Our New England Vacation - Part 3
To make the most of our short time in Maine, we decided to head to Acadia National Park’s star attraction, the Park Loop Road. The road twists through 27 miles of the eastern half of Mount Desert Island where you can wander through the mountains, view the rocky shorelines and take in pristine lakes. There are numerous stopping points along the road and we picked several to stop at and gaze.
Again the day was very overcast and a little breezy, but not raining, so that was a plus. Not so much for photos, but as least it wasn’t raining.
Frenchman Bay Overlook (We just saw a large cruise ship from this vantage point. What caught my eye was the difference in size of the ship versus the boat behind it. Can you see it?)
Egg Rock Overlook with the Egg Rock Lighthouse
Sand Beach
Thunder Hole - this is a narrow rock crevice that booms like thunder when waves hit it just right. The water was calm when we were there so no thunder for us, but what a cool phenomenon.
Otter Cliffs
Otter Point
Remarkably, we completed all these adventures by noon time. There were a couple spots we would have loved to have stopped at, but the crowds were getting heavy and parking was sometimes impossible. Jordan Pond was one of those spots, so we decided we would come back early in the morning to visit there.
After lunch we decided to go hiking, so we headed to Beech Mountain. This was a 1.1 mile round trip hike with views of Long Pond. After parking we found the trail and headed into the woods. We quickly came to a fork in the path and tried to decide if we should go left or right. It wouldn’t matter which direction we took as it was a big loop but we still were trying to decide which was best. Some others were coming off the trail, so we asked which direction should we take. To the left would be a strenuous trip up, but easier coming down. To the right would be a steady climb up and a strenuous trip down. We decided to go to the left and get the strenuous part over first.
Reaching what looked like the summit, we were treated to some amazing views.
We reached a fire tower, then as we made our way further on the trail it was clear we were finally heading downhill. We soon approached this incredible view of Long Pond.
It was so beautiful to sit on the rocks and just gaze. We rested for a good little bit and just savored the view. Someone else who was sitting told us of another short trail from the parking lot that would give us a pretty view of Echo Lake. So we completed our loop hike and headed to the other side.
From here it was back to the car and back to our inn. The rest of the evening was filled with dinner, rest and strolling in downtown Bar Harbor.
What a great day!