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While the daredevils were planning their assault on the Precipice (now I'm jealous after seeing the photos), John S, Pat, and Audrey set off for a less ambitious hike. We somehow eked 6 glorious hours out of some wonderful small hillocks.
Turning down the Otter Cliff Road off Route 3, we parked just before the junction with the Park Loop Road. We walked to the Loop Road, took a left, and went in to the first parking lot on the left. Naturally, it wasn't the trail head, but with our superior skills, we found a path that led to...another parking lot! This turned out to be the right one. You have to be very careful about your direction of travel in Acadia, since once you're on the Loop Road, you can easily become Charlie on the MTA.
The Gorham Mountain Trail started immediately leading gently uphill on ledges and we fell into the familiar routine of identifying the evergreens and the birds. On the previous day's hike, we had found a lot of jack pines on the Cadillac South Ridge Trail, but there were none here, just pitch pines (a guess) and white pines. Woodpeckers were abundant. The Cadillac Cliffs loop added a bit of spice, with rocky going to the first magnificent views of the day, looking out to Sand Beach and Great Head. The red blueberry bushes added much to the photo ops.
After reaching the 528' summit (phew!), we descended gradually and then ascended to the Bowl and then to the top of the Beehive. By now we were expecting to meet up with the Precipice group, but they were nowhere in sight. Some hikers came up the steep way and we were half tempted to explore down that way, but overcame temptation and headed down to Sand Beach.
All manner of sea life was evident: a seal showed its head just offshore, crows and gulls squabbled over the remains of a crab, flotillas of eider ducks sailed back and forth near the rocks.
We climbed to the first lookout and were excited to see two more seal heads bobbing about nearby. Our excitement was so convincing that we had two other people staring long and hard at what turned out to be lobster traps, as we unwillingly had to admit (unless someone had painted blue stripes on those poor seals).
Gaining the 145' summit (3rd peak of the day!), we started to descend and finally ran into the rest of the VFTTer's who gave us an exciting accounting of their adventures. Afterwards, we proceeded to the Ocean Trail to return to the car.
The Ocean Trail is simply a gravel path that runs along the shoreline next to the Loop Road, but what makes it so wonderful is that it's PUBLIC shoreline! You can leave the trail anywhere and wander all over the rocks and not have owners yelling you off their property. We stopped at Thunder Hole, which obligingly made some good booms with the inrushing waves. Our visit happily coincided with low tide, when the booming is loudest. The tourist walkway to the hole was locked, but we were undeterred and rock-whacked to the vantage point.
We could see the others having their lunch way across the bay, with King Tut's yellow jacket standing out. And not a drop of rain fell all day or all night. In fact, there was always a bit of blue sky here and there, and the sun would light up an occasional patch of gray ocean with bright rippling silver. Thanks, John S, for excellent company on a memorable day.
Turning down the Otter Cliff Road off Route 3, we parked just before the junction with the Park Loop Road. We walked to the Loop Road, took a left, and went in to the first parking lot on the left. Naturally, it wasn't the trail head, but with our superior skills, we found a path that led to...another parking lot! This turned out to be the right one. You have to be very careful about your direction of travel in Acadia, since once you're on the Loop Road, you can easily become Charlie on the MTA.
The Gorham Mountain Trail started immediately leading gently uphill on ledges and we fell into the familiar routine of identifying the evergreens and the birds. On the previous day's hike, we had found a lot of jack pines on the Cadillac South Ridge Trail, but there were none here, just pitch pines (a guess) and white pines. Woodpeckers were abundant. The Cadillac Cliffs loop added a bit of spice, with rocky going to the first magnificent views of the day, looking out to Sand Beach and Great Head. The red blueberry bushes added much to the photo ops.
After reaching the 528' summit (phew!), we descended gradually and then ascended to the Bowl and then to the top of the Beehive. By now we were expecting to meet up with the Precipice group, but they were nowhere in sight. Some hikers came up the steep way and we were half tempted to explore down that way, but overcame temptation and headed down to Sand Beach.
All manner of sea life was evident: a seal showed its head just offshore, crows and gulls squabbled over the remains of a crab, flotillas of eider ducks sailed back and forth near the rocks.
We climbed to the first lookout and were excited to see two more seal heads bobbing about nearby. Our excitement was so convincing that we had two other people staring long and hard at what turned out to be lobster traps, as we unwillingly had to admit (unless someone had painted blue stripes on those poor seals).
Gaining the 145' summit (3rd peak of the day!), we started to descend and finally ran into the rest of the VFTTer's who gave us an exciting accounting of their adventures. Afterwards, we proceeded to the Ocean Trail to return to the car.
The Ocean Trail is simply a gravel path that runs along the shoreline next to the Loop Road, but what makes it so wonderful is that it's PUBLIC shoreline! You can leave the trail anywhere and wander all over the rocks and not have owners yelling you off their property. We stopped at Thunder Hole, which obligingly made some good booms with the inrushing waves. Our visit happily coincided with low tide, when the booming is loudest. The tourist walkway to the hole was locked, but we were undeterred and rock-whacked to the vantage point.
We could see the others having their lunch way across the bay, with King Tut's yellow jacket standing out. And not a drop of rain fell all day or all night. In fact, there was always a bit of blue sky here and there, and the sun would light up an occasional patch of gray ocean with bright rippling silver. Thanks, John S, for excellent company on a memorable day.
