Having finally accepted that the ankle I sprained rather badly two weeks ago will only heal properly if I actually sit still for more than 5 minutes I’m being diligent and updating this. I can’t even describe how much I hate sitting still indoors but the thought of permanently having a cankle is just about enough to make me behave!
There US has 59 National Parks so I’ve got rather a long way to go if I wanted to ‘collect’ them all but at least I’ve started with the first one alphabetically. Most of the parks are in very remote areas but Acadia is very accessible from ‘civilisation’ so I imagine it probably makes it one of the more popular ones. It was certainly fairly busy while I was there on some of the trails. It costs $25 for a car pass for the park for a week. This gives you access to all the car parks, trails and also the park loop road; a 27 mile scenic drive that takes you round the perimeter and through the centre of the park mostly on a one way system. I would highly recommend getting a trail map before doing any hiking but I saw plenty of people going for it without maps (but then again I also saw people in crocs and other fairly unsuitable footwear!). The trails are all very well marked with blue blazes on trees and rocks and there are also cairns along the way to mark the path but most of the trails are fairly short straight lines rather than being loops so if you don’t want to just do a there and back and would rather join up several trails to create a longer walk or a loop then a map certainly comes in handy.
I had two full days to hike in the park so I definitely wasn’t going to be able to cover all or even most of the hundreds of miles of trails available meaning I felt I had to choose carefully. I decided to tackle Gorham Mountain and the south east of the park on one day and Jordan Pond and the Bubbles on the second day.
My first hike took me straight into a climb up the rocky paths to the summit of Gorham Mountain, which at only 525 feet only barely seems to qualify as a mountain. The trail itself was fairly uninteresting but the views from the summit were certainly worth the climb.
My next stop was the Beehive, another hill which has a reputation for being one of the toughest trails in the park, this sign probably sums it up quite well:
In the interests of honesty I actually took the ‘easy’ route and went up the way most people come down and then having seen that the down I would have to take would involve climbing down sections that looked like this I went back down the same way I went up.
I did feel like I’d cheated a little bit so going up the hard way will definitely be top of my list should I go back to Acadia. Obviously the views from the top of the Beehive were stunning (it was starting to become a theme!).
I ended my walk with a short(ish) stroll along the Ocean Path back to my car which let me see up close all the beautiful coast I’d been viewing from on high. I decided to head back to Bar Harbor afterwards and reward myself with an ice cream and another short stroll along a coastal path with a view of the amusingly named Porcupine Islands.
Having decided not to hike up Cadillac Mountain (the tallest mountain in the park) I chose to head up there in the car for sunset instead. It’s actually more traditional to view the sunrise from the top of the mountain as at certain times of the year it’s the first place to see the sunrise in the USA however I didn’t much fancy getting up at 4am while I was on holiday so sunset won. I left it a little late to head to the summit so I was panicking a bit on the way that I would miss the crucial moment. It seemed everyone else was much more organised because nearly all the good parking spots were already taken. Luckily I managed to find somewhere to abandon my car and was able to leap out just in time to see the sun setting.
Day 2 as I’ve mentioned above I decided to tackle the area round Jordan Pond and the hills known as the Bubbles. I think I walked around 13 miles in total during the day, most of it being up or down steep hills. I would highly recommend the route I took as it mostly seemed to mean I was going up or down the ‘right way’. I started at Jordan pond and took the Asticou and Jordan Pond path through some gorgeous pine forest before taking the Penobscot Mountain trail up to the 1194 ft summit. Both of these trails were relatively quiet (in comparison with the ones I tackled the day before which were busier than the M25 at rush hour on some sections). As a lover of all things green these two trails were definitely big favourites with me.
I took the Deer Brook trail down the other side of the mountain which again took me along a relatively quiet forest path. In terms of navigating this was probably the toughest trail I took. Whereas the rocky trails are fairly obvious even when the blazes are spaced quite far apart the forest trails are a completely different kettle of fish. Every so often the distance between blazes was far enough that you couldn’t see the next one which created a few moments of panic as I worried I had accidentally strayed onto a deer path and might be spending hours trying to find my way back onto the real path through stretches of forest that largely looked identical. However, I eventually made it down to the opposite end of Jordan Pond ready to tackle the Bubbles. I took a route up the middle of the two (known as Bubbles Divide) before heading up the North Bubble, down the opposite side and along up and down Conners Nubble to reach Eagle Lake. The Bubbles Divide was fairly challenging as it was mostly up hill picking your way along large boulders, a bit like walking up a giant, very uneven flight of stairs.
The walk back from Eagle Lake to the South Bubble was through some more pine forest. This time the path was slightly better defined so I was able to enjoy the forest more without panicking about getting lost. There was a thick layer of pine needles on the ground so it made that lovely, dull thump as I took my steps and it was gently springy like a gymnastics floor. The feeling of peace and calm was definitely enhanced by this tree’s yoga.
My final climb for the day was the South Bubble, again I took the slightly easier way up but this time I didn’t chicken out of the more difficult downwards stretch (I apologise in advance to my mother, who hates heights, for one of the photos I’m about to show you!). The most remarkable thing about the South Bubble is Bubble Rock, presumably deposited by a glacier it clings precariously to the summit of the hill.
So far so good, then came the fun part. The path literally went over the edge of a cliff with Jordan Pond rather a long way below.
And then I had to climb down this narrow gap (this is the after shot, once I’d successfully managed it without falling down the sheer drop not visible to the right of me as I took this picture).
Death defying feats duly completed I was rewarded with this mindblowingly stunning view from the southern end of Jordan Pond. I have told a few people since I came back from my trip that I feel like my eyes have been ruined by the beauty of the national park in that I can’t imagine seeing more stunning scenery anywhere. For me it’s a bit like this picture is depicting what would happen if someone said to me ‘describe your ideal landscape, I’ll just make it for you’.
My final stop of the day was at the Jordan Pond House, famous for its afternoon tea offering of ‘popovers’. If like me you’re not American you might be wondering what on earth a popover is, luckily there was this handy sign near the cafe:
Yes you are reading that right, a popover is a Yorkshire pudding that you’re expected to eat as a sweet afternoon tea treat with butter and jam…..like it’s a scone!!!!! Here was mine in all its glory along with the suspiciously perfect ball of butter they provided.
outofyorkshire 