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Post by Jenny on Jun 25, 2018 8:13:14 GMT -5
Page 56 provides a Map of the Island with Acadia National Park and 6 Points of Interest noted
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pnk
New Member
Posts: 4
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Post by pnk on Jul 27, 2018 17:45:56 GMT -5
I’ve been able to locate five items with the point of interest logo in the book. Mayyyybe six, but the sixth one (wheel cover of RV) doesn’t look exactly the same...
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Post by rarbowen on Oct 6, 2018 0:19:46 GMT -5
I think it's interesting that all the points of interest are labeled except for two; the one to the right of Jordon's Pond, and the one on the right at the point of Northeast Harbor. They are easy to find, but still I wonder why they were not labeled.
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Post by susb8383 on Nov 10, 2018 22:15:58 GMT -5
For the one near Jordan Pond, it's because there is nothing there. The gatehouse is on the other side of the road. Where the POI is on the map, there is nothing of interest. A related question is, why did he put a POI there in the first place?
I don't know about the one near Northeast Harbor.
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Post by jonsey1 on Nov 12, 2018 12:54:54 GMT -5
^ interesting illum.... I had the Asticou Azalea Gardens paired with the image of the fairies, and the old lady image paired with Jordan Pondhouse (mainly because the Pondhouse is known for tea and popovers)....just out of curiosity as you have me now considering alternatives- if you have the lady as Asticou where do you have the fairy scene taking place?
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Post by stiparest on Nov 12, 2018 21:20:07 GMT -5
^ interesting illum.... I had the Asticou Azalea Gardens paired with the image of the fairies, and the old lady image paired with Jordan Pondhouse (mainly because the Pondhouse is known for tea and popovers)....just out of curiosity as you have me now considering alternatives- if you have the lady as Asticou where do you have the fairy scene taking place? jonsey1 -The fairy scene is the view from the Jordan Pond House across Jordan Pond to the Bubbles. If you google it, you can see the resemblance. I always felt the lady was in Pretty Marsh - in the text, it says he reached the western shore. Asticou Gardens is not on the western half of the island.Of course, that's just a guess!
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Post by susb8383 on Nov 13, 2018 9:01:18 GMT -5
He even recently responded to the claim of "needing to know MDI geography and history to help solve the book". His reply was "No, everything you need is in the book". I hadn't heard he made a recent comment. This is good to know because it is exactly the opposite of the way he was quoted in the blogspot article as saying "although a certain familiarity with the island’s interesting geography and history would be helpful."
illuminatinps, do you have a source or a link for that?
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Post by stiparest on Nov 14, 2018 9:38:59 GMT -5
He responded to an email i had sent. I specifically pasted the link from that interview containing the quote in your post so he could see it. He simply replied, "All you need is the book" I took his earlier comment that knowing a little about the island's geography & history to mean that once you solve it, you can go and find it. The solution is in the book, but if it spells out something like, "Under the fountain by the water" you'd need to know that there is a fountain by the water and where it is. On the other hand, if the answer is longitude and latitude, giving you a specific spot, you'd still need to know how to get there, what roads to take etc. So I agree that everything we need to solve the riddle is in the book AND that a little knowledge of the geography & history can help get you there.
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Post by pumalion on Jul 9, 2019 17:47:06 GMT -5
"Ripple" and "Eagle" are actual locations on the Island, so maybe those clues refer us to the map.
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Post by goldenchild on Aug 26, 2019 16:22:20 GMT -5
For the one near Jordan Pond, it's because there is nothing there. The gatehouse is on the other side of the road. Where the POI is on the map, there is nothing of interest. A related question is, why did he put a POI there in the first place? I don't know about the one near Northeast Harbor. the point of interest On the south east side of Jordan pond is Harlequin’s hut. For one, the coordinates are hidden on the maps page and Nikon page that pinpoint that point of interest. Also the night before the Fox is with the fairies on the west side of Jordan lake looking north west toward the bubble mountains. And that’s why he says he got to the west shore...not of the island but of the pond. And the next image is harleyquinn which he says he reached the east shore by morning...not the east shore of the island, but of Jordan lake. That point of interest is harry Quinn’s....and the other unlabeled point of interest is the old lady’s cottage which is in Asticou at thuya gardens. Go to thuya gardens on google maps and rotate the map to look out towards the bays. It is an exact match for what the view is out of her window. She is definitely not representing the Jordan pond house. Even in the wording of her page it talks about a cottage surrounded by flowers and flanked by trees. That all exist at thuya gardens.
