Acadia (a smidge more with a lot of work)

Everything on me hurts!!

We left early with plans to go down the east coast of Bar Harbor Island on Hwy 3 and get as close to Acadia grounds as possible and walk from there.  They can't shut down every road because residences including huge mansions are interspersed with the park.  Martha Stewart has a home somewhere in this area, but not sure exactly where.

We drove to the end of Schooner Head Road and hit a roadblock.  We turned around and drove back until we found a place to park on the side of the road and set out from there.  We walked down to the barricade and was just starting around when a ranger appeared and walked over to us.  After a few comments about my accent he actually laid out a hike for us which took us along the "Ocean Path" trail to Sand Beach and Thunder Hole.  Sand Beach was beautiful and so unusual.  Thunder Hole is a narrow cavity in the granite rock and the waves crash in trapping air in the cavity.  This explodes back out like a clap of thunder.  Unfortunately, you have to time the tides and by the time we walked in, the tide was rapidly falling and there was no sound.  We would have made it in the car.

At the Schooner Head entrance-the gate is locked

Schooner Head Point-notice the home on the clift

Sand Beach-one of the few points in Maine which does not have a rocky coastline

Looking south toward Otter Clifts-I am surprised by the blooming plants.  Notice the pink granite.

We hiked back out and made it to the car, meeting some really nice folks along the way.  I may have to rethink what I think about "Yankees".  We walked a little over 5 miles this morning.

There are some great "hiking paths" this week in Acadia

We ate lunch and went down to the Chamber of Commerce to inquire about a way to get to Jordan Pond.  The lady yesterday was of great assistance, but the person today was of no value whatsoever.  To every question I asked she just told me the park was closed.

So, I took Hwy 3 again and found our way to Seal Harbor.  From there we parked and struck out on foot.  You can walk in the middle of the road and not worry about traffic.  Every picture of this area that I have seen is filled with people.  Not mine!

We walked to Jordan Pond House (where we had planned to eat lunch one day out on the lawn overlooking the lake) and then went down to the lake.  We started to walk around the lake.  It looked to me to be a mile or so around, but after 20 minutes of walking it seemed we were just started.  It ended up being 3.2 miles around the lake.  Jordan Pond (they call lakes ponds up here) is probably the most beautiful place I have ever seen.  The "pond" is 187 acres and is a depth of 150 feet.  The water was pristine and deep blue with the mountains in the backgroud.  The birches and maples are changing color and this was reflecting in the water.  A pair of bald eagles flew over and we heard the screech before we looked up and located the pair soaring over the lake.  The path around the lake was great on one side and difficult on the other with pink granite rocks and boulders.  We then progressed to a mile of walking on split logs.  You had to keep your head down and watch your footing closely.

View of the "Bubbles" from the back lawn of Jordan Pond (where we planned to eat lunch).

Some of the foilage around the  lake pond

A sample of the granite boulders along the west side of the pond

The stones turned to a mile of the split logs

At least the walk to the car was downhill.  We met a young couple from "South Jersey" to converse with back down and it did not seem so long. 

All together we walked at least 12.7 miles today.  We have marked off a few more things, but I am disappointed to not see a sunrise from Cadillac Mountain.  I just can't walk the 6 miles up before sunrise.  (The trail is 4 miles, but we would have to walk at least 2 miles just to get to the trailhead now.  We are disappointed to not ride on the carriage roads or to eat at Jordan Pond House, but God has blessed us with a chance to see some parts of Acadia when it looked as though that would also be unattainable.

In front of one of the Carriage Road stone bridges scattered in the park.  We are 11 miles into the 12.7 walked today.

Tomorrow, we are taking it easy.  We have a 4 hour boat trip planned for the afternoon in which we see the sights and mansions of Mt. Desert Island from the water.  Hopefully, this is not a Gilligan Cruise.  It is on a small craft with only 35 aboard.

The post is lengthy and if my fingers were as tired as my legs, it would have been a one-liner.

Good Night!