Today Is Certification Day!

Friday, May 7, 2010

Today is Certification Day! Broke camp by 7:30 and drove to Otter Cliff parking lot. We non-Certs waited in support until Jon Tierney arrived, laid out the plan and expectations. I thought he did a decent job of trying to make things calm and not raise the stress level. Then again, I was going elsewhere. The Certs walked single file, off the road and inside the rock wall to their testing area, slightly south of our first day. We follow for a bit in sherpa support but are conscious of giving them space.

Gorgeous cliffs! Too bad they can't enjoy them for their beauty. Kaytee H decided to bag the cert so she made our threesome a foursome. We drove away slowly, taking in the rock towers the certs would work on today and all of us wishing them well.

Had breakfast in Bar Harbor and then drove to Cadillac Mountain. Hiking is closed May through late July to protect nesting Peregrine falcons. Cadillac is the highest point in the eastern seaboard and the wind whips around, at times forcing you to plant yourself to keep from being pushed around. We walked on the gravel paths and rocks, avoiding the renewing vegetation, to see the views. Katy found the you-are-here map which pointed out The Beehive, Otter Cliff where the cert group was setting up and climbing, Sand Beach, and Blackwoods Campgrounds that we had left. We found some rocks to hunker down among and avoid the wind and enjoy the sun's warmth. I eventually dozed and the others woke me with talk about going to town so Kaytee could buy a tie-dyed shirt. I thought that dozing more on my own sounded good so they agreed to come back in an hour to pick me up. I realized out of my dozing stupor that splitting up may not have been a good idea and took off to catch them. The last thing we need is to have a problem that could impact the cert group and no cell phones to reach each other. Damn. They were gone. Okay, worry breeds worry. Do something productive.

Oh, a visitor's center! Hadn't seen that before. Lots of information about native people. According to the center, Wabanake means "people from the land of the dawn". . . appropriate since someone standing on top of Cadillac Mountain could be the first person in the eastern U.S. to see the sun rise. There are four tribes that fall under the Wabanake. I recall Penobscot, Passamaquoddy, Maliseet, Micmac (mi'kmaq) but I forget the meaning of each name. I found a postcard for Fran of Otter Cliff and one of Thunder Hole for Sarah L and wrote them sitting on a rock in the wind.

My ride came back to pick me up and we headed back to the Otter Cliff parking lot. While waiting for the cert group to show up, we cleaned out the vans, prepped for returning gear, and laid on the warm pavement out of the wind. Austin hoped they'd be done by 3. They weren't. More like 4 or so before Austin, Sean, and Jon showed up and grouped up to go over assessments. Slowly the cert group straggled in, all anticipating their meeting to discover their fates. Mike was the first to go and his whoop and big smile told it all. Not everyone got it. Some that we've all seen do their setups this year didn't make it. Some had test anxiety, were too slow, etc. We all wanted everyone to get the cert and thought of them throughout the day. Hard that they didn't get it after the week of stress. Some laid on the pavement as we had to stretch and warm. I gave massages to several. . . a way to support and care.

Once the vans were loaded we headed out. Our smaller van caught up with Austin at a gas station and again in Greenfield. The larger van with trailer was further out because they stopped for a lobster dinner. At 1 a.m. we didn't wait for them and will pick up our gear on Tuesday when we're there for individual conferences. Gave Erin and Sarah L. rides home. Fell into bed around 2 a.m. This was my last OLP adventure. . . .