BLOG - Late Fall In Acadia

After Thursday's solo Acadia trip, I only had a few places left to visit in order to finish up the new Summiting Acadia hiking guide. So we made a rare Sunday trip together, it's usually too busy for our liking on weekends. We headed off around 9:30 and took our time for once. Got the paper printout pass exchanged for a card at the Sand Beach entrance station and headed out on the Bowl Trail for Halfway Mountain gps tracks. The trail was super busy, a never ending line of people but most turned to go up The Beehive. It may have only been a high of 44 but we got awfully hot and sweaty. Jaime waited for me on a nice sitting rock beside the trail while I made my way to Halfway's southern ledges.

I found the exact route I've used before and made my way up, a little harder than I remembered, or maybe I'm just out of shape. Great views from the top even though the foliage has almost completely passed now. It's fine, no photos needed, I was just there for gps tracks for the map.

My calf was still sore from hiking a few days ago, quite a bit of limping involved but it progressivley got better throughout the day. Going downhill was much easier. Parked at Asticou Terraces and limped my way up too many steps to count, after having a few bites of pizza.

Turned out the Thuya Garden road was still open so I could have cut out a few tenths of a mile but the Terraces are beautiful so I didn't mind. Made my way up Eliot Mountain from the parking area, a trail I hadn't hiked before. It was quite easy, nice little viewpoint by a monument below the summit, I even got to see a deer up there. By no means a grand vista but there was a little bit of a view.

Continued on to the actual summit and down the other side so I could try following my directions to the off-trail ledge with a view, I made it, my directions were spot on. But it was harder to get to than I'd remembered, definitely not for those inexperienced in bushwhacking, not because it was difficult but there's a steep downhill right before stepping out on the ledge.

Continued down the trail on a longer but very easy descent right back to Thuya Garden. This was the first time I actually explored the grounds a little, enjoying all the cool fences and wooden gates and even a few fall flowers.

Short drive over to the Hadlock Ponds so I could hike the Hadlock Brook Trail up Cedar Swamp Mountain. I got a bit chilly at times as the sun started dipping behind the mountains but with all the sweating I was doing, I was glad I didn't bring a jacket. No pack or water either, just my trusty Sawyer filter since I’d be hiking along a brook. Stopped for a few pictures at Hadlock Bridge.

The trail was rocky and rooty but surprisingly not too steep, even the final 0.3 mile that looked like it'd be straight up. Didn't need to go all the way to the top but since it wasn't nearly as hard as I'd expected, I continued up to the summit. The view from the top was great, the dark skies just before sunset made for some good photos.

I even went to check out the plane crash site again to get some better photos, last time it was bright and sunny and they were a bit washed out. The dark skies made for a much more somber and appropriate photos.

Stopped for a drink from the brook on my way down and made it back in pretty good time, about an hour up and under 30 minutes down. Got back to the car at 5:15 with some daylight to spare. Forgot my calf was even sore and amazingly no hives all day. I managed to take my pills every 4 hours so that helped. And that pretty much wraps up Summitting Acadia. I'm sure I'll need to go back in the spring for a few extra pictures but as of right now, the trails today were the last ones needed for the upcoming hiking guide.