Acadia in December - Empty and Gorgeous
The whole post (with photos) can be viewed at: http://www.startingsixskiblog.com/?p=1519
Maine: Empty Acadia
Lobster, sunshine, and ocean views? Sounds like your typical summer day in Bar Harbor during the summer. How about switching that up for icey water, clouds, and snow-y roads? Not exactly ideal, but that’s what we found as we rolled into Bar Harbor in the second leg of our trip. With no ski runs to be found within two hours and plans to go rock climbing in the next few days – this didn’t exactly ‘fit’ into our plans. As the snow continued to fall, there was no sign of the summer crowds that Acadia is known for, but the bad weather had shut down the entrance roads to the park. Rather than wait for the snow to stop, we headed back to the hotel to plan out some hikes for the next day. The next morning the snow had stopped, the sun was shining, and Acadia was open!
As we drove along the empty park loop road through our private winter wonderland, you got a sense of what it been like for the Rockefellers before the area was a national park. First stop, Thunder-Hold – an area where high waves funnel into the unique rock formation, exploding upward in a thunderous explosion. The time sensitivity of the explosion makes this summer time favorite the ‘Old-Faithful’ of Acadia National Park.
After enjoying some more of the familiar sites, we headed over to Jordan Lake to set out on our hike. As Henry and I put on our crampons, we couldn’t help but remember the impromptu hike we had gone on one year to the day in Torres del Paine, Patagonia. While that hike had been an amazing exploration of the Patagonian Mountains, our lack of a trail made for some tricky sections and nerve-wracking exposures. With that experience in mind, we set out to climb the much-less formidable Penobscot Mountain. The trail started out slow, almost hypnotically slow, as we walked along a series of carriage roads. – an extensive set of gradually sloped horse carriage roads originally built by the Rockefellers. You have to hand it to the Rock’ers – with property in the Grand Teton and Acadia area before the National Parks were established they had pretty good foresight with land (although if you own a hundred houses youre bound to pick a few good spots). While the carriage trails are a unique aspect of Acadia that allows less ambitious explorers to enjoy Acadia – it was time to get down for a little vert.
The Penobscot Mountain trail quickly ascended up the mountain – with railings, steps, and walkways put in place to support average hikers through the steeper sections. Of course the average hiker isn’t hiking the dafter after a big snow storms and can actually find the trail. Rather than hiking down to try to find the trail, we pieced together our ascent, finding openings in the cliffs and searching for signs of manageable ways up the ridge. And of course just like last year’s hike – we found ourselves on an untraveled path, in an unknown area, with no equipment (excluding a camera) – but enjoying every second of it all. Having both been eager to be out exploring we had found our peace on this hike turned climb.
After making our way up the through the forested cliffs, we emerged into the upper snow field. With the trail markers covered with snow, we guessed our way through the snow. With the varying snow depth over the boulders, the result of every stop was a surprise – ranging from firm landing to thigh deep post-hole. Moving further above the tree line, we were met with stretching views of the park below us. At this point we were able to understand the true beauty of Acadia. In so many national parks the common visitor sticks to the driving areas, sacrificing the true beauty of the area for a little air-conditioning and peace of mind. Hiking up Penobscot Mountain had given me a whole new appreciation of the unique beauty of this region. Taking in the views from the peak, we couldn’t help but think about laugh at how after a year of big changes, this one day had turned out nearly identical.
As we returned back down the peak, sharing stories and taking in the beauty of the snow-covered landscape, we couldn’t help but laugh at being the only people on the mountain that day. Acadia was showing off her beauty and we were lucky enough to experience it. As always, the return trip seemed to be fly by. However, we still managed to find this snow covered stream. Next time you think of going to Acadia, or any National Park, get out of your car, get lost, and experience life.
