Top Toy Finds of 2024

You might notice me stopping to do a little toy hunting in some of my hiking blogs. Yes, I'm a giant child who collects toys, forever on a quest to re-collect my childhood. Yard sales, flea markets, antique stores, comic and toy shops, I scour them all. Most of what I buy I resell, mainly because my collection is so big I have most of what I want, but these are my top finds of the year.

Masters Of The Universe ETERNIA PLAYSET 1986

On May 17 I was hobbling around the Brimfield MA flea market on crutches and came across a holy grail piece of any Masters Of The Universe collector, the original Eternia playset. Without the income we've had the last few years, it pained me to walk away from it after always saying if I ever saw it in person, I'd be buying it on the spot. This was my first time seeing it in person. Got home, told my wife about it and she sent me back the next day to get it. So I got there the second that booth opened the next day, hobbled back over on my crutches, and $450 later I was hobbling back to the car lugging a giant playset with me. The fact that it was still there that late in the week was insane. I already owned Grayskull and Viper Towers but I haven't been able to find Central Tower alone for less than $650. And it turned out there was a bag of parts included, worth $450 alone, not to mention the two towers I already had didn't have the accessories these did. Central Tower barely fit in the backseat and I have no room for it in my toy room so it lived on Jaime's old work desk in the living room for a long time. I finally own Eternia.

Masters Of The Universe Classics CASTLE GRAYSKULL & figures lot

By the time the summer Brimfield show rolled around I was off my crutches and Dad accompanied me for one of my days there once again. He came with me on Friday to hit the fields that weren't open on Tuesday, opening day. One of the first fields we hit, first booth there, I was telling him how I always look but it's typically in box pieces that are way out of my price range. As if on command, I spot the MOTU Classics line Castle Grayskull, along with the Point Dread/Talon Fighter set with its box, a handful of MOTU Classics figures as well as MOTU retro style figures made by Super 7. The sticker said $425 for the lot. Wait, for the entire lot? Yep, here, take my money. It took me and my dad two trips, luckily he brought his little hand cart which helped, almost a mile of walking it back to the car twice, I was the proud owner of another MOTU piece I'd never seen in person and never expected to own, along with a handful of figures I was actively looking for. To give you an idea, the castle is complete and typically sells for no less than $650, everything else included puts the value for this lot around the $1,000 mark. 

Thundercats MUMM-RA'S TOMB FORTRESS

And Brimfield for the win yet again. During the September show, my parents came with me for my first day there, Mom's first real outing since kicking breast cancer's ass earlier in the year. They headed back to the car while I finished up a field and planned on hitting the rest the following day. On my way back to the car, something in one of the always ridiculously overpriced tents caught my eye, Mumm-Ra's Tomb. I had it as a kid, sold it with the rest of my Thundercats collection during the poor college years, and years later found the box for it at my parents' house full of dinosaur toys. I asked on the price, knowing it'd be bad because it even had the always missing lizard tail part, plus both Mumm-Ra figures. The guy said he could let it go for $300. I had it on my list in my phone as $400 being a good price. I passed on it, once again told Jaime about it when I got back and was instructed to return the next day, hit that tent first and get it. I did, and now I once again own this awesome piece of my childhood.

WWF Hasbro wrestling figures UNDERTAKER series 8, SID JUSTICE, SGT SLAUGHTER, TATANKA, PAPA SHANGO

On Friday, June 28th I was out doing what I do every weekend, yard saling. I made sure to hit one I go to every year that always has a basket of overpriced action figures that I usually manage to find a few worthwhile deals at. This time, in the $5 figures basket I spotted the unmistakable glow of one of my favorite toy lines ever, the WWF Hasbro wrestling figures of the early 1990s. It wasn't until I started digging that I realized they weren't all the pretty much worthless early series figures, there was a Sid Justice, Sgt Slaughter, Papa Shango, Tatanka, all ones I've owned since my childhood but all time favorites of mine. And The Undertaker, another favorite, only this was the dark haired version I never had, of course he was missing his highly sought after and expensive entrance robe but the figure alone is worth about $65. It's not often you find these later releases at a yard sale, and even though I had all the others, I bought them anyway and kept them on display the rest of the year.

