Sears Island, Maine

An experienced cacher recently suggested that I check out Sears Island for its caches and scenery.  I expected tourists, summer homes, and nicely groomed walking trails but upon arrival, I realized how little I knew about the area.

There is one road that leads to Sears Island from the mainland.  It is blocked with cement barriers preventing any traffic from traveling on the island's one "road."  The first thing I learned about this place was that they mean business when it comes to dog business.  It must be a popular place for pups and their owners to walk because not only did I see a few, but there are doggy waste bags and trash cans available. 

I parked my car on the dirt pull off with two other vehicles and grabbed my geocahing bag and a bottle of water.  It was early in the day but looking like it would turn out to be a hot one.  Behind the cement barricade is the one strip of pavement on the island.  Only having walked about fifty feet from the entrance, I started to get a very eerie feeling about the place.  The road hasn't been a road in so long that grass has started to invade some of the cracks in the tar and there are only a few barely noticeable flakes of yellow paint that used to line the road. 

I put on my brave face and set my GPS to the coordinates of the first cache.  I had to take a path off the main road to get to my destination, which made me less than comfortable.  The other two walkers chose to stick to the pavement.  It wasn't far before I turned off this path and into the woods to find my destination.  I quickly found the cache, and a swarm of mosquitoes, in the crook of a tree.  The contents of the cache, which included an old cassette tape, were pretty wet, making it difficult to sign the log. 

The next cache was down the same trail and off into the woods on the right.  Several times while looking for this cache, I walked face first into spider webs.  I couldn't bare the thought of how many bugs were probably crawling one me at any one moment.  I stopped to look under a pile of logs, and when I did, I heard something or someone crashing through the woods in front of me.  This noise was followed shortly after by another something or someone crashing through the woods.  I decided to abandon my search for the cache and got back to the main trail as quickly as possible.  I looked both up and down the path expecting to see a dog and its owner but instead I saw nothing.  My friend had told me that there were ten caches on Sears Island but at this point, I knew I would not look for them all.

The next cache I dared to do was a two stage multi cache.  A multi cache is where you have to find one or more caches that give you clues or coordinates to the final cache.  The clues were found on a telephone pole next to a sign naming the former residents of the island.  After doing some calculations and putting the numbers in the correct order, I started bushwhacking my way to the second and final stage of the puzzle.  At the posted coordinates were the remains of the foundation of a house, which was now a pond.  It had the same feeling as a cemetery. 

These were the only two geoaches I found on my trip to Sears Island.  Walking here is unlike any other place I've ever been.  I've read the expression "deafening silence" in books but experienced it for the first time here.  Not to sound like a coward but more than a few times I checked over my shoulder to see if anything was there.  Although I never saw anything, I'm not positive that there weren't eyes peeking at me from the thick woods. 

I planned on leaving as quickly as I could get myself into the car but that was before I noticed the beach.  Just as on the island paths, I didn't see anyone out on the beach.  I walked along the damp sands of low tide and collected a few shells and sea glass to take back to show my students.  Listening to the waves lap the beach, I thought wistfully of my childhood growing up on the coast.  My mom often took my sisters and I beach combing at Sandy River or Batson's Beach. 

The ocean breeze helped counter the affects of the hot summer sun.  A sea gull took the opportunity to go bobbing for some lunch, something I had never seen in my years as a Downeaster.  I then got sniffed by a soggy puppy who was doing some beach combing himself and chatted with her owner. 

Although I didn't find many caches, going to Sears Island was a nice experience.  I found some great information and history about Sears Island from this link.  I ended my day by driving into Belfast to get some lunch and stopped at Perry's Nut House, another place I hadn't been since I was a kid.  Thanks to Masterson of the Universe for the recommendation. 

**Belfast Pictures**