Acadia - Day 2

We had big plans for our second full day in Acadia National Park. We wanted to take in a hike and finally put the kayaks in the water.

We started off the day headed into Acadia, traveling around Park Loop Road. Park Loop Road does something all together unexpected - it makes a loop around the park. Go figure.

Fortunately, Park Loop Road is well maintained (I'm guessing it doesn't get salted in the winter) and RT 3 (the main road that goes through Bar Harbor) is a mess - so even though the directions we had to our trail head called for going on RT 3, we opted to take in the sights on the slower speed Park Loop.

After several miles of driving, and questioning if we'd missed our parking area and trail head, we finally found our starting point. We were headed up Gorham Mountain - approximately 500 feet up promising beautiful views.















The path up the mountain was pretty smooth at first, and we even got the chance to stop and use the timer on the Nikon to take a family picture.








Then there was a fork in the road. We could continue our climb steadily, or we could take the path along the cliffs. Everyone but Melissa wanted the cliffs. The cliffs it was.

Despite her instinctive urge to turn around at every step, Melissa did great going up some of the steep parts of the trail.



















The girls also proved themselves good climbers.


















Especially Cadence, who wanted to look for even more challenging ways up the mountain. She may become a daredevil - the term "base jumping" came up in conversation... Here she is climbing ahead of us.









It was a fun hike up, with an interesting path.


































We finally made it to the top, and enjoyed the beautiful views from the summit.

















The pictures really don't do it justice. Even the panoramic.









The girls even sat and had a rest.









We descended on the other side of the mountain, and could see people climbing the "Bee Hive" trail.









When we got down farther we came to the fork in the path that takes you to the Bee Hive. At first Cadence was willing to
consider hiking it with me. But then, after watching a little while (while we had a snack) she changed her mind.

























We came off the mountain right across from Sand Beach - a rare Maine beach with natural sand. We walked down and enjoyed the view of the water from a different (less ascended) angle.
































We even had a little fun in the sand.









These 2 guys braved the water while we were there - but with air temps hovering around 60, we passed. (They didn't stay in long...)









While I like most of the pictures I took today (especially after playing with them a bit in Lightroom), this is one of my favorites. I can't decide if I like the color or black and white, so here are both versions.

















After the stop on the beach, we still had to hike back down the coast to our truck, which was about another mile. Not everyone was enthusiastic about having to walk some more.








We eventually made it back, and I got few more shots along the way, including this one.







Thunder Hole was on the way back as well. While the tide wasn't high enough for it to book as advertised, we still stopped and checked it out. Maybe we'll come back to see it again before we leave.

Once we were back to truck, we planned to have sandwiches for lunch. We'd packed a cooler with supplies. Well, I'd packed a cooler, which meant I'd forgotten bread and condiments. So, lunch consisted of meat and cheese. Low carb and gluten free! (I've since been relived of lunch packing duties, so my plans are working out perfectly!)

With rain in the forecast, we decided to forgo the kayaks for another day, and instead drove up to the summit of Cadillac Mountain. The views were spectacular, there was a bit of haze and while chilly, you could feel the rain coming.

















After that, we came back the campground and crashed for a bit. Just about everyone napped. Then followed Skyline for dinner (out of a can - no Skylines in these parts!) and ice cream for dessert. There's a place we can bike to.

















Tomorrow we expect rain. So, first thing we're going to let Finley do something she's been begging to do since we got here - LAUNDRY! (Believe it or not - she has been begging to point of extreme irritation)