Transformers generation 1 MEGATRON

An infection in my foot in the spring nearly knocked me out of action when the first Brimfield antique show of the season was taking place. Nearly, because we got me some crutches and a post surgical boot, (my foot was way too swollen to fit in a shoe), and I managed to hobble around two days in a row, one in the rain. Let me tell you, walking a couple miles on crutches through a crowded flea market isn't easy, but it was well worth it. It may not be complete, but in a tray of random figures at a toy booth I always stop at, I spotted another one of my holy grails, a piece I never owned as a child, the original Megatron figure. He was in gun mode, obviously missing pieces, but the guy said $30 and I jumped on it, adding him to my little pile of figures. When I got home and transformed him I realized he was way more complete than I'd anticipated, I was picturing missing limbs and no head, turns out he just needs his chest and arm cannon and he'll be complete enough for me. Wow. Hands down, one of my favorite characters of all time since I first laid eyes on the leader of the Decepticons when I was only a few years old.

WWF Ultimate Warrior Frisbee

Megatron wasn't the only grail piece I got at that booth, he wasn't even the first one I spotted there. On a shelf above the figures, gleaming like a fluorescent green sun, was the Ultimate Warrior frisbee I've been hoping to find for years. It must have been 1993, a few months after Grandpa passed away, at Grandma's house on Christmas Eve I got this frisbee as a present. Turned out I should have kept it in its package because ten year old me trying to throw a frisbee is the equivalent of current me trying to throw a frisbee. For years it sat in the sports bucket, slowly succumbing to the barrage of bats and footballs banging against it, until it was eventually thrown out. When I started collecting all the awesome toys I once owned, this was a piece that seemed too random to ever find in the wild. It's a little beat up, dirty and cracked in places, just like mine had once been, and I love it. No, I haven't tried throwing it.

WWE Classic Superstars SHAWN MICHAELS from Rockers 2 pack

Still hobbling around on crutches, I made my way through the Mansfield Flea Market, easier said than done with all the rocks and people rolling wagons around. At one of the always overpriced booths I find deals at every once in a great while, I spotted a figure I've been looking for since 2005 when I stocked the pegs at Toys R Us with the new WWE Classic The Rockers 2 pack. I couldn't afford it at the time and now they're rather pricey. A couple years ago, my first time attending Brimfield, I found the Marty Jannetty half of the tag team, but on May 19th I finally found Shawn Michaels. At only $5, I snatched him up and didn't let him go. Well worth scooting along on crutches all morning.

GI Joe SGT SLAUGHTER (USA mail away) & Battle Armor COBRA COMMANDER

It's not often I find anything good on Facebook Marketplace but when I do, oh man. On our anniversary, August 26, a local guy was selling a small box of random figures for $30, averaging out to $1 a piece. The pictures were vague and a bunch of the GI Joes were broken but there were some parts I needed. It turned out the figures I needed for my collection had all their parts and just needed to be put back together. I owned two of the four Sgt Slaughters as a kid, still have them, and recently got the Marauders version, but the last one I needed was the mail away exclusive, the first ever version of the figure. I also knew I needed this lot because the Battle Armor Cobra Commander, the first GI Joe I ever bought plus all time favorite, actually had his facemask hose. And it turned out his backpack was included as well. Of the five of him I own, only one has his gun, and now I have one complete. My two favorite Joes in one lot. Yo Joe!

GI Joe figure lot (VIPER v4, T’GIN-ZU, Heat Viper v2, Clean Sweep, Dial Tone v4)

Those weren't the only two vintage GI Joes I found this year. At an estate sale on June 7, fresh off my crutches but still limping, I got to the sale a little early, knowing there were some figures I wanted in the preview video. I fell behind the pack running up the driveway when they opened the gate, having enough trouble walking, but I managed to get some pretty cool stuff including a bag of random figures and one of GI Joes from the living room where there were a handful of overpriced Joe vehicles. I got to the basement before the other vultures made it down there where I snagged a bag of GI Joe accessories and a small bag of broken GI Joe figure parts, all of whom ended up being complete between the two bags. The later released GI Joes like these are a bit more rare, some of them on the pricey side, upwards of around $40, so spending $16 between the three bags of Joes was well worth it, coming out to about a dollar a piece. These are five I never owned but wanted, especially the two in the top row (Viper v4 & T’Gin-Zu). And they were far from the only amazing pieces I picked up at that Eddington Maine estate sale.

