A Maine Event, Part 2

One of the loveliest things about our visit to Mount Desert Island was hiking nearly every day in Acadia National Park. There are so many different trails, so many landscapes to see, that you can have a great variety of views.

The views along the coast are the most popular, especially along the Otter Point trail that goes along the east side of the island. There were so many people lollygagging along that trail that it was actually irritating to walk it, because they got in the way of real hikers (i.e. us). But the views were spectacular.

And part of the beauty is spotting sailboats out catching the wind. Despite the overcast skies, the weather was warm enough to be just right for hiking.

Along the southern coast, the fog made it look cold, the way I experience beaches in Oregon and Washington. But it wasn't. You wouldn't want a jacket of any kind on a hike through this fog. Very interesting.

Occasionally we'd come to a bog with a plank trail laid over it.  This one was kind of fun, and there were gorgeous blue flag irises growing out of that very green area.

I was particularly amused by people who brought out their camp chairs, some of them with a little built-on shade, set them up on the rocks so they could read a book out by the sea. What a lovely way to spend an afternoon!  I wished for our own camp chairs, but they were safely back in our garage at home.

One of the trails I enjoyed the most was the time we took a carriage path around Eagle Lake.  These paths were built by Roosevelt when he was annoyed with cars clogging up the roads in Acadia National Park, and making the air stinky. He had the sandy carriage roads built to accommodate horses and buggies; they still do that, but they also accommodate walkers and bicyclists. 

There are miles and miles of carriage roads through the park, in a system that includes beautiful stone bridges. They are a great deal more comfortable than hiking the rocky paths, which we did for a little while, thinking we would hike right along the water's edge.  Not a good idea. These are not like the smooth, groomed paths through the forest on this side of the country. We found ourselves watching our footing and stepping on rocks, looking for the next blue paint marker to assure that we were still headed the right direction.  It was a happy moment when we rejoined the carriage path.

The nature views are wonderful along the paths. There are ponds with beaver lodges, deer, eagles, squirrels ... it's delightful. The beavers were probably taking a nap in their comfy beds at this one, as they didn't show up while I was watching.

Here's Eagle Lake, which we walked around on carriage roads.  It's about a six-mile walk.

And at the end of the walk, we enjoyed watching the kayakers getting started.  Earlier we'd seen a couple of teenage girls come crashing up the hill from the lake to the carriage road. They said their kayak had turned over and they'd swum to shore. They were planning to meet up with their mom, whose kayak had also capsized.  They heard her calling and wheeled around and crashed back down through the forest to meet her.

Our last hike was another six-mile walk along a fire road that passed by Hodgdon Pond and Long Pond.  While we didn't try out kayaks on this trip, they were in full view pretty much any time we were near water, and I hope to give that a try sometime in the future.  For now, hiking was good for the soul, and Mount Desert Island is the perfect place to do it.