Acadia National Park

The weekend of the September 24th, Kyle and I went camping in Acadia National Park in northern Maine. The drive along the coast was full of adorable little towns.

On our way we stopped in Rockland for lunch. The fog seemed like typical Maine and was exactly what Kyle was hoping for.

We arrived around 6pm to our campsite, at Blackwoods campground.

The map shows our hiking in blue, day 1 driving in green and day 2 driving in orange.

Despite the drizzle, we pitched our tent and made it to the park ranger presentation on geology. Kyle and I were volunteered by the ranger to participate in a little geological theater. Kyle was a sedimentary rock (as illustrated by his lying on the ground just like any respectable layered deposit would lie). I was a metamorphic rock, so I contorted my body into a folded position. Not our usual participation level for these types of events. After our acting endeavor, we headed into Bar Harbor, which was about 20 minutes from the campground, for a late dinner. We walked around town, which is full of cute shops and restaurants, before stopping at the Finback Alehouse. The food was great, and it was nice that it was open so late. I also discovered that I like pumpkin beer.

The next morning we decided to hike along the coast, starting at Sand Beach. I am guessing this is one of the most popular trails in the park, as it was crowded, even in the off-season.

We passed this painter twice at this spot and the second time there were about 6 others painting with him.

After the coast trail ended, we took another trail back through the mountains.

We had lunch on Sand Beach, where a determined sea gull guarded us carefully. He wasn’t successful at getting any food, but I loved how he continually shooed away larger gulls to protect his territory.

There were two groups at the beach that afternoon that were so much fun to watch. The first being this baby’s first trip to the beach:

The second was an Amish group. The girls would wade into the surf getting their dresses soaked, and never lifting up their dresses.

Kyle also walked into the icy cold water, showing a little more leg than the Amish did.

Following lunch, we walked around Jordan Pond, about a 3 mile trek.

Then we decided to chase down the sunset across the park. We drove ‘til we got to Pretty Marsh, where we watched the sun go down and discovered a huge number of shell fish lying about the shore, but (to our dismay) no otters to eat the shellfish.

Too bad I didn’t have a way of cooking mussels for that night. They were everywhere.

We then headed back to camp for the last ranger program of the season. This program discussed the various science projects happening around the park. Luckily, Kyle and I didn’t have to go up on the stage again.

On Sunday morning we tried to catch the sunrise. We made it in time, but the clouds obscured our view of the sun. However, the early morning drive gave us many things to enjoy like an empty Sand Beach, no one at Thunder Hole (where the waves hit a narrow passageway in the rocky shore, creating a thunder sound), some deer having breakfast, and Cadillac Mountain covered in fog.

After packing up our campsite, we drove back to Bar Harbor and walked around a painting and photography fair.

Then we drove to the west side of the park to hike a few more small trails. Kyle discovered a sea urchin and some crabs in a tide pool.

We also saw the painter giving lessons again. Then we drove home.

Acadia was a great park, and we highly recommend it. We hope to go back next spring and try a few different trails.