Battle Beasts Hare Razing Rabbit, Diving Duckbill, Ossified Orangutan

At the same estate sale, on the long row of basement tables, I grabbed a bag of random figures for $5 mainly due to two figures in there, both Battle Beasts. I had the entire collection as a kid and loved them, sold them all in the poor college years and have been picking them up over the last decade whenever I find them. I already had the Orangutan, sold this one later for $17, but the Rabbit was still on my long list of Battle Beasts I'm hunting down. I dug through a box of vintage Legos under the table because I've found some cool accessories mixed in with Legos before and today didn't let me down, I found the Diving Duckbill Battle Beast in there along with a few other accessories I grabbed. And that put me two closer to completing the collection I already owned once upon a time.

Super Naturals Lionheart Halloween Costume

Still not done at the Eddington estate sale. Almost missed this one hanging on the wall between a raincoat and some pennant flags. I had a few Super Naturals figures as a kid, as well as the playset, they were creepy but awesome and now I own most of them again. But I didn't know the Halloween costumes existed until a month or two earlier. Assuming I'd never find one, I didn't bother putting either one on my list of items to look for. It's not exactly valuable, maybe $20, but I'm not planning on selling this guy anyway. For $5, excellent condition with the mask included, I was super excited to find this piece and it's been hanging on my wall ever since.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles KRANG 5" Android Body

The year started off right with one of my only two Facebook Marketplace finds of the year. I spotted a small lot of action figures out in Hartland. Where the heck is Hartland? Ah okay, middle of nowhere, told the woman I'd be there in an hour and headed out to the middle of nowhere. The $20 lot consisted of about twenty figures, all to resell except for one who I would've spent $20 on alone, although he is missing his Krang brain accessory. Sold everyone else from the lot for around $80 so I basically got this figure for free, hard to beat that. I had him as a kid, right up until selling off the TMNT collection during the poor college years. Now to find his brain, maybe until then I'll just stick a little pink gumball in his stomach and call it good.

Mad Balls Oculus Paddleball

The week after our impromptu trip out to Hartland, we headed off another road trip, this time to the indoor flea markets in western Maine. Along the way we stopped at the big antique mall in Fairfield where I got a few things, but the most noteworthy was one I didn't know existed until laying eyes on it. I had a couple Mad Balls as a kid but not Oculus, the one I wanted the most, even though he creeped me out every time I saw him in comic book ads. Still need the actual Mad Ball itself, but for now I have the paddleball, well, without the actual ball to paddle. I paid $15 which sounds like a lot but it's worth about $50 even without the ball on a string. Oh and don't worry, I bought a few other figures there to sell so I ended up breaking even. And it's okay there's no ball and string, I could only ever bounce those stupid things once or twice anyway.

TMNT Nickelodeon Party Wagon, Toxic Crusaders RADIATION RANGER,

Stone Protectors ZOK, Cowboys of Moo Mesa SHREIFF TERRORBULL

During my summer trip to CT for the Brimfield show, I stayed a whole week, giving me two weekends to hit the flea markets and even a few yard sales. On Sunday July 7, after hitting the flea markets with my dad, we headed down the highway a few exits to Norwich where I'd seen an ad for a yard sale that had the TMNT 2012 Party Wagon vehicle, a piece I needed for my collection. Getting there so late in the afternoon, I knew it'd be gone but we were close so why not. Not only was it there, it was only 50 cents, so I grabbed a bunch of other random stuff for super cheap, all to sell, even my dad bought a few things. The guy said if I was into Ninja Turtles he had some more stuff inside. I ended up buying his whole box of figures for $30, spanning generations that included vintage, 2003, 2012 and a few of the more modern ones. What really caught my eye was the last of the Toxic Crusaders villains I needed, a Cowboy of Moo Mesa and the bad guy leader of the Stone Protectors. There was also a bag of accessories, some of which were parts I needed, but overall this was a lot to resell while keeping a few for my ever expanding collection.

WWF Superstar Shootout hockey figures

The next weekend I hit the CT flea markets before heading back to Maine. Kind of a slow week at the Mansfield Flea Market, not nearly as many vendors as usual due to Brimfield, but I managed to get a few good lots. Most of what I bought was for reselling but these guys are for me, and I've been looking for them for years. When I was a kid, my dad got me the WWF Superstar Shootout tabletop hockey game at the Willimantic Benny's store, we played it all the time, until the bars that moved the figures around the rink bent too much to be fixed anymore. It pains me to say this but I assume we... threw it away *shutters*. We didn't even keep the figures. We kept the front of the box for a while but eventually got rid of that as well. Now of course it's a lot of money and I'd kill to still have the box artwork. And my wife wonders why I keep everything now, packaging included. This is the first time I've seen the hockey figures anywhere so I grabbed all five he had for $5 a piece, Earthquake, Tugboat, Million Dollar Man, Big Boss Man and Hacksaw Jim Duggan.

