Saturday, July 23, 2011

Vacation - Day 2 (Part 1)

We got an early start and headed to Quoddy Head State Park. When Mark and I were here last month it was raining so we didn’t spend any time hiking the area. It wasn’t raining this day but the fog was very thick.

[In 1808, West Quoddy Head Light became the easternmost lighthouse in the United States. Its light and fog cannon warned mariners of Quoddy's dangerous cliffs, ledges, and Sail Rock. Among the first to use a fog bell and later a steam-powered foghorn, this lighthouse greatly reduced shipwrecks in this foggy area, even as shipping increased. In 1858, the present red-and-white tower replaced the original. Monitored and serviced by the U. S. Coast Guard, its light still shines through its original third-order Fresnel lens. After automation in 1988, the light station became part of adjacent Quoddy Head State Park.]


Click on video to hear the Quoddy Head Foghorn
(Make sure your speakers are turned on!)

Through the fog we were able to see a few birds.

Herring Gull
Bald Eagle

Quoddy Head Lighthouse

Foggy shoreline

1 comment:

  1. Ha! We stayed near there! That's the bog we saw. I have a picture of that lighthouse! I will have to find it and scan it in.

    Mrs. Olsen, whose house we rented, said not to go to the bay until after noon, when the fog clears off. We had quite a lot of fog in the morning where we were staying, but once we drove off the bay and inland a little bit, there was no fog at all.

    These are the perils of getting up too early! We didn't have any fog at all when we went to Quoddy Head. I remember the bog and all those pitcher plants (or whatever they're called). You have to walk on a wooden walkway so as not to damage the bog, right? That's how I remember it.

    ReplyDelete