Acadia At Last
Day 9:
We rose early in Bar Harbor, cleaned up, had some breakfast and packed camp to get into Acadia. Jeff and I talked on the way about how the night we met we were sitting in Momo’s, a piano bar in Sioux City, discussing places we would like to go someday while leafing through his National Geographic Traveler. He wanted to go to Zion. I really wanted to see the canyons in Bryce, and we both thought Acadia would be great. A few years later, when planning our honeymoon, Acadia was on the short list of destinations. Within the last year we saw Zion and Bryce and we were finally arriving at Acadia. We may have taken a 20 year detour (filled with a lot of living) but we made it.
Our first stop was the Visitor’s Center for maps, a junior ranger packet, passport stamps, and to speak to the ranger. We like to check with the experts on the best spots and she provided us with tide and ranger talk schedules. The park rangers are a wealth of great information. We headed to the west side of the island since the tide was low, to go tide pooling. It was foggy and cool. I love that weather. It was a beautiful forest hike to the beach. The tide pools were packed with snails, sea weed, and lots of funny little crabs. The vibrant colors were unreal. We searched and searched for starfish but never spotted one – I really wanted Jeff to see one in the wild. We will have to keep looking.
We talked about all the things we could do over the next few days and how we had to pick only a few because of the time we had. We decided while on the southwest side and per our park ranger’s suggestion, to see the lighthouse. It was a fun climb on the rocks and peaceful by the water. The contrasting rock colors, the moss, and evergreens were brightly saturated and stark against the soft white mist of the fog with the little white lighthouse on a hill, red roof shining brightly. We drove back to the east side of the island then and set up camp. We had a nice campsite (Blackwoods) in the trees with plenty of spots to choose from for my hammock and right across from the bathrooms. Our neighbors were from Massachusetts and have come to Acadia every year for the last 20 years.
After setting up, we took off again for Thunder Hole. This is a spot by the ocean where the rocks are naturally carved out shaping an inlet with a cavern at the base. When the tide is high (and depending on weather conditions) water will rush and crash in and cause a thunderous roaring in the cave. The weather was calm that day so there wasn’t much to see or hear. We did, however, enjoy just hanging out by the water, climbing the rocks, and exploring the area as the tide came in. We, then drove the Park Loop Road which runs a circle around the east side of the island. For dinner we cooked chicken, sauteed peppers and onions, salad and roasted smores.
Then we headed to the amphitheater in our campground (Jeff had to run back to the campsite for something and the boys and I took a wrong turn and had to find our way back in the dark – an interesting adventure). We listened to a Ranger talk about ambient light and bird migration. I love ranger talks and this was another good one that surprised me. They really shouldn’t surprise me anymore. They are so often excellent (except the one about the bear spray that went on for 45 mins and was just a guy showing us his photography…) but I think I was expecting another bat talk or something and when she started teaching us something new, I got excited. The boys were intrigued too. Sam wanted to go for another talk the next night but we had other plans. I love when someone can ignite their fire for learning like that. It was also fun while we were sitting, quietly listening in the dark, to watch the fog roll back in over the trees, though that meant our star viewing was going to be off for the night. We had a perfect spot on the beach nearby picked out. I guess we will just have to come back when it’s not cloudy.
