We grabbed a quick and very cheap breakfast at a local coffee shop and then stopped to look at a small beach right down from where we are staying. The sign was funny: No picking of rocks off beach. We tend to do that and this is the first time we've ever seen a sign asking people not to. The sign also said to make sure to call medical help if you get sick as it could be water bacteria. ??? The water was actually too cold to swim in. Yesterday we got a Weather Channel alert about water temperature. Usually the alerts are about upcoming storms or flooding. This one said the unseasonably warm day and temperatures might lure more people into the water but the water temperatures were still only about 50 degrees and said people may suffer hypothermia!
We then decided to drive around the big loop/s around the national park to see what we could see. It is really pretty, lots of trees and then, boom, the harbor or ocean. More trees, great views, more trees, more water! We got to use our National Park that was gifted to us at Christmas from the boys and families. Lovely!!
We made our way to Cadillac Mountain. Cadillac Mountain is the first place to view the sunrise in the United States from October through March. I am not sure what area is first the rest of they year? I will get back with you on that!! Guess where we are going tomorrow morning?? :) The entire area's rock are pink--the entire area which are Acadia's mountains. What gives with that? Well, it turns out that millions of years ago a very hot liquid cooled under the earth's surface here and was trapped under a magma chamber more than 2 miles deep. As it cooled it crystallized into pink granite! Glaciers and erosion basically scrubbed off the tops and exposed the pink granite. I believe that the Pilgrim Monument in Provincetown was made from Maine pink granite. We'll get back with you on that! There are literally pink rocks in all sizes everywhere in the park. There was also the 360 view at the top!! Holy Cow! We are just a tiny micron in this big gorgeous world. One of these pictures shows a smaller rock and it looks like perhaps it is keeping the really humongous one from rolling way. What would happen if that little rock was moved??
We thought we'd swing by Sand Beach as it featured a good hike around it a beautiful sand and water, but the crowds started thickening. We have no idea where everyone suddenly came from but there were people everywhere, walking and parking! We opted instead to hike, bike, and kayak.
We headed to Jordan Pond and thought that might be the best option to do all three. The trail is 3.2 miles but not hefty at all, the bike trails encompass that lake plus another but wheeling is okay, and the lake looked amazing so kayaking should be doable. There are literally a zillion trails to hike, bike, or go by carriage or bus. Not a zillion but LOTS!! A person could spend weeks here to get all of the hiking, biking, and kayaking in!! Some trails even have metal rungs like a ladder you climb/hang on for dear life? and small steps and railings and super steep.
We started off on the hike and had to walk on wooden planks. Seriously. We understand the need for conserving the fragile ecosystem and people are so rude and do wander way off the trails, but it took a lot of attention to stay on those two boards. Sometimes the boards were a little loose!! After the boarded area were two areas of very rocky terrain that we hiked through. Most people came through exhausted and complaining but it really wasn't anything as we did rockier trails the past few days while finding our waterfalls! The last of the trail was an improved and easy trail. There were rocks tucked in here and there but it was flat and easy. The wind started to pick up and white caps developed on the lake. We generally don't kayak with whitecaps as the water is usually too choppy to be fun. We did see a canoe out on the water and they were paddling like crazy to even look like they were moving! We wouldn't be kayaking today. A snippet of conversation overheard today, a young man, maybe 14-15: So, where should we hide the money?
We finished the hike and switched out hiking sticks for bikes. The trails for bikes are really nice, and wide, with a packed rock type of surface. They were also very steep in some parts! Jeez --we haven't been biking as much as we'd wanted to prep for this trip. We did bike, but not nearly as far as we had intentioned. Sometimes rubber muscles speak louder (perhaps complain louder?) than intentions! We did get a good albeit shorter ride in. The view from the top of one of those steep inclines was a great view of the lake we'd hiked around.
We did need to get gas. Our gas gauge showed only 11 miles to E. That seemed odd as we thought we had plenty to start. Acadia doesn't exactly have gas stations every few blocks!! We asked a few people in a bar, and they didn't know. Really? They obviously live here as they are working here and they couldn't tell us where to get gas? We did finally stop and ask two gentlemen installing a security camera in a rock wall and their reaction was a worried and funny face: "Oh, you'll have to go all the way back to Bar Harbor. There might be gas at the gas station in Otter Creek." Wait, might be gas at a gas station? We asked, and they replied, "Well, it's more of a convenience store." It was exactly like a convenience store, no gas at all, not even gas pumps!! The gas gauge then suddenly was fine, so we don't know if we parked funny or the hills affected its sensor. We found a gas station and filled Ruby up, only $2.90 per gallon. We expected much higher prices!
We wandered around town for awhile as we had a few hours to kill before we headed back up to see the sunset over Blue Hill Overlook on Cadillac Mountain. We popped into a few stores, walked along a rocky beach (leaving all rocks behind), and eventually headed to view the sunset.
Man oh man, was it windy up there!! It was truly a struggle to stay standing and then sitting straight. It gusted and gusted. It felt stronger than it did on the summit of Mt. Washington!! The sunset was awesome so worth the tumbleweed stress!! It settled behind some clouds for a bit, then made a glorious appearance only to set again in a cloud bank right above the horizon. Sunsets are great. An end to a day with the promise of a new tomorrow.
We are getting up early to catch the sunrise. We'll let you know how that goes!
Nighty night.
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