We had an awesome day on our trip to Isle Au Haut, which is a southern remote island of Acadia National Park. We had never done this before and it entailed getting there via the “mail boat” to Duck Harbor, which leaves from Stonington, on Deer Isle, Maine, in the morning, and returning on it later in the afternoon. On the trip to the island we saw harbor seals up close and watched the lobster industry in full swing.

We elected to do a hike over Duck Harbor Mountain to get the benefit of the view, and planned to paint the harbor on the other side. We learned upon returning that this trail is posted as “very difficult” but we had figured that out on the way! There were many rock faces and cliffs to scale, with few hand holds and sheer drop offs on each side. The photos with my daughter in them show the rugged way we were led, but also spot the turquoise trail markers and rock cairns showing our challenging path. We teamed up with an artist named Terri (from Kansas by way of Florida) who was on our boat; we soon realized that this hazardous trail was not one to do alone, and we had a great time together, mutually daunted and triumphant by turns. I even got up one particularly hard bit by holding fast to the cuff of her jeans while she braced herself!

This took so much (invigorating!) time, that as we came over the mountain into Squeaker Cove (named for the way the rocks squeak underfoot) we had no time at all to paint. We had lugged paints and journals the whole way for nothing, and had to hot foot it back the easy (forest floor) way in order to be in time for the leaving boat! There are five campsites on the island (one is shown near the bottom); this would be the way to have enough time to take in all the beauty of this location.

We enjoyed a well earned lobster dinner in Stonington with Terri and her friend (who had gone on a route of is own), before driving back to the cabin, exhausted and happy to a fushia sunset.

Enjoy the photographs below in chronological order of our fabulous day!