GI Joe COBRA COMMANDER v17, NITRO VIPER, UPDRAFT, SGT STALKER v5

For our Christmas trip to CT, the Mansfield Flea Market was unfortunately already closed for the season, but Jewett City is year round, inside and out. It was freezing on the 22nd of December, only 10 degrees that morning, but Dad came along with me, he didn't hang around outside for long though. I get it, by the time I finished buying a bag of mostly broken GI Joes along with a handful of other figures, I could no longer feel my fingers. I spent $50 total which would have been worth it had the figures not been as damaged as they were, most of them with screws so rusty we had to use a drill to carefully remove them and then reconstruct the figures with new bands and screws. But there were a few rare pieces in there I needed for my collection, oh and they all smelled strongly of mildew as well. It was more work than it was worth but it was a fun project for us over the holidays.

Hot Dog magazine He-Man & She-Ra cover

On Friday August 2 we hit the Corinna town wide yard sale, but all of the good ones we hit every year weren't taking part in it this time around for some reason. There were still a lot to hit, got a few things but honestly kind of a slow day on the yard saling tip. I did however find something awesome that's been hanging on my wall ever since. At the Legion Hall sale, the last one on our list, in a stack of random old magazines I spotted a Hot Dog magazine with He-Man and She-Ra on the cover. Grabbed a couple other things to sell and only spent $1 total, but I love finding pieces like this, especially ones I didn't even know existed. If you're wondering, the kids magazine sucked, but with a cover like that, who cares.

Creepy Crawlers Oven 1993

In mid-September, one of the last real yard saling weekends, we found ourselves on some back roads we'd never been on before, traveling far and wide to hit every sale we could. At one of the last stops on our list, on a side street off a side street, towards the end of the driveway I spotted one of my grail pieces, complete with its box. The 1993 Creepy Crawler oven, the exact one I had, same box and all. They asked if $10 was alright, I said hell yeah and told them how I'd been looking for it for years. When I got home I realized it had some sealed packs of goop, including the awesome glow in the dark stuff, plus some trays and all of its original pieces. Over the years I've re-collected some of the trays I once had but now the set is complete. Hmm, do I see if it still works? Is 30 year old goop still usable? Honestly I don't care, I just wanted it for display. I actually came across it a couple years ago at the July Brimfield show, didn't want to carry it around, swung back by the tent to buy it on my way back to the car that afternoon and they were already gone for the day. And now I finally own this piece of my childhood once again.

WWF Big Boss Man FOAM NIGHTSTICK Souvenir

For the September Brimfield show, I went back to back days on Thursday and Friday, and got a buttload of stuff both days. I didn't carry it all in my butt though, I have bags to help with that, and on Thursday I had my parents to help with Dad's little metal grocery basket cart on wheels. First field of the day, after already buying some toys on the side of the road, in the back of the field I spotted something you certainly don't see everyday, a vintage WWF Big Bossman foam nightstick they used to sell at live events or through the merchandise catalog. I never owned one of the foam souvenirs but always wanted one, and to find this, over 30 years later in this pristine of condition is incredible. They're super rare so it's hard to get an accurate value but they typically sell for about $60, I grabbed this one for $20. Sure I wish it was Undertaker's urn or Razor Ramon's razor blade, but I'll gladly display Bossman's nightstick in my collection. I almost walked away from it but ran back a couple minutes later, realizing this isn't something I'll ever see again.

GI Joe Laser Viper v2, Lady Jaye v2, Storm Shadow v5, Duke v7 (1997-2001) & Indiana Jones 1982

