On our first day, we drove into the park and parked at Sand Beach. We walked along the ocean on the beautiful Ocean Trail until we got to the Gorham Mountain trailhead.
The weather was perfect--60's and sunny. The kids loved looking for the rock cairns and blue markings identifying the trails since much of the hiking was on rock...something that was a bit new for us.
The sky was so blue on this first day and the views were simply beautiful. I took way too many pictures, which of course don't do it justice.
We made it to the top of Gorham Mt., but decided to continue our hiking by adding on the Bowl trail and the Beehive summit before looping back down to Sand Beach.
The Bowl is a lake in Acadia National Park. We hiked there from Gorham Mt. and took a break to eat our lunch and enjoy the view. The kids loved jumping from rock to rock in the water. Of course they got wet.
The Beehive Trail in Acadia is well-known for its sheer cliff faces and iron rung ladders required to reach the summit. I wasn't ready to tackle that with the kids. However, from the Bowl trail, we could reach the Beehive summit from the back side of the mountain, thus skipping the more dangerous part of the trail. We chose that route instead.
From there, we finished the loop that ended back down at Sand Beach. Zach added on a little extra hiking as we realized partway down that Adelie had left her hat at the Beehive summit, so he went back to find it. All in all, we hiked about 4.5 miles that day.
After our hike, we drove the remainder of the Park Loop Road. We made a quick stop at Jordan Pond where the kids again enjoyed rock jumping while getting really wet in the process.
We then returned to our cottage, played on the beach, made a spaghetti dinner, and then headed back into the park to check out Thunder Hole. Thunder Hole is a natural rock inlet where, when timing and conditions are right, waves crash and make a loud sound and shoot into the air. When we passed it earlier in the day, it was low tide and nothing was really happening. We returned at what was supposed to be a better time (about an hour or so before high tide), but it was still not much more than a gurgle and splash. After waiting and watching for quite awhile, we just renamed it "Gurgle Hole" and headed back home.
Our next day took us back into the park again for some more hiking. We had gotten a recommendation from a local we met for hiking the Penobscot Mountain Trail. It was a great recommendation and our favorite hike of the trip. We parked at the Jordan Pond house as the trailhead is directly behind the house.
The early part of the trail required a lot of rock scrambling and rock climbing, which the kids really loved.
We saw very few other hikers on the trail and the views throughout the entire hike were great! The weather was still in the 60's, but more cloudy this date so it felt a little cooler.
Much of the hike was along the big rocky top of the mountain with great 360 degree panoramic views.
The summit of Penobscot Mountain (the 5th highest in Acadia) was pretty chilly and windy so we didn't spend much time up there. Instead we continued on to summit the second highest peak in Acadia, Sargent Mountain.
On our way from Penobscot to Sargent Mountain, we passed by Sargent Pond. We planned to eat lunch by the pond, but it was a bit on the buggy side so we just ate as we walked.
Sargent Mountain was even colder and windier at the summit than Penobscot, but we enjoyed the views and the feeling of pride for the brief time we were there.
Instead of going back the way we came, we decided to instead take the Deer Brook Trail to the North side of Jordan Pond and then follow the Jordan Pond trail back to our car. After the rocky hiking to the mountains, the Deer Brook Trail was pretty and wooded.
We enjoyed the change of scenery, but didn't realize how much extra mileage we were adding on to our hike. Instead of a 4.5 mile out and back hike, we hiked over 6.5 miles. The kids did great, but we were all worn out by the time we got back to the car.
It was a long day of hiking, but we all really enjoyed the challenge. We went back to our cottage, enjoyed the beach, had tacos for dinner, ate ice cream for dessert, and then the kids and I played games while Zach went to a laundromat to get us enough clean clothes to finish out our trip. (Lack of a washer and dryer was the one downside of our cottage.)
Our final day in Acadia was overcast and foggy, but we were ready to tackle a few more hikes. We started off with the Perpendicular and Razorback trails. The perpendicular trail was an engineering feat...hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of granite steps leading up to the summit of Mansell mountain.
It was quite the workout!
Unfortunately, all the scenic views that we should have been admiring were covered in fog. And as we climbed higher and higher, we were surrounded by the fog and, thus, caught in a misty rain of sorts. It had an eerie feel to it that Briggs especially did not care for.
The Razorback trail to loop back was trickier than I had realized. It was initially rocky terrain that required climbing and scrambling and some pretty big descents.
After that, we descended into the woods where there were still some pretty steep descents on the way down. We never saw one other person on our hike. I'm not sure if it was the weather or how strenuous the hike was, but we enjoyed having the trail to ourselves.
It was only a 3 mile hike, but it was a hard 3 miles. I am consistently impressed with the hikers that my kids are turning out to be. They like when I tell them the trail we are planning to do is difficult or strenuous. They love when hikes involve rock climbing or water crossings. There is a feeling of pride knowing we are doing something that many other people can't or won't. I hope they face challenges in life the same way...being excited to conquer them.
We finished off our hiking with a short 1.5 mile loop on Flying Mountain trail. A much lower peak, we were able to appreciate the views on this trail as we remained at a lower elevation.
We followed up our hikes with a quick stop at the Bass Harbor Head lighthouse.
I just love the rocky coastline that abounds in Acadia.
We finished off our day with a stop at the Travelin' Lobster for lobster rolls. (Well, the kids just had hotdogs and mac and cheese.) Zach and I both determined that we aren't big lobster people, but when in Maine... Although we didn't love the lobster, the homemade blueberry pie we got was fantastic!
We loved our time at Acadia National Park. It was so beautiful, and such a different national park from the others we'd experienced. We hated to leave, but it was time to pack up and head for home.
Our return trip doesn't really need it's own post. We returned the way we came (as it was the shortest route) and put in two long days on the road to make it home as quick as possible.
We did unknowingly stop at a town in New York (Seneca Falls) that is thought to be the inspiration for the town in 'It's a Wonderful Life.'
We had just stopped for dinner and ended up eating at a great little restaurant (Parker's Grille & Tap House--maybe the best chicken sandwich I've ever had) and seeing some of the sites that are believed to have inspired the movie setting. It was a fun surprise when all we wanted was a place to eat.
We made it further than halfway home (Hamburg, NY) on our first day. We had been promising the kids they could swim when we got to the hotel, only to find out it was already closed for the night. Thankfully the kind man at the front desk reopened it for us so the kids could swim a bit before bed. Then we powered home the next day.
We drove a lot of miles. We spent a lot of time in the van. We listened to a lot of audiobooks. But it was all worth it to introduce my kids to this beautiful part of the country. I love getting to share new places and new experiences with my family! This is the good life!!