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Post by goldenchild on Aug 26, 2019 16:53:46 GMT -5
^ interesting illum.... I had the Asticou Azalea Gardens paired with the image of the fairies, and the old lady image paired with Jordan Pondhouse (mainly because the Pondhouse is known for tea and popovers)....just out of curiosity as you have me now considering alternatives- if you have the lady as Asticou where do you have the fairy scene taking place? jonsey1 -The fairy scene is the view from the Jordan Pond House across Jordan Pond to the Bubbles. If you google it, you can see the resemblance. I always felt the lady was in Pretty Marsh - in the text, it says he reached the western shore. Asticou Gardens is not on the western half of the island.Of course, that's just a guess!
you gotta pay attention to the verbal directions that don’t match up with the physical locations. If you go thru and plot every single illustration on your map in the back...and they ALL have precise locations except the key page....because that page is just the “key” to decode the entire book and not part of his trail that you have to follow . Once you get them all plotted you can go thru the verbal clues and most of the chapters have something, no north, south, carriage road south etc ...they have directions. Most of them line up, Although some are tricky like the east shore not being of the island but of Jordan pond for example. But some straight don’t fit. Like the pretty marsh page is absolutely thunder hole..you can find pictures of the ocean trail/sand beach area that I swear he used to base his painting on. The keys on the cliffs are otter cliffs and the Fox is in thunder hole. Which I think the Neptune page with the POI marker represents thunderhole also....just underwater. But on the pretty marsh page he says he goes north to the causeway....which is opposite the way he had to go from Sieur de mont springs...where his den is at. You can actually trace the otters path up otter creek all the way to Acadia wild gardens ...which is right near fandango’s den....which is where he first gets the key. And then immediately splits to thunderhole which is South....not north. Why is that one opposite? But the double back border text makes since....because he runs south to thunder hole....then back north pass “familiar forest, ponds, and coves”. Which if you take the road north from TH it goes right up thru a section of forest labeled on the map, pass a pond, and then pass a cove as you take the road to the current location of the bar harbor ferry (the former wildwood estate...the pompous fools location) and that road goes right back by the springs which it is why it’s familiar Forrest. Most of the directions fit well with the images...some do not though. I wonder why? PS I highly recommend finding all exact locations of all the images and marking your own POI locations in the back. I think they provided a few as a hint that each image has a point on the back map. Once you have them all it’s easier to trace his route. Which most of the times seems to follow actual roads,carriage trails and foot trails. Remember...it’s a trail worth following! If anyone doesn’t know where a certain image belongs on the map just ask and I’ll be happy to share. Like i said, everyone besides the key has a specific location that can be marked on the map
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Post by stiparest on Aug 28, 2019 12:22:02 GMT -5
goldenchild - you wrote:
[...The night before the fox is with the fairies on the west side of Jordan lake looking north west toward the Bubble Mountains. And that’s why he says he got to the west shore...not of the island but of the pond. And the next image is Harley Quinn which he says he reached the east shore by morning...not the east shore of the island, but of Jordan lake. That point of interest is Harley Quinn’s cabin.]
...The other unlabeled point of interest is the old lady’s cottage which is in Asticou at Thuya gardens. Go to Thuya gardens on Google maps and rotate the map to look out towards the bays. It is an exact match for what the view is out of her window. She is definitely not representing the Jordan pond house. Even in the wording of her page it talks about a cottage surrounded by flowers and flanked by trees. That all exist at Thuya gardens.
...Like the Pretty Marsh page is absolutely thunder hole...you can find pictures of the ocean trail/sand beach area that I swear he used to base his painting on.
