A SUNNY DAY, TIME FOR A HIKE ALONG THE BEACH

Wow, are we lucky! After a Memorial Day weekend filled with rain every day, we had sunshine on our first day off this week. We decided to celebrate seeing the sun by taking a short ride to Crescent Beach State Park along the Maine coastline for our first hike of the summer. The parking lot was huge, much larger than Siesta Key in Sarasota, but we were one of only about 10 cars - a bit too cool for the beach to be crowded. When we opened the car door, we could immediately smell the fresh salt air. It was during the work week and the temperature was in the low 60's but that didn't keep some Mainers from sun bathing on the beach.

These seagulls were playing in the surf. The sand was a light brown color, and this part of the  beach was full of small stones as well as lots of seaweed. 

We headed down the beach towards what appeared to be an island just off shore on the left below.

We soon came to a sign that said "No Trespassing" so we followed what turned out to be an old fire road and saw some beautiful spring flowers. There were plenty of Tall Goldenrods.

Also wild geraniums  Unlike in Wyoming, the different types of wildflowers have been few and far between.

The forest was filled with lush greenery. This picture almost makes it appear we are hiking in a rain forest. These are cinnamon ferns and are growing wild everywhere on the forest floor.

Paul along the trail. While in this forest of mostly pines, there was a hint of the Christmas tree smell in the air.

We found one tree that didn't fare so well. This pine tree was overgrown by some type of suffocating vines. The only part of the tree still alive was the top few feet.

The path through the forest circled us back to our starting point, so this time we headed in the opposite direction towards Kettle Cove State Park. The terrain changed to a nice sandy beach with no stones. A few large clam shells littered the beach, but they had been picked clean by the seagulls.

We did find a small lobster tail that had washed up on the beach.  This may look like it may be ready for boiling, but it was less than 2 inches long.

In addition to the temperature being in the 60's, there was a considerable breeze blowing in off the water. This was only the second day it was warm enough to wear shorts. Yes, Paul was wearing a light-weight vest to stay warm in the breeze.

At Kettle Cove, the point was very rocky, with layers of rock easily visible.  My research on the Internet related that these rocks were formed over millions of years by a combination of movement of the earth's crust, as well as deposits from live volcano eruptions.

Paul standing on the point, balancing on the uneven rocks. There were several lobster boats in the cove, so we watched to see if there was any action on them.

While Ann was taking the photo above, two lobstermen drove up to the boat ramp to unload their small dinghy piled high with lobster traps.

The lobstermen unloaded the dinghy and headed out to their boat which was moored about 100 yards off-shore.

The lobster traps had to be off-loaded before they could go back to get the traps on the pick-up truck. The buoys are colorful so they are easy to spot while the lobsterman is checking his traps for lobsters. Each lobsterman has a unique colored design for his buoys.

After completing our beach hiking, we drove a few miles to see the Cape Elizabeth lighthouse. The shore is very rocky with the same type of "layered rock".

Because the lighthouse is up on a cliff about 75 feet above the water, the lighthouse itself is not very tall.

We turned to look out at Casco Bay, and we saw our lobstermen heading out to drop their traps. Notice how loaded the lobster boat is now with both sets of traps on board. Lobstering is one form of commercial fishing in Maine. However, lobstermen use a traditional lobster boat rather than a much larger commercial fishing boat.

We ended up with a hike of about 5 miles of walking in total.  We enjoyed the sea breezes bringing in ocean aromas to make for a very pleasant outing.