August 7

Again, the time is too late. Distances between places in Maine can be longer than what you think when looking at a map. I will add comments tomorrow.

Tomorrow has arrived. Acadia NP was looking gorgeous as always. I went through the Hull Center VC entrance station at 6:15 AM. I was surprised to see not one single vehicle in the 300-car lot. Maybe this day would be horde-free. Many of the main attractions in the park are accessed via the Park Loop Road, which is on the east side of Mount Desert Island (the island that has the vast majority of the park acreage), with the northern terminus being the VC. The eastern half of the road is one-way, going north to south. I stopped first at Precipice Trail (with only a couple of cars in the lot), lathered on the suntan lotion, swapped into hiking shoes, and started towards the trailhead. Unbeknownst to me the trail was closed for Peregrin Falcon nesting issues. Time for the backup plan. This would be the Bee Hive. Now, Precipice Trail is considered the Alpha-trail in the park. You had better be in good shape and willing to cling to the side of a cliff for a long vertical climb. Bee Hive has some of those features but can be handled by moderately abled folks. It is also much shorter in vertical distance. But it is still fun, with iron rungs, granite slopes, rock steps, and one steel-rod grate so a person does not fall from a spot with only ten inches of footing before going straight down. You will be sweating once you reach the top, as I and the others at the top will attest. From here a person has multiple options to access other trails on the west side of the first ocean-side mountain tops. I went down to the Bowl Trail to view its lovely 14-acre pond. The return had me taking about 800 yards of the initial Bee Hive trail path. Let me tell you, all the residents in Maine had now found their way to this trailhead. I was the only going back to the parking lot by the ocean. Hundreds of people were headed inland. The large parking lot was full. Other folks were walking down to the beach which was on the other side of the lot. I guess most people do not like to get up at 6 AM, preferring 8 AM or later. Now the park was crowded.

There are a few more stops along the Park Loop Road before it turns into a 2-way route, going back up to Jordon Pond and Cadillac Mountain. One of those is Thunder Hole. One needs to arrive two hours before high tide to view the awesome force of Nature work its visual magic. Just my luck, I was here at low tide. For the warmer months of the year, a person needs a vehicle reservation to drive to the top of Cadillac Mountain. I will come back in the future for that, and Thunder Hole. Jordon Pond is another prime starting point for great hikes, such as Penobscot Mountain. Instead, I headed to Beech Mountain over on the west side of the island. There is a fire tower on its summit. The trail was awesome with more granite slopes and steps, with plenty of shade from trees until reaching the top.

There is plenty more to see and do in Acadia. A couple of lighthouses, fishing, boating, walking to Bar Island at low tide, and more mountains to climb. Think about coming in October after the crowds have left. But check availability of restaurants in Bar Harbor. The last week in October the town basically shuts down due to preparations for winter. The water supply is shut off, so businesses have to close. But some will close ever earlier. Paul suggested looking for parking at the athletic fields on the south end of Bar Harbor (everyone tries to wait for a spot on the streets), then to eat at Stewman’s on the water.

A couple hours to the east is the island of Campobello. You have to cross a bridge, over into Canada. The main attraction is the summer home of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. The house was a belated wedding gift by Franklin’s mother, Sara. It looks great and is quite large. Volunteers lead groups through the house on tours. The place is basically untouched since the 1930s when the Roosevelts stopped using it. Franklin had grown up in the late 1800s on the island since his parents owned property here. He and Eleanor raised their children here during the summers. A large photo is in the entry room showing the entire family in 1920 (the first Franklin, Jr. had died in infancy). After Franklin became President of the United States, he returned only three times to the home. Even though the body of land is a small island, it is owned by Canada, so be sure to bring your U.S. Passport so you can get back into the country. A side note, this park is not one of the official 425 units, it is an Affiliated Park. But if you are in eastern Maine and looking for something to do, it is worth the trip over.

An hour to the north is Saint Croix IHS. The road is highway US 1. This is one of the iconic routes in our country, running from Fort Kent in northern Maine to Key West in Florida. It is peaceful in this section of Maine, though not much to see. The national park is nine miles south of Calais. The VC and a small portion of the park borders the St. Croix River. But out in the middle of the river is the more important piece of land. This is the island that Pierre Dugua and his men landed on in 1604, building a fort for the winter. The French had every intention of staking claim to this new land. Everyone knew the Spanish and Portuguese were well to the south. And the English had tried to start a colony in North Carolina in 1587. The winter was severe. 35 of the 79 men died. When spring arrived, native peoples helped the survivors. Dugua, not wanting to go through a similar experience the next winter, moved the group to Nova Scotia, to Port Royal. That town exists today. That means the French had a permanent settlement in North America before the English (Jamestowne in 1607). The NPS is considering closing all access to the island. The burial site of the 35 men is there. The sand portions of the island are being washed away each year, though the granite sections will be around for centuries to come. Right now, a person in a private boat can dock on the edge of the island and walk around, potentially causing damage.