...on the Pretty Marsh page he says he goes north to the causeway....which is opposite the way he had to go from Sieur de Monts Spring...where his den is at. You can actually trace the otters path up otter creek all the way to Acadia wild gardens ...which is right near Fandango’s den]
In my opinion, the otter never left the creek bed - otters don't generally walk miles across land, but they stick to waterways, and I don't see a waterway that connects Otter Creek to SDM Spring. Following Otter Creek to its beginning brings you to about 3 miles west of SDM Spring, near the base of Cadillac Mountain. It's possible that the otter was on Bear Brook, which also drains into the ocean and is closer to SDM Spring, but it still does not lead to any waterways near SDM Spring/ Acadia Gardens. I think it is more likely that the fox traveled to where the otter was.
[...the former wildwood estate...the pompous fools location) that road goes right back by the springs which it is why it’s familiar forrest.]
The text says the fox follows a carriage road, and there are no carriage roads near SDM Spring. IMO, he would have picked up the carriage road system at the north end of Eagle Lake after leaving Wingwood, and headed south from there along the network of carriage roads, far from SDM Spring.
I have a hard time following what you are saying regarding Pretty Marsh. You say the page where he heads north to the causeway (page 15) is the "Pretty Marsh" page, but the text refers to the Trenton Bridge and the picture shows Otter Cliffs. Pretty Marsh is marked on the map on the far western shore of the island. Maybe I'm confused about which section of the book you are referring to.
Can you clarify: 1. Where you have Pretty Marsh, and 2. Which page you call the "Pretty Marsh" page. You say it is where he "heads for the causeway" but the text is associated with the Criss Cross illustration, which you have said shows Otter Cliffs.
So far, this is what I have: Page 4-5: The fox's den at Sieur de Monts Spring. Page 6-9: Neptune, under the ocean, possibly at Thunder Hole, but the fox doesn't go there, so it doesn't really matter in finding the key. Page 10-11: The 'Key' page - no specific single location -lots of map pieces and other images. Page 12: The otter swims up a creek, most likely Otter Creek to where it is just a 'leak out of the moss." It could also be Bear Brook which flows into the ocean, but I doubt this. Page 13: The fox, while out 'looking for a bite,' runs into the otter near the creek and steals the key. Page 14 - 15: He heads north for the Trenton Bridge. The text says he's at the edge of the Trenton Bridge when Neptune stops him, but this does not match up with the picture which, as you pointed out, is Otter Cliffs. Page 16 -17: He 'breezes along' through a familiar forest and ends up at Wingwood House and the FOP, who warns him (and us) to keep off private property. FOP tells him the wind is blowing from the south. Page 18 -19: He goes south, following a carriage road (which he picks up at the north end of Eagle lake) and ends up at the Brown Mountain Gate House (although there is really nothing in the text to indicate that is where he is). This gate house is about a half a mile north of Asticou Azalia Gardens and about a mile north of Thuya Gardens, which are two different places. The unmarked POI on the map seems to be the location of Thuya Gardens. Page 20 -23: From there, he goes to the southern shore at Bass Harbor, although to get there, he has to go north, up and around Somes Sound, then back down the other side to the lighthouse. The lobsterman is by a shack with a lot of buoys, which does not exist near Bass Harbor, however there are a number of them elsewhere on the island. The lobsterman tells him to 'head down east,' which in Maine means the northeast coast. Page 24-27: He heads 'down east', but gets tired and stops to rest halfway there, where the fairies are - the illustration shows it is the southwest end of Jordan Pond, looking toward the Bubbles. Page 28-31: He reaches the 'eastern shore by daylight." We differ in opinion here, because I feel he has reached the northeastern shore of the island, which would be his original 'down east' destination, where the Acadia Park Headquarters (= HQ = Harley Quinn) are located. This is where you buy maps, get directions, and where you get answers to questions. Here, Harley tells him to "go West." Also, it says he heads out in the dark from Jordan Pond. It seems it wouldn't take hours to get a few hundred feet to the eastern shore of the pond, but could take until daylight to get to the eastern shore of the island. Page 32-33: He then goes all the way to the southern end (of the eastern side) of the island to the Cobblestone Bridge, where the Indian sits. The Cobblestone Bridge is located along a carriage road at the north end of Little Long