Page 2 of 6
Acadia National Park, Maine
A trail for the devil to erase
It is a sad, undeniable fact that in a head to head comparison, the mountains of Maine and Colorado aren't even in the same league. None of the four mountains in Maine I climbed this year over 1,000 fasl (Champlain, Gilmore, Penobscot and Sargeant) would even be noticed or named out west. The park's highest mountain is about 12,000 feet lower than Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park. Not even close.
Acadia is a much different place at a much different scale. The mountains are almost friendly, the cliffs more manageable, the cold, cold Atlantic somehow not so cold. Maybe it's just my personal history there, this is after all the ninth slideshow since I started sending them in 1997. After all this time (or maybe because of it), everything still feels so perfect there, at least sometimes.
The first familiar picture of this slideshow is from Cadillac Mountain, even at high tide still only 1,500 feet (or so) above both Bar Harbor and the sea.
I managed to find a trail and experience I have never had there, something which is getting increasingly rare. The Giant Slide Trail is advertised as one of the most difficult and unpopular on the island, it leaves from a scary, private road (complete with lots of the prerequisite, threatening "No Trespassing" signs) and ascends to an unpopular section of the Carriage Roads and onto an unpopular mountain.
What you find when you get there is an ascent like no other. It takes an hour to climb the Giant Slide, a stream that runs through a rock strewn ravine. The trail crosses the stream at least ten times as it relentlessly climbs up, around, over and under the giant boulders. After Precipice, it's the most fun trail in the park. Really.
This picture suffers from my wide angle lens, it feels much smaller than it is. The little boulder on the left is at least four or five feet high, the blue trail blaze (at about 3" x 10") gives it away. It's not scary big, but it's got some size to it.
The Carriage Road system was founded by John D. Rockefeller, Jr (the good John D. Rockefeller) and designed by the one and only Fredrick Law Olmstead (the Central Park guy). The roads are reserved for hiking, bicycles (except for the areas still owned by the Rockefellers) and horses. None of them usually make it to the Around Mountain loop area, one of the highest and least popular areas in the system.
Rocky Mountain National Park may have the source of the mighty Colorado River and all those mountains over 14,000 feet above sea level, but Acadia has actual sea level. An angry Atlantic is never that far away from town, trails or even those towering, unforgiving thousand foot high mountains.
Closer to Seal Harbor, Hunters Beach (bigger than its natural rival Little Hunters Beach) is a great place to play with rocks. At certain locations in the park, the Atlantic likes to naturally tumble rocks and return them to the beach rounded and properly buffed. The effect is impressive, a sea of round rocks framed by jagged cliffs and an actual sea.
In the background my brother in law provides a welcome sense of scale.
Not all of the water in Acadia is salty. The very popular Jordan Pond is in a perfect location, surrounded by picturesque mountains (including Sargeant Mountain), cliffs, that damn loop road and enough trails to keep anyone busy for a day or two.
