Fort Knox on the Penobscot River across from Bucksport

Control of the Penobscot River, almost directly west of the southern tip of Nova Scotia, made it important to both the British and the Americans.  It was the scene for the fledgling break-away colonies first major naval defeat in 1779, and the British regained control during the War of 1812.  Thus, it was a logical location to place one of about 40 forts started as part of the Third System of defense in 1844.  Construction on Fort Knox continued for almost 25 years, but as the Civil War drew to a close, concerns about a sea-born invasion waned and the fort’s barracks were never completed.

Interior of Fort Knox from the rooftop battery

Doorways connect the unfinished enlisted men's quarters

Fort Knox is a massive granite-walled fortification with mounts for 135 cannon, some in batteries and some in casemates.  A diagram showing the layout of the fort can be found here.

The exterior granite walls are indicative of the fine quality of workmanship

The largest number of troops ever stationed at the fort was 575 when a Connecticut regiment lived outside the walls in tents for a month during the Spanish-American War.  During the Civil War 20 to 54 troops were garrisoned at the fort.  For the best part of fifty years, after construction stopped in 1869, a non-commissioned officer served as the sole guardian of the fort.

Battery B

Series of vaulted-ceiling casemates

Only 74 cannon were ever placed on the 135 mounts

This will probably be my last post about my trip to Maine, so let me close with one of those quintessential Maine seaport views.  This one was taken from the roof of the fort’s casemates.

Bucksport and the Penobscot River

Waldo-Hancock Bridge over the Penobscot River

In 1931 the Waldo-Hancock Suspension Bridge began carrying Route 1 traffic over the Penobscot River.

Waldo-Hancock Bridge

Now on the list of National Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks, this bridge was one of two concurrent bridge projects to first use prestressed wire rope strand cables.  It was also the first suspension bridge built with the Vierendeel truss.

In 2006 a new bridge was completed.

Old and new bridges over the Penobscot

The new Penobscot Narrows Bridge is the only observatory bridge in the Western Hemisphere and the tallest in the world at 420 feet.

The observatory is at 420'

The obelisk towers may remind you of the Washington Monument.  That’s because they were designed to pay homage to the local granite industry which harvested granite from nearby Mount Waldo for the construction of the monument.

Penobscot Narrows Bridge

From the observatory one gets a bird’s eye view of nearby Fort Knox, which I’ll discuss in my next post.

Fort Knox from the observatory

Doesn't it remind you of the Washington Monument?

The old and the new from the tower

The new bridge does have its problems though.  One day I saw an article in the Bangor Daily News about how the elevator tends to stop working–especially in high winds, and each 911 call costs the local community $1,000.  On October 10th, the elevator got stuck twice–once in the morning and once in the afternoon.

Bridges over the Penobscot

West Quoddy Head Light

Sticking out into the Bay of Fundy, West Quoddy Head is the easternmost point of land in the United States.  Just off shore is Grand Manan Island, a part of New Brunswick.  We hiked a loop that began with coastal views and ended with a boardwalk into a bog.

West Quoddy Head trail map

West Quoddy Head Light from the coastal trail

Sea clifs

Coastal view

Apachetas!

If you’re not familiar with the term apacheta, check out my previous blog post on apachetas in the Andes.

As we headed inland, we encountered stairs of tree roots.

Steve on the tree root staircase

In October one doesn’t expect to find many wildflowers blooming except for an aster or two, so this renegade was a rarity.

An October bloom

Along the circular boardwalk around the bog there were numerous pitcher plants, lichens, mosses, dwarf trees, and berry bushes.

A carnivorous pitcher plant

In the bog

Moss?

More moss?

Reindeer lichen

On the way to Liberty Point

Sunsweep Sculpture from afar

Sugar Loaf Rock

Campobello's cliffs

A buoy washed ashore

A mini-isle

Pebble beach

A carpet of moss in the forest

A seaside still life

While on this hike we saw at least six bald eagles soaring overhead at one cliffside view point, and several seals.

Seal

After returning via a forest path, we visited the 34-room cottage where Eleanor and Franklin came with their young family to spend the summer hiking and sailing.  Franklin had spent most summers while growing up on the island at the cottage his parents built when he was just a toddler.  Their neighbor included a provision in her will that offered her cottage to Franklin’s mother at a bargain price of $5,000.  Eleanor and Franklin with their growing young family used the cottage every year from 1909 to 1921 when FDR came down with polio after arriving on the island.  He only returned three times after that.

The Roosevelt cottage facing the sea

Franklin added a new wing in 1915 to accommodate his growing family.

The front entrance

Exterior detail

Living room

Guest room

Crossing a bog at Boot Head

proceeds to a stony beach on the shore of Boot Cove

Boot Cove

The beach on Boot Cove

where I spied the closest thing to a hoodoo on my entire trip to Maine,

Seastacks, a seaside cousin to a hoodoo

and then climbed the cliffs to circle Boot Head.

