Acadia NP Week 2: The Daily Journals - September 11 - 18

Tuesday, September 11, 2012 Hiking Across the Bar!

Last night, right about bedtime, the refrigerator shut down. A quick inspection seemed to indicate that we had run out of propane. It was too late and too dark to do anything about it, so we hit the sack. It was cool enough that we didn't worry about the contents spoiling.

In the morning, presuming that we'd have to make a propane run, I went outside to get the empty propane tanks. The bottles did not feel empty so I fiddled with the valve. Anna Marie checked the appliances. She reported that the stove's burners lit! And the fridge re-lit automatically. OK, so we still have propane. Could the wind have blown out the fridge's burner last night? Don't know! At least we don't have to make a propane run this morning. Note: Everything worked fine for the rest of the trip!

Not having to do a propane run freed up a lot of time. We caught the free bus into the Village Green. We walked to the waterfront and found the sandbar across the water to the Bar Island Trail. Within an hour and a half on either side of low tide, one can cross the sandbar to Bar Island. Part of Acadia NP, the island has a nice trail to the summit where one can find a fabulous view of Bar Harbor and it's surroundings. Quite a few people had the same idea. I wouldn't say it was crowded, but, were you looking for solitude, you wouldn't have found it!

We spent the rest of the day in town. We purchased a few dinner items for a Lobster fest we planned to have when we returned to the Campground.

Speaking of dinner, tonight's feast was to be a typical taste of Maine. I roasted two ears of corn and two Maine Lobsters. Anna Marie made Crab Soup and Blueberry Crisp which I cooked in a cast iron Dutch Over. The dinner was awesome!

We capped the evening off with the "Sounds of Acadia" program by Ranger Todd. A light-hearted, funny guy with a great sense of humor and the talent to make one really appreciate nature. It was a fine program indeed!

Wednesday, September 12, 2012 Ilesford (Little Cranberry Is.) Boat Trip

This morning, we boarded the "Sea Princess" for a ranger-led trip to Ilesford, an inhabited island in the Cranberry group of islands between Somes Sound and Frenchman's Bay. Our tour began in Northeast Harbor, a delightful community of some wealth. The harbor is loaded with pedigreed boats such as Morris and Hinckley, all in bristol shape.

From the boat we saw Gillimots, Loon, Cormorants, Harbor Seals, Bald Eagles, and Harbor Porpoise along with the usual mix of Herring and Great Backed Gulls.

Ilesford is a small community and eking out a living appears to be hard work. While there, we purchased a couple slices of famous Ilesford gingerbread cake and a beverage.

Ranger Ann provided almost non-stop commentary about the natural history, geology and culture of the area. It was another in a growing line of great programs by the National Park Service.

In the evening, we attended a program entitled Picture Acadia. It was marvelous! The ranger offered a few photographic tips and showed some of his handiwork. At the end of his presentation was a show-within-a-show. Highlighted by his poetic narration, it made for an awe-inspiring program!

We've been thinking about going to the movie theater to see the "Bourne Legacy" but don't want to miss any of the ranger programs. They are that good!

Note: After we disembarked from the boat we took a short drive (Yes, we had to drive to the boat. Because the NE Harbor bus was scheduled to arrive well after the boat left the dock.) through the town. Along the way, we found a fisherman selling lobster out of his house for $4.50/pound. Needless to say, we bought two.

Since we were out and about in the truck, we thought it appropriate to visit the summit of Cadillac Mountain. We walked the trail at the summit soaking in the magnificent views. After taking a few pics we headed home to cook those lobsters.

Thursday, September 13, 2012 The Witch Hole and Paradise Loop

Today's bike ride of twelve miles began when the Bicycle Express dropped us off on the north shore of Eagle Lake. We pedaled north and west on the carriage road to the intersection with the Witch Hole Road to the north.

As usual, there were hills to climb and the scenery was spectacular. None more so than the high point of the Paradise Loop summit where we had a spectacular view of Bar Harbor and Frenchman's Bay. Two cruise ships were anchored in the harbor bringing the total we have seen this week to five.

