Tag Archives: mountains

Beehive, Gorham Mountain, and Acadia Mountain

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There was no shortage of climbing today.

May 30, 2011 - We were awakened by the sound of a thunderstorm, so we re-set the clocks and got a bit of rest (i.e. slept in till about 7am!).  Hoping the weather clears!

The breakfast was so good that we forgot to take photos before starting.

Breakfast was tasty again, and it was nice enough to eat outside.  However, the rain rolled back through, so we took shelter with another couple under an umbrella.  Just as quickly, the rain cleared, and the weather turned warm, humid and sunny.  We enjoyed grapefruit juice and coffee, maple syrup muffins, a fruit plate, scrambled eggs with cheesy thick-sliced toast, and baked tomatoes with cheese and herbs before heading out to the trails.

A high-powered scope (or creative use of the ellipse shape tool) was needed to see the falcon.

First we stopped to watch a female peregrine falcon flying and sitting on cliffs by the Precipice Trail, which is closed because of the nesting birds.  :)

The view from the top of the Beehive is awesome.

Our final destination was the Sand Beach parking lot.  We were headed to the Beehive Trail, with an extender hike to the Bowl and Gorham Mountain.  The weather was clear (unlike the early morning!), and there were very few puddles on the rapidly warming rocks.  We got on the trail around 9:45am, along with a few other hikers.  There were great views all the way up the Beehive – plus climbing the ladders / rungs is lots of fun, too!  (Although there’s always, always someone who insists on climbing down the Beehive.  People, stop. Listen to me.  It’s a one-way hike – up.  Once you’re up, go down another way.  Like Gorham Mountain.)  Once at the top we admired the view for a bit then went down to the Bowl, and eventually up and then down Gorham Mountain..

This coastline view is a great break after the Gorham Mountain hike.

Well, the previous hike was apparently not our final destination.  The day was just too nice to not hit up another mountain.  Plus we (er, Louisa) figured we’d be too tired tomorrow to do a double-header hike. ;-)   Acadia Mountain was the destination of choice.  Flying Mountain was closed since more falcons were nesting, but the other trails in the Western mountain area were open.  The beginning part of the hike has a few roots, but nothing like the areas by Norumbega.  There was also a bit of scrambling/climbing through rock crevices.  Wide open views of the Sound greeted us at the top of the large rock we were climbing; and then there were three snakes on the trail down the mountain.  Not too many people must hike down that way, although it’s a pleasant (albeit steep and rocky) hike.  And there’s a fire road at the bottom which provides an easy walk back to the car.

Acadia Mountain offers great views of Somes Sound below.

Dinner was again at Café This Way – we enjoyed the lobster and crab spring rolls with plum dipping sauce as an appetizer.  Louisa did a reprise of her dinner while Tony tried another special.  This one was grass-fed veal, along with a wild mushroom and fingerling potato hash; the combination was fantastic.  We had blueberry muffins from the Acadia Store for dessert while overlooking the water, then enjoyed some tea back at the inn.

Final hike in Acadia; VT and NH (8/21/10)

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Breakfast at the Ullikana Inn.

Breakfast was served outside; we snagged a table for two and looked at the water through the trees as we waited for the (delicious) food – maple syrup muffins, coffee, an orange juice and cranberry juice mixed blend, cantaloupe balls with a simple mint syrup, and German pancake with fresh blueberries and raspberries.

Triple Arch Bridge by Jordan Pond House.

After breakfast we drove around the Western part of the park (along Route 3), under the triple arch bridge and parked at Jordan Pond House.  Fortunately, we were there relatively early, so there were still plenty of parking spaces.

View of the Jordan Pond from the trail.

Our hike for the day was another double mountain – the Penobscot and Sargent Mountain trail. The weather was perfect, and we had trail almost to ourselves.  The initial section of the trail involved hiking over and up a giant rock wall.  This initial uphill section also had stairs cut into the rocks (great for quick elevation gain).  We found some great uninterrupted views along rock outcroppings along the trail.

There were many cairns placed on the trail.

This trail was the perfect final hike in the park.  The views were plentiful and varied – we could see the Atlantic, Frenchman’s Bay, the Sound, Bar Harbor, Northeast Harbor, Jordan Pond, the Hadlock Ponds (both Upper and Lower – we had hiked around one of them the previous day), and Cadillac Mountain.

The "bottomless" lake.

After reaching the summit of Penobscot Mountain, we hiked down to Sargent Mountain Lake.  It’s located in the saddle between Sargent and Penobscot Mountains; in the 1800s, it was thought to be bottomless.

The view from the top of Sargent Mountain was amazing.

The views on the way down weren't too shabby either.

We hiked up the final ridge to the top of Sargent Mountain.  The views from the top, and the views on the return trip, were perfect.

After the hike we got pop at the Jordan Pond House (the wait was too long to stay and eat; over two hours for seating) and hit the road.  We stopped just outside of town for great  picnic lunch of pulled pork BBQ (with some very good sweet BBQ sauce) at Maine-ly Meat.  The sides weren’t anything special, and may have been frozen; however, the BBQ itself made up for that.

Shake shake shake... shake shake shake... Shaker Village. Shaker Village.