Pond on the southern shore. Page 34-37: The fire page is a collage of places that burned during the 1947 fire. Deer Brook Bridge, The Frog Fountain from the Italian Villa on Cleftstone Road in Bar Harbor, Kebo Street, also in Bar Habor, and the chimney ruins - I've read different ideas of where this is. I've seen a number of photos of chimney ruins on MDI, but haven't seen this specific one. The steps leading up to it resemble the steps leading to Old Farm, the ruins of George Dorr's estate on Compass Harbor. That did not burn in the fire, but was torn down in 1949. Page 38-41: There are a lot of ideas to the location of the old lady's cottage. Asticou, Acadia, Thuya Gardens especially. My own take on it (and this is just my opinion) is that it is not in a park or private gardens, but that it's in Pretty Marsh - on the western side of the island. I say this because 1) The fox says he's reached the western shore, and 2) There is a place in Pretty Marsh called Mill Cove, which is a field of grass and flowers surrounded by trees - there is a little shack/ cabin there and the view from there looks just like the view out of her window. From here, she sends him to Cadillac Mountain. Page 42-45: There is no clear description of the route he takes to get there, but he heads up the Cadillac Mountain Road where he is picked up by Panhandle Sam who takes him to the summit. Sam points towards the 'island speckled horizon' where the sun is setting. The image shows the sun setting in the east, which is obviously incorrect. From the top of Cadillac Mtn it's hard to see the islands west of MDI (Long and Bartlett), and they are not small, so wouldn't "speckle" the horizon. That describes the porcupine islands, which are small and east, in Frenchman's Bay. So the text and the illustration are both inaccurate here. Page 46-47: The eagle drops the fox into Somes Sound. The features in the illustration can be seen in a map of the area, and the prominent building (storage units?) - can be seen from the top of Cadillac, although with my terrible sense of direction, I've never quite been able to locate it on the ground in a car! The rest of the book takes place in the ocean, the exact location is not clear, but I doubt we are supposed to deep sea dive to find the key. The final image is a view similar to a number of places on the island, so I haven't been able to pin it down, but I lean towards him being on Otter Cliffs as the view from there looks like this.
This is just my take on the fox's journey, which is simply my opinion, not a statement of fact. I had a few questions about the path you take him on, so would welcome your comments. The fact that we have some pretty unclear directions between locations, as well as some of the obviously incorrect/ inaccurate information, makes it hard to follow the fox's exact path around the island to determine where he could have lost the key. Some have suggested he never lost it at all - he is a sly cunning fox after all!
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Post by ILLUMINATINPS on Aug 28, 2019 13:34:50 GMT -5
Stiparest,
Perhaps there is a faint possiblilty that a fox is nothing but a learner. Where did he learn?? From Sam?? What did he learn?? To blow hot air. Never trust a fox, because he may have fooled both Neptune and the Lady and actually never lost the key. If that’s the case, this entire story is being told by Fandango from the first illustration aka Sieur de mont. that illustration is present time, where the others are all past tense.
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Post by stiparest on Aug 28, 2019 19:38:19 GMT -5
Stiparest, Perhaps there is a faint possiblilty that a fox is nothing but a learner. Where did he learn?? From Sam?? What did he learn?? To blow hot air. Never trust a fox, because he may have fooled both Neptune and the Lady and actually never lost the key. If that’s the case, this entire story is being told by Fandango from the first illustration aka Sieur de mont. that illustration is present time, where the others are all past tense. Interesting observation. I have noticed the text goes back and forth between past and present tense in other places in the book.
For example, on page 52, it starts "She stared at Neptune. Neptune stared at me..." (past tense) Then, after the fox recited the poem it says, "I take a breath, ... and see she's listening...," "Old Green Gills is looking back at me...," and, "Fish Boss shouts, Enough!" (present tense) and then, the top line of page 53 is, "I stopped...Neptune cleared his throat..."(past tense again). At the bottom of page 53, it's past tense: "She crooned to him..." but the first line of page 54 is back to present tense: "Neptune smiles....He looks at me..." In the last stanza, the first two lines go back and forth: "It's just a flash..." then, "I shook it off..."
