When Bob and Jan mentioned they were planning a trip to Maine, I knew there had to be beautiful places for Dave. I was so happy that they were kind enough to take time from their trip to find just the right place.
Saturday morning in Bar Harbor, we decided to forgo the planned group ride and do something on our own, like hike! After talking with the front desk at the hotel, we realized we couldn’t use the public free shuttle to get us to the trail head in Acadia National Park, without burning hours. Bob decided that we would pack our minimal hiking stuff into the MC and drive to the Cadillac Mountain South Ridge Trail Head, and park the bike. It’s always unsettling to park a bike in a remote area and leave it for fear of theft or vandalism. First of all, it felt great to be in the woods on our own 2 feet after spending the last 2 days riding up to Maine from NJ. We stopped at various picturesque spots, snapped some pics and kept going onwards and upwards. Our goal was to get to the top before the riding group and meet them at the summit. About halfway up, I realized that I didn’t have Dave’s ashes, and they were back at the hotel. Damn! When we finally reached the summit we positioned ourselves on a rock ledge right along the roadway and waited for the roar of Harleys. The look on their faces when they saw it was us on the ledge, was priceless. Bob snapped away, and pretty much got pics of all of them smiling and waving at us. We met them in the lot at the top for a group photo, and hiked around the top of Cadillac Mtn. with a few of our club members. Beautiful view…breathtaking, but filled with tourists.
We said our goodbyes and headed back down the mountain to finish our hike. In total, we ended up doing 6 miles. Very hot and drenched in sweat, we hopped back on the bike and Bob drove us back to the hotel to get on some dry clothes and head back out. This time I put Dave’s ashes in my little fanny pack I carry with me on the bike. We’re back in
Arcadia Park, and ready to do the 27 miles scenic loop around the park. The loop is one way, so if you pass by a scenic spot and miss it, you are out of luck. We passed some scenic areas, Sandy Beach, and the famous Thunder Hole…packed with cars all along the road, parking areas filled up. Finally as we kept going on the road, we started to get away from the touristy areas and Bob pulled up a hill into a parking lot. First thing we heard when he shut off the engine was melodic ringing of a bell coming out from the ocean. Bob right away looked at me and said…”Thanks Dave….this is the spot.” As we crossed the road to get to the cliffs, we could see a green buoy in the distance swaying back and forth. It was the source of the bell.What was amazing was the buoy swaying back and forth with a ringing bell that was in synchronization with the natural rhythm of the ocean. We both felt his poem embodied this beautiful spot.
I was immediately filled with emotion as I knew this was exactly the place Dave wanted to be in. We left the “safe” area, and started to hike down (in our clumsy riding boots), and navigate down a ledge away from the few people that were there. Yes, they did look at us pretty strange… I gave Bob the bag that held his ashes, and he positioned himself to release them. Just as he was about to do it, he heard a woman’s voice yell from below, “OFF BELAY.” There coming up to the ledge around a corner was a Lady Climbing Guide, with a harness filled with climbing gear, slings and well you know…the whole 9 yards! Bob quickly let go of the ashes before she could see what we were doing. I snapped a bunch of pictures, and of course we took pictures of the Guide. (Dave would have thought she was a cutie), and climbed back up to the safe zone.
We both looked at each other in complete disbelief. 27 miles of possible spots and we are “guided” to this spot? First hearing the ringing of the bell, and then at that special moment the guide yells “Off Belay,” for us signifying our deep and unique connection to Dave sharing our love of climbing with him.
Needless to say, I was moved to tears, and filled with so much emotion and grateful that he is still very present to us. It makes me feel so aware of how huge the universe is and really how out of control we really are. I am grateful that Dave is very much with us on our adventures and obviously tagging along with us. Bob thinks that Dave picked that spot for us that signified our connection to him.
This sounds like the perfect spot for Dave. It’s just too bad Dave didn’t whisper in Jan’s ear to remember his ashes for their hike!
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