Around Southwest Harbor

The day after the Gorham hike, we checked out the western side of Mount Desert Island.

We did some very mellow, easy, trails, including this really nice one.


We liked this trail a lot. It went through woods, then blueberry patches and led to rocky shores, where we walked on boulders and spent lots of time staring into tide pools, trying to spot as many crabs as possible.




When we were driving around the area, we found this pretty view in Somes.


It was a nice kind of rest day.

After the Gorham hike ...

We thought we'd relax on Sand Beach for awhile.

But not for long!

Brrr!

All the fog we saw from the mountain top made the beach kinda chilly.

Not to mention that the ocean isn't exactly balmy up in Maine; some people were swimming happily enough, granted, but there was one college-age guy who ran into the water, then turned around and sprinted out, screaming like a banshee. Bit of a nasty shock for him!

So we walked along the Ocean Trail, a nice easy scenic shore trail.


Not to mention it had great rocks to rest on.

And seagulls to amuse the photographer.

Verrry relaxing.

Trail markers

Normally, on the hikes Tom and I take, the trails are marked with little circular signs tacked to trees, or paint blazes on a tree trunk or a rock. But on some of the trails in Acadia, we saw these.


I hadn't seen these before, but apparently they are fairly common on mountain trails and are called cairns (I'm sure many of you already knew that!).

They had a pretty uniform look: two base rocks, a long flat rock connecting them, and a small rock on top of that.


They were plentiful on the Gorham trail, especially near the summit.



And then there were a few that didn't quite make it.

Oops?

But we got the idea anyway.

Maybe we'll do this one next time ...

One the walk down from Gorham Mountain, we saw this view.


There was a group of people standing around just staring up at the people doing this hike.


Look how tiny the people up there are! And how ... near the edge they are, too!

That's the Beehive Trail, and apparently it's a short but rather vertical walk ... and from what other people were saying, that trail is really, really narrow in some places. And there's not exactly a hand railing as you go.

Tom and I watched for awhile in a kind of fascinated horror, but later that evening, we agreed that it would be really cool to try going up that trail ... some other time!

Whoa!

The top of Gorham Mountain

The views up there were awesome.


Watching the fog roll in and change shape over the land was really mesmerizing.




This isn't quite the top, but it wasn't far from here.


I think it was a little breezier up there.

The seagull didn't seem to notice.

Phew!

Climbing a mountain

We had a perfect day to do the Gorham Mountain trail. As mountain climbing goes, this wasn't very hard, and it had great rocks to climb on and stunning views at the top. Big payoff, as climbs go.

Partway up the mountain, the trail split off this way.


We decided to walk the Cadillac Cliff Walks part, and were rewarded with lots of terrific boulders to scramble into and over. It was also shadier and cooler.

Almost there!

When we rejoined the Gorham Mountain Trail, the walk up to the summit was mellow compared to hauling around and over all those rocks! But this part of the trail was the most fun.

Hiking the Jordan Stream Trail

One of the hikes we did in Acadia National Park was the Jordan Stream Trail - it was nice and cool and shady and had the sound of a bubbly stream next to us through the entire walk.

It also features this nice stone bridge.

"Hi there!"

It was a really beautiful and peaceful trail - we only ran into two other people the entire time we were on it. Near the end of the trail, though, some of the wooden plank walkways looked a little worn out.

Um, yeah. Watch your step.

The trail joined a carriage road, which we took back to the Jordan Pond House and the outdoor cafe.

What a relief to flop on the grass after that hike!

It was a great place to rest and have food. The recommended experience there was the Afternoon Tea -- your choice of tea and two popovers, which are fluffy pastries baked in a muffin tin but with lots of air in the middle. They're served with butter and jams and they're delicious (but perhaps next time Tom and I can just split one order!).

Plus, this is the view while you eat.

Jordan Pond, with the North and South "Bubbles" in the distance.

Not surprisingly, parking at Jordan Pond House was no laughing matter either. But once you're there, even the lot is full and it seems like there's got to be a million people around, it's still easy to find a trail with hardly anyone on it.

It's such a beautiful place.

Views from Cadillac Mountain

We had a perfect, clear morning for our drive up Cadillac Mountain.

We stopped partway up to check out the views along the way.

The view uppp the mountain ...

... and the view down. I think that's Eagle Lake down there.

Wonder where this cruise ship is going?

There was such a nice breeze, and not a cloud to be seen for miles.

And of course, the view from the top was wonderful, too.

The air was so nice and comfortable up there!

And we weren't the only ones who thought so.


Yep. It's crowded up there at the top. In fact, finding a place to park up there is pretty impossible after about ten o'clock.

So if you want to go up Cadillac Mountain in your car on a beautiful clear day -- go early!

Back from Bar Harbor

Tom and I just returned from a brilliant vacation in Maine.

This was our room.

Tom rests after the long drive up!

We were on the third floor of a B&B a short walk from Main Street in Bar Harbor.

It was rainy the first day we were there, so we mostly drove around. But even with the misty greyness, there were still views like this.


So we knew we were going to have a good time!

Plus the nighttime walks through the town were always colorful.

A year-round Christmas Moose?

And there were about a hundred different ways to have blueberries.

There was one place that served lobster ice cream, but we skipped that little delicacy.