Acadia National Park

We left the Canadian Maritimes a few days early because it was cold and wet – typical Pacific NW weather. The friendly US customs people searched our RV and took away all our citrus and tomatoes. Who knew how dangerous they could be?

I love Acadia National Park in Maine, and the first time I was here was only for about 4 hours. I knew I had to come back and I was anxious to spend some time here with Bob.

Acadia is on Mt. Desert Island, off the coast of Maine. It is horseshoe shaped, just like my beloved Orcas Island and the similarities don’t end there. You’ll find lots of rocky shoreline, long bays and inlets, a mountain that you can drive to the top of, and 120 miles of hiking trails. When I was leading whale watch trips, people always commented that the San Juans reminded them of Maine, and I would have to agree. From the top of Cadillac Mountain, at 1530 feet, you can see dozens of small islands stretching in three directions and they also have whale watching.

Bob and I “hiked” to the top of Dorr Mountain. It was more like rock climbing with a 1,000 ft elevation gain in less than a mile. We thought that was tough, but coming back down the Gorge Path was even worse. This was no path. We had to climb down a rock covered stream to get out.

Biking was a real joy in the park. There are 45 miles of carriage roads that were built in the 1920s and no cars are allowed on them. They run through very beautiful forests and along ponds and lakes. We rode the lakes loop and stopped for lunch at the Jordan Pond House for their famous popovers. Yummy.

The town of Bar Harbor is also on the island. What a wonderful place filled with great restaurants and inns. We were surprised to see two huge cruise ships in the harbor almost every day. No wonder the park was filled with visitors this late in the season.

The one thing that I found odd here was the lack of wildlife. Hiking or biking we never saw scat, barely a sparrow and no road kill on the highways. There were plenty of sea birds, but the land critters seemed to be missing. Anyone know the reason for this?