Acadia National Park

Mount Desert Island, Maine the location where the cold crushing waves of the Atlantic meets and weathers the foundation of Acadia National Park. Anytime we mentioned that we were on our way to Acadia, folks replied with a sound that resembled a “yeahhhh” followed by, “It’s awesome!” Besides seeing photos of Acadia or reading an article or two, I knew little about Acadia, but knew I wanted to visit. The hype we’d heard was legitimate!

For five nights we camped at Blackwoods Campground in the National Park, which had a nice wooded covering and no obnoxious neighbors (always a plus). Upon arrival, after camp was set up, I quickly jumped on the bike for a little tour of the campgrounds and quickly found a short path down to the “loop” of the park. This “loop” is the access point to everything in Acadia, from Bar Harbor to Sand Beach to Cadillac Mountain, it’s the tourist thoroughfare. The point at which I entered the loop was at the far end of the island where the jagged and rocky shore met the ocean. The beautiful sight of this shoreline is amazing. A thick treeline of tall evergreens meets one hundred feet (+/-) of granite weathered by the cold water of the Atlantic Ocean… I quickly returned to camp, grabbed Crystal and Hudson to return to the rising full moon. We spent our evening soaking up the moon’s rays with the sound of the Atlantic crashing on to the rocks as our background soundtrack.

The next four days of exploring Acadia left us with the same excitement we initially encountered, rugged beauty meets calm, yet treacherous, cold blue ocean.  

We hiked every side of the island wherein every trail had it’s own unique views of the mountains and ocean. We woke early one morning (at low tide) so we could trek across the natural bridge to Bar Island which offers views of Bar Harbor and the northeastern side of Mount Desert Island. We didn’t hike all the trails or see every site in Acadia, but what we did get was enough to foretell of the sites to come.

Acadia was refreshing after a few days in Portland and was the perfect start to a slow emersion into mountains, wildness and the ocean.

P.S.: As I sit here in Cheticamp, Nova Scotia, typing this post I’m battling some very furious little bugs, not mosquito’s, but instead a God forsaken bug that kamikaze’s into you and furiously bites until it looks as though you’re bleeding… damn them! 

P.S.S.: I'm finally getting this posted from Manitoulin Island, Ontario, thanks to the great internet connections we've had. Cheers!