Getting out of my car, I felt a stiff icy gust of wind and realized that more clothes would be nice right about now. As I carried my camera gear and began setting up, I noticed almost everyone else there had on gloves, heavy coats, and in some cases had taken the blankets out of their hotel rooms for additional warmth; my thin North Face fleece just wasn't getting the job done... However, I didn't have any other clothes with me so I jogged in place to keep the blood flowing while waiting for the sun to rise. Eventually it came up and all the freezing people standing on top of Cadillac Mountain were treated to a beautiful view.
After the sunrise, I decided to head for lower elevation to warm up and see what other places in Acadia were worth seeing. Driving around the main loop in Acadia I came to the very creatively named 'Sand Beach' and seeing a few cars parked in the lot; decided to grab my camera and do some exploring. Quick comment on the name, this beach is called 'Sand Beach' because there is sand on it; which is actually quite unusual for Maine since the vast majority of beaches are incredibly rocky as you will see throughout the pictures on today's blog. The reason this beach is sand, is the result of a glacier that carved out a protective cove and rock shelf that diverts and diminishes the power of the ocean. As a result fine particles, like crushed shells, make it through and settled on the beach.
After leaving Sand Beach, it was 8:15 AM and the visitor center at Acadia was now open. I wanted to get a map of the park and some insight from the rangers on the best places to hit today; especially to see fall foliage. The ranger gave me several recommended options and I started at Sieur de Monts trail where she thought the best foliage was this time of year. Most of the trails in this area hike up to the top of Dorr Mountain which I didn't have time to do but there are numerous trails and she suggested I hike up one and go down a different one to get some good views of the local foliage. Pictures along the trail are below:
Next stop was Schooner Head which was a nice short trail along the coast; which really shows off the power of the Atlantic as it repeatedly slams into the rocky coastline of Acadia.
Continuing along the Park Loop I came across a beautiful bridge with glistening water in the foreground and fantastic trees in various shades in the background. However, I couldn't really get the angle I wanted on the road where myself and a couple other photographers were shooting.
So despite my better judgment I decided to climb