It’s been a while since I’ve shared a Mondate mostly because it’s either rained, or we had errands to run, or whatever we did was something we’ve already done a million times before and didn’t seem worth sharing. And so this weekend dawned as a three day weekend for the two of us and we decided to dig in and have fun.

We began our journey on Saturday with a long (think 9.5 mile out and back, with some backtracking in the mix) walk on old roads deep in the woods of western Maine. Our goal was to find the Hand on The Rock. Yes, you read that correctly. The Hand on The Rock.

And we did. I’d heard friends talk about this over the years, but until recently didn’t know of its actual location. Yes, that’s my guy’s hand. But do you see the engraved hand on the rock? It was perfect for my guy to place his hand on top, as he’s left-handed.

Below the left hand is the name LH JEWETT, that features a backward letter J. According to Arthur Wiknik, Jr.’s Hand on The Rock essay, “The rock carver has been identified to be Leander Hastings Jewett. Leander was born on April 4, 1851 in Sweden, Maine to Milton and Eliza (Whitcomb) Jewett, and for a time lived in the northeast corner of Sweden known as the Goshen neighborhood.”

Continues the writer: “As with most young men in the 1800s, Leander was a working member of his family and likely chiseled the rock between 1868 and 1873, presumably out of boredom while helping his father do some logging.” 

I think what I love most about all of this is that Wiknik acknowledges my friends Jinnie Mae and Dick Lyman, (may they both RIP,) for their historical knowledge.

Since we were in the neighborhood, we also stopped in at the Goshen Cemetery. The stones were discovered years ago under the duff and uprighted in situ. The tombstones are unmarked and as far as I know, two theories exist–an epidemic struck the neighborhood and those who died needed to be buried as fast as possible, or these were the tombs of the residents from the town’s poorhouse.

And when we finally returned to the truck, we were blessed to discover a bag of fresh veggies left by two dear friends.

That was Saturday.

Sunday found us driving across Hemlock Covered Bridge in Fryeburg, Maine. The structure has spanned the Old Course of Saco River for 166 years.

Built of Paddleford truss construction with supporting laminated wooden arches, Hemlock Bridge is one of the few remaining covered bridges still in its original position. Peter Paddleford of Littleton, New Hampshire, created this design by replacing the counter braces of the Long-style truss bridge, creating an unusually strong and rigid structure. It was reinforced in 1988 and one can still drive across (“You’re stating the obvious, Mom,” our sons would say.).

Our goal was to paddle under the bridge and head to Kezar Pond on this beautiful afternoon.

My guy had never actually travelled this route before, so it was fun to share the tranquil paddle with him.

A juvenile Bald Eagle greeted us from high up in a White Pine. And we greeted it back. As one should.

Reaching the pond, we discovered a beautiful day to the east and storm clouds to the west. And so it was a quick look-about and then a wise decision to turn around and paddle back to the bridge.

But first, a small skimmer dragonfly known as a Blue Dasher, begged to be admired. And so I did.

As soon as we started our return journey it began to sprinkle, but despite the rain, we were rewarded with another look at the juvenile eagle as it flew down to a tree limb beside the river.

Did we get wet? A tad bit. It was a gentle rain, however, and since it wasn’t cold, we didn’t mind.

Was my guy faster than me? Yup. But he waited under the bridge until I caught up.

And then today’s decision was to climb The Roost trail in Evans Notch and hike along another trail in Shelburne, New Hampshire. The Roost is a fun loop that doesn’t have much of a view at the summit.

But we found things to look at that made up for it, like this Clintonia, aka Blue Bead Lily, growing out of a dead snag.

And this mystery plant for my naturalist friends to identify.

The trail down that we chose to follow was a wee bit longer than that ascending The Roost, but offers a much more gradual descent. And four water crossings.

And a view of Hobblebush leaves speaking of the future. Since I mentioned Jinnie Mae earlier in this post, she had to be smiling down upon me when she saw that I was taking this photo. She used to tease me about all the Hobblebush photos I took. But it always has something interesting to offer, no matter the season.

At the final stream crossing, we spied an old sluice way that speaks to the history of the area once known to support many logging camps. We were just below Hastings Campground and Hastings was formerly a booming village during the early 20th Century.

There are also bricks in the water, so I wondered if a grist mill or saw mill had been operated here.

As we walked back up Rte 113 to complete the loop and return to my truck, we took a detour across the bridge over Wild River. It’s part of the snowmobile route when the white flakes do fly.

Our next plan was to explore Shelburne Riverlands, a Mahoosuc Land Trust property just across the line in New Hampshire, but where gnats had been annoying on The Roost, the mosquitos drove us crazy and about a half mile in we decided to turn around and save this hike for another day. A cooler day. A less buggy day. I think we’re on at least the fourth mosquito hatch this summer.

Instead, we continued down the road to Mahoosuc Land Trust’s pollinator garden at Valentine Farm. It’s a favorite hang-out of mine. My guy tolerated my slo-mo photo taking by napping in the truck.

Look at all the pollen on that bee!

And check out this Hawk Moth that hovered much like a Hummingbird.

I also fell in love all over again with the White Admiral Butterfly, especailly since the orange on its hind wings seemed to match the orange of the Coneflower.

But the stars of the show were the newly emerged Monarch Butterflies.

If my guy hadn’t been waiting so patiently in the truck, I might still be there, circling around and around watching all the action.

It was the perfect ending to this Tri-day Mondate. And I’m glad we were able to make the most of it.