Back in July an e-mail landed in my inbox asking if I was available to guide two days of hiking in September. My first thought was that it would be during the nicest weather of the entire year and even though hiking is not one of my regular offerings a custom hiking trip would be great fun. Several e-mails later and I have arranged to spend two days hiking with Stephanie from Australia. Who would be making the trip to our area with her family as a celebration of her fortieth birthday (she wanted me to tell how old she was, I did ask). 
She suggested an itinerary that was very workable and I made the plans. The hikes were simple enough to figure out and I planned lunches from the Atlantic Baking Company in Rockland which worked out perfectly also providing a stop for a mid morning cup of coffee and “biscuit”.
Monday and Tuesday this week were our days together and it was a delight. First the weather was perfect; crystal blue skies, breezy but not windy. The only potential glitch were the seas from Hurricane Igor but they had flattened out nicely in time for our trip to Monhegan on the second day.
Monday we were able to hike up Maiden Cliff in Camden Hills State Park, visit the Owls Head lighthouse and Birch Point State Park. After lunch on Rockport Harbor we walked around Aldemere Farm and visited the Vesper Chapel on Beauchamp Point in Rockport. We finished the afternoon at the top of Mount Battie with the spectacular view of Camden Harbor. Altogether we walked around 8.5 miles most of it easy going with pleasant conversation. We started at around 8:30 in the morning and were back at the Whitehall Inn by around 5PM.
Tuesday was our planned day on Monhegan Island we drove to Port Clyde and had time to visit Marshall Point Lighthouse and 
spend some time in the village before catching the Monhegan ferry. When we arrived we headed off to the Lobster Cove end of the island where we enjoyed our lunch before hiking around the island as far as White Head. It was spectacular. While we did not see a great variety of birds and wildlife it was fabulous to spend time with someone who really was seeing it all for the first time even the grey squirrels were of interest.
On Monhegan the Monarch butterfly migration was in full swing and they were everywhere I had not seen them in numbers like that for years. This was a longer day starting at around 8AM and I returned Stephanie to the Inn at around 6:30 PM. The walking was more challenging but made pleasant by the beautiful scenery.
I thoroughly enjoyed the two days and plan to add a similar offering to my list of Nature Exploration trips later this fall. The most amazing part to me was that I did not pick up her accent which was fun to hear. All in all a very enjoyable couple of days and I look forward to seeing the young lady from Australia again.
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