Somewhere, in a little town in the middle of nowhere (it was by a Shaker village, which may just prove that point…), we stopped for dinner – we split a meatball sub from Subway, a blueberry muffin from Dunkin Donuts, a pumpkin whoopee pie with cream cheese filling and an iced green tea with blueberry and acai juices.

The White Mountains at dusk.

The rest of the evening was full of new states.  We drove through Maine into NH, and along the Kancamagus Highway into the White Mountain region.  New Hampshire was pretty, and had some cute little towns, trees, and mountains.  Just after dusk, we also saw a moose run across the road and disappear into the forest.

We eventually drove into Vermont, and stayed at the Fairbanks Inn in St. Johnsbury.  We were fortunate to have reservations, since all the hotels between St. Johnsbury and Quebec were full.

Goat Trail (8/20/2010)

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There's a cool rock boulder in Bar Harbor.

We began the day with another nice breakfast – bing cherry, pineapple, cherry cream frozen fruit salad; dijon potatoes; Belgium waffle with blueberries and lightly whipped cream for Louisa, ham and gouda strata (with sun dried tomatoes and chives) for Tony.

Goats aren't the only animals found on the trail.

After breakfast we headed over to Norumbega mountain.  First we hiked up the goat trail, which is aptly named since it rises 600 feet in 0.6 miles and involves scrambling up a giant granite rock face.  Next cam a ridge line, then the Shadow Hill trail, which involves large quiet trees, moss covered rocks and ribbons of sunlight.  By now we were almost finished with the hike, but we still had a pond to walk around.  We also got to walk back to the car via another section of the goat trail; this one was literally covered with tangled tree roots and rocks.

At this point we were more than ready for some food, so we went back to Thurston’s for soft-shelled lobster for lunch.

Tree along the bay at Bar Harbor.

After lunch we drove back to Bar Harbor and checked into Henry’s room at the Inn at Ullikana.  The Inn was absolutely beautiful; our room was on the third floor, and had very detailed painting and stenciling on the walls and floor.  We got settled in, enjoyed the yummy afternoon spread of wine, cheese and crackers, and took a walk along the shore path.  The Inn is literally two blocks from the ocean, and even though it’s near the center of town, it feels as if it’s away from the hustle and bustle of Bar Harbor.

The room at the Inn was cozy, but nice.

We got dinner at Lompoc – falafel burger with hummus (yum!), and shrimp and bacon /cheese grits.  We ended the evening by walking through town, and viewing the stars through our room’s skylight.  We also decided to switch up the trip a bit, and take one last hike in Acadia tomorrow morning.

Mountains and Carriage Paths (8/19/10)

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Louisa and I starting the day's hike.

We knew that we wanted to relax after the whale watch, so of course we waited until 8am to get breakfast (shhh…. never mind that’s when breakfast started).  We ate outside at one of the tables set up on the porch, and enjoyed fresh cantaloupe slices, coffee, juice, breakfast sausage, quiche Lorraine (for Tony) and blueberry pancakes with Maine maple syrup (for Louisa) while we listened to a cardinal chirp.

View from Mt. Huguenot.

After breakfast we headed out to hike the Beachcroft trail up Champlain.  It is a very nice trail design (large flat stones are set into the path), and a rather easy hike up the mountain.  We did take a slight detour midway up to attempt to find the trail to the top of Mt. Huguenot.  We originally found an apparently marked trail, but it didn’t go anywhere.  We began hiking back towards Champlain, until Louisa did a 180 and insisted we try to find the path one more time.  This time we tried going up an unmarked path that just kind of looked like a trail.  This time we were successful, and were given nice views of some of the surrounding mountain peaks.

The bay can be foggy in the early morning.

Once we got to the top of Champlain, we had even better views and were able to look down on Mt. Huguenot.  We hiked down along the North Ridge, which is definitely steeper with more loose stones than the path we took up the mountain.  We also hiked along the unmarked Beaver Pond Trail to get back to the car.  Although we did have a nice view of the pond, there weren’t any visible beaver dams.

Near the end of the hike.

We ate an al fresco lunch at the Chart Room Restaurant: clam chowder, scallops, and a lobster roll, along with great views of the water and small fishing boats.  We also watched a sea gull repeatedly pick up a small clam (?), fly about 10′-15′ feet into the air, and then drop the clam.  The bird would repeat this until it either got tired, or the shell cracked and it too could enjoy lunch.

View of Eagle Lake from the carriage path.

After lunch went to Eagle Lake to hike some of the carriage path there.  The trail was nice and wooded, and not too crowded.  We went down to the bridge by Bubble Pond.  We were also able to walk under one of the carriage path bridges, since the park loop road used to run under it.

The bed was comfy at the Inn.

Afterward we relaxed at the room and got afternoon snacks (blueberry pie and chocolate chip cookies) and coffee.

Tonight’s dinner was at Poor Boy’s Gourmet – scallops, pasta with marinara, lobster bisque, whole lobster, and crème brulee (the top was a bit overdone, but custard was excellent).

The full moon provided great lighting for the night drive.

After dinner we drove into the park to check out the scenery.  We went down to the Thunder Hole section, and watched the moon over the water.  We met a nice ranger who told us about a scenic overlook where we could see the ocean and mountains.  By that point, the fog had rolled in – it might rain tomorrow morning.