Acadia National Park and Bar Harbor

 

You may ask a traveler, “What is your favorite place?”  The RB’s would have had a hard time with that question before, but not anymore!  We love Acadia National Park!

When we arrived at Acadia, the likelihood of getting a campsite was questionable.  Friends had told us that sites full up very quickly and reservations should be made months in advance.  Undaunted by this, we stopped at the Chamber of Commerce for information.  The extremely helpful clerk called for us, got a reservation set for the last open tent site at Seawall Campground, and told us how to get there.  Neither Bilbo nor I knew exactly what to expect at Acadia.  Of course, we had ideas from books and internet searches, but that only gets you so far in these situations.  Likewise, my words are not enough to describe the wonders that were seen during our trip; therefore this post will be more pictures and less words.  I think that will suffice!

A rocky outcrop leading to a misty, rolling sea introduced us to Acadia National Park.  We took some time to walk along the rocks and take pictures, but not too long due to the COLD breeze from the ocean. 

The next area we visited that first night was Cadillac Mountain.  This is one of the trademark sites in Acadia and boasts a 0.3 mile “trail”—a paved walkway—around the summit.  The view from atop Cadillac Mtn. was a panorama of the Acadian mountains, islands, and waters.  As you could guess, this was a very popular spot!  We were still able to spend a good amount of time there before heading back to set up camp. 

 

We began our next morning with a hike along the Sand Beach Trail.  It was a loop, a little over a mile, beginning on Sand Beach, leading up cliffs, through woods, and back down to the beach.  This was a wonderful beginning to our first full day!  I’ll let the pictures below speak for themselves…

 

After a short rest, we scurried off to the Otter Cliffs Trail.  Bilbo was excited to scope out this area because it houses on of the main rock climbing crags within Acadia.  This trail was a bit shorter and more “easy access” with paved paths and stairs.  On approaching, we saw a deer grazing on the edge of the woods to our left.  Much to our surprise, Bambi didn’t run away as we drew closer.  It just stood up and posed for our pictures.  Very dashing and brave little fellow.  If you look at the middle picture below, you’ll notice another brave fellow.  That’s Bilbo trying out the rock!  We didn’t stay at Otter Cliffs for rock climbing that day because I had never belayed (held the rope) from above the climber before.  Don’t fear for a loss of fun, though!  We spent a few hours at the Precipice climbing area within our trip.  It was nestled below Champlain Mountain, another of the landmark Acadian sites, and more favored by the locals—so we were told by a worker at the Bar Harbor rock climbing shop.  Fun time…but we didn’t take any pictures.

 

 

Our last hike for the day was to the Bass Harbor Lighthouse. It was another short hike with lovely views, one of which was—you guessed it—the lighthouse!  It is still in commission and a Coast Guard family still lives in the light keeper’s house.  A successful first day wrapped up, we headed back to the campsite for some R&R. 

 

 

Our second morning began with a trip down Wonderland Trail.  It was about a mile long, leading through a wooded area to the bay.  Once again we encountered a brazen buck!  This one was even more photogenic than his friend as he let Bilbo get within 10 feet of him for the photo shoot.  After the Wonderland hike came the rock climbing mentioned above, lunch, and a little rest in the shape of a drive around town.

  

Recuperated, we headed to Bubble Rock Trail.  It is a short rocky climb up to the famed “Bubble Rock”, a boulder balanced treacherously on the edge of the mountain.  There’s Bilbo trying to push it off!  That wrapped up our excursions for day #2, and we were back to the tent.

We began day #3 with the plan of a hike, more rock climbing, and another hike.  So, we set off for Precipice Trail.  The hikes that we had done thus far were all found in the book, “Easy Day Hikes in Acadia”, but this one was not.  Judging by all that we had encountered to this point, we assumed another easy traipse up the mountain.  We were mistaken!  The trail began with a scramble up a talus field and lead to the tricky scaling of rocks.  As we went up, the trail became steeper, more narrow, and scarier.  This gave way to a wooden bridge between cliffs, ladders anchored into the rock wall, and sliver-thin passages over the edges of the cliffs.  We didn’t see the sign below until reaching the summit. 

  

 

Here’s a view of the trail from ground level.  We were much relieved to be seeing from this side by the time we finished!

The excitement and exertion accompanying our conquering of Precipice Trail left us in the mood for relaxation.  So we drove into town to experience a few local attractions.  As you can see, this included the second of our New England brewery tours to the Atlantic Brewing Company.  This tour was free, just like at Long Trail, but it came with a tour guide and free tastings.  Much classier!  Our guide gave us a high spirited summary of the brewing and bottling process at Atlantic Brewing as well as a bit of their history.  He said that they were the first to add blueberries to their beers, despite to popular belief that Seadog held that claim to fame.  I’m not a connoisseur nor a beer historian, so I don’t know who is telling the truth.  After our spin around the factory, we were given a very thorough sampling of the various beers made there.  Bilbo said that he enjoyed their beer much better than Long Trail, especially their “Real Ale”.  I, who hate beer, even half-way enjoyed the one with a coffee flavor to it. 

 

After beer came lobster—a logical transition, I know.  On the advice of the ever-helpful rock climbing shop boy, we chose Luntz Lobster Pound.  We were taken aback by the initial site of the place.  It looked like a persistent yard sale had vomited all over the inside of the dining room.  The atmosphere grew on you, though, and the lobster made you forget any qualms you may have had.     Neither Bilbo nor I had particularly loved lobster prior to this experience, nor had we eaten one whole.  I guess WV isn’t to be know for its awesome crustaceans. However, the lobster in Maine is out of this world!  So sweet and tender, not fishy at all…Yum! 

 

Sadly, the lobster was our last experience in Acadia as it was time to move on to Boston.  This has been  our favorite part of the trip so far!  The small town beach feel of the island with all of the amenities of Acadia had us considering the possibilities of living in Bar Harbor.  The famous shop boy but a stop to that, though.  When asked how the winters are in Bar Harbor he said, “Well, the island is completely closed down a few months every winter because we’re buried in snow.”  Never mind!  We’ll just visit!