Acadia: Thursday

Thursday morning dawned with bright sunshine and a mild breeze, perfect hiking weather. Mom being a bit sick, we left her at the campsite and traveled up the Loop Road for our next adventure. We stopped at Sand Beach to drop Sylvia off so that she could paint while the rest assailed the nearby mountains.

The first leg of the journey was Beehive. John had planned to come with us but decided to go with Dad when he saw where we would be going. The three oldest headed straight up the rock face, following the old path. This one was far more trecherous than Jordan Cliffs as we climbed up the granite blocks that form the south end of the mountain. At one point in the trail we had to step across an iron grill set into the gap between two cliff faces. Most of the time we pulled ourselves up the rocks, looking for the next rung, if we were lucky, or just a solid hand hold, if not. 

We were able to pause almost at the top to look down and see the scene behind us. At the top we met a man and his dog. He said that he has come to Acadia twice a year for twelve years and that what he loves most about it is that "every time you turn the corner you see the best view you've ever seen." I'd be inclined to agree.

Smile! Somewhere down there is Sylvia.

The two small figures waving are Abe and Dad across on the other ridge. We hiked together up to the next ridge where Dad left us to go fish. We continued on up to Champlain Mountain.

A nosy seagull tried to eat my lunch.

On the way there we found another marshy spot, complete with bullfrog.

On the way up. By this time it had gotten rather hot and we had not brought enough water.

Spectacular views. Bar Harbor is further over on the left.

Ben stopped for a few panoramic photos. Even those barely do justice to the grandeur of the view of the ocean and deep blue sky.

Another 10-second dash. Cadillac Mountain is on the left.

Finally got some cell reception!

Ben calibrated his phone's altitude at every marked spot.

Taken by some friendly hikers.

Dad got pretty excited by all the dwarf jackpine.

We returned to find Sylvia with a completed landscape.

The Beehive on the way back. We decided that backing down on tired legs would not be a great idea.

Arrived safely

After a long bus ride to Boston I boarded my flight to Heathrow. During the entire process of applying and getting me here I felt rather detached from the reality of what was happening and so it was only in the last 48 hours that it has really hit me that I was indeed going and that it was happening right now.

The flight was long, made longer by cramped leg room, two crying babies, and seats not built for sleeping. But I survived and made it through customs without a hitch. You have no idea how happy these blotches of ink make me.

The bus stop was not hard to find and I snapped this just before it arrived. A thousand apologies for the lack of focus, but that's about what my mental state was at the time too.

One of the passengers was a fellow student, which we discovered when we got off together. Our residence was just an easy walk away and we unpacked and had the afternoon to ourselves before our first round of orientation. Another student and I took a meander around the town.

The first thing that really struck me about this place is how old everything is. You can fake 'old' in architecture by using the appropriate building materials and style but you cannot include "centuries of decay" on a building material list. One of the ways that this is immediately apparent are the plants, specifically the roses, that fill the front gardens of the little brick houses that line the extremely narrow streets.  

The other thing that struck me was this shark: 

Our meander took us past the almost complete Islamic Studies building. There they have used the same stone as the surrounding buildings and will just have to let it weather properly.

After coming back I tried to get some logistics worked out, including directions to my church but fell asleep at my desk. We all met up for orientation and got bikes for those who wanted one. Since we were free for the time being, my roommate, another student, and I biked down into the city center where we found a delightful pub, The White Horse. It is set down into the pavement with one window that looks out over the cobbled streets. Dark, aged wood interior and worn tables seated by locals in for a nightly pint helped complete the English pup atmosphere. We sat quietly in the corner enjoying our drinks before heading back. 

Wednesday

Wednesday was my first day of adventure. It was cold and damp and foggy so we decided to climb a mountain. Barnabas was particularly excited about the 'Ladder' trails which are scattered over Acadia. They are the hardest level of trail, right after 'Strenuous'. They get their rating from the iron rungs fused into the rock face where no other foothold exists. The family decided to use the Jordan House as our rendezvous point. The parents and youngest three biked around Penobscot Mt. on a carriage road while we started up the mountain.

