Quoddy and Western Heads

On day two of our Maine trip we visited Quoddy Head with its lighthouse and beach. We also had a great hike at Western Head, which is south of Lubec, in Cutler. Maine has a lot of "Heads" I guess. From what I can tell a Head is simply the outermost piece of land or rock in an area. Something for ships to avoid hitting. The dictionary has many definitions for head; the one that seems closest is "promontory". A promontory is "a point of high land that juts out into a large body of water; a headland".

We enjoyed these colors on the rocks at West Quoddy Head beach.

Stone Palette

Stair Steps

The West Quoddy Head Lighthouse has a small visitor center that was open. One amusing thing we learned is that the number of red and white stripes on the lighthouse sometimes changes when it gets repainted. We're not sure if Deb or I took the next photo.

West Quoddy Head Lighthouse

We also learned that the Bay of Fundy tide changes are even more pronounced the further north one goes; it's about 20-25 feet in this area, and 50 feet at the northern tip. This next poster explains in more detail.

High Tides Explained

Looking out at sea from near the lighthouse:

Wisps

We thought this was an "island". Turns out the tide went down dramatically while we were there, and we were later able to walk to it.

Temporary Island

Watching the Tide Roll Out

Birds of a Feather

Red Squirrel Dinnertime

Sharp Rocks Before the Mist

Green Undertow

In honor of the name of this blog:

Cormorant Pose

Seagull Pondering

Gold Coast

Hmmm, can you see where Debra is in this photo? She's hiding.

Where's Debra Now?

There she is!

Deb Walks on the Ocean Floor

Tidal pools! Yay!
For these next shots I used my polarizing filter to "see" under the water with as few reflections as possible.

Tidal Pool

Underwater Color

Tidal Pool Rocks

Quoddy Head Shoreline

Tidal Design

We stopped at Hamilton Cove on our way to our next hike at Western Head. This view was along the short path to the beach there.

Blowin' in the Wind

This is the view near the start of the Western Head hike in Cutler.

Island Above Wildflowers

Beach House

Many of the hikes we went on had structures like these to protect the environment. This next photo shows chicken wire atop boards to give one sure footing.

Bog Protection

We came across an "interactive" sculpture on the Western Head beach. It didn't take us long to figure out that many other hikers had placed rocks within this long dead tree. Naturally, we opted to do the same. Mine is the blond colored rock on the left and Deb's is the spotted one next to it in the center.

Love Rocks

As an artist, Deb thoroughly enjoyed this natural crowd-sourced sculpture, and took many photos of it. She got a good laugh when she saw this next photo.

Bending Backward to Improve the Photo

This is the island at the tip of Western Head:

Layers

I took many tripod stabilized photos of waves in an attempt to make them look silky smooth with a long exposure, but that also requires a good neutral density filter, which I don't have. I use my polarizing filter as a makeshift ND filter to provide the equivalent of 2 or 3 f-stops of reduced light. This is 1/5 second at f/22.

Fundy Waves

All photos © 2017, all rights reserved.  Contact me for licensing or to order prints.

---