The cliffs of Boot Head

You can look straight down if you want

A windswept tree

Hamilton Cove

Hamilton Cove with Great Manan Island in background

and an opportunity for a group photo.

Road Scholars at Hamilton Cove

Our hike in Shackford Head State Park differed from the others, as this headland is in Cobscook Bay close to Eastport rather than on the Gulf of Maine near Lubec. 

Cobscook Bay from Shackford Head

Another cliffside view from Shackford Head

Our guides Tess and Steve with a kelp

In this sheltered bay one can see fish farms where Atlantic salmon destined for our dining pleasure are raised.  On another day, when we kayaked by the farm, we could actually see the fish jumping.

Fish Farm near Eastport

A closer view

Welcome to Eastport, the Eastern-most City in the USA

It used to be a busy port, but today it’s pretty quiet.  Campobello Island is just across the chanel in New Brunswick, but to get there you have to drive an hour around Cobscook Bay.

Our Road Scholar group gathered from as far away as Wyoming and New Mexico for four days of hiking on Maine’s Bold Coast, including Campobello Island.  In addition to hiking, we were tempted by Monica’s chocolates,  

Monica's chocolates in the making

and we dined on lobster.

Lobster dinner by Phil Childs

We also dined on spaghetti made by women of the Patrons of Husbandry Maine State Grange in Perry and fish chowder prepared by members of Christ Episcopal Church.  Our big evening treat was a visit to Toodleville for ribs and music–after we inspected the gardens and tree house.

Toodleville Pumpkins

Toodleville

 On our free afternoon, our guides Tess and Steve of Cobscook Hikes and Paddles took five of us sea kayaking.

We had a good group that shared lots of laughs and beautiful hikes.  The weather was unbelievably cooperative, except for our last half-day when it poured, forcing the U.S. National Park Service interpreter for Saint Croix Island International Historic Site  to give us a briefing indoors at the visitor center.  Frenchman Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Mons, established a settlement on the island in 1604–three years before the English arrived in Jamestown–making it one of the earliest European settlements on the North Atlantic coast. 

I’ll be discussing our hikes in future posts, but if you want a quick slide show of the photos taken by Tess and Steve, check out Cobscook Hikes and Paddles facebook page.

Near Camden I hiked in the Fernald’s Neck Preserve which is part of the Coastal Mountains Land Trust.  The original section of land was purchased by the Maine Chapter of The Nature Conservancy to stop a housing development from destroying the forest in 1969.  A gift from a Fernald descendant expanded the preserve. 

Fernalds Neck is in Megunticook Lake, so the water views were quite different from the many seashore trails I took. 

Lake Megunticook from Balance Rock

But, as on Mount Desert Island, there’s lots of granite to grab your eye and erratics to confound your sense of gravity.

Balance Rock

At Birdsacre or Stanwood Wildlife Sanctuary near Ellsworth I walked out to Dorgan McFarland Knoll and a kettle crater in search of a geocache.  This sanctuary is dedicated to preserving the home and vision of ornithologist-photographer Cordelia Stanwood.

A hidden ammo box cache at Birdsacre

South of Jonesport, about halfway between Bar Harbor and the northeast tip of Maine, is Great Wass Island.  This 1540-acre tract was acquired by the Maine Chapter of the Nature Conservancy in 1978.  To complete the loop trail, one needs more time than I had, so I just did a round-trip on the Little Cape Point Trail.  The island extends out into the ocean farther than any other landmass in eastern Maine, giving it a humid climate conducive to several rare plants.  The trail passes through forests and over bogs to reach the sea.

Little Cape Point

More exposed granite

Looking south across Cape Cove

Further north I hiked the Coastal Trail in the Cutler Unit of the Maine Coastal Heritage Trust.  I would hike in other units along the Bold Coast with my Road Scholar group based in Eastport.  The following photo gives you a good idea what forest trails are like on the coast of Maine.

Over the stream and through the woods

A cliffside viewpoint

Although technically not a land trust, I’m including my hike in the Petit Manan National Wildlife Refuge in this post.  While a significant portion of this refuge is located on offshore islands, there’s a small section on Pigeon Hill Bay with a short 1.2-mile trail to the sea.

Boardwalk trail over the bog

Trail over the rocks

More pink granite

Pigeon Hill Bay

Another diabase dike

Somesville Outlet

Reflections

Bright red

Leaves in Somesville

While the colors of autumn leaves are visually stimulating, sometimes one needs to stop while hiking through the forest to take in the small details.

Woodsorrel

Ferns and Moss growing on a rock

Old Man's Beard

Pillows of Rheindeer Lichen

Rheindeer Lichen

This earthcache was about the black diabase dikes visible along the coastline at Schoodic Point.  The dikes were created when magma intruded into cracks in the granite.

Black diabase dike

Another diabase dike

Where diabase meets the sea

A displaced piece of diabase

Looking Northeast from Schoodic Point

Looking across Schoodic Harbor at Spruce Point