What to do in Acadia if it is too hot??

Sunday July 7, 2013
Site 79, Blackwoods Campground Acadia National Park

 

 

MONDAY

Ok so the temperatures were predicted to be in the upper 80’s but they have now changed that to the lower 90’s for today.  That’s too hot for me to do any hiking.  I learned better at Camden Hills.  Too hot for biking the up hills on the Carriage Paths.  They are not so “gentle” as they claim.  No good for a kayaking.  So where is it cool??  In the car, a driving tour, with short breaks along the way. 

 

 

First we have a real true camping breakfast.

There is a nice breeze under the trees so David fixes our breakfast outside.  If we heat up the coach with our gas stove, it will not cool down if today’s predictions are correct.  We never seem to do this sort of thing unless we are boondocking and I really love doing more of our regular living outside.

 

 

 

 

Using the toaster is part of the fun.

 

 

 

It was for just one of these hot days that I actually paid the price of $25 for an audio driving tour of the loop road. 

 

It was way cheaper than taking a tour bus around and I wanted all the information right at the stops.  Turns out wonderfully and I’d love to loan it to anyone around who’d like to borrow it.

 

 

 

First stop is a view of Frenchman bay on the North East side of the island.  This is the same bay that College of the Atlantic overlooks.  There was a long scuffle between the French and British for northern New England.  According to our tour guide, “many historians believe the bay takes its name from the French warships that used the many islands of the bay as cover to launch attacks on the British”. However it got its name, it is just one of the breathtaking views every where you look in this park.

 

 

 

  Our second stop is Sieur De Monts Spring

The spring area was named after a French nobleman who was given rights to everything between the 40th and 46th parallel (everything from Pennsylvania to Nova Scotia) by the King of France in 1603.  George Dorr, the Father of Acadia, bought the spring area and in 1909 had it covered.  He thought the waters were so pure that he had “Sweet Waters of Acadia” inscribed on the boulder beside the pond.  In the spring area are a nature center which we did not visit today, the Abbe Museum and the Wild Gardens of Acadia.

 

 

We Wild Gardens of Acadia have recreated a dozen of the plant communities found across the island from mixed woods to seaside to mountain.  There are over 400 plants on less than an acre with a trail guide and labels on the plants. 

I am sorry to have missed this jack in the pulpit which I saw often in the woods in early spring in Virginia.  But I had never seen its seed pod.

 

 

 

The yellow lady slippers are protected by cages.  I wonder are they being protected from the human or other animals??

 

 

I use the cage above to take this lopsided picture of us resting from the heat in the shade on this bench.

 

 

 

It’s a lovely place with great signs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After walking the garden paths we head up the walk to the Abbe Museum. 

We’re not going to visit it today but they have some nice benches just right for eating lunch.   The Abbe Museum is the original building for the antique collection of Native American treasures of Dr. Robert Abbe, a summer resident fascinated with archeology in the early 1900’s.  A larger building is in downtown Bar Harbor.  We hope to see them both.

On the walk we pass by this Wabanaki Indian home replica.  It’s made of birch bark.

 

 

 

 

 

        

 

After this nice break at Sieur De Monts, we’re back on the loop road.

We stop at the Egg Rock Overlook and sure enough out there is egg rock and Egg Rock Lighthouse which has been protecting sailors for more than a century blinking once every 5 seconds a the mouth of Frenchman Bay.

 

 

 

 

 

Sand Beach is our next stop.  It is Acadia’s only Sandy beach so it’s one of the most popular places in the park.  Apparently it is an anomaly on this rocky coastline and you won’t find another saltwater sands beach for miles in either direction.  And that’s because it’s nestled in a cove so the beach is partially protected from the pounding surf.

 

 

The water is a chilly 55 degrees but on a hot day like today it feels great which is probably why the beach is so full of folks.  Or maybe it’s just that this is the only ocean sand beach in Acadia and one of the most beautiful I’ve ever seen.

 

 

Looks like a girl after my own heart.  Coming to the beach regardless of the obstacles.

 

 

There is great people watching here.  What is this woman with the long dress doing on the rocks??

 

 

On the far end of the beach we find this stream running down and emptying into the ocean.

 

 

 

When we follow it away from is mouth, we find the Beaver Brothers trying to dam it up.

 

 

It flows back to a lovely wetland.   We’ll have to investigate further to find the source but not today in this heat.  Wish I knew the landscape better.  I think that “mountain” is the beehive but I’m not certain.

 

 

     

 

We’re off to Thunder hole one of the most amazing things in the park.

The sign tells us that “when conditions are right, a surge of water forces air into a narrow cavern trapping it inside a sea cave at the back of the channel. If it’s hitting hard enough the compressed air has the concussive force of artillery fire.”

They have a railing down to a viewing platform where I know folks will get VERY wet if it’s near high tide.

 

 

Here’s the mouth of Thunder Hole where the air and water rush in.

 

They rush back this channel and hit the back of the sea cave.

 

And come thundering out.  This is the best of my pictures but not the strongest wave return I experienced.  We were here about mid way between tides so we got a little show but I am for sure going to plan a return here for high tide.

 

 

This is the other side of Thunder Hole.  During high tide the water rushes in and covers the lower portions of the rock formation.  Now there are tide pools which SOME people go around the railings to investigate.

 

 

 

Remember the girl on crutches at Sand Beach?  She has help getting down to Thunder Hole and back.  This is a determined family apparently.  There she is in pink getting a ride.  She has a big boot on her left foot.  I know all about broken ankles on the left foot.  I was in another fabulous National Park when it happened to me – Glacier.

 

 

 

Time’s up!

 

With all the stops we’ve made, we’ve run out of time for the Loop Road tour so Otter cliffs will be our last stop for today and we’ll finish up tomorrow. 

Not sure why these are called Otter Cliffs since there are only river otters in Maine not sea otters but oh well.  I love otters so it’s ok with me if they name something beautiful after them.

 

 

 

These 100 foot cliffs are very popular with Rock Climbers and although we don’t get to see anyone climbing, it is apparent that this family has just climbed up and back down as we see them taking off their gear.  Looks like they are starting these boys out early in life as rock climbers. 

 

 

They are pretty far away from us when we notice them.

 

 

 

This has been a perfect way to spend a hot day in Acadia. 

 

We are out and about for a while and then back in air conditioned comfort with our guide who directs us to the next spot and tells us all about everything along the way.  Turns out to have been a great idea.

My last picture is looking back from Otter Cliffs toward Sand Beach and the Great Head Point.  We plan to hike the Great Head Loop trail and also walk the Ocean Path between Sand Beach and Otter Cliffs.  If I time it right maybe we can catch that big high tide thunder boomer at Thunder Hole as we walk by.  There are SO many things to do here in Acadia.