I wanted to go check out a bunch of new prospects for The Acadia You Haven't Seen Volume II that I've been researching but first things first, need to finish book number one. So instead I went back to revisit some of the destinations in the first book that needed better pictures or more precise directions. The day was overcast and pretty cold. First I found a new ledge on the Whitecap with a better view than the actual summit.
Next I had to find a safer way up a small trailless summit once known as East Knob. I also needed some better pictures as the day I first did it was a bit overcast but today was no different, but at least I have more pictures to choose from, plus Jaime and I found another summit with a slightly different viewpoint. We also met a couple deer along the way.
Next on the agenda was trying to get to the bottom of Otter Cliff, and no, that was an epic fail. Even at low tide it isn't reachable without climbing gear but along the way I did find an interesting little pocket beach with an overhanging ledge only reachable at low tide. That worked out perfectly because I had to eliminate another beach I'd found last year when I recently discovered a sea cave beside it which is going in the second edition.
When I finally made it to the Champlain Ridge Swamp last fall, I was in a hurry and didn't get to fully explore the area. On top of that, the swamp was completely dried up. So I went back and ended up finding the old abandoned trail that leads right by it which turned out to be a tad bit easier than the thick bushwhack I did to get there last year.
From there I continued along the abandoned trail which looked awfully familiar. It was the same trail I'd stumbled upon two summers ago when I was bushwhacking up Champlain Mountain.
Rather than try to follow the hard to find trail back down, I took the Ridge Trail back to The Bowl which I thought would be a shortcut but it was still 0.8 mile. The battery on my GPS died earlier in the day so I went a little old school on this hike. I did find another abandoned trail I was looking for on my way down but didn't have time to explore it.
The stream that drains Kief Pond was running stronger than usual so I checked that out but there was nothing too interesting. However, when I left the stream I did find an interesting boulder that had a small cave underneath it. Unfortunately I didn't have my flashlight on me so I had to use the light on my walkie talkie and the flash on my camera. It was pretty neat though and might require some more exploration.
The last stop of the day was a spot along the coast I had noticed from across the way where the waves always seem to crash extra hard. The area was a little tricky getting down to due not only to the rock cliffs but the patches of poison ivy as well. It turned out to be nothing too spectacular but there was a cool boulder cave right off the shore.
So even though I didn't get to go exploring all new areas, I still managed to find some new things. And that about wraps up The Acadia You Haven't Seen, although I think I need to go back one more time to replace some pictures for South Slope Slide and get a better trail description for Youngs Mountain. Until then I'll be working hard on the finishing touches for book one.
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