smooth. By far the best paddle trip I've had so far. The temperature was perfect; the water was perfect; the lighting was gorgeous; and the company couldn't be beat. Just me and a lone loon. I was surprised how close s/he let me get. S/he kept calling and I could hear another one answering.
 |
| A pond of glass |
| A Common Loon calling - eerie |
The next morning I went out again and the water wasn't as nice but I got a real treat. There were TWO Loons and they had a baby with them! Once again I got pretty close but Mother Loon let me know under no uncertain terms when I got too close!
 |
| Daddy leads Mommy next Baby last |
In the meantime Trox was off photographing fungi and butterflies. We submitted one of the butterfly pictures to Butterflies and Moths of North America and they verified the species as Speyeria Atlantis and accepted our sighting. Take a look at the sighting details page.
 |  |  |
 |  |  |
| Such a pretty butterfly Speyeria Atlantis | ||
He also found a really cool moth that we are going to submit later but we are almost positive it is a Haploa Clymene.
 |
| A Clymene butterfly |
As for his fungi and plants he found some really colorful ones and unusual ones (at least to us). One, the Indian Pipe is a non-photosynthesis plant that is a parasite. Its host is a fungus and the fungus is a parasite on a tree.
 |
| Indian Pipe also known as Ghost Plant or Corpse Plant the bees love them! |
Other ones he found were also real interesting and provided entertainment while trying to identify.
 |
| Pretty "mushroom" |
 |
| This is the Cinnabar-red Polypore Pycnoporus Cinninbarius Aren't you glad you asked? |
We had to get back to Greenville to return the kayak so we broke camp after Trox hiked-the-kayak back from the pond.
 |
| My sherpa and his new hat |
Once we got back to civilization we returned the rented kayak and ended up buying one! Ours is longer than the rental and I just came back from my first run in it. It is much faster than the rental and easier to keep on a straight line. In addition we watched some videos on how to paddle and with the new, lighter paddle it was lots of fun. Pictures to come in next post! Yesterday, Monday, was spent shopping, laundry, cooking, and restocking Merlin. Tomorrow we are going to head out of Greenville and head toward Millinocket and into more "Off the Grid" area. I will make one more post before we leave.
No comments:
Post a Comment