Jeff Stockwell is a writer so he has to know how to use tenses. I feel these switches in tense are intentional. Like you said, never trust a fox... or a Stockwell?!
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Post by goldenchild on Aug 29, 2019 9:14:10 GMT -5
Striparest....sorry after re reading my post it is definitely confusing. I’m out of town traveling and don’t have my book or notes and am posting from my phone so I jumbled some things. First of all I don’t know why I think of the double back page as the pretty marsh. I’ve never thought that image was the pretty marsh area but since I first got the book I saw pretty marsh on the map and immediately thought of the marsh page and solidified that neuron connection in my brain. I know darn well it’s not pretty Marsh but I still call it that in my head. I didn’t mean to call it that. I don’t personally think he ever goes to that side of the island. Every time I said pretty Marsh, I meant the double back page. Sorry for the obvious confusing statement. Also I jumbled my otter creek solve options a bit. I was actually thinking of Cromwell cove and creek, which does go up and forks a few times and ends up by wild acadia gardens. Otter creek I also think can be a good fit too. Or even otter creek road. Really the exact location where they met isn’t important, but it does make sense that it is near where the Fox lives. I agree that the carriage road is picked up after the SPF scene, if I made it seem like he took the carriage road before that scene I misspoke. The old lady page I do believe is thuya gardens due to the POI marker, the view out of the window, the cottage with flowers, and the ladies wild mood swing. Thuya was based on the style of Gertrude Jekyl (think Jekyl and Hide) with plants from, and an influence by Beatrice Ferrand (famous rose garden landscape artist). Is this why the lady is moody as hell and pointing towards the rose tea and rose? I do also think the park headquarters is a very good fit for harlequins page also. His initials, the maps, “tell me where to go”, all fit the HQ. The one doubt I have about that spot is the lack of any visual reference In the image. The main reasons I think it’s that point of interest east of Jordan lake is it does fit the storyline after the fairy encounter. I also misspoke on that part. I think that page is on the west shore of Jordan looking North EAST, not north west. Looking at Topo maps I feel like that image is on the west side, not south west shore of Jordan. The angle of the bubble mountains and the slender extension of the lake looks like it’s more north than The south shore. So if that encounter happens really late night, like almost before sunrise then the fox leaving the west side of the pond, going south and around and reaching the east shore and then scrambling thru the brush to harleyquinns (pointerest) makes logical sense. Also the coordinates found on his page pinpoints that’s POI. Which it is possible that POI is only there to give you a confirmation that you are on the right path by pulling out the two coordinates from the Nikon page and Harley’s page. Which I have a dedicated post about those coordinates coming soon (when I get back to my book) and what I think you’re supposed to do with them beyond this point of discovering they are for sure degree min second #’s. There is a clue hidden in the book I believe on what to do next with these numbers. I have a whole lot to say about this page actually. But that’s not for now.. The topsy turvy page looks to me like it is south of manset somewhere Around sea wall campground. I think safe to assume off shore since he’s being dropped into water. Those long buildings can be seen clearly on google maps in manset. And the harbor matches with southwest harbor. The dolphin ride scene towards the end of the book...doesn’t have a detailed spot you could ever pinpoint....general area maybe but I don’t think it’s that important at that point. The fire scene is another one I don’t think matters in his overall trail. He actually never goes to these locations...it’s just a vision. He never leaves cobblestone bridge I believe. It does show several locations in a general area the main one being Deer Creek bridge. I still went thru and marked all these and some of the marks on my map did end up playing into part of my current solve theory. I’m not sure his actual trail is the important part...or if its the marking of the map with all POI’s (including the ones you provide) is what we are after. Intersecting lines played a major role in the star riddle. I’ve noticed some interesting intersecting lines on the map points also.
Sorry this response is all over the place too. It’s hard on a phone without notes or a book to reference.
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