Better Outside Than In: Acadia NP

Sunday, June 21, 2020

Acadia NP - 6/21-6/22

After being in New Hampshire for 2.5 months I decided it would be good to go to Maine for 10 days. Maine seemed safe from a virus perspective and they supposedly were only letting in people from NH and VT. I went to Trenton ME which is right near Acadia NP (8 miles).
I stayed at the Isleview motel in Trenton. Nice small place. The owners, a couple, worked 7 days a week for 6 months running the hotel and then shut it down for the winter. At that point they have 6 months off and go to Mexico where they have a house.
Acadia is a small but very nice park. Lots of trails for hiking in the mountains and along the ocean. The mountains mostly have rock tops even though they are way below tree line. This makes for good views from almost all of them. There are also a number of ponds and also ocean inlets that you can walk around.
I took the back road route from VT to ME and got there at about 3PM. I went right to the park to see what I could see. It turns out it was foggy so I didn't see much! Actually it was interesting looking down at the ocean through the fog. Went along the Ocean path between Sand Beach and Otter cliffs. There is a trail here above the beach but you can wander out on the rocks and go down to the ocean anywhere. It was about 60 degrees. Very nice after it being 90 in VT! Had to put on a second shirt.

Isleview motel above. I stayed on the second floor of the main building for a week and then 3 days in a larger room separate from the main building. The first room was a tiny room. Everything you needed but very small. Very clean and it worked out great.

6/22: Foggy in the AM and then cleared quickly. Went up the Beehive to Champlain mountain. The beehive is a steep short rock hill that has bars in the rocks to help you get up it. Very quick access to an ocean view and interesting trees clinging to the rock. Fog at top of Champlain mountain that cleared very quickly when I started down. Cool air and fog replaced with warm air and sun. Went from 65 to 75 degrees in 30 minutes. Saw the Bowl (pond) and went back up the Beehive for views since the fog was gone. Then I went to Gorham mountain, cadillac cliffs, and otter cove. Then ocean trail back to Sand Beach. A good morning!
In the afternoon I went to Northeast harbor and Seal harbor. Climbed South Bubble with the leaning rock and North Bubble which has a great view of Jordon pond. Long day but a good one! Toured most of the eastern area of the park.