Tettegouche State Park

I took it easy yesterday, since it rained hard pretty much all day. As a result, I was itching to get outside and do some exploring. I headed up the North Shore and past fair Gooseberry Falls to Beaver Bay where I walked down to the private beach that's open to the public to explore a bit and look for agates. The agate search was definitely successful. That beach contains more agates than any other beach I've gone agate hunting for along the North Shore.

After some agate hunting I headed up to Tettegouche State Park where I drove up Palisade Head for the first time. Wow!

There are some great views from the top of the road and some even better views from the summit of the rocky hill. I drove down the hill after about an hour exploring and walking up and down the trail-less summit. I then drove to rest area and visitor center for the start of an ambitious 9 mile hike.

My hike started out with a walk along the Baptism River. I stopped and ate lunch at Two Step Falls before heading upstream.

I bypassed the bottom of the High Falls, crossed the river on a foot bridge and then started a loop to Tettegouche Camp. Along the way I took several spur trails to overlooks, none of which were all that spectacular. When I arrived at Tettegouche Camp I explored the camp a bit. It was the first time I'd been there without snow on the ground. I went down to Mic Mac Lake and then hit the trail again.

I passed yet another lake, this one called Nipisiquit Lake. I stopped for a drink of water at a picnic table set up there before continuing on. I soon saw a couple of dead moles along the trail. There was no sign of how they might have died though. The most exciting part of the hike came when I saw a Pine Marten on the trail. As I approached it ran up a tree. I was able to get some good photographs of it before I continued on back to my car.