This is the best looking part of Jonesport, halfway up the coast between Ellsworth and Quoddy Head.

I did some research on Maine fishing ports after seeing how little was left in Boothbay Harbour. Apart from Portland, which is the largest city in Maine, only one mainland port made it into the top ten of fish landings. All the rest were on islands someway offshore, apart from Stonington which is on an island connected by a bridge.

So I decided to visit Jonesport in the hope of seeing what the fishing ports were like elsewhere before tourism and second homes squeezed them down to very little.

Jonesport is very much a working village. It runs to one small general store.

If you look carefully at the house to the left and behind the ‘sculpture’ you will see that it is in dire need of repainting. Many properties were in a similar state, though obviously still lived in. I could not get close to the actual harbour landings as they were surrounded by working buildings.

I saw a bridge leading to an island, so crossed it and found myself on Beal Island. It was a continuation of Jonesport really.

This is a view from Beal Island across a bay to what I later discovered to be Great Wass Island. By eye one could spot several jetties and small landing stages along the coast. Beal Island is almost certainly included in the catch figures for Jonesport.

This is the view to the right of the last photo.

This was nearby and was a boat repairer.

As is usual there was a small cemetery right by the road. Many graves, like the one on the right, had a lobster float decorating them. The colours on the float identify who owns the lobster pot. Also of note is that anyone who has ever served in the US armed forces is a ‘veteran’ and has a US flag on their grave. In this instance the lobster float is actually on the wife’s grave. A significant number of the surnames on the graves were ‘Beal’, which implies a very old community (by US standards).

This was just one stash of lobster pots I noticed. There are an awful lot of them. Presumably they will be renovated over winter.

I continued driving around just to see what I could see and ended up at a car park on an unsurfaced road with a sign for Great Wass Island Preserve. I had unknowingly crossed a small bridge onto Great Wass Island.

This map showed some walking trails, which turned out to be the best I have come across. After about a mile through woodland, there was a long stretch along the coast, before looping back through woodland.

This is how it started and it was just like many other paths through woods. Then it turned along the coast line, but above it, still in woods.

From here on there was the constant sound of water lapping on rocks. The path followed the coastline as far as it could, occasionally going slightly inland, always marked with blue blazes.

Eventually it went steeply down to the rocky shoreline.

Most of the going was on huge slabs like this one. Fortunately the rock, which I think is pink granite, has very good grip, and once used to it I could stride out even when at an angle of 45º to the sea.

The air was very pure as there was lots of lichen.

After a while it became more challenging, a sort of horizontal boulder hop and scramble.

Some parts were easier going than others, and from time to time it went back into the woods for a short stretch.

Across the bay is a lighthouse, very necessary with the number of small islands visible. Throughout the walk I could hear lobster pots being lifted and sunk, though I never actually saw the boat that was doing it.

The path eventually reached this point and turned to the right. The view is looking out to the Bay of Fundy.

The place to turn inland was imaginatively marked.

The path climbed a bit but kept near the sea for a while.

And the descent definitely needed these three rungs. It is much higher than it looks in this photo.

Then it was back through the woods to the car. These are high bush blueberries in full autumn colour.

All in all as good a coastal walk as I could ever hope for. It was just under 5 miles long and took over 2 and a half hours. I met one young family who just walked through the woods to the coast and back, and a middle aged couple who were doing what I did.

I use the AllTrails app on my phone to follow trails, so I looked it up when I got back. One comment made was that this was definitely not for the ‘over 60s’. I left a reply that it was definitely not for anyone of any age who had no experience of bouldering, but I knew people nearing 80 who could manage it easily.

This is not a very good photo, but the only one I have, of large swathes of land that at first I assumed was moorland. I later realised that they are actually low bush blueberry fields. Maine is famous for its blueberries and much of the harvest comes from these fields. I believe that the harvesting is by mechanical rake.

These signs were often to be found on General Stores in the very rural areas.

My next destination is Vermont, but the distance was quite long so I spent one night at a motel just in New Hampshire at Gorham.

A typical motel in a very strung out town, with a full complement of MacDonalds, Dunkin Donuts etc etc. The motel room was fine, clean with everything you could need, but it was close to a road that was busy all night long. Gorham is a ski resort, but of the most basic sort.

The Fall colours were at their best next morning as I drove through New Hampshire.

The photos do not really do the colours justice.

Not far from the border with Vermont is the town of Lancaster, which includes my favourite bakery, The Polish Princess Bakery, so I paid it a third visit to stock up on bread and goodies.

I am now in Vermont, which is proving very interesting, with some quirky museums and one enormous one that will require a post all to itself.