So, instead, we decided to hike it a little after sunrise. Fortunately for us, our house is only a quarter-mile from the Cadillac South Ridge Trail, which is located across from the Blackwoods Campground. Our guide book suggested that we actually start at the Cadillac North Ridge Trail, hike to Cadillac Mountain, and then descend along the Cadillac South Ridge Trail, ending at the Blackwoods Campground before catching a bus back to Bar Harbor. But because of where were staying, we decided to do the opposite.
Our hike started our fine (aside from a quick stop a tenth of a mile in as Cara realized she forgot her phone and had to run back to our house).
Our ascent took us through a mostly wooded area to start. It was fairly easy incline, too, which was a nice start to our hike.
Although we stayed on the path throughout our hike up to Cadillac Mountain, hikers are allowed to veer off so long as you stay on bedrock. There were a handful of those as we made our way up and the slight detour was worth it as it made for beautiful look out over the mountains and water.
Our 4.2-mile hike up the Cadillac South Ridge Trail eventually took us out of the mostly wooded area and to the top of the ridge line. Once there, the landscape because much more open. We walked along large slabs of granite as the wind picked up and blew, nearly constantly, at our sides. It was a pretty cool experience. Hopefully the video gives you a little sense of what it was like.
It was also toward this section that we kept thinking that we had to be close to the summit. Every time we'd get to what we thought could be the summit, we'd reach it only to see a higher section a few hundred feet up the path.
Still, we did make it to the top. The sound of cars, tour buses, and people told us we were there. The summit of Cadillac Mountain is actually a couple hundred feet away from the central tourist location. We reached that first and ended up eating our lunch there.
After our break, we took a walk over to the more populated and touristy area to hike around the .5-mile loop. It was nice, but the hike was without a doubt the way to go.
It was from there that we crossed the parking lot to find the Cadillac North Ridge Trail.
Our descent was incredibly steep and difficult, often having to slow down to navigate around large rocks. As difficult as it was for us to hike down, it had to be equally as difficult to hike up. Fortunately for us, we only had 2.2 miles of this type of descent.
And it did flatten out at different times, which allowed us to stop and take in some scenery.
After more than five hours of hiking and a 6.4 trek to and from Cadillac Mountain, we had finished our first major hike in Acadia National Park.
It took a little bit of time to wait for and ride a bus back to our house, but we did it. We ended up heading to Northeast Harbor and eating some lobster at Docksider's. All in all, it was a heck of a long day that was well worth it.
On tap today is the Beehive Trail followed by some time at Sand Beach. We'll come back to our house, grill out, and then catch a bus into Bar Harbor for fireworks.
No comments:
Post a Comment