After buying the foam nightstick, I crossed the street where Dad told me someone had a giant trash bag of figures on a table, and boy was he correct. I started digging through and pulling pieces left and right, all late 80s and early 90s from Ninja Turtles to Transformers to Power Rangers and GI Joe. They wouldn't just sell me the entire bag and decided to dump it out on the table. So I dug through and made a giant pile, they wanted $5 a piece but were counting every little accessory that fell off the figure, so I unfortunately had to narrow it way down, and they kept some of the pieces I found in there for themselves and decided they weren't for sale, I hate when sellers do that. I missed out on a lot of great pieces but ended up with a backpack full, mostly to sell but I grabbed a few for my collection, including four semi rare GI Joes from the vintage collection they released around 2000. Last year I got the Lady Jaye and Storm Shadow figures but both were missing body parts, on this day I found them also missing body parts. but I was able to combine them with the ones already in my collection to make them whole. I also grabbed a vintage Indiana Jones I always wanted as a kid but didn't know they'd even made back then. I went back before leaving that day and grabbed some more pieces, then a few more the following day, spent a lot but made some decent money off that booth. It pains me to think about the pieces I left behind, including a bunch of Transformers Pretenders because they each consist of 3 parts and I wasn't about to pay the $15 a piece they were charging me. I could have spent all day at that table but my parents were eager to move on, but hey, at least I got first crack at it.

This is far from everything I kept for my collection but these are the top 20 from 2024. Overall it was a pretty bad year, but toy hunting made it just a bit better.

BLOG - December Waterfalls in Acadia

Yesterday's storm made today perfect for checking out some of those elusive Acadia waterfalls. With an inch or two of rain and little sleep, due to the 65mph winds keeping us up half the night, we headed off after the morning rush. Power was out along Route 1A the entire way there, making us doubtful we'd be able to pick up the discounted park pass for next year (yearly passes are half off for the month of December at local area Chamber of Commerce locations). Ellsworth was completely dark so onto the island where they amazingly seemed to have power. We started the day with a quick trip to Breakneck Road as we still haven't seen the recently re-scultped falls in high water. Mission somewhat accomplished, the falls weren't raging by any means but much higher water levels than normal, the problem today was that the camera really couldn't see them. Bright sun plus leafless trees does not make for photographic cascades.

Onto Bar Harbor to the Chamber Of Commerce for a... sign on the door saying all out of park passes, go to Sand Beach entrance station. Man, I had the perfect parking spot too. So down Schooner Head Road to Sand Beach where they did indeed have yearly passes for only $35. The waves were intense so a quick stop at Thunder Hole was in order. We arrived just in time to see a massive swell blast into the air. At only a degree or two above freezing, we didn't stick around long.

Jaime sat the next one out as I climbed 330 stairs up the Emery Path, yes I counted, to a trailside cascade I've had yet to witness in peak conditions, as in every time I hike past it it's either a wall of ice or dry as can be. Today it finally happened. All water, no ice, and a whole lot of amazing. This one was left out of the Acadia's Waterfalls book because I didn't have an adequate photo, now it can take up its rightful place in the pages of Acadia's only waterfall guide.

From there we headed over to Seal Harbor to take the back way into Acadia's Jordan Pond winter entrance, you'd never guess it was there at the end of a residential neighborhood if you didn't know. We parked at the end of Stanley Brook Road and followed the closed portion of the Loop Road to the Triad-Day Mtn Carriage Road bridge. The one mile walk along the road in the freezing cold just to reach our trailhead had us eager to get to our next destination; a carriage roadside cascade I noticed on my way by back in October. It was just a wet cliff then but I knew if it was wet in the driest of conditions then it'd be something special after a little rain. It did not disappoint.

Quick stop at a carriage road drainage tunnel we spotted through the trees on our way by, what can I say, I have a thing for caves, natural or man-made. I had to climb up to check it out. Then a brisk stroll through the Wildwood Stables, all closed for the season, a first for both of us, and back to the car via the Wildwood gravel utility connector road. Two new cascades to grace the pages of Acadia's Waterfalls, the only question now is whether to add them to the current book or save them for the exclusive hardcover to go along with a few others that didn't make into the book in time.

With the sunset quickly approaching, I opted out of a longer carriage road trek towards Chasm Brook and went for a solo return mission along the Eagle Lake carriage road. A few years ago on my first trip up Conner's Nubble, a mountain I highly recommend, I noticed a dry yet intricate channel passing under the carriage road. I went back later that year after a little rain but the stream didn't live up to its reinforced streambed. So I figured I'd give it another try today, it was no more impressive this time. Maybe it just needs lots of water, like four inches instead of two. I will see this ledgy cascade with water rushing down it someday.