From Paradise Loop we headed back to the east side of the Witch Hole Loop. Along the way, we stopped to photograph the iconic triple-arched Deer Brook Bridge, one of many built by J. D. Rockefeller for Acadia's 45 miles of carriage roads.

We returned to Eagle Lake for a back-pack picnic lunch in a great spot on the shore. Rather than return to Bar Harbor, we took the suggestion of the Bicycle Express Driver who suggested a route back to Bar Harbor that was "all down hill."

He was right. We literally rolled down hill for almost five miles to West Street. The most difficult part of the trip was negotiating the heavy traffic in town. The town isn't particularly bicycle friendly in that the streets are narrow and there is a lot of car traffic. The sidewalks are filled with tourists so there really isn't any place to ride.

After dinner, we went to Jackson Lab (an amazing medical research facility) for the keynote address kicking off the Night Sky Festival. The speaker, Baybayan Kelepe, a master Hawaiian Navigator who sails large canoes retracing ancient roots from Hawaii to Tahiti and back without benefit of instruments. His presentation was fascinating, stimulating and entertaining! They even had a troupe of Hula dancers to honor his appearance. We had a great time!

Following the keynote, we drove to downtown Bar Harbor and the local historic Movie Theater where we saw the Bourne Legacy. As with the previous trilogy, w enjoyed this movie very much. But the numerous flashbacks and staccato of the cuts had us a bit confused at times. This is one movie we'll be glad to watch again!

Friday, September 14, 2015 The Great Head Trail and the Night Star Boat Cruise (Day 2 of the Night Sky Festival)

The trailhead of the Great Head Trail is found on the north side of Sand Beach. It was to be the first of two trails we hoped to do today. This trail rises on a peninsula to an elevation of 145 feet. Parts of the trail are steep and rocky but it is a relatively easy walk with spectacular views of the coast and ocean below.

While on the trail, we received a call from the Chamber of Commerce informing me that I had won the pair of tickets from yesterday's drawing. The tickets could be picked up at town hall before 1600 hours. Suddenly, we didn't have time to do the second trail. We skedaddled to the bus stop where we caught the #3 bus to the Village Green, walked several blocks to town hall where we picked up the tickets.

After a quick beverage, we were back aboard a bus headed back to the campground for a quick dinner and warmer clothes. We expect it to be rather cold on the water tonight.

We arrived back in town as the boarding line was forming. While waiting, we had a pleasant conversation with a couple of Mainers.

The boat trip was great. When we left the dock, clouds had completely blocked out the night sky. Not to worry... there were a couple of guest speakers to entertain and inform the 125 passengers on the power cat Freedom V. The first to speak was a native American Wakanabi Chief who told ancient stories of his people. Kalepa Baybayan, the Master Navigator from last evenings program taught a bit about the art of navigating without instruments. Lynn Havsall, was the astronomer for the evening. When it was her turn to speak, the cloud cover was still blanketing the sky. She started telling a story about the hunters and the bear (Ursa Major), when the clouds began to break a bit. The stars began a game of peek-a-boo, becoming visible for a few moments, then suddenly gone from view. Still, we learned a lot. As time went on, the stars were visible for longer periods of time. In fact, as we were headed back to the dock, the Captain stopped the boat because the night sky became clear. It lasted for about ten minutes before the cloud cover returned. When the clouds returned, we were back underway. The Captain selected some "Star" music which played over the sound system until we reached the harbor.

We had a great time and were glad to have won the tickets!

Saturday, September 15, 2012 The Shore Path and Reel Pizza!

Before doing anything, it's time to run the generator to charge up the battery. We charged it for three hours and then walked through B Loop of the campground. This CG is huge! In 40 minutes, we didn't cover all of the roads in the loop.

After lunch, we took the bus to town. The day was overcast so we didn't have much hope that the Star Gazing on Cadillac Mountain would be any good. (We later found out that it was spectacular! Lots of people showed and twenty volunteers brought their telescopes so folks could get greats views of the stars.) Instead, we chose to walk the Shore Path and hang out in town for a bit. The trail afforded great views of the harbor and some of the nice homes (mansions) that line the shore.

