Acadia National Park is the jewel of the Maine coastline. Along with its dramatic coastline, it
features the highest coastal mountains north of Rio de Janeiro. It is no wonder that it is
the second most visited National Park in the United States. It is high season so we have to put up with
an excessive amount of tourists, including the occasional arrival of large
cruise ships. But, there are ways to cope with this, especially if you are
visiting the park by boat.
We enter the park at quiet Northeast Harbor
and have an afternoon to explore before predicted bad weather hits the next
morning.
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| Exuberant, just to the right of the pine tree, on her float at Northeast Harbor |
We knew it would rain, but we
never expected so much rain. Everyone in
the harbor hunkers down, appearing only occasionally to bail out their
dinghies. During a brief lull in the
downpour, we lug laundry into the small village, thinking it is a good chore to
complete on an otherwise worthless day.
But, it rains so hard that the town losses about half its
electricity. I’m in the dryer stage when
this occurs, and for some reason, half the dryers lose their power, but not in
any logical order. Random ones are working;
others are down for the count. We doubt electrical codes are closely followed
here. Hours later, with dry clothes
finally in tow, we get another break in the rain and hurry back to the boat. It
is more of the same the next day but we get dense fog mixed in. At times you can’t see anything over 100 feet
away. Several times we run the heater on the boat to take off the chill and dry
out the interior. Sadly, we don’t seem to be winning the mildew battle. Our
only consolation is that we have been invited to a neighboring boat for
dinner. The wife is a gourmet cook,
having studied with Julia Child at one point, and the food, wine, and
interesting conversation more than compensate for the miserable weather.
The weather gods must have flipped a switch as the next
morning dawns clear and dry, and the forecast is for this to continue. We begin our regiment of biking and hiking
through the park. We visit two different
gardens in the Northeast
Harbor area. The Thulya
Japanese garden is at sea level and features an extensive collection of Azalias
that are now past bloom.
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| The Thulya Japanese Gardens without the azalias |
A hike up the nearby cliffs take you to the Thulya Terraces Gardens that are home to many perennials that are at their peak. One person mentions that the growing season in Maine is so short that everything blooms at the same time, and that is certainly apparent here.
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| Thulya Terraces Gardens - certainly worth the hike! |
We hike along the
Ocean Path between Sand
Beach and Otter
Point. The trail follows the cliffs and
shore lines, providing panoramic views of the ocean and interior mountains.
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| Hiking along the rugged coast near Otter Point |
We
treat ourselves to lunch on the lawn of the Jordon Pond House, famous for their
popovers and homemade strawberry jam. The meal lives up to our expectations,
but the view over this pristine mountain lake is even better.
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| The view from the lawn of the Jordon Pond House - the Bubbles are in the background |
Our favorite pastime, though, is biking the
many miles of carriage paths through the interior of the park. Funded and designed by John D. Rockefeller,
Jr. starting almost 100 years ago, they give access to the park interior that
is rarely visited by most of the tourists.
We return to many of the trails we enjoyed last year and take a few new
ones, including the mis-named, ten mile “Around the Mountain” trail that should
more accurately be called the “Over the Mountains” trail. Burt does it twice;
once was more than enough for my weary knees. The reward is spectacular vistas
over all sides of Mt.
Desert Island
and some of its interior mountain lakes. And, as compensation for tolerating
two straight days of rain, we have gushing streams and waterfalls along the
way, and the scent of balsam permeates the air.