Even after the rain, water levels were still extremely low, I was able to walk quite a ways into Eagle Lake after the dry summer and autumn. We were off the island before the sun set, that never happens, but half of Ellsworth was still without power. Naturally it was the half where I hoped to shop, namely Walmart for bird seed and shipping supplies, Goodwill and an antique mall. Crews were still out repairing power lines and putting telephone poles back up. I guess we lucked out on this one, we certainly did not need a repeat of last year's powerless Christmas week. At only 5.5 miles today I didn't even break a sweat, unheard of for me, granted most of it was along carriage roads but still. And we made it home just in time to feed Nixy, our opossum friend, when she emerges at sunset for her breakfast.

BLOG- Last Days of Fall in Acadia

Still needed a few more pics for the revised Acadia You Haven't Seen Vol 2 book. We headed out a little after the morning rush and ate in the car. Traffic was lovely, aka non-existent. I ran into 1A Relics in Ellsworth right when they opened at 10 but nothing much for toys today, Goodwill had a few things of interest but all overpriced so off to Acadia for some hiking. The temperature reached 40 along the drive, perfect for avoiding the sweat. First stop of the day was a band of ledges on Great Hill located just above the West Street Extension and Paradise Hill Road intersection. I headed off alone on this one, knowing the fallen leaves would make the steep terrain treacherous, I was right, but luckily only for the first few hundred feet.

Grabbed a few acorns along the way for my chipmunk friends back at home. I managed to stumble across an old Great Hill trail which led right by the band of ledges and was amazingly easy to follow, I assume it pops out on the ledges where the glacial erratics live along the more well known abandoned trail. No time to find out, I had to make my way to the ledges where the views were as spectacular as they were last time, though most of the foliage has passed.

I followed the old trail back down, wondering if it would lead past the Sunset Hill ledge and sure enough, it went right by it. So I stopped there for a few pictures before meeting up with Jaime along the old road portion of the hike, I popped out of the woods right where I told her I'd meet her just as she was arriving, damn I'm good.

We headed over to the Bubbles parking lot again so I could do the lower portion of the Goat Trail without the rude sun washing out the photos, I swear, the nerve. The cloudy morning was perfect for what I needed. Managed to get a spot in the smaller, closer lot and I headed off alone again, this time I read my book before going so I found the old trailhead without any issues, it was right where I said it'd be. I'd forgotten it was literally a stone stairway all the way to the road. Got my pics of the staircase with the railing and even the old rungs on the cliff across the Loop Road since I could stand in the middle of the street to get my photos, can't do that in the summer. Walked back to the car along the road to save a little time and only met two cars.

We’d noticed a car go through the entrance booth at Cadillac so we decided to give it a try. No reservation needed since it's about to close for the season, so we headed on up and parked in the lot below the summit. I needed to get some pictures of the very upper end of the Potholes Path, but man did the wind make for a cold walk along the Cadillac South Ridge Trail.

A little over a mile to the Featherbed, it was dry as could be after a long drought.

I found the upper end of the Potholes Path with no problem, huh, I expected a bit of searching. The goal was a section of trail I believe was once known as the Great Snake Flats, for some reason I didn't have any photos of the broken ledges. So this time I took a bunch.

I don't actually have any evidence these are indeed the Great Snake Flats but the deep cracks in the ledges seem like the perfect place for a giant mythical snake to hide and hunt. I went a little further down the trail to the Old Leopard boulder before turning around and making a quick trip up to Dike Peak for a few photos.

I stopped at the Featherbed to sit on a log bench and eat my nutty bar. Then back up to the car for just over a 3 mile round trip, not bad considering it would have been well over 4 miles if I did the Canon Brook Trail like originally planned. Despite the cold and wind I still managed to find myself dripping with sweat on my way back up Cadillac, and possibly a few icicles.

Driving down the mountain was much more pleasant than walking in the cold wind, and it gave me plenty of time to hit the Otter Creek boat launch along Grover Ave before it got dark, there was even a large pull-off with plenty of room for parking. I got the few pics of the mud flats I needed and made my way along the nearby trail heading towards the Otter Cove Causeway. Not sure how I had no pictures of the trail but I somehow had none.

And back to the car, stopping to admire the view of Champlain Mtn and Huguenot Head from Grover Ave, a view I forgot was even there so that was a pleasant surprise.

With the last hour of sunlight, we made our way over to lower Hadlock Pond and walked out together. With all my visits to the scenic body of water, I'd somehow never approached it from the Brown Mtn Gatehouse before. And in all my visits, the sun always left the view rather washed out. Today wasn't perfect but better than any of the photos I already had.

