Day 5: Acadia National Park

"Acadia - in diversity there is harmony" - Just one of the vomit making inane comments on the video we subjected ourselves to in the Acadia National Park Visitor Centre. Another was boasting that it was "the first National Park in America...  ...North of the Mississippi" - I wonder how long it took them with a map to come with that one.

Acadia is a pretty good place without trying to make it look good. There is plenty to see, the scenery is first class, the views spectacular, plenty of walks, and a mountain to go to the top of.

The most useful publications to get the at the visitor centre are the National Parks Service Acadia map - the free US NPS maps are beautiful publications and absolutely brilliant value for money - and a booklet "Motorist Guide to the Loop Road" ($1.25) which lists and describes 18 stopping places throughout the park and we stopped at most of them.

So, starting out what did we do and where did we stop:

• Frenchman's Bay overlook - a viewpoint looking over the sea to, would you believe, Frenchman's Bay.
• Duck Brook Bridge - the largest, wait for it, "road-related structure" in the park. The bridge, all 402 feet of it spans Duck Brook - no surprises there, then.
• 1947 Fire Overlook - in Oct 1947 a fire raged through an area of Acadia - this area, in fact, hence the description.

The park road becomes one way soon after this and it could be late afternoon before we get this way again, especially with only 3 stops done, so we decide to do the book out of order and go up Mt Cadillac now driving up Cadillac Mountain Road.

A couple of viewpoints on the way up:

1. Eagle Lake - Plenty of trees surrounding the lake, but not much in the way of autumn colours, though - I do hope we see some 'cos fall seems to be running late here, too (like the UK).
2. Blue Hill car park - this doesn't get a mention in the guide, but it's a very nice near summit car park facing East to North-ish.

After taking in the views here we drive onwards and upwards to the summit (1530 ft). At the moment it's relatively quiet and the walk around the summit trail is nice and giving further interesting views over the rest of Acadia and down to Bar Harbor. 

There was a group of people on a "Hawk watch" with the rangers. The sign proudly displays that there were 116 sightings on Friday, so we stay a while binoculars at the ready scouring the skies. We decide to continue our touring immediately after the ranger reveals that none have been sighted today, Sunday, and only two were spotted yesterday - it may be too sunny for them.

Time to nip to the loo before continuing - bad news it is late morning and all the coach parties on their half day tour of Acadia have arrived and the queues are terrible. Some of these tourists will spend all their time at the summit waiting to go to the toilet before the courier cries "Everybody back on the bus".

On the way down we have another couple of stops - funny how scenery always looks different going the other way. We also saw a hawk - don't ask me what type, I don't know, but it soared and had the beak for it.

Back on the loop road, back to the book and stops galore.

1. Sieur de Monts Spring - a nice little wooded walk to a closed visitor centre.
2. A beaver dam - no beavers to be seen
3. Champlain Mountain overlook
4. The Precipice Trail: A trail up a sheer rock face, though cant be that sheer if there is a trail up it - supposedly navigable by fit people with no fear of exposed heights.
5. Schooner head overlook - A rock in the bay
6. Sand beach
7. Thunder hole - the waves going up openings in the rocks creates sounds like thunder - Oh yeah?
8. Otter cliffs/Otter point - sat a while and watched the birds. Didn't see any otters though (I think it's just the name of the place)
9. Otter cove causeway bridge - its just this bridge named after non-existent otters.
10. Jordan Pond House: Crammed packed with tourists trying to have lunch - which we would have happily joined had we known to book in advance.
11. Jordan Pond Trail: A really nice, short, easy train with some nice views over the pond and down to the bubbles (a couple of hills that look like bubbles).
12. Bubble Pond - another off road pond with some nice trees. The sun was beginning to set giving some nice lighting effects.

It's now 4.30, so decide on an early meal in Bar Harbor so that we can nip back in good time to catch the sunset from Cadillac Mountain.

Just about make it, but didn't go to the summit because I wasn't convinced there was a view in the right direction so we stop off at Blue Hill car park with a hundred other people!

Sunset from Cadillac Mountain

After sunset, pop up to the summit for the rest rooms and then hand about until the last of the red sky has gone. It's a lot cooler and breezier than earlier today - Brrrrr

Goto Day 6: Bar Harbor to White Mountains

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