Mark and I split up our camping tasks - I find a location for the tent and set it up; he engineers the kitchen. I do not use the word "engineer" lightly. It is a product formed of found materials which make up seats, windbreak, and table, with the tarp providing weather protection. Here we tried to guess where the high tide would end. This area of Maine has tides of about 10-15 feet. It's hard to believe so much water moves in and out of the bays and harbors. In this case, Mark had guessed well - only a few inches of the pole went underwater.



I went walking around the island perimeter to see what our home for the evening looked like. A pair of bald eagles and a young adult eagle claimed this island and the next one as their territory. We saw and heard them often.



There were flowers in the granite cracks.



And lots of wild iris.



Much to my amazement, as I neared our cove, I came upon this enormous carcass. It was a humpback whale, washed up on the rocks. I called Mark out to see.



Here is the tail. We met up with a Maine Island Trail Association caretaker later who told us the carcass had washed ashore last fall, then drifted loose, and now was ashore again. I can tell you for sure that when the wind blew toward us the smell was powerful.

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