The mist kept us cool, which is nicer than the hot sun, but also a little damp, which kept the trails fun. Since we had very limited visibility we were not able to comprehend the extent of the drop off of the cliff faces. The fact that we couldn't see anything beneath us gave us enough of an idea. It was only toward the end of the trail when we started into the ladder section that I felt safe enough to stop and pull out my camera. 

In some places we found a sloping ledge with a waterfall where you could either lean away from the water and toward an abyss or lean into the water and get wet. There was usually an iron rung for added support.  

We paused on a flat spot just before a steep clamber up the jutting rock to catch our breath and take stock. Ben took some pictures and you can see the way the cliff face disappears into nothing.  We could faintly see Jordan Pond beneath us.

Behind Barnabas you can see the path we took. On the rock behind him is one of the rungs that form the ladder portion of the trail. 

The path is supported and marked here by a log pinned into the side of the mountain. Nice secure footing!

We stopped for lunch after we passed the most difficult portion of the trail. A cool bottle of red wine, cooled Hemingway-style in a stream would have completed the meal perfectly but we drank water instead.

We finally reached the top! The only way we knew we were on top of a mountain was the post telling us we were there. We played around on the top for a bit,

including skipping rocks on the puddles that formed all over the rocks.

Eventually the fog lifted enough to let us see a micro ecosystem growing on top of the mountain.

A pre-historic looking swampy area had formed on top of the mountain.

On our way down the fog lifted enough for us to see the incredible view before us.

Here begins the first of the 10 second dash group photos I took.

Note the crisp line of fog over blue water. By the time we reached the bottom the clouds had more or less lifted. As we descended the last leg of the journey who would you believe came up the road just as we dropped into sight?

Mom and the rest of the group! We paused to confer and then walked back a quarter of a mile to see one of the bridges found across the park.

After the days work we drove back to the campsite, ready for food.

Barnabas and Ben made an excellent stir-fry over the fire.

After dinner, Barnabas and I slipped quietly away to go find the ocean, which I hadn't really seen since our arrival.

Barnabas took the time to rappel down the rocks.

I took photographs of the water, wrote in my journal, and water-colored.

When we got back we decided to travel up Cadillac to enjoy the sunset, such as it was. It was the first clear night that we had and we were worried that we would not get another!

Ben created a high-power zoom camera by holding some binoculars up to his phone's camera.

Monday and Tuesday

Our first family camping trip. Two cars, two kayaks, two parents, and six kids walk into Acadia. Will they all make it out alive? 

We packed all of our stuff into the Mary Poppin's Carpet-Bag like cars, strapped everything down and began the drive to Maine. It's about 6 hours with no stops and I think it took us about 12. Dad and I took the truck, everyone else jumbled into the van.

Being the unofficial family photographer has its perks and some downsides. I never have to worry about being photographed but if I don't take a few shameless 'selfies' no evidence of my existence would exist. Spoiler: I ended up taking over 600 pictures. 

Toby managed to get doped up on catnip just before we left.

We made it to Maine! The dark clouds threatened rain but we pressed on.

Just around the bend was the first sight of an open horizon since travelling through VT and NH.

We stopped at the Kittery Trading Post for provisions where I found this little piece of Maine humor at the bottom of a bookshelf.

Barnabas practiced his mountain goat skills before attempting to climb Acadia's mountains.

Finally, we got there, just as it was getting dark and a bit wet. We set up the tents in the last bit of fading light and tracked a lot of dirt (and mud) into the tents in the process.

Tuesday ended up being mostly a provisions trip back into Ellsworth. I finally got hiking shoes (my procrastonary habits also extend to shoe shopping, apparently).

We stopped for a group family photo on one of the Carriage road bridges before continuing around the Loop Road, a mostly one way road which meanders around the park.

 Barnabas stopped to rappel off the side of the road.

After we got back Barnabas and Dad went off to kayak and fish while we went into Ellsworth.

 After Ellsworth Sylvia and I made chili and cornbread.

The only accidents suffered on the trip both happened on Tuesday, when John tried to cut his thumb off,

and Ben burned himself. Neither required hospital care.