Acadia Mountain

August 10, 2016

208m

Acadia National Park, ME

Acadia Mountain is one little hike west of Somes Sound on the “quiet side” of Acadia National Park of Maine. Though not nearly as high as the peaks on the east side of the park, Acadia Mountain does offer some variety in views on a clear day. The 3-day trip to Acadia National Park in the far northeast between Yujia, Yujia’s mom and myself has been planned for a while, but unfortunately the weather was not quite cooperating. We’d only have a short window on the morning of Day 2 and other than that, it’d be mostly raining. Oh well..

After a not-so-early start we left Massachusetts state around noon on the first day, and 5 hours later we arrived at Ellsworth and checked in our hotel (expensive but good quality). Another hour later we made to the parking lot along SR 102 by Echo Lake. The weather was foggy with some light drizzle but we decided to give it a go since we were there anyway. I figured with a mere 150-m elevation gain this peak should be able to get done in any weather. Thankfully we all came prepared with some rainproof gears so that’s good.

Acadia Mountain hiking route

Acadia Mountain hiking route

The first part of this hike was following a well groomed roadside trail and then an old dirt road leading to the steep west slopes. The actual trail-head was marked by a sign. The trail was more rugged than I thought and with the weather it was very slippery at places. There were some rocks to scramble over as well as lots of slippery roots, but nothing imposed too much of a problem. The going was slow but with good spirit we managed to maintain a steady pace. After a few steep rises we arrived at the partially forested summit. The views were non-existent thank to the clouds but we were all happy to be there.

The actual trail-head was well signed

The actual trail-head was well signed

Hiking up.

Hiking up.

It's pretty mellow at the start

It’s pretty mellow at the start

Hiking up some typical rocky stuffs

Hiking up some typical rocky stuffs

Sections of the trail was even aided by ropes

Sections of the trail was even aided by ropes

Yujia enjoying the hike

Yujia enjoying the hike

Yujia and myself near the summit

Yujia and myself near the summit

Me on the summit of Acadia Mountain, in the fog with no views

Me on the summit of Acadia Mountain, in the fog with no views

The descent took just as long as the ascent as we had to be extra careful not slipping on those wet slabs and roots, but with great care we all got down with no incidence. It was almost dark so our timing was also perfect. And then we drove straight to Bar Harbour for a well-deserved dinner. The lobsters in the northeast coast were great!