Acadia National Park ~ Day 6

Today is our last day at Acadia National Park ~ even with iffy weather, we were able to enjoy one last hike - Dorr Mountain. Even though it was cloudy and we didn't have the opportunity to enjoy the promised views, the hike itself was a lot of fun!

For some reason, we keep waking early this trip - like 5am early! So we were at the Dorr Mountain trailhead by 7:45-ish today. We first took Ladder Trail which was damn steep and pretty much all granite "steps" and rungs.....

A short video of Brad "emerging" from the ladder....

It was quite foggy....

...and windy when we made it to the Dorr Mountain summit......

(The sounds of the windy are real, but Brad was just having fun holding onto the sign! 😉)

We continued hiking along Schiff Path Trail where it continued to be quite windy....

At one point, it "cleared" enough so we could make out the ocean in the distance.....

Eventually (maybe a mile or so later), we were back in the trees and out of the wind, and continued along Dorr Mountain South Ridge Trail......

Finally connecting with the Cannon Brook Trail, where we saw the cutest beaver pond......

There were some raised planks as this was a bit of a bog area......

We were back to our car around 10:15 and hungry, so we went to Café This Way for a late breakfast - it was good - not great, not bad - good. Ironically, this was probably the nicest time of the day to be hiking - blue and clear skies - but at least we had the trail to ourselves earlier in the day! 😃

It wasn't even noon at this point and high winds were expected in the afternoon, so we thought, "Hey, let's take the local pedestrian ferry round-trip to-and-from one of the nearby islands and see the coastline from the water." So we went to the Bar Harbor waterfront and while looking for the ferry kiosk, we came upon the Sea Princess Scenic Nature Cruises - for $41 a person, we were on the 12:45pm 2 1/2 hour voyage ~ perfect!

The trip as very nice, narrated the entire way. We saw bald eagles, seals, multiple birds, learned lots about Maine (3,400 miles of coastline and 65 lighthouses)......

Eventually we docked at Little Cranberry Island where we were able to meander for about 45 minutes.....

Along the way, we saw many amazing (and I quote from our tour guide) "summer cottages"

(Feel free to buy us one.)

By the end of the boat tour, we were cold and wet as there was a bit of a rain shower, and it was great to be back in our Airbnb, take hot showers, and put on some dry clothes!

We head home tomorrow after a great week in Acadia National Park. We did everything we wanted to do - and more! 😊 (One hike, Precipice Loop, is closed due to the Peregrine falcon nesting season, so that one will have to wait for another visit.)

 

Until next time.......

Acadia National Park ~ Day 5

We were hoping for better weather today, but  it was overcast and foggy all day. So instead of doing any hikes with views, we decided to walk around Jordan Pond and then some carriage roads that we haven't explored yet. We arrived early to Jordan Pond and started walking the 3.3 mile path - it was a surprising walk - we expected just a dirt path along the perimeter of the lake, but it was much more interesting than that. 

It did start as a dirt path, with some nice (albeit foggy) views.....

Eventually the path became a bit rockier....

..there was a cute bridge.....

At times the path was pretty much flat boulders.....

We saw a beautiful loon along the way.....

The last third (or more) of the path comprised of a raised plank walkway....

We are glad we got there early, as by the time we were done with the hike (about an hour), there were WAY more people on the path.

This, by the way, is what we would have seen along the path, had it been sunny......

(Photo from Day 3.)

We grabbed a cup of coffee at the Jordan Pond House, and then walked about 6.6 miles along the Carriage Roads in an area we have not walked. 

They do all tend to look the same....😅...

Eventually we stopped to enjoy crackers and brie..... 

Then continued on......

Enjoying the many bridges along the way.......

(Brad blends into the trees! 😂)

...... including the first bridge built in 1917, known as The Cobblestone Bridge....

Our updated map:

Purple is where we hiked on Day 1.

Red is where we biked on Day 3.

Blue is where we walked today. 

Dinner was back at the Bar Harbor Lobster Pound where we each enjoyed warm lobster in butter....

The lobster rolls were overflowing!

One more day in Acadia - .what we do depends on the weather - fingers crossed it's a hiking day!!!!!🤞

Acadia National Park ~ Day 4

 

We knew that today was going to be cool and rainy, so we did not set the alarm knowing that we'd probably not be able to hike, but we were up by 5:30am anyway - sigh! Regardless of the weather, we wanted to go to Schoondic Point (part of Acadia National Park, about an hour away), so that was our destination today.

We will have to take another trip here, as the views are quite promising, but alas, not today....

We did walk a bit in the tidepool area at low tide (10:30am), but there wasn't much to see in terms of flora or fauna, except us! 😆

By now it was still quite early, about 11am ~ still rainy and cold, so we (okay, Suzanne) said, "Let's do the Junior Ranger Program!" (We've done it before at other parks.) So we got our Junior Ranger Books.....

...and started working - given that we are aged 12+, we had to do NINE activities! 😧

Brad looks pretty serious, huh! 😂

We had to do a word search, maze, answer questions, matching, and even draw pictures! 

Here is Suzanne's drawing of us hiking Beehive Trail:

Brad's photo of a lobster earned compliments from the NPS Ranger who awarded us our Jr. Ranger Badges.....

Badges? Yes! We earned our Junior Ranger Badges....

..and even had a swearing-in ceremony.....

...where we repeated (not the first time) the Junior Ranger Pledge:

As a Junior Ranger, I will do my best to:

Observe the world around me, and appreciate its beauty.,

Make respectful choices to protect nature and history,

And share my knowledge and love of national parks.

By now, it was lunchtime, so we went to Bunker's Seafood & Spirits - we didn't have the lobster rolls here as they were cold and we prefer them warm (with butter), so we just had typical lunch food.

We then decided to meander Bar Harbor - it's a nice village with lots of restaurants and typical tourist shops. One store had a wooden horse that begged to be ridden.....

Then we headed back to our Airbnb and called it a day. 

Looking forward to no rain ~ though still overcast ~ day tomorrow. We'll (hopefully) be back on the trails!