Acadia National Park - Bar Harbor, Maine

Another great trip to Maine completed. I traveled to Portland, Maine for a week of business and touring the town. I had the opportunity to drive north to Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park for 3 nights and 4 days of car camping along with day hikes. (Learn the route here)
Portland, Maine: Mon- Fri

After missing flights and hell in the airports I had finally arrived at my destination Portland, Maine. My first night in Portland was a late arrival but I still managed to track down a Lobster Roll and some micro-brew and enjoyed a full nights sleep with a belly full of lobster and beer. Ahh and I wasn't even dreaming.

So working Tuesday was great to see all my co-workers whom I haven't seen since January during my last trip. Sam the man was there to greet me and after some business we hit up a nice little spot called "The Lobster Shack" which is literally on the Atlantic ocean with picnic tables overlooking the ocean and rock bluffs. Guess what I had to eat... ding ding ding Lobster Roll number 2 and it had only been 12 hours since my first. If you haven't noticed Maine is all about beautiful land / seascapes and eating fantastic seafood fresh from the chilly Atlantic waters.

So the rest of the week played out about the same. Wake up, work, eat seafood for lunch, work, go eat dinner most likely seafood and then sleep and repeat. Wednesday night some co-workers and I took the ferry over to Peaks Island and had some good food on the island. Here are some cool pics while out on the ferry.


When Friday rolled around I packed my bags and prepared for my last day of work and the 3 hour drive north to Mt. Desert Island home of Bar Harbor and Acadia. Now you must understand Maine is not the most populated state in the US of A. Actually it ranks 40th and has a total of 1.2 million in the entire state. By comparison Cincinnati has roughly 2.4 million in a 35 mile radius. So driving north from the largest city of Portland at pop. 65k is like rocketing back in time to an era of rural fishing towns mixed with open land and sea. Until reaching Mt. Desert Island that is, when the tourist signs and attractions start to appear. If I only had a dollar for every time I saw the word "lobster" on a sign. (I wouldn't be rich but maybe could buy a free Lobster Roll)

Now driving onto the island it was getting dark and my only plans for accommodations was to drive to the Blackwoods National Park campground and throw up my backpacking tent. Arriving at Blackwoods I paid my fees ($20 a night for campsite) and was placed in an awesome location with only a 2 min walk to the ocean. It is a heavily forested campground but sleeping I could hear the waves crashing into the rocks which made for a pleasant slumber.

Day 1 Acadia:


Views from near campground

I awoke with an uncharted day ahead of me and decided to head back towards the visitor center and buy a trail map and to chat with the rangers for some local info. This would be my first experience with a French Canadian tourist. While drinking from the water fountain in front of the giant visitor center the next man waiting in line looked like a walking nomad from a far away land. He proceeded to follow me to the fountain and use it has his sink for brushing teeth and light facial cleansing. Ahh the true outdoors men just gets it done. So anyway French Canadians are all over up here which added a nice touch of culture to the trip.

Park map in hand I decided to Hike the Beehive which my parents told me was one of their favorite hikes involving; hiking, bouldering and climbing up a rock face to the summit at 520 feet with spectacular ocean views. Well this trail was no joke as for most of it your literally climbing boulders which have iron rung ladders in them to allow you to step and pull your self up the rock face. Keeping your footing on this trail is extremely important as one slip up you will soon be realizing how horrible gravity can be while falling straight down into a rock garden from 500 feet most likely causing death. So be careful and children are not recommended for this one. Here are some cool pics of this hike / climb.




I ate lunch at the Jordan's Pond House which is a great National Park restaurant located at Jordan Pond. You can sit outside and eat on the lawn with great views of the pond and mountains in the distance. They serve something called a popover which honestly I never heard of before but are fantastic pastry like muffins with blueberry jam. They also have afternoon tea and it is a unique experience one mixed with elegance and outdoor beauty.


