This was the first day of our Acadia vacation. Leesa hadn't been to Acadia before, so we did some typical tourist things on the first day. Of course the first thing we did was drive up Cadillac Mountain to see the sunrise, and it was a perfect morning for it.
Sunrise was at 6:18 on this day and we got to the summit about 6. We were far from alone though. There were probably 100 cars in the parking lot. It was a cold morning, with temperatures around 40 degrees and there was quite a stiff breeze.
People were up on the summit draped in blankets and most people didn't have sufficient coats to stay on the summit for long.
The sun came up as promised and it was beautiful to watch. We ended up seeing sunrise most mornings from various spots in the park and they were all awesome.
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| Just before sunrise on Cadillac Mountain |
After the sun was sufficiently high in the sky, we drove into Bar Harbor and had a great breakfast at Jennnie's Great Maine Breakfast. Then it was time to take the park loop road.
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| And just after! Note the cruise ship in Frenchman's Bay |
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| All the park roads have been newly repaved! |
We stopped at Sand Beach and spent some time appreciating the beauty of that special place.
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| Sand Beach |
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| Spectacular, but cold! |
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| I stayed dry |
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| The tide was going out |
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| The Beehive (mountain) in the background |
After Sand Beach we hiked the loop trail around the Great Head peninsula. It's a great little walk with great views from the point.
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| Looking back at Sand Beach from the Great Head trail |
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| A few pics here and below of the views from Great Head |
After Great Head we stopped in to look at Thunder Hole, then went and checked in at Blackwoods Campground where we would be spending the next 2 nights. We set up our tent and got all our gear organized.
It was beautiful weather all week and on this day we decided to get the kayaks in the water for an afternoon paddle. At the south end of Mount Desert Island there is a public parking lot at Seal Harbor and it's easy to launch kayaks from there. We put in at that location and paddled out of the harbor and headed west towards Somes Sound. We were careful crossing Northeast Harbor, as it is a busy fishing harbor.
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| Looking into Seal Harbor from the ocean. Pemetic Mountain in the background. |
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| Looking into Somes Sound from the ocean |
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| Nice boat! |
We were able to make it all the way over to the mouth of Somes Sound, but unfortunately didn't have time to paddle into the sound. We had to turn around at that point to get back to Seal Harbor by dark.
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| Leesa paddling back to Seal Harbor |
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| Bear Island lighthouse |
Back at the campground we had a campfire and cooked a dinner and turned in after having a busy day.
There are more pictures on my Picasa Web Album here.
There are more pictures on my Picasa Web Album here.
Paddle Stats:
Paddle Distance: 8.6 miles
Paddle Time: 3 hours
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| Our hike of Great Head |
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| Our route for our paddle from Seal Harbor to Somes Sound |
Highly recommend the South Ridge Trail! The trailhead is almost directly across the road from the Blackwoods Campground. It's a beautiful hike!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tip. We almost did that one. We'll be back soon since we both had such a great time and we'll get that one.
ReplyDelete