(North) East Penobscot Bay is my backyard, or I guess my front yard, really. Buck’s Harbor is tucked up near the headwaters of the Penobscot River leading up to Bucksport and ultimately Bangor. Buck’s is directly across from Little Deer Isle, and equidistant from Camden, North Haven, and Brooklin. Between the larger islands north of North Haven and west of Deer Isle there are many smaller islands, most of them uninhabited. I have spent many years exploring these islands, public and private, and they are the reason I know about MITA, and why I am so interested in the stewardship and access they provide.
Since I was so close to home for this 30 in 30 adventure, I took our Whaler, Ripple, so I could get around easily and simply beach the boat when checking out the campsites rather than anchor. I also decided to take my niece Metta since it was a shorter trip and I wanted her to learn more about the islands and MITA.
Our first stop was East Barred Island, one of what we have always referred to as the Beach Barreds. I have landed on the Beach Barrreds many times, and knew that we were allowed to camp there, but I had never actually been to the campsite. It is a great site. There is a nice beach, particularly well-protected in northwest/north breeze. The beach is perfect for a fire, but doesn’t look like it’s allowed since there weren’t any firepit remnants. There is a clear path leading up to the campsite, which is grassy, open and flat. The ground looks soft and comfortable. The island is small, but barred to West Barred at low tide, so there are actually two islands to explore at low tide.
The next stop was the Barred Islands, or the Butter Barreds as we always called them. Bartender and Escargot are two of my favorite islands in the Bay and were only opened to public access in the past two years. I have been on them many times because my family was friendly with the owners of Butter Island, but they are now officially on the MITA Trail for day use only. There is a great beach on the Butter side of Bartender west of the bar, behind which is an amazing tidal area that looks like it is only full on the highest of tides. On the north side, there is a bar connecting Bartender to Escargot covered in broken white shells which looks very tropical when it emerges. There is a nice little protected area in there on both sides of bar to wade and swim in shallow water. Further back is one of my favorite anchorages in Penobscot Bay, between the Barreds and XXXXX. Tricky to enter and the chart is wrong!
Escargot has two landing beaches, one to the east and one to the North and they are connected by a trail. The owner told me the trail leads up to the high point of the island, but Metta and I did not see where to enter, so we decided to save it for the next trip. Escargot would be a great place to camp if it was allowed. Remember, No dogs, no fires, no camping!
For the last stop on this 30 in 30 day trip, we went across the bar from Bartender to Butter Island, one of the true island gems of Penobscot Bay. Butter is one of the largest islands in East Penobscot Bay, and has been one of the most frequented islands by visitors for generations. It was at one point a large resort called Dirigo back when the steamships came up from Boston, but it is now privately held by the Cabot family, and thankfully they provide and allow access to several campsites on the west side of the island. By far the most popular is Nubble Beach, which has a very steep, approachable beach at all tides, and a large round ‘nubble’ to the west which is where it gets its name. The campsite is very large, likely one of the largest on the trail and could likely accommodate 10-15 tents comfortably. At the far east end of the beach, there is a trail leading up to Montserrat Hill which has great views of the beach below, the nubble, and the Bay. This is by far the more popular of the campsites on Butter and in the Bay, and a picture of the Nubble from Montserrat Hill was even featured on a Patagonia catalog many years ago.
Orchard Beach is the campsite further east on the west side of the island, a nice alternative if the Nubble site is crowded. Actually, some locals prefer Orchard Beach because it is not as crowded, and since the owners have recently done some clearing work there, it makes it much more appealing. The beach is also a very steep landing beach at all tides, and very good for landing a small powerboat or dinghy for a visit. The campsite directly above the beach is wide open, soft and grassy, but there is a pretty significant slant to the field that frustrates anyone trying to sleep in a tent.
8.18.2018
North Haven has always been one of my favorite destinations, and it has always been a favorite of the kids for our annual ‘boat trip’. For a few years I took Gray on own, but more recently have included Metta. My hope is to take them out for longer and longer periods of time as they get older, but with their crazy summer schedules of sailing, golf and tennis at multiple Maine resort locations, we had to settle for one night this year. And we decided to go back to North Haven.
Gray had come with me to North Haven a few years ago, and the trip became legendary within the family because after eating at Nebo Lodge, we went to Calderwood Hall and had a ‘dessert pizza’, which was amazing. Gray and I both felt terribly ill afterward, since we ate way WAY too much, but it was worth it for the story. Gray also loved the fact that he got to sit and eat at the bar when he was only 10, which is something I hope he will remember for a long time.
In deciding where to go, that experience definitely influenced Gray’s vote, and since Metta had never been, but heard the stories, she liked the idea. There is great pizza on North Haven at Calderwood Hall and it’s not as expensive as Nebo, but Nebo is our tradition which started before Cecily opened up the pizza, and I generally stick with tradition. We got in the Emilie Beille on the later side because the kids had to go to the Yacht Club Tea to get their certificates for passing into Skipper and Helmsman. That was a very big deal and a rite of passage at BHYC, and therefore an opportunity to celebrate.
We arrived and went straight to Nebo Lodge to see if we could get a table. There was a table available, but also seats at the bar where we could eat. We ordered some drinks, and decided to get the pork bahn mi, a burger, and a steak and share a little of everything. The food was great. The burger and steak were cooked perfectly, and everyone was happy with their meals. Gray was slightly unimpressed with the mocktail he ordered, and announced that it was really just a lime seltzer and shouldn’t be billed as anything more. He is quite the food critic, so much so that I think it might be his calling. The bill came and I paid and wondered why I take kids to such an expensive restaurant, but every time I think about the experience, I appreciate it more and realize I easily get that value back. The food is great, the service is great, and there is always a good story.
After dinner at Nebo, we went to Calderwood Hall to get some dessert. We entertained the idea of the dessert pizza. The pizza at Calderwood is always good, and even better for dessert if you have the room. But like TinderHearth, Calderwood has amazing homemade ‘chipwhiches’, an ice cream sandwich between to fresh baked chocolate chip cookies. I’m not much of a dessert guy, but these are too good to pass up. That night, they also had chocolate cake with ice cream, which the kids both decided to get. The cake was amazing, but an unbelievably rich fudge-like molten lave cake. They both started off strong, but ultimately could not finish them, which is a rare thing to be too full to finish a dessert. I did my best to finish the ice cream sandwich which I had ordered because it was a tradition, but couldn’t finish mine either.
After Calderwood, we went back out to the Emilie and got ready for bed. Gray begged to sleep on deck, so Metta slept down with me. I was afraid they might have eaten too much, and sure enough, Metta soon was not feeling well, and told me she thought she might throw up. She did a great job getting up on deck, and sure enough threw up right over the side. I guess it’s was really my fault for giving them too much to eat. Anyway, after the minor hiccup, we all went to sleep, and woke up to the lobstermen leaving the harbor and got an early start home.
