Sunday, 28 May 2006

A day in Acadia National Park

Man, I can't tell you what bliss it is to get a good night's sleep in a tent after a hard day's cycling. I slept like a log - I don't think a raccon or bear breaking in to my tent would have roused me from my slumber. I even treated myself to a lie-in until 7:30. It looked like a beautiful clear sunny morning, and it was pleasantly cool in the woods. I also treated myself to a cooked breakfast (3-minute noodles) and some tea. Only the second time I've bothered to make tea so far on this trip. I had to go down to the camp office to re-register for tonight -for some odd reason their computer system wouldn't let them book me in for 2 nights. Computers, who's have 'em. While I was there I asked about food storage (they recommend locking food in a car, which isn't much help if you don't have a car) and they said they did have some racoon-proof boxes, and would deliver one to my site. I'd just strung up my front panniers from a tree branch about 12 feet up; well out of harms way.

I'd bought a cycling/hiking map yesterday, and I set off hiking at 10 am. The South Ridge trail starts at the campsite and heads up to Cadillac Mountain (1530 ft) via Eagles Crag. From the crag most of the hiking is exposed and it was turning into a scorching hot day. There were impressive views all around. Unfortunately for me, my timing meant that I was here on a bank holiday weekend, so I didn't have the mountain to myself, but the weather was great so I' wasn't complaining.

there is a tourist road that goes up to the top of Cadillac Mountain, so it was pretty busy at the top, and even I was seduced into buying a cold lemonade on such a hot day. From Cadillac mountain I headed east via the Notch Trail, a steep down and up, over Dorr Mountain and then down the Ladder Trail; it's mostly a staircase trail but does have a couple of fixed metal ladders. At the bottom I followed the trail around The Tarn, before I was climbing up again on the Beechcroft Trail, past Huguenot Head to Champlain Mountain (1058 ft) A very hot climb in the heat of the afternoon. At the top I had to stop to cool and dry off, whilst drinking in the views.

Refreshed, it was then time to head south on the Bear Brook Trail, down past The Bowl to Sand Beach. I had thought when I was hot and sweaty and slogging uphill, that it would be bliss to cool off in the sea. In reality of course the north Atlantic was far too cold for a southern softie like me, so I contented myself with getting some sand between my toes and cooling of my feet... Didn't take long!

By now it was 5pm so I didn't have long to sit in the now comfortably warm sun; I still had a couple of miles to do on the Ocean Path and then another couple of miles on the Loop Road to get gat back to the campground. By the time I made it back to Blackwoods campground it was 7pm - just enough time to cook some dinner, and write diary before it gets dark. I also had some serious rehydration to do. I must have caught some sun today; I have no suncream with me - one of the things I've sacrificed to save weight, but only because I don't burn easily. I was careful today; t-shirt with long trackpants in the morning, then long-sleeved top with shorts in the afternoon. (burn half at a time!)

At the campground, when the wind blows, there is a shower of little pine needles. It sounds like rain inside the tent.

Walking distance: 14.2 miles
Walking time: 9 hours (including rest, food and photo stops)