We arrived at the Forest Ridge Campground in Ellsworth, Maine in 100 degree temperatures. WHAT? I thought we left Texas to get away from the heat. Oh well at least we are on a beautiful coastline like no other we have seen. Ellsworth is a little town just north of Acadia National Park and we were very much looking forward to exploring the national park acres surrounded by water. We pulled into our nice long pull-thru site and quickly set up in the heat. The campground had lots of open space for the dogs which is always a bonus. Peg set about researching and planning our stay.
Mapping out our adventures. Pay attention to those contour lines!
We drove to Acadia NP and started our day at the very crowded visitor center. It is definitely summertime here in Maine. We decided to use the day to drive Park Loop Road around the east section of the park to see Cadillac Mtn. which is the highest peak in the park at 1530 ft. with a beautiful view. The park is surrounded by ocean, filled with fresh water ponds and very lush. We then drove around to the west side of the park which is a less crowded section with two harbors, a lighthouse and a seawall. We bought some fresh steamer clams at the side of the road from a fisherman to have for dinner! YUM. We also drove through Bar Harbor a bustling town on the water filled with restaurants, shops, and yes a harbor filled with some beautiful vessels.
View from Cadillac Mtn.
Northeast Harbor
What can I say - I love lighthouses
We drove back to Acadia the next day with our bikes to ride on one of the many old carriage roads that are throughout the park. After John D. Rockefeller Jr. donated much of the land to the National Park system he was afraid the beautiful land was going to be ruined by the automobile so he restricted use on the carriage roads to only horses and horse drawn carriages which is great for us as now they are strictly for hiking and biking. Peg picked out a 13 miles route around Eagle Lake and Witch Hole Pond which left from the visitor center parking lot. It felt great to be back on our bikes in the great outdoors until we left the parking lot and faced the first of many "uphill begins". Peg performed amazingly as always and left me behind sucking wind big time. I have often wondered why every time I get on my bike the entire route is uphill.... how is that possible? We finally figured out that everyone was traveling in the other direction and we picked the hardest way to ride the route. Oh well, it was a beautiful ride and it felt really good to be active again. I don't think my quads agree, but they are going to have to shape up!
Carriage Roads - notice the uphill
Bike Ride views were fantastic
Our last day was for hiking with the dogs and Peg planned a "moderate" 3.4 mile route along Somes Sound which is the body of water between the east and west side of the park and is a Fjord; a U shaped valley carved out by a glacier then filled with water. Yes, Peg told me that. We headed out with our two bottles of water, a compass and a map looking forward to a nice 2 hour hike along the water. A 1/2 mile in, the "trail" becomes a cliff of boulders with a 45 degree and greater grade, thankfully painted with blue directional markers. Calcite is the only one leaping from boulder to boulder with ease.... Peg and I crept along as best we could and poor little Zoe is looking at us like "what the @#$%". I had to carry her up and over most of it which she absolutely hates. It was beautiful, but I was so worried that Zoe was going to slide down a huge boulder face so I couldn't take any pictures. This went on for an entire mile! And this was the mile of the trail that we were supposed to return on. Luckily we had the map so we changed our route back to avoid the boulders - it only added a mile and a half :). The lesson learned today is.... look at the damn contour lines before deciding what is "moderate" by Maine standards. Shouldn't Peg as a damn science teacher know that? When I asked her she said "well, I did but the contour interval is only 25 feet and that makes it hard to evaluate". Peg said "well, now that I'm here those close contour lines even at a 25 foot interval should have told me something." 5 years of retirement, if you don't use it you lose it! So four hours later we made it back to the truck, bent and spent!!!. On the upside we changed our route to include St. Sauveur Mtn. which had a breathtaking view from its 679 ft. peak. Take that quads!
Super Zoe! See the blue mark? Calcite is already at the top.
Yep that's the "trail"
The view was worth it
Somes Sound and Peg's Fjord
We could have spent a lot more time here but other states await!
On a completely different note; that evening we received word that our dear friend Sharon Davis passed away on Wednesday, July 17th. We are both completely blown away and over-wrought with sadness. She was an amazing woman filled with light and love and we still can't believe she is gone. We love you Sharon and you will forever live in our hearts.
Cherish your loved ones every day. And if you haven't heard from us in a while... We love you!
Coming soon... Shelburne, NH; Adirondack Mtns; and Niagara Falls
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