Mt. Desert Island and Acadia National Park

We have arrived in foggy Northeast Harbor, one of several protected harbors providing access to Acadia National Park.  

Northeast Harbor - we're out there somewhere

 It is home to the Morris Yacht Boatyard, and there is plenty of eye candy to enjoy along the docks.  Not far away is a similar facility for Hinkley Yachts, and its attendant slew of beautiful boats. Acadia National Park is the second most visited park in the National Park System, and, as we will find out, there is good reason for this.  Most visitors arrive by car or bus, but the density in the harbor would indicate that arrival by sea is also popular.  We share a mooring float with another boat out of Massachusetts and find, over drinks that night, that our dockmate was originally from Toledo, Ohio and had vacationed during childhood summers in the same Huron, Ohio neighborhood where we had stayed during our boys’ childhood.  We knew many of the same Huron families – it is indeed a small world.

Our Massachusetts neighbors suggest we hike the Asticou Terraces and Gardens, just a short dinghy ride from our mooring.  It is not part of the park, but should be on any visitor’s agenda. In the fog, it seems like a good excuse to get off the boat.  We land at a pink granite dock and begin the trek on a series of stone steps and ramps that zig-zag up the granite face.  Along the way are stone terraces and pavilions placed into the rock and overlooking the harbor.  At the top we amble through the woods to Thuya Lodge, the summer cottage of Joseph Curtis, a landscape architect by profession, who gave the lodge and surrounding property to a public trust upon his death.  The small lodge is actually a rustic but sophisticated cottage open to the public and furnished with Mr. Curtis’s own property. Around back is an extensive garden, designed by Charles Savage, another landscape architect and trustee for the property.  Beside the colorful flower borders, paths invite the visitor to wander the property past interesting niche gardens, ponds, streams, and pavilions. 

The perennial and annual gardens at Asticou

Lilies were definitely in season

This mini-garden features rocks and local varieties of moss

Acadia National Park has an interesting history. After the Civil War, Mt. Desert Island became a popular vacation destination for the East Coast wealthy and a colony of artists including Thomas Cole and Frederic Church.  Eventually improvements in transportation brought more tourists, and the original property owners began to feel the massive influx of people and resulting construction would permanently damage the fragile environment and spectacular vistas.  Headed by some of the original wealthy landowners, including Charles Elliot, President of Harvard University and John D. Rockefeller, Jr., a group purchased available land, donated it to a non-profit holding company, and lobbied the government to declare the land a national park.  In 1919 it became the first national park east of the Mississippi. During this time of transition, J. D. Rockefeller began to feel that the ever increasing automobile traffic would detract from the park, so he initiated a program to develop a network of about 50 miles of carriage trails through the park.  Designed by him to enhance the views of the surrounding landscapes, the roads (affectionately known as Mr. Rockefeller’s Roads) and their attending bridges are still in use today by those wishing to explore the park by foot, horse, carriage, or bicycle.

It is still foggy. We imagine Maine must be a beautiful place if we could only see it. We hop on the free bus service and head into Bar Harbor, the major tourist city on Mt. Desert Island, and meet up with some cruising friends.  A stroll through the shopping district brings us to Ocean Walk, a one mile path with mansions on one side and the seashore on the other.  

Burt and our friend from Australia, Andrew, are probably talking boat tech rather than appreciating the scenery

It seems a bit foreboding in the fog and dampness, so at the end we head into town for a warm lunch.  Splitting ways with our friends we take the bus out to the Cliff Walk just as the fog begins to clear.  We hike a portion of the trail along the steep pink granite cliffs with the rolling waves pounding their base. It is indeed spectacular, and we return several days later to continue the hike in much improved weather.   

The fog lifts on a dramatic coastline

Looking towards Otter Point

The only sand beach on the island is in the distant cove

These are high cliffs - just note the small figure on the lower rocks

View toward interior mountains

The rocks, cliffs, and moss covered forest floor remind us of the North Channel of Lake Huron, albeit, in Acadia, the cliffs and mountains are much higher.  The similarities should not be a surprise as both regions are the result of the same geological forces and are part of the Canadian Shield.

On the clear days, we spend time bicycling on Mr. Rockefeller’s Roads. At two places, Rockefeller built extensive gatehouses to welcome visitors to the roads. 

One of the gatehouses along the Carriage Roads

The curvy and relatively gentle graded roads cross granite bridges, ascend cliffs, hug the shorelines of mountain lakes, wander through moss carpeted woods, and cross marsh lands dotted with beaver dens. It is both a relaxing and exhilarating way to experience the natural beauty of the park. 

The Bubbles, the two mountains on the left, from Jordon Pond House

View of Jordon Pond from the Carriage Road

Eagle Lake and surrounding mountains

One of 17 granite bridges built by Rockefeller for the Carriage Roads

Mountain reflection in Bubble Pond from the Carriage Road

Another Carriage Road bridge, this time with a carriage on top

And, with the improved weather, we have the opportunity to ascend Cadilliac Mountain, 1530 feet above sea level and the highest peak on the East Coast shore. We cheat a bit by taking a cab to the top, as my knee is not up to such an extensive hike. Since it is accessible by car, the summit is packed with visitors, but wandering a little ways off, we have plenty of room to ponder the amazing vistas. To the west we can see Mt. Katahdin, Maine’s highest peak; in the other three directions we see the many off shore islands dotting the ocean waters. The interior of Mt. Desert Island is speckled with lakes, ponds, and marshes.   

Looking down on Bar Harbor - notice the plumes of fog over the outlying islands

View towards islands to the south

Burt walking along the barren peak

Starting the hike down with an inland lake in the distance

While not high by Rocky Mountain standards, Cadilliac still provides considerable elevation since it starts at sea level. So, now we have the hike down ahead of us.  It is considered a moderately strenuous hike, but we are up and down steep steps and walking though stream beds strewn with boulders. Two hours later we are both tired and sore, and with the limited late day bus schedule, we don’t get back to the boat until after dark. Several Motrins and a glass of wine later, all is good with the world.  

While we could entertain ourselves at Acadia for many more days, it is time to move on.  We take an extended departure from the park by way of Somes Sound, considered the only real fjord on the Atlantic coast.  Near the entrance sheer granite walls tumble down to the water level, but further on the terrain levels out, and we are a bit disappointed.   

The high granite wall at the entrance to Somes Sound fjord- notice the many lobster pots in the water

It certainly does not rank with the North Channel’s Baie Fine. This is the farthest east we will travel in Maine.  What remains between here and the Canadian boarder is known as the Wild Coast, an area of unpopulated seacoast, limited resources, and even more likelihood of fog.