Beautiful Beech Mountain and Bass Harbor with a Baby (and a Dog)

"There is nothing so American as our national parks...The fundamental idea behind the parks...is that the country belongs to the people, that it is in process of making for the enrichment of the lives of all of us." -Franklin D. Roosevelt

Our second day started early, which meant it'd end early. Before heading to bed, we rearranged our camp and moved our vehicle to block out those pesky neighbors of ours. Acadia passed out early (and Lily, too!). Cara and I had a campfire for an hour or two after sunset, but a long day eventually caught up to us.

Readjusting our campsite ended up working out like a miracle as it blocked out any noise and light from our neighbors, and we both got solid nights of sleep.

Acadia ended up waking up in the 6 o'clock hour, and Lily was relatively amped, so our campsite was abuzz by 7 a.m. We made breakfast and coffee and started a morning fire.

After getting in touch with Lou, we found out that they were planning to hike the Acadia Mountain and St. Sauveur Mountain Trail Loop. Our research told us it would be a strenuous four-mile excursion. We read some trail reviews. And while it seemed doable, we felt it might be just a tad too difficult with a kid in a backpack carrier.

Acadia Mountain and St. Sauveur Mountain trails are also some of the most popular hikes on the other of Mount Desert Island. After having Lily on a leash the entire previous day, we wanted to do a less-traveled trail to give her an opportunity to hike off-leash (which she is fantastic at doing).

Lou, Emily, Rick, and Emily's brother all planned to start their hike around 11 a.m. By 8 a.m., Cara and I were sitting around the fire thinking that it might not be a bad idea to start a hike. We weren't up to anything anyways. We told Lou we were going to pass on the Acadia Mountain and St. Sauveur Mountain trail and do something on our own.

We still wanted to check out the other lung of the island, so we geared up and packed into the Vue. To get there, we'd have to go up and around Somes Sound toward Southwest Harbor. The trail we had in mind was called Beech Mountain. From what we could tell, it was a lightly trafficked three-mile loop.

Toward the summit of Beech Mountain is an old fire tower that used to be open to the public but isn't anymore.

It sounded as good as any hike we could find on that side of the island. Plus, with us being over there, we could meet up with Lou and Emily later on when they were done with their hike.

So, once we got to the Beech Mountain trailhead, we realized why it is so lightly trafficked: there are no more than 15 parking spots available. And with no parking allowed on the side of the road, you had to get there early and get a parking spot or you weren't going to hike Beech Mountain.

Fortunately for us, we got there early, got Acadia settled in, handed her the spoon from the craft fair (she wouldn't let go of it), and set off for the Beech Mountain summit.

Sunrise Hikes and Ocean Breezes in ANP

"The early worm gets the worm." - Michael Scott

After getting back from Bar Harbor the previous night, the sun quickly set. In the woods, things get dark fast. With headlamps on, we did our best to get Acadia down for bed while also packing up our backpacks for a morning sunrise hike.

Success on all fronts and our alarm was set for 4:15 a.m.

Cadillac Mountain is the place in the United States where you can see the earliest sunrise. Put that together with an easy access road and large parking lot, and you can start to picture in your mind how popular seeing the sun crest over the water will be.

Sunrise was set for just past 5:50 a.m, but we wanted to get there earlier. We'd want to meet Lou, Emily, and Emily's dad, Rick, by 4:45 a.m. outside the entrance to Blackwoods Campground. They'd leave their car there while we crammed into the Vue and drove 20 minutes to the Cadillac Mountain parking area.

If we could have fallen asleep right when we wanted to, we would have ended up with about seven or eight hours of sleep. But that didn't happen.

A pair of girls rolled into the neighboring campsite late, left their car running and headlights on full beam while they set up camp. They also had industrial-style floodlight flashlights that they would shine into all neighboring campsites. Add that to the fact that they lit a tiki torch (a big no-no in a National Park) and leaned it on a rock (it wasn't even staked into the ground!). Despite getting in late and staying up past "quiet hours," the girls talked excessively loud. Sound travels in these close campsites. They had no filter.

Needless to say, Cara and I spent most of the first few hours of "sleep" complaining to each other as well as speaking to them directly before reporting them to a ranger when the tiki torch was precariously rested on a rock.

In the end, the tiki torch was confiscated and they were issued a citation. They still stayed up until 1 or 2 a.m., talking with an incredibly high volume.

How can people go through life with such little self-awareness?

Fortunately for us, Acadia slept through it all, and we did eventually get some sleep. But by 4 a.m., alarms began sounding throughout the campground. We weren't the only ones with the idea to see a sunrise on Cadillac Mountain.

All things considered, especially given the fact that we were next to the winners of the Worst Camping Neighbors Award, we got up, got the Vue ready, and met the other members of our party at right around 4:45 a.m.

A crammed vehicle and 20 minutes later, we arrived at Cadillac Mountain to this breathtaking view about 30 minutes before the sun would peek over the horizon:

Acadia goes to Acadia!

“Let Nature be your teacher.” – William Wordsworth

Back in June, Cara brought up the idea of going camping in Acadia National Park. Naturally, I felt just as interested in the idea. Who wouldn't want to pack up a 2008 Saturn Vue that just cracked 100,000 miles with all that was necessary to camp for a few nights in a National Park in beautiful Maine?

And we had to leave enough room in the back for our dog.

And we'd bring our eight-month-old along for the trip.

Oh - and did I mention it was more than 11 hours away? On an island. In Maine.

Anytime we brought the idea up - both before we had a campsite reserved and the numerous times once we committed to doing it - the number one adjective used to describe us was "crazy."

Crazy or not, when we finally started to think about it seriously, the number one issue we had was that we'd plan to go Labor Day Weekend. That was great for us as we would each only have to use one personal day, but we'd still get the perks of a four-day-weekend. The problem was that hundreds of others had the same idea and there were no available campsites.

We weren't too worried, though. (A very similar thing happened to us when we wanted to camp in Arches National Park back in 2016.) I tried to check the availability once or twice a day just in case somebody canceled. On July 4, sometime around 10 or 11 p.m., I checked. And there it was: an open site. Before we could sleep on it, I punched in our information and had the site reserved.

Acadia National Park is where we'd spend our Labor Day weekend. We'd spend it with our dog and daughter, who got to visit the park she was named after before she was even a year old. We'd also get to spend some time with friends, although we didn't know that at the time.

As the summer went on, and especially once school kicked back up, excitement and adrenaline superseded any type of anxiety or second-thoughts.

So, before we knew it, the car was situated with enough room for a dog and a car seat.

Now, the goal was to get to Boston on Thursday night, stay with Lou and Emily, wake up early on Friday, and make the final push into Mount Desert Island and Acadia National Park.