After my lunch of sea food chowder and popovers with organic wild Maine blueberry tea I walked the loop around Jordan Pond and then proceeded back to my campsite. Driving back I realized the campground had no showers and found a coin operated shack on the side of the road stating it offered "Hot Showers". Well for $1.25, four minutes of hot water was provided in one of the scariest little shit holes I ever got naked in. Yeah that is a weird sentence but unfortunately it was true. I really wish I had shower sandals but when in Rome do as the Romans do. My bare feet standing in unknown bodily backwash water and wondering if I'm really getting cleaner or not.

So clean and fresh (glass is half full statement) I decided to take a nap then head into town for some dinner and drinks in Bar Harbor. I ate at a place called Geddy's which Sam back in the office told me so much about. Next I walked around a bit, this being a solo trip and all you inevitably get to the point where you must speak with other humans in fear of going mute. I do recommend solo travel once in awhile as it actually gives you time to think about things instead of just going with the flow of friends. At the next bar I met two cool girls who said they were also staying at the Blackwoods campground. So we bar hopped around for a few beers on the town and then decided to call it a night. I was extended an invitation for a Sunday night feast at their campsite which I accepted.

Sleeping alone in a tent makes for interesting experiences. Sounds travel far in the night and when your packed in a campground with people all around that means you get to hear Bob snoring a few sites down, dog's barking in the distance, a car horn honks most likely someone locking their doors and the car stating "I'm armed and ready", two people doing it in their tent and from the sounds of it one of them was at least a female. ahh the great outdoors.. drink it in, it always goes down smooth (stolen quote from anchor man).


Ok so after the night of sound exploration I decided to get back to physical land exploration. Sunday I picked a hike that was about 6 miles in length and rated strenuous. Well turns out this hike was the best hike of my life. Yes that is a big statement but if you could have been with me to climb up from Jordan's Pond house to the 1200 foot summit of Penobscot & Sargent Mountains you would understand the monumental statement I just put forth. The views were breathtaking, looking in 360 degrees I could see Atlantic deep blue waters spotted with islands as far as the eye could see. To the west I spotted Camden mountains about 35-40 some miles on the horizon. Walking ridge top on open rock with a green ground cover of mountain vegetation and boulders the size of cars adding to the ambiance.

If your ever in Acadia you must do this hike: It is long so bring water and day pack

Start at Jordan's Pond house and take Spring Tr to Penobscot Mtn Trial to the Penobscot summit. Continue on Sargent mtn south ridge to Sargent summit then loop around to East Cliffs trail bringing you back down to Jordan's pond where you can walk back to the start
Time: 3.5 - 4 hours Distance: 6 miles

Pictures of my best hike ever

After the hike I treated myself to one last Lobster Roll at Jordan's Pond house and a tasty Popover ala mode. (popover filled with organic homemade blueberry ice cream then drowned in chocolate)

That is 1.5lbs of fresh lobster on that bun

I then drove to the top of Cadillac mountain which is the parks' highest peak and the first place you can see the sun rise in the USA. A park road travels to the top of the mountain allowing easy access to great views.

After the long day of activities and a trip back to my favorite showering hole I headed to my new friends camp for a tasty camp dinner (thanks again girls) followed by camp fire and beers. This was a nice night and it is always fun meeting new people and sharing stories and experiences of life.

My goal was to get up and see sunrise from Cadillac mountain but the sun rise was at 4:50am which is way early for anyone and especially for me. I awoke at 4:30 missing my chance to drive up Cadillac so I decided to walk down to the beach and see if I could catch the fireball over the horizon. Unfortunately an island was in my line of sight to the Sun and blocked my chances of a sunrise view. Nerveless I still watched the light brighten and took some nice pics before heading back to bed.

Summary:

My first camping experience via Plane which required careful packing and planning to fly with all my gear was complete. Looking back it was a great time with many uncharted paths leading to great experiences and new people. I cannot wait for a chance to get back!