Crescent Beach State Park – Cape Elizabeth, ME

I had taken this Friday off a few weeks ago (had to work in a few days so I don’t lose them at the end of the year), so this was a planned visit to Crescent Beach.    I lucked out by getting there at high tide with tropical storm Jose offshore.

I have never seen the tide this high.    (I’m forty.    I’ve been coming here all my life.)   There’s a stream that flows out through the beach that’s normally pretty much dry this time of year.    It was completely full (to the point where there was no way you could get across without getting wet – also something that never happens- it’s a bit lazy normally).    If you head back behind the beach and the dunes, there’s a large fresh water pond that feeds that stream.    The water was pushing in so hard that you could actually see a current spreading out over the pond.    I don’t think it’s gotten a salt water infusion in years.    The sound of the waves at that point (behind dunes and a stretch of forest) was still positively percussive.

I didn’t go on either beach.   I usually bypass the main beach, but I always go down to the pebble beach closer to Richmond Island.    It was reduced to a thin strip – and there were occasional waves breaking over that.

In other news, I found Indian pipe on the back path, so really, it was one of my favorite Crescent Beach walks ever.