Acadia National Park- Day 2. Friday July 8, 2016

Acadia National Park- Day 2.  Friday July 8, 2016

Today was the day.  The ‘get things done’ on Acadia day.  Jen and I have looked forward to this day for a number of years, and now was the time to check out this amazing park. 

We were slow to rise, even though we were warm all evening in our sleeping bags.  Finally after a breakfast of sausage and eggs, an apple, and (finally) camp cooked coffee, we decided to check out Cadillac Mountain.  One thing you need to know about Acadia, is there is absolutely ZERO cell service in the Black Woods portion of the park. Avery was at a loss.  For me, I was hoping to make a right turn before Google bitty came on telling me I was going the wrong way! The roads are somewhat confusing to me as there is Route 3, then there are carriage roads for cycling and walking, and there is the park road which winds around the park for twenty something miles. I am always hearing that getting to Cadillac Mtn at daybreak is a great place to view sunrises—there is even a sticker for the Cadillac Mtn sunrise club.  Being that the sun rises here at oh, say 4:45 AM during the summer, this might not be an option.  There is always tomorrow though. 

We made a couple of stops on the way to Cadillac Mtn.  The first being low on the hill, where the clouds hadn’t obstructed the view. We all got out and walked on the bedrock sheets that seemed to face the tops of trees instead of the bottom.  Garrett busted his arse on some slick moss and Avery laughed at him.  I didn’t see it, nor did I see swelling in his knee, so I guess the problem was more with his sister than it was his knee.  He didn’t mention any words for about an hour. (I gotta say, it was kind of nice J) We hiked the south rim trail from the Summit point. On the way we noticed we could have walked all the way back to our campground.  I contemplated this as it was only 3.7 miles, over heavy rocky terrain.  Especially with the confusing buses that consistently tour the area picking up passengers—it’s actually possible to do a one way hike, then have the bus take you back to get your car if you drive there.  It seemed like a good idea until I realized I left our $25 activity pass sitting on the dash of the vehicle.  It was an out-and-back hike, but an amazing one, especially if you remember what I said about new Hampshire and something being amazing at the end.  Well, this path had no end, and since GT, before getting angry and pouty, wanted to see ‘what clouds taste like’ we were in for a treat.  I  brought my backpack with camera and multiple lenses (and batteries) and we just kept walking over the rocky terrain.  Pull bars, huge steps, and massive granite foundations were our visual presents.  Before we realized it, we were about a mile into the terrain.  I kept wanting to go further, to get to the actual rim, but Avery had her hold-backs (being a chick and all).  I do remember thinking her tampons appeared to be cheese sticks, so that’s our new joke.  Did I mention it’s getting harder to see things in my middle age?

The end of the canyon rim was absolutely breath-taking, as the clouds lifted.  I fired off a few shots with the 28mm wide angle and we headed back up the hill after eating a granola bar and grabbing some sips of water.  Cadillac mountain lived up to the hype, for sure.  Was glad to be able to hike it and see the unparalleled views of Rocky terrain, rivers and the Atlantic Ocean all at once.

I read that the surf comes in at Acadia and rises and falls on average of 17 feet from high tide to low tide. Whoa. Being from florida, we may see a 1 to 3 foot tidal change. After our hike, it was time to head back to Thunder Hole because the signs said it’s a good time to go, approx 2 hours before the high tide to get best effect.  I didn’t find this to be the case this afternoon.  All it does is attract crazy amounts of people.  We hung out for two hours, waiting for a better show than yesterday, but didn’t get it.  Maybe if we go back around 6pm it’ll be more awesome.  The kids climbed rocks, but the highpoint of this day was taking the binoculars on the rocks “just in case” to spot something in the Atlantic.

The decision paid off.  Jen started scanning the ocean then noticed what appeared to be waves breaking ‘way out’ to the right of the buoy.  Although it was far, it wasn’t long before she started getting excited.  WHALES were what was causing the waves to form way out.  She gave me the binoculars, and I concur! We asked the folks next to us who also had binoculars, and they said the same thing.  Jen said she thought she saw two of them and the people next to us said the same.  Incredible to see, even if we were about a mile or so away. Just wow.  Better than paying $200 for an ride to ‘maybe’ see one. We called the rock monkey errrrrr kiddos over to check it out too, and they saw the same thing we did.  What an amazing day.  As we headed back to the campground under very nice conditions, we stopped to take a family pic at the pond, later riding the carriage trails and paths that are located nearby.  Looking forward to a fire tonight, as this is also what camping is all about.