It's been on my to-do list, and I can now check it off. We hiked around Mackworth Island in Falmouth today and it was fantastic!
Mackworth Island is probably more known for being the home to the Baxter School for the Deaf, but it also has a deeper history than that. The trail, maintained by the State, is a mile and a 1/4 long and should take about an hour to travel - unless you're with three boys. Then you have to multiply the amount of food an average 8-11 year old can eat by the amount of times they need to throw rocks or sticks, then divide by how many times they leave the trail to get a final estimate of time. For us it averaged 2.5 hours.
Bubster and his big brother came along with us - great kids, but they don't get out on adventures like this very often. It was fun to see their faces as we looked out across the channel at Fort Gorges and the city, complete with Lighthouses and barges. I taught them how to look for the birds they could see from the binoculars in my field book, then they helped me write them into my list. I found a Horned Grebe - there's a new one for my list! I have to admit, the trip was really fun and I can't wait to go back at a lower tide or this spring/summer when it's green - I bet it's gorgeous! As usual, I'll let the pics do the talking then I'm adding this to our Places we like to be Adventurous page:
Mackworth Island is probably more known for being the home to the Baxter School for the Deaf, but it also has a deeper history than that. The trail, maintained by the State, is a mile and a 1/4 long and should take about an hour to travel - unless you're with three boys. Then you have to multiply the amount of food an average 8-11 year old can eat by the amount of times they need to throw rocks or sticks, then divide by how many times they leave the trail to get a final estimate of time. For us it averaged 2.5 hours.
Bubster and his big brother came along with us - great kids, but they don't get out on adventures like this very often. It was fun to see their faces as we looked out across the channel at Fort Gorges and the city, complete with Lighthouses and barges. I taught them how to look for the birds they could see from the binoculars in my field book, then they helped me write them into my list. I found a Horned Grebe - there's a new one for my list! I have to admit, the trip was really fun and I can't wait to go back at a lower tide or this spring/summer when it's green - I bet it's gorgeous! As usual, I'll let the pics do the talking then I'm adding this to our Places we like to be Adventurous page:
The beach next to the parking area
Getting the hairy eyeball from the locals
Yes, there are rules
Our first pitstop
Overlooking the Portland Waterfront
Checking out the landscape
Massive trees
Heading down to the beach
Squirrel prints!
Hey! I found something!
Seaglass
Fort Gorges
He looks stumped
Common Eiders
Yes, the trail was that steep
Skipping stones
Heart-shaped Rock
Such HUGE trees!
They were fascinated by a fire hydrant on an island.
A Horned Grebe with it's winter plumage
Portland Headlight
Bittersweet
Making "Fairy houses"
Taking a Break
Monkeys
The way home
HA! I forgot to tell you all - there were well over 100 Common Eiders floating along around the island, but on the back side we saw a couple of Common Loons and that Horned Grebe. :)
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