Acadia: Around the Island

This morning we were up before sunrise, hoping to catch the morning light from atop Cadillac Mountain, the highest point in the park and the highest Atlantic Ocean-side feature in America.  No dice.  We realized we hadn’t risen quite early enough and so went to Bar Harbor for some early morning photo-ops instead.

 

After, we set out for the western side of the island.  We stopped in Somesville to take a few pictures, then Southwest Harbor for coffee.

Next, a quick (though not always easy) hike up Bernard Mountain.  Along the return hike we encountered an enchanting moss-strewn pine wood and one lonely frog (toad?).  So much for “wildlife sighting”, but I should note that moose are rarely seen on the island and it turns out that we had the trail completely to ourselves, an unusual even in such a busy park.

Our western tour continued past Seawall and we had a great time curiously looking at the tidepools near the Wonderland Trail.  We tried not to crush any of the sea snails that teemed over the rocks and we spotted a couple of Hermit crabs less than a half centimeter long and a lone baby crab.  Further down the road we checked out the Bass Harbor lighthouse, built 1858, electronically operated since 1974, but still inhabited by a coast guard family year-round.

 I spied a local-crafts gallery in the town of Southwest Harbor.  Inside I was drawn to a series of art prints.  It turns out that the artist herself was manning the store!  She signed the print I decided to buy and told me an amusing story about her sister that used to belong to a nunnery in Baltimore.

On the other side of the harbor was The Captain’s Galley at Beal’s Lobster Pier: A mouthful to say, equaling mouthfuls of sweet, succulent lobsta!  I ordered a soft-shelled crustacean and my previous Maryland crab-eating experience proved to be extremely useful as I tore into my bright red dinner.  Hans was a little grossed out when I de-veined the tail but I gave him a little claw meat.  We finished our meal with some blueberry pie.

As it was nearing the end of daylight hours we drove up to the top of Cadillac Mountain and enjoyed a gorgeous sunset.  An hour of semi-hazy star gazing back at the campground and then to bed.

 Atop Cadillac Mountain, the Margaret Todd seen in Frenchman's Bay near Bar Harbor