Now that the snow has melted, again, I made a solo trip out to Acadia to get some of the last gps tracks needed for the maps in The Acadia You Haven't Seen's upcoming REVISED EDITION. I also needed to drop off some copies at Sherman's Book Store in Bar Harbor since they were running low and I had some extras at the house. I woke up a little earlier than expected and headed off, slightly disrupting the layout I made for the day since they weren't open yet by the time I reached Bar Harbor. The Park Loop Road just opened so I parked at the Paradise Hill Bridge and followed the abandoned Fern Trail to the Witch Hole Pond Carriage Road. The falls at the outlet of the ponds had a lot more water than I'd expected.
I made my way downstream along the remnants of the abandoned trail. I remembered it being steep in places along the walls of the ravine but erosion has washed away some of the hillside since the last time I was here, plus some new blowdown to work around. The main falls were a little lower than I'd remembered in the ravine and with the new erosion and blowdown, not exactly accessible anymore. With less water in the brook I would have been able to make my way down and rock hopped my way up to the base of the falls but today there was a little too much water.
Dropped off books at Sherman's downtown and then back to hiking. I needed to check out a couple old foundations along Cleftstone Rd to add to the chapter. I thought about scrapping the chapter in the revised edition but Jaime wanted me to keep it so I decided to hunt down the other foundations I hadn't found out about until after the first book's release. With vague directions I set out into the woods and quickly stumbled across the retaining walls of an old tea house. I didn't expect the area to be as impressive as it was.
Without leaves on the trees there were some nice views of the extravagant hilltop houses of Bar Harbor. The rocky outcropping the tea house once sat upon was quite rugged with broken boulders at its base surrounded by flat forest. I'm sure the tea house would have been quite the spectacle.
Continuing along Cleftstone Rd I found the driveway for the old Barberry Estate, complete with coping stones and even a small culvert draining the hillside. The long driveway looped through the open forest for a few hundred feet before arriving at the foundation.
I cut through the woods towards the old Archbold Estate I included in The Acadia You Haven't Seen, unfortunately all my photos were horrible due to being washed out on a cloudless day. And today was no different. Mother Nature must have been on my side because as soon as I arrived, the sun dipped behind a few clouds, allowing me to get a few decent photos. I honestly forgot how large the remnants of the old villa are, and they're much more enjoyable to explore when they're not covered in weeds.
From there I hit the Park Loop Road and parked at the first viewing area to make my way up to The Whitecap's massive western slab I found in 2017 for the first book. Luckily I brought my fanny pack with water and a sandwich, figuring I might have a late breakfast on the steep slabs. It was a steeper aproach than I remembered and not having anything to eat or drink yet, well, it was not a good combination. Had to sit on a rock once I reached the ledges and try not to puke or pass out. Good news, I didn't. Got the photos I needed with a bright blue sky backdrop and ate my sandwich enjoying the view.
On to the next viewing area where I followed Railway River downstream to Eagle Cascade. Not much water in the brook so I made a quick descent without waterfall distractions.
Up the carriage road to the Eagle Lake Arches for gps tracks and some pictures over Eagle Lake on a nice day. Somehow every other time I've been to the arches the view was either washed out or rainy, making my photos look black and white. Even the lake looked gray. Finally, a blue sky day at the arches... And the mountains still look black.
But at least I got my gps tracks for the map and some more pictures of the unfinished foundation, I needed some vertical shots for the book so I made sure to take planty this time around.
Back to Railway River to search for the lower part of the old cog railway that ran up Cadillac Mountain at the tail end of the 1800s. I'd found the old corridor back in 2015 but never bothered following it very far. How close was it to the brook? Ugh, that was almost ten years ago. Was it- oh, never mind found it.
Stopped at the car for a quick snack and camera battery change, then onto the upper portion of the old railway corridor. I'd done it in small spurts before while exploring the incredible brook that runs beside it but never hiked the entire route. I'd never been to the large stretch of stone cribbing used to raise the land beneath the railroad bed before, it was quite the sight to behold.
The railway route was easy to follow in most places and not overly difficult but the ledges did get a bit slick on the upper portion. There were even some nice views up around the Skyline Falls of Railway River just a few hundred feet from the summit road.
I'd decided beforehand that the old Green Mountain Cog Railway would get its own chapter in the REVISED EDITION of The Acadia You Haven't Seen. In the original it was relegated to the bonus destinations chapter at the end. Back down the railway corridor to the car where I then made my way to the Fabbri Picnic Area so I could follow the old Otter Cliff Road. I'd been aware of it during the making of the book the first time around but didn't have room to add it into the overcrowded chapter. So this was my first time actually following the route of the old road. It would have been much more enjoyable had there not been an insane amount of blowdown.
The blowdown cleared up a lot later along the road, creating a lovely stroll through a pine forest.
The next goal was Day Mountain and The Triad but the parking area was closed, then the Park Loop Road was closed and rerouted through the Wildwood Stables, possibly on a maintenance road or maybe a carriage path. So those hikes didn't happen and I moved onto the Hunters Cliff Shore Path for gps tracks.
While exploring the cliffs below the old trail I met an otter who posed for some pictures and a video. I've seen them up close before, usually running away from me when I startle them on seaside ledges but they're always gone before I get photos.
I decided to follow the official portion of the trail all the way to Hunters Beach to make the map more accurate. This was my first time doing the entire trail.
From there it was on to Tilting Rock. Now this one I was not looking forward to. We didn't know how we found it the first time around, with no directions whatsoever, but we somehow left the old road corridor and stumbled upon the forgotten sea stack. I included it in the book with some poor directions, knowing I'd probably never be able to find it again. The search was on. I followed the old road for longer than I thought we did last time but had yet to see any sign of a side trail. Finally found a path and knew it was the one, I recognized the crazy rock formations along the cliffs.
I kept following it, recognizing everything I passed from last time, but I swore all this stuff came after the Tilting Rock sea stack. Ended up following a side trail up the cliffs heading back towards the parking area and realized that was the original path we'd followed looking for the Tilting Rock. Mapped it most fo the way for the book and made my way back to the original path. Finally rounded a cliff and looked up at the massive sea stack.
Continued along the abandoned trail, a portion I hadn't been on previously. It quickly joined another old road before connecting with the original old Route 3 corridor I first set out on. And I was only a couple hundred feet from the car. So last time when my wife and I first found Tilting Rock we must have wandered off trail and accidentally stumbled across the path later on. Turns out it's super easy to get to, you just have to know where to turn. Before it got dark I wanted to check out some possible roadside cascades I spotted on the map. With just enough sunlight left, I entered the woods and immediately popped out of the trees onto another abandoned portion of Route 3.
With no private property signs, I continued on, knowing I didn't have far to go if there were indeed any cascades. There were.
Not sure if this is private property but there were signs of a trail with some stone steps. I didn't stick around long, knowing the other side of the brook is private property but the falls were gorgeous, small in height but they almost spanned the width of the brook. And back to the car just before dark. When I finally had cell service again I called Jaime on the way home and she ordered us some Dominos. After just two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches today and over ten miles of hiking, I was starving. Only one day of hiking left to finish up The Acadia You Haven't Seen REVISED EDITION.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D2X35JS5
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