Northeast Harbor in Acadia
National Park is my
favorite destination of the year. Not
only do we have great access to the park with frequently scheduled free shuttle
buses, it is also on the quiet side of the park, allowing us to be removed from
the hoards who visit Acadia, the second
busiest National Park in the system. Upon arrival we are assigned a floating
dock that is anchored at both ends to the sea floor. The dock allows a boat to tie up on either
long side, and as an additional benefit, ours has a water outlet. We use this opportunity to wash the cockpit,
deck, and topsides with fresh water – we haven’t been at a dock with water
since early May.
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| The view over Northeast Harbor |
Our first excursion is to the nearby Thuya Gardens. We take the dinghy across the harbor to a
dock
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| One of the gems we often see at the docks, probably homemade - what else would you do in Maine in the winter? |
and proceed to hike up a steep trail to the top of the cliffs and the
location of the gardens. We stop here
every year, but this year we believe the gardens are at their most
spectacular. In Maine the growing season is short. Thus, if your timing is right, all the
flowers will be in bloom simultaneously – there is no early, middle, or late
season. And we have struck the jackpot.
Burt is a madman, taking over 400 pictures of the gardens and individual
flowers. I will spare readers the
complete photo tour, but here are a few of our favorites.
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| A portion of the perennial/annual formal garden |
Besides the formal
gardens, there are surrounding niche gardens including a Japanese meditation
garden, a butterfly garden, and a small garden composed of various varieties of
mosses placed artistically among the rocks.
Our time in the park will be extra special this year as son
Bryan and his family will be joining us for a long weekend. It is well after
midnight when they arrive and try to phone us to tell us they are awaiting us
in the parking lot. Only problem is that
cell service is sporadic and our boat is surrounded by high hills. The call doesn’t come through, and our only
hint they have arrived is a text message sent prior to entering the park and
headlights on a car in the parking lot.
Burt heads off in the dinghy to rescue our guests from a cool, foggy
night. Everyone get tucked into bed,
tired but happy to have arrived.
We
have limited time with the kids so we must pick out a few highlights for their
“park experience”. The first day we pile
Isabella into a backpack and head out to the Otter Cliffs hike.
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| Dad doesn't look tired yet, but just wait! |
We hop the shuttle bus for a quick drive
through of Bar Harbor and then on to the trail
head. This is a lovely hike starting at
a sand beach and heading along the cliffs that guard the southeastern shoreline
of Mount Dessert Island.
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| An interesting cobble beach tucked along the cliffs |
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| A view back towards our starting point |
It is a beautiful day so the crowds are out,
but once you get away from the trail heads, it isn’t too bad. After a several hour hike, we hop back on the
shuttle bus to the Jordon Pond House. We
have late lunch reservations for a table on the grassy lawn that overlooks
Jordon Pond. With the mineral rich blue
water and mountainous shoreline, you might think you are in the Rockies. We enjoy
a lunch that includes the historically famous Jordon House popovers while
Isabella is just happy to be able to crawl and practice her walking on the
lawn.
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| Practicing right in front of our restaurant table |
The next day, we rent bikes for our guests and cart them to
Jordon Pond on the shuttle. We plan to
tackle the challenging “Around the Mountain” carriage trail which I think would
be better named the “Over the Mountain” trail.
Isabella gets antsy in her bike seat with an uncomfortable helmet on, so
we take frequent stops to give her a break while we enjoy the scenery. At least, that’s my excuse for all the stops
along a 12 mile ride that goes almost to the top of one of the park’s highest
mountains. And it is here that Isabella really begins to walk independently. With an entire hoard of cute twenty-something
girls watching, she has an audience that cheers on every step even though every
step is taken barefoot on a gravel path.
It has to be painful but her pride conquers all.
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| Moments later she let go of Beth's hand and took off on her own to the applause of her audience. |
What a joyous occasion for us to witness the
“first steps” in person when we are usually so far away. But I digress. Our ride takes us to spectacular overviews of
the park, along woods with waterfalls, and over some of the historic carriage
trail bridges.
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| One of the many Carriage Trail bridges built and donated to the park by the Rockefeller family. |
We enjoy a picnic lunch
overlooking Somes Sound, the only geologically true fjord along the Atlantic
seaboard, as wild blueberries grow at our feet, waiting to be picked for
dessert.
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| Our lunch stop with the view of Somes Sound below |
We conclude the ride back at Jordon Pond, exhausted but pleased we
were able to experience the park in the solitude of a trail that few ever
attempt to challenge; crowds are not an issue on the “Around/Over the Mountain”
trail.
The following morning everyone gets going early. Bryan wants to
get through Boston before the afternoon rush
hour, but there is still enough time to head up Cadillac Mountain,
the highest peak in the park, for a quick look/see. We all pile into the car and take the steep
access road to the summit. It is a treat
for us as there is no shuttle to the top, so without a car, it is inaccessible
to us unless we are up for some serious climbing. The day is perfect and the vistas
are outstanding. To the west, we can see
Somes Sound, to the east we look down on Bar Harbor, and to the south we see
the rocky Mount Dessert shoreline with the many
outer islands of Downeast Maine
in the distance.
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| The view south - the concrete walking path along the summit protects the sub-alpine vegetation found here above the tree line. |
It is a fitting
conclusion to our family’s visit to the park.
We are dropped off at the bottom of the access road where we pick up the
shuttle back to Northeast Harbor and where the kids begin their long drive back
to Rhode Island. It has been a wonderful few days sharing this
remarkable place with our family.
We spend a few more days in the park, biking along the
carriage roads, a pastime of which we never tire,
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| The view from a bike path looking up Eagle Lake and the mountains near Jordon Pond. |
and stopping by Bar Harbor on an otherwise foggy day.
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| A boat anchored off Bar Harbor as the fog rolls in |
The Park is the highpoint of our summer
cruise, but it is also the point where we begin to think about turning
south. At the higher elevations we start
to see the Aspen trees turning yellow, telling
us September can’t be all that far away.