For entertainment we went to Reel Pizza, an interesting concept that is both movie theater and pizzeria. One can watch a movie while dining on pizza or other Italian entrees. We chose to see a quirky, offbeat film entitled, "Moonlight Kingdom."

We caught the last bus out of Dodge and made it back home right around 2100 hours.

Sunday, September 16, 2012 Night Sky Activities All Day!

Following a lazy Sunday morning, we took a drive to Winter Harbor on Schoodic Peninsula. Our destination was the Schoodic Educational and Research Center in the Schoodic District if Acadia NP.

We attended a presentation entitled, "Meet the Telescopes." the speaker, Bert Probst, is the resident volunteer Astronomer. Besides filling our heads with information on scopes, he provided information on volunteering in the National Parks. He volunteers at Acadia because he gets to use worker housing in the park!

After his presentation, we joined some of the festival participants for dinner. By the time it got dark, about one dozen volunteers had set up their scopes, all trained on different stars. We got to look through the scopes and marveled at the things you can see. We are grateful to those who let us use their equipment so generously.

Monday, September 17, 2012 The South Ridge Trail

You need a lot of water for hydration when hiking and biking. Until yesterday, we carried two water bottles on each bike and one while hiking. On several occasions we consumed all of the water we had before the activity was completed. We'd rather have water left over for use in an emergency. On the way to Schoodic yesterday, we stopped at WalMart to pick up a few items, including a couple of  Hydration Systems. We chose the hydration/backpack model. It can carry lots of gear and holds 2 liters of water.

They came in handy today. We changed our plan to hike Gorham Mountain, a mere 4.2 mile hike that would have included the Bowl and the Beehive Trails. Instead, we chose to hike the 7.2 mile Cadillac Mountain South Ridge Trail. The trailhead is in this campground, no bus needed!

The trail rises continually to an elevation of 1180 feet before dipping to about 900 feet where it starts up the hulking Cadillac Mtn. ultimately reaching 1528 feet.

Along the way we ran into a NPS trail crew of three men. They were erecting steps on a steep part of the trail in an effort to hinder water run off from destroying the trail. With just some had tools, pulleys and ropes, they quarried granite slabs weighing as much as four tons, shaping them and moving them quite a distance from where they were quarried to where they would be placed on the trail. This was no small feet of engineering!

After passing Eagle Crag, we reached a granite ledge which afforded great views of the islands to the south. To the west was Pemetic Mountain and to the east was Gorham Mountain. We were already well above its summit.

The South Ridge Trail is very popular and well used. We passed or were passed by about 6 to 8 hikers during the course of our walk. When we reached the granite ledge just before Cadillac Mountain, we could see a dozen or more others hiking to or from the summit.

All told, we hiked in excess of 8 miles and gained over 1100 feet in altitude. That's a high mark for us flatlanders.

Back at the campsite, I grilled pork chops over the wood fire. We enjoyed a fine meal on our last day in Blackwoods CG. Tomorrow we move out to Seawall CG by Southwest Harbor on the "quiet side" of Acadia NP.

Tuesday, September 18, 2012 Moving Day!

After twelve very busy but absolutely great days at the Blackwoods Campground, we have moved to the "quiet side" of Mt. Desert Island and will reside in the Sea Wall Campground for the next twelve days or so.

We're not sure if there's enough to do for twelve days, but we'll find out soon enough. The Islander Explorer Bus has service from this campground to the Village Green in Bar Harbor where we can connect with any of the other busses. If we run out of things to do here, we'll just hope the bus to go back to the "not so quiet side" of MDI.

After setting up camp we checked the place out by riding along Routes 102 & 102A. We did the laundry in Southwest Harbor and on the way home, found Sawyers Lobster Pound. Between the hours of 2:00 and 4:30, one can get a steamed lobster for $4.95. That's right, two lobbies for under $10.00! Unheard of!!

Rain is in the forecast for tomorrow. If we can, we'll start exploring this part of Acadia by foot, there are several trails we hope to traverse. If it rains, we may ride the bus.