Summertime!: Week #9

A fun start to the week with a camping trip up on MDI with Keri, Tyler and Elise, followed up by a few crazy days of work and a nice, mellow weekend. We are gearing up for the return to school, even if the school board did extend summer by a week in voting to delay the return to school until September 8th with questions still swirling about the exact details. We do know that the initial return will be a hybrid model - essentially splitting the amount of kids in school in half by dividing the classes in two and sending half the kids in for in person teaching on Mon/Tues and the other half on Thurs/Fri. The other days will be remote... Sam will be in the Thurs/Fri group. It is most definitely not going to be what we were expecting or anticipating prior to March but we are hoping that, much like this summer, we will be able to make the most of it and we trust that the district is doing its best to keep the students, teachers and community safe. 

Monday: Up early for a run on the powerlines before we headed north. Wicked humid and I felt slow as molasses. Pretty sky and some good berry picking, though. (7.0 miles)

Then it was time to head up to the island! We stopped for sandwiches at Cafe Milagro and then met up with Keri, Tyler and Elise for a short hike up Beech Mountain. It was so hot that despite a very leisurely 1+ mile hike, I was soaked. Nice views though and good to get in a bit of activity before setting up camp! (1.3 miles hiked)

More sweating ensued during camp set-up, so we all went down and jumped in the pool before coming back to the campsite for dinner and a fire. Definitely busier up here than when we were up at the end of June, but also really fun to share a camping trip with friends!

Tuesday: It was Keri's birthday and we started the day off with a run/hike up and over Acadia and St. Sauveur to celebrate! Ran the ninja trail from Hall Quarry Road and unfortunately met up with a swarm of bald-faced hornets - both of us got stung - ouch! - so that got the adrenaline going, and less than a mile into the run! Aie. After assessing, we continued on and enjoyed the rest of the loop, not meeting up with any additional hornets, or seeing any people. It was lovely to be out there on completely quiet trails. A very foggy, humid morning which meant no long views and lots of sweating for me but it was cool to get above the clouds as we summited Acadia. The mountain tops looked like islands. Fun to run this loop with a friend! (6.0 miles)

Happy Birthday, Keri!!

Then it was back to camp to get the families geared up and out for the day's hike. We knew it would be another hot one so chose a relatively short loop but one which we thought the girls would have fun on. 

Parked at Long Pond and headed up the Perpendicular Trail to Mansell. So many steps and so much sweating!! Still, I have come to really like these western mountains. They are quieter, a bit more rugged and much less traveled, but with some lovely mossy woods and vistas. We came down Razorback Trail, which has some nice ledges complete with vistas looking out to the ocean. A good loop. The girls did great and it was fun for Sam to have someone to hike with! (3.0 miles hiked)

Going up!

Love the rocks along this trail

Razorback ridgeline

Then back to camp for lunch, another dip in the pool and a quiet afternoon around the campground. Ryan and Tyler eventually got out for a run before dinner, which consisted of way too much pizza and some birthday cupcakes, and we finished up the evening with another fire. A good day!

Wednesday: It's always sad to pack up camp, but we did so fairly quickly and efficiently and then set off for a mellow walk on the Ships Harbor Nature Trail. It's always fun to wander along the rocky ledges and explore the lagoon. Plus, thankfully, it was much cooler along the water! A fair number of people out so there was a lot of mask wearing. (1.7 miles walked)

Fog rolling in

After our hike, we all had a picnic lunch in the shade at Seawall Beach and then just like that, it was time to head home. So happy to have been able to share this camping trip with Keri, Tyler and Elise! It was a ton of fun!

Thursday: Nothing on tap except work, work and more work!

Friday: Rather creaky morning run after two days of not running, but good to get out. So many berries to eat! Ran a random loop out along the powerlines to mix things up. (7.0 miles)

Then it was home to do all the errands and cleaning and stuff that needed to be done, including a trip to Target with Sam to finish up the school shopping and a stop at the library to drop off her summer reading log and to pick up her prize bag before we headed out for a walk. We parked farther down along the powerlines and did a nice loop, partially in the shaded woods and partially out on the powerlines so that we could hit the gully, which is filled with blackberries. Yum! Quite warm but a lovely walk with the kiddo 💗 (1.4 miles walked)

The critters like the blackberries too 💗

Saturday: Overcast and muggy. Ran a mix of roads and trails around town. No photos but there were several stops of pick berries 😉😋 (10.0 miles)

Sam got out in the afternoon for a few hours to ride her bike around the neighborhood and spend some time outside with her friend, Emma. Nice for the girls to be able to get together!

Sunday: Cooler this morning but still incredibly humid. Ran a big road and trail loop from home out into Brunswick. Yet again, finished soaked. So soggy! 💦💦 Ran out of water with a few miles to go, and it definitely wasn't the prettiest run, but I got it done. On the plus side, the fields are looking lovely right now with all the goldenrod, clover and queen anne's lace blooming, and I saw my first monarch caterpillar on the milkweed at Crystal Spring Farm! 🐛💗 First 20 miler since early May and hit 50 miles for the week too  (just barely...) - woohoo! 😃and zzzz! 😴(20.0 miles)

Pretty Bee Balm

Yup... 

And so, obviously, we finished up the day with ice cream!