Trying to enjoy a little roadtrip while feeling sick is pretty terrible, but I tried.
Acadia’s only section of the park on the mainland is found at the end of the Schoodic Peninsula past Winter Harbor in Maine. It’s pretty quiet considering how easy it is to access. It’s got nice rocky areas to explore, and some really neat tide pools when the tide is low enough. I think there was a little mountain or hill in the center, so I will have to come back and confirm that.
I have to say that the trails for Mt. Bigelow are pretty terribly marked. We ventured four and a half miles (roundtrip) trying to find the Firewarden’s Trail because the map at the parking area had “you are here” in two different spots. We lost that gamble.
Since I drove two and a half hours out, I had to do what I’d set out to do. Basically, this is the story about how sometimes I get irrational and I’m an idiot. We found our trail which, according to the map that I picked up at the park’s visitor center, would be 2.5 miles up to the summit. Starting at 2:30pm, I figured we had 5 hours until the sun started setting. We’d be fine! Unfortunately, two out of the three signs along the way were completely wrong - telling us we had a mile to the next point of interest, when really it was two miles.
Climbing down was terrifying, because we wanted to make it back to the car before dark. We did. By the time we were back to the car, we’d walked 13.53 miles.
All that aside, I’m glad we pushed onward to the West Peak summit at a total elevation of 4150 feet. The views were great! We saw Flagstaff lake and a nice view of Avery Peak (also part of Bigelow). We also met a snake, two frogs, and a cute ladybug.
I learned from the fiasco too and promptly went out to buy a flashlight - just in case - and will not be starting anything too serious after lunchtime.
Jesse and his dad went golfing this morning, leaving me to find my own entertainment. I drove over to South Berwick and wandered around in the woods for a while. It’s nice and quiet in the woods, just what I needed for a few hours! I saw a magnificent blue heron standing in the water, but, because I’m super, I slipped and scared it away.
The trails led to a historic site that was John Hamilton’s house or summer house. I’m not quite sure, but I wish I lived there. The gardens were awesome!!
Sometimes the best places in Maine are the ones that don’t touch the ocean. It’s nice and all, but the other stuff is sometimes much nicer and less crowded.
