I was pretty stiff and sore in the morning. After breakfast we did a "light" 3 hour hike from the campground along a relatively new trail that runs through an old quarry and takes you to Otter Cove. From there we took a short connector trail over the skinny peninsula to Monument Cove. This is where the trail joins the Ocean Path, which Hans and I walked back in 2011. Instead of starting the Ocean Path at Sand Beach to the north, we were at the approximate midpoint and so we headed south to the most dramatic feature of the trail, Otter Cliffs. The trail ends at Otter Point, overlooking Otter Cove, which makes one wonder how all those Acadia otters got so much of the park named after them!
This seagull did its darnedest to convince us that we should give up some of our lunch
After returning to the campsite we had some leisurely snack time. For the rest of the afternoon we decided to drive around. The section of Mount Desert Island (MDI) to the south of our campground is primarily private land. As we made our way to Northeast Harbor we could see the the back of many beautiful Victorian homes, several of which are operating as inns.
After a short map check in town we drove the back road up Somes Sound, through Somesville, and stopped at Southeast Harbor (my favorite town on the island). I was suddenly very sleepy so we got some truly disappointing coffee at a bakery. Even though it tasted awful the caffeine gave me a much-needed boost. I did a little shopping at the artist co-op and then we continued our afternoon drive through the working-class parts of the island, which are my favorite. The land is less mountainous but the wide marshes and meadows are peppered with modest homes and local businesses that appear to be more in the service of locals rather than visitors.
As the sun began to set we drove past Great Long Pond. Back in town we parked the car and went for a pre-dinner stroll. I noticed some back neighborhood roads that we never wandered in 2011. It turns out that they lead to some very pleasant discoveries.
The road we walked ended at a small park and picnic area that is part of the Shore Path which winds around Bar Harbor from the main dock to the hospital. Having seen the path from Main Street I always assumed that it ended at the edge of the harbor. Not so. Here today we were at the midpoint of the path so we followed it to the end, past beautiful grand old "cottages", inns, and hotels. One was even for sale!
We had dinner at a fairly touristy (a common theme) Irish pub that I must sadly report replaces the old grouchy lobster roll shop that used to be there. Then again, all of the food at this new place was decent and their cocktails were very strong.
Back at the campsite we chatted under the tarp for a while and I did not light a fire because we were supposed to have rain and thunderstorms during the night. In the end we had only a few sprinkles and I saw silent pale flashes of distant lighting through the tent ceiling.
Some animal knocked over our empty beer bottles very loudly at midnight as it tried to break into our plastic camp totes. To be fair, there were marshmallows inside one of them.
No comments:
Post a Comment