The water was the lowest most people have ever seen it, not even close to making it over the dam. Which meant I got to walk around beneath the cement waterfall. The sun began setting, making our walk back was a bit chilly, but a perfect way to end the day.

We made our way off the island with rush hour traffic, which surprisingly wasn’t too bad, nothing compared to last time, it’s amazing the difference two weeks can make. Back in Ellsworth I stopped at Mardens to check out the toys they put out for Christmas, no figures I needed, don't get me wrong, there were a few good ones, I just already have them. Then Dollar Tree for a few groceries. No Walmart toy hunting tonight, I was sore and that's a big store to walk around. And if you were wondering, my infected toenail did fine all day. Ear infection still going strong but nothing I couldn't handle. And that wraps up the revised edition of The Acadia You Haven't Seen vol 2. (Note: Unfortunately my computer stopped working around this time and it took over a month to get the parts needed to fix it, just long enough to get everything off of it before it was gone for good. Mission accomplished and luckily I didn't lose anything when all was said and done.)

BLOG- Fall Foliage In Acadia

Perfect fall day for some foliage photos in Acadia, I still needed a few pictures for the revised edition of The Acadia You Haven't Seen Vol 2. All sun, no clouds, which doesn't make for the best photos, not to mention my ear infection and infected toenail, but I managed to make it work. First stop of the day was Breakneck Road because somehow in all of my visits, I barely had any pictures aside from the waterfalls. The photos sucked due to the sun but it was a beautiful day, 50s, no wind, and I was able to get what I needed for the book.

We headed over to the Otter Cove Causeway, where they’re still doing construction, but I was able to pull over, hop out and get the pictures of the trailhead and cove that I needed. My old photos were from a gray day, so gray they looked black & white. Ah, this is much better.

Next stop was Boyd Road, after doing the Loop Road for a ways where every lot was overflowing. I hopped out but the sign said the shooting range was in use, I'm sure it wasn’t but it seemed like they didn’t want people going that way. So we looped back around, parked at the Triad pull-off by the bridge and I set out on the carriage road for the other end of Boyd Road. I’d never been on this portion of carriage road before and stumbled across what might be a nice little waterfall after some rain.

Hopped onto the north end of the abandoned Boyd Road after exploring the abnormally dry swamp at the base of the Featherbed trail.

Boyd Road was gorgeous with some color in the trees, but mostly on the ground.

After a bit of searching I found the start of the old Green Mtn Trail up Cadillac, an abandoned trail off another abandoned trail. The goal was to get to the boulder section for some photos but with the sun shining through the partially leafless branches, I turned back before reaching my target, no point in going any further today.

I followed the unnamed stream down to Hunters Brook, climbing over tons of blowdown in the muddy ravine, losing the shoe off my foot at one point. Crossed the brook with some easy rock hopping, ignored the trail on the other side and bushwhacked up to the carriage path I started out on. Fairly easy whack through open woods with only a few hundred feet of steep uphill at the end.

And 4.5 miles later I made it back to the car. Since it was getting a little late in the afternoon we were amazingly able to get a parking spot at the Bubbles lot when a couple cars finished their hike. Jaime accompanied me on this one and we made our way down to Jordan Pond, which was as busy as it is on any summer day. Not easy to get photos without mobs of people in them but I managed to get a few.

I did not however manage to find the start of the old Goat Trail. I really need to start bringing my own hiking guides with me. I knew the general area but I just couldn't find it. It didn't matter anyway because with the sun beating down, the pictures I needed wouldn't be any better than the washed out ones I already have.

Well, I suppose it was a semi successful day. Traffic back to Ellsworth was insane, at times slowing to a dead stop. I swung by Walmart to get some carrot cake after wanting it all day for some reason. Oh and if you're wondering, my infections, both ear and toenail, did perfectly fine throughout the day. But I was admittedly a bit sore by the time we got home. After going through today's photos, I think I got what I needed and really, any day spent hiking is a good day.

BLOG - Last Trip For Acadia One's Revisions

Had a minor hive flareup last night but didn't let the remnants stop me, it was off to Acadia today to finish up the last maps needed for The Acadia You Haven't Seen Volume One REVISED EDITION, plus a few extra pics to brighten up the book a little. Started my day with a return trip to Brewer Mountain, hoping to map some of the old quarry roads, which meant a quick stop at the Stone Tower. There was a lot of new blowdown along the old road since the last time I was here, this past winter was a wild one.