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| One of the bridges along the Carriage Paths - each on is designed differently |
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| The Waterfall Bridge on the Around the Mountain Carriage Trail |
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| The actual waterfall upstream from the Waterfall Bridge |
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| The view of Somes Sound from the Around the Mountain Trail |
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| A descent on the trail with mountains in the background - this is where the going gets easier |
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| Winding along the shores of Eagle Lake on the Carriage Trails |
This year we decide to try some of the other harbors on Mt. Desert
Island. First stop is the bustling town of Bar Harbor. This is the
center of park activities, and it is packed full of tourists with crowded
sidewalks and gridlocked traffic. The
park offers free bus service (with bike racks) throughout the island. We use it
extensively, but most people still stick to their cars and all the traffic and
parking hassles. If you like crowds,
t-shirt shops and fudge shops, the town of Bar Harbor will suit you just fine. But, out
at our mooring ball amongst the many lobster boats, the chaos subsides, and we
enjoy the views with the mountains on one side and islands dotting the bay on
the other. We get one more day of the Maine “Miserable” with
fog so thick that we take our handheld GPS on the dinghy to find our way into
the docks and back. The fog is
fascinating – it flows like a liquid over and around the little islands,
something like a fluid dynamics experiment in a physics class.
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| Fog rolling over one of the Porcupine Islands. Rock in foreground was deposited by the glaciers |
When the fog
lightens, we stroll along the Ocean Walk that runs between some of the few
remaining Bar Harbor mansions (most were
burned down during a huge fire in the 1930”s) and the craggy coastline.
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| Home along the Ocean Path built by the Astors |
The skies clear again, and we are assured of a week of
outstanding weather, so we head further down east to the Schoodic Peninsula.
A portion of this peninsula is part of Acadia
National Park, but very few people
visit this section as it is over an hour drive from Bar
Harbor. We pick up a
mooring at the exclusive Winter Harbor Yacht Club and quickly hop the bus for a
ride to Schoodic Point. It is hard to
say what was most enjoyable about the experience. We are the only visitors on the half hour bus
ride; all the other passengers (and there aren’t very many) are locals who ride
the bus for social reasons. They bring
their dogs for a ride, prod the driver for the local gossip, and visit with
their neighbors. It is a downeast
version of Lake Wobegone, and we have difficulty
stifling our giggles. Our destination,
the Point, is a huge expanse of rock strewn coastline. It is a voyage into a geologist’s lexicon:
granite, basalt, intrusions, accidentals, moraines, dikes. We climb over the
rocks, watch the crashing waves, and wonder at the few wildflowers that cling
to pockets of dirt.
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| Schoodic Point |
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| An example of a Basalt intrusion into the surrounding pink granite |
Upon returning to the boat (same man and dog are still
riding the bus loop), we head to the yacht club for showers and an opportunity
to visit this historic building.
Constructed in 1890, it provides an excellent example of cottage
architecture with the cedar shingled exterior clinging to a rocky cliff and a
huge native stone fireplace the focal point of the interior. The furniture is all of the era, and the
window panes are the original hand crafted glass. The yacht club and neighboring golf and
tennis clubs are the focal point of the Grindstone Neck community, founded over
100 years ago by wealthy east coasters as an alternative to the bustle of Bar Harbor.
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| Winter Harbor Yacht Club with its fleet of Winter Harbor 20's in the foreground |
We take
a walk and estimate only 30 – 50 homes are on this exclusive peninsula, many of
which are huge and excellent examples of cottage architecture, with expansive
sunrooms and cedar sided towers overlooking large lawns that slope down to the
cliffs and ocean. Between the homes, large swaths of land have been left
undeveloped.
The final leg of our Acadia adventure takes us along the
southern coast of Mt.
Desert Island
to Somes Sound, considered the only fjord on the North American Atlantic
coast.
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| Cruising along the south shore of Mt. Desert Island (Acadia) |
It is a lovely three mile cruise
up and back, but if one expects to see a Norwegian style fjord, they will be
disappointed. We pick up a mooring ball at nearby Southwest Harbor,
home to the Hinkley Company that manufactures classic sail and power
boats. We explore the quaint town and
are invited for dinner at a friend’s boat along with another couple. We have all arrived at Southwest Harbor
from different directions, and the conversation revolves around everyone’s
summer cruise destinations. The one
couple has just returned from Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, and we
prod them for details. It is said that Nova Scotia
is what Maine used to be, and Newfoundland is what Nova Scotia used to be. Our friends rave about their experiences and
make us wonder if we need to head even further downeast next summer.
