2014-08-27 Beech Cliff ladder trail and Canada Cliffs

With a day off and dry weather, we headed to the quiet side to hike the Beech Cliff ladder trail at Echo Lake. This time no slipping, falling or ginormous bruises on my knee! There are only a handful of ladders and nothing terribly scary (but try not to look down from the top of the really tall ladder, it's a long way down). This was a very fun trail which is not dangerous if you are careful, and there were no really difficult stretches for knees or arms - it was very doable provided you can walk up steps and climb up ladders. It is hazardous when wet (as I discovered on my previous attempt - the rocks and roots can be very slippery). True to form for Acadia trails, despite the crowds you see on the beach, we only saw one other family on this ladder trail. It's a relatively short trip to the top, where you find the Beech Cliffs trail following granite ledges overlooking Echo Lake and the mountains to the east including Acadia, St Sauveur, Penobscot and Sargent. The rewards of Acadia!

We had fun on the hike (even Gary!) and it was good to get our feet wet on this easier ladder trail before attempting the more treacherous ladder trails. I recommended this to guests before attempting Beehive or Precipice, because if this one scares you, do not attempt the others!

Many of the ladder trails (including this one) are closed early season into mid-August for Peregrine Falcon nesting. The nesting was done, trails were open, but the Peregrines were still around. We had a falcon put on an amazing aerial display for us, soaring slowly over us and then diving hundreds of feet down in an instant, across the lake and then soaring slowly over us again, about 5 or 6 times. It was fantastic!

Coming back down, we took the Canada Cliffs trail along the ledges and then around the south end of the mountain back down to Echo Lake - much longer route but without the ladders. For a shorter hike, we could have simply gone back down the ladder trail which is very do-able.