Leg 47 from Starboard Rock, into, around and out of the Privilege. This inlet is considerable both in size and in beauty. An old skeleton beckoned me in. Much of the first half hour or so was conducted in the woods above the shore, it being problematic getting down to the water but before I reached the head of the cove I got down close to low water. The cove's being iced over nearly completely made for slippery going. On the other hand it allowed me to avoid the mud flats.

The area on the east side, near the entrance is littered with huge boulders, much bigger than I've encountered elsewhere and, I assume, have been calved off Starboard Rock and its attendant peninsula.

The accummulation of ice and snow is everywhere divided precisely by the high tide mark which has dissolved some or all of it during the interlude when it lingered at that level.

There are some very cozy berths up here at the head of the cove and at the head of it's little westerly branch, really appealing spots that were, particularly in the west branch, about as far away as one can get from what passes, out here, for hussle and bussle.

Near the entrance is an expansive mussel bed, bigger than any I've come across since the one at thead of Perry Creek. It's a beautiful colony, wide and with sweeping curves defining the areas where here, at low tide, it's boundaries meet the sea. I stood and watched for a while as those edges changed with the advancing tide. It reminded me of an Eric Hopkins painting that had taken on a little life.

Next leg, 48, will leave Calderwood Neck behind.

Leg 46 from Grossville, around Starboard Rock to the Privledge

This beautiful little island, has become a graveyard of discarded wire traps.

Of course I don't mean Vinalhaven but this little island north of Starboard Rock.

After today Stonington will be behind me for a while. Each view of it though, first from Calderwood Point, then all the way around the Neck from Thayer Point, has been tantalizing, like a glimpse of another kingdom.

A certain granite outcrop, unlike those adjacent in either direction, appeared to have been folded into itself, like merangue.
T
A little spruce found enough nourishment in a little clump of soil to take root and, once that was a reality, there wasn't much to be done but to make the best of it.



Getting around the base of Starboard Rock wasn't as bad as I'd anticipated. High up on this rock my grandfather Ted Maddox carved his initials and those of my grandmother, Phyllis. He pointed it out to me once but now I can't be sure.

I don't know how to manage the way this blog aligns text and pictures. I put text where I want it then, when I post it, the blog puts stuff where it wants to. I hope the reader can figure things out.

Everything that's rock, anywhere in this vicinity, is big. In other places, where rocks have sheared off, boulders have come tumbling down. All around Starboard Rock, particularly to landward, these are enormous.

Turning the corner here, having put Starboard Rock behind me, I felt as if I'd made another landmark. Certainly that will be the case after I've emerged from the Privledge and come back to the Carrying Place Bridge. Calderwood Neck, its perimeter, was a delicious experience

I might have sat here to rest, maybe in the Spring.

Next Leg, 47, in and out of the Privledge.

46

Leg 45, from the Ritz to Grossville.

This wasn't a very long walk, a lot of scrambling up to snow covered woods to get around steep ledges or rocks covered with snow and ice. Still, it was no less beautiful. Each glimpse across the bay to Stonington during these last few walks has been just stunning. I didn't photograph that image; it didn't seem to arrange itself in a way that worked for the camera but it was certainly beautiful to the eye.









When I ended my last leg the tide had come in too far for me to get to Little Island, just in front of the Ritz but this time it was low enough to let me get across the little bar and walk around it. From its far side I got an ubstructed look at the larlger of the Hen Islands.


Looking southwest down the length of Winter Harbor with Penobscot Island on the left and the rest of Calderwood neck on the right I could see the point at which, later this month I'll turn south into Vinal Cove.







When came around the bend and was about to conclude my previous walk I surprised a couple of coons working on something in the distance. I had a chance to examine the area more closely as I started today and could see it was a popular dining spot. Ledges, equally appealing I think, are on either side of this one but all the leftovers, bones and shells, are on this one.













There are several apple trees, remnants of a little orchard, in the woods on this point. I wonder if they were included in the recent inventory conducted by the Historical Society.



Next leg, onward to Starboard Rock

Leg 44, from Eastholm to the Ritz. The great adventure enters its second winter.

Rock formations along this coast are unlike those anywhere else on the island. In one area colorful undulating formations emerge from smooth pebble beaches and around the next bend

big jagged pieces from nearby cliffs litter the shore

Just offshore, my two daughters, then about ten and fifteen, and I paddled out from the south shore of Winter harbor to one of the Hen Islands and spent the night in a tent perched high on the rocks overlooking Penobscot Island. In the morning I cooked scrambled eggs, home fires and kielbasa.

About thirty years ago I made the acquaintance of Phil Boster. At the time he owned the Ritz. He was a great guy. He's buried nearby under a stone that identifies him as 'Keeper of the Cove'.





Next leg, 45, from the Ritz to Starboard Rock, maybe into the Priviledge.

Leg 44, from Eastholm to the Ritz. The great adventure enters its second winter. Rock formations along this coast are unlike those anywhere else on the island. In one area colorful undulating formations emerge from the smooth pebble beaches and around the next bend big jagged pieces hewn from the nearby cliffs litter the shore. Just off shore, high up on a ledge on one of the Hen Islands my daughters and I spent a memorable night camping.

Leg 43, from Carl Ames' Farm to Eastholm.











I was looking forward to this walk like no other. This was really remote territory to me. I'd never spent any time whatever at this extremity of Calderwood Neck and I was looking forward to rounding Thayer Point and discovering a shore I'd only seen from the water and only once or twice in my lifetime.

The shore just around Thayer Point was stunning, just rocks and ledges but in such magnificent arrangements.

Standing on this outcrop of stone so completely worn that its edges were like razors, I had to zoom in to the area beneath my feet to try and capture the degree to which this extraordinary erosion had taken place. Looking down the beach a way the same feathery formation emerges from the rubble.

This fellow seems to have built on a pretty solid foundation.

Next leg, 44, from Eastholm toward Starboard Rock. I hope to be off the Neck by the end of the year.