Found a few old roads but too faint to bother mapping, I did stumble across a couple unofficial trails on Brewer Mountain I didn't find last time though. They both led right to the summit on almost the exact same route I took back in October 2016, and even offered a few new views I hadn't seen before including Cadillac and The Whitecap as well as McFarland and Youngs Mountains. Had to update the Summiting Acadia hiking guide too after that one.

Onto the Park Loop Road where Jaime accompanied me along the Red & Black Brigham Path, the first abandoned trail we had discovered back in 2015 while searching the side of Champlain Mountain for the Hanging Steps. Back then I didn't have a gps unit so I more or less guessed where we were on the mountainside, today we finally mapped it using my own directions from The Acadia You Haven't Seen. We found it with no trouble at all. Jaime stopped at the shimmering waterfall ledge after crawling through the boulder cave while I continued along the trail all the way to Enoch Mountain. I'd always lost the trail in the rockslide but today followed it all the way, skirting the base of multiple cliffs, one of which had a balanced boulder perched atop.

Followed the trail right into the saddle between Enoch Mountain's upper and lower summits. Enoch was actually the next destination on my list so this negated the need to make my way up The Bowl Trail, I needed some photos that weren't washed out with blindingly bright sunlight. Got what I needed before the wind practically blew me off the mountaintop, had a little trouble holding the camera steady.

Made quick work of the abandoned trail on my way back to Jaime and we walked back to the car for some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, already pretty sore and it'd only been 4 miles of hiking. But we set out on the Great Head Trail, stopping to check out the view over Sand Beach. It never recovered from the winter storms that wreaked havoc on the shoreline, shifting the boulders to the base of the staricase and the stram now runs along the upper part of the beach before cutting down the center of it. Well, I guess all those people online who were saying it does this every year and will reset before the park opens were proven wrong. I've seen Sand Beach in the winter before but it had never been altered that much before so I had my doubts it would return to normal.

Continued along the trail to the tip of Great Head where I carefully shuffled along the unofficial path that travels along the top of the cliffs. I knew I wasn't going all the way down to the sea cave that became the cover of The Acadia You Haven't Seen but I wanted the gps tracks for the route down. Whoa, okay, I remember it being an intense journey but this was worse than I thought.

And okay, that's far enough, this is definitely not safe. I can't belive I directed people here. But I made it to the teetering boulder that marks the route down. I did not climb down though, I'll have to take my own word for it that it's climbable without ropes and harnesses. We decided to leave the cave in the book since it is the cover after all but marked it as dangerous. The teetering boulder is located directly in the center of the photo but is hard to see due to it being the same color as the cliff.

After finishing the loop I scooted up the 350 foot long herd path to the Peak of Otter for the map and for some more pictures. Last time I was there was during sunset so the photos left something to be desired. Not that there's much to see from the wooded summit other than a few remnants of the old Naval watch tower.

Off to the other side of the island for some pictures of Fernald Cove for the Jesuit Spring chapter. All my pictures were centered around the spring itself with no photos of the cove, the marsh pond across the street or the little water spout that drains into the cove. It was even low tide.

Then onto something new to end the day before losing the sun. I had recently noticed a trail on an old map that climbed Saint Sauveur Mountain. After some research I figured out what it was, the Slide Trail, emanating from a now non existent road that branched off Fernald Point Rd. So I made my way up the Valley PEak Trail before starting my bushwhack. Within a few hundred I came across a giant rock slab with a cairn at the top and bottom, right where I thought it'd be. There were some fantastic views from the open ledges.

Followed the abandoned Slide Trail all the way down to the road where a long portion of it travels along the ANP property boundary line, what I believe to be the old road corridor. Lovely trail you can tell is still traveled by locals. This one will probably end up in a website exclusive book of trails and destinations that didn't make it into The Acadia You Haven't Seen.

And that marked the end of the day. I successfully got everything I needed for the revised version of the book. Now it's time to make the last few maps that I finally have gs tracks for. I'm kind of amazed I was able to do an entire book without them the first time around. We tried getting some supper at the nearby grocery store but they closed at 7 so with only a few minutes left open, all the warm food was put away for the night. Man, I was really hoping for that bbq kielbasa I got there before. And mashed potatoes. And mac and cheese. Now you've got me hungry, I'm gonna go eat.

The new revised edition is now available on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D2X35JS5