the.arys - gary and mary

2014-08-20 Our day off, with perfect weather for a hike over Cadillac

We had worked 8 days in a row, now with one day off and another 6 work days in a row to come, Gary was not ready for any uphill hiking. Fortunately, he was willing to meet me at the top of Cadillac and walk down the south ridge. So once again, I hiked up North Ridge Trail while he caught Oli's Trolley to the top, we met at the summit and hiked down South Ridge Trail to Blackwoods Campground. It was a beautiful day, perfect weather and the summit was packed with people and cars. But as seems usual in Acadia, a short walk on a trail and you find yourself on an uncrowded trail in awesome natural beauty.

North Ridge Trail includes good steps

Views of Dorr (left) and Cadillac (right)

Shady paths thru scrub pine and blueberries

More steps

Spectacular views almost at all times

And as you approach the summit, many more people

People strolling around from the summit parking lot

Summit comes into view with people everywhere

Nice view of Dorr Summit rock pile (almost directly in front of Egg Rock Lighthouse in this shot)

Ranger at the Hawk viewing station

Cadillac Mountain on a lovely day

Everyone's enjoying the sunshine

Parking lot is pretty much full

Heading down, the first little scramble

One little rung which is of great assistance

Wild blackberries..what a treat!

Spectacular view over Pemetic, Penobscot and Sargent

Wild blueberries - best ever!

What a fantastic clear day

Enjoying the view

Lookikng towards the southwest, Cranberry Islands

Dorr, Huguenot, and Champlain to the east

Looking back north to the Cadillac summit (far right)

The final mile or so, wooded and shady into Blackwoods

happy to do this trail anytime!

2014-08-19 Trying a different trail up Pemetic

I had a later shift than Gary, so I was able to fit in a shuttle ride / hike / shuttle home before work at 3pm. Because of its convenience on the shuttle schedule, Pemetic mountain was a good choice for limited time. This time I did the Pemetic Northeast trail starting from the Bubbles parking lot, to the summit and then down the Northwest trail to Bubble Pond parking (which is the trail Gary and I had hiked up previously). My plan was to do a little offshoot trail called the "ledge ravine" which involves some ladders in a ravine and sounds fun. However, I somehow missed the offshoot and did not see the ravine until I was at the other end, above it where I could see the top of the ladder! Wanted to go back down and try it, but time did not allow, as I did not want to be late for work. Still had fun on this trail...a couple of girls I hiked with said it was one of the hardest in the park.....hmm, yeah it was definitely a workout!

Some of the trickiest footing in the park

Still more tricky footing

And a little bit of climbing fun

Very steep granite, not good in wet weather

Well, there's the ravine I missed

And there's the marker at the "top" of the ledge ravine

Look closely and see the top of the ladder

Time was short so I pressed onward

The footing is tough and it's continuously steep!

some of the last of the push upward

to an awesome view over Jordan Pond cliffs

Looking west at Sargent Mountain, with South Bubble, North Bubble in the foreground

After the summit, heading over the other side to Bubble Pond

Still more views

Nice view over Bubble Pond and Cadillac's west side, before heading down

2014-08-11 Morning kayak followed by a "quiet side" hike of Acadia, Valley Peak, and St Sauveur mountains

It was calm weather, high tide and little winds, so we finally got to take the kayaks out. Just toodled across Western Bay and then along the edge of the park. Nice and relaxing! Every once in a while, harbor seals pop up their heads like little basketballs, watch us for a moment, and then continue about their way fishing in the bay.

With the rest of the day off, I decided to try some popular trails on the "quiet side", the west side of Mt Desert Island. Acadia Mountain is an awesome hike with fun rock scrambling and can be fit in to an afternoon nicely at only 2 miles; combined with Valley Peak and St Sauveur mountains, it made for a 4.5 mile loop. I would love to do Acadia Mountain again - this was fun either direction and would be a great daily workout. Ran into some ladies who said they'd bit off more than they could chew - the rock scrambling could be challenging! Hiked most of this hike with a young girl from the UK who had left her family behind us on the trail. She kept trying to convince me that "jumping" off the rocks was better than climbing down.....yes, if only my knees and ankles were so young. Sorry, I am old, must climb...carefully...absolutely no jumping.

I was not crazy about the trail up the "back side" of St Sauveur, it was messy and unkempt with bad footing and poor marking - I believe it had been wiped out by the hurricane and extreme rains, and hadn't been addressed yet. The remainder of the hike to Valley Peak and down the "front side" (east) of St Sauveur was all spectacular. St Sauveur had lots of berries!