Day 116: Cobscook Bay State Park to Harrington on the Beach

September 24, 2021

More Down East Sunrise Trail

When we wake up it is low tide again, the water has retreated so far that the rock islands in front of our camp are now surrounded by mud and sea grass. The mosquitoes are bad this morning so we quickly pack up and get going.

First back to route 1. The road has a good shoulder, and traffic is light, but there are many hills to climb. We first head south to Witing, then east again towards East Machias. There we pick up the Down East Sunrise Trail again. The going is much slower on the rough surface, but we follow the river and an estuary into Machias with very nice scenery. In Machias we stop for a breakfast sandwich, and since there is a Subway we also pick-up a foot-long for lunch later. The going keeps being much slower than expected, but we travel through some nice forests, across bogs and over rivers. The trees are starting to turn color.

When we get closer to Harrington we leave the trail at Columbia Falls and take the road for the last couple of miles. More hills here. We are staying with Richard and Susan, the sister and brother in law of Charlie, our host in Boscawen a couple of weeks back. They have a beautiful house a couple of miles south of Harrington, surrounded by dense forests with a view of the bay. We get a comfortable room, a hot shower and are offered tea, cheese and crackers. For dinner we share an awesome spaghetti with scallops, wine and beer.

It is going to be hard to leave here, in fact we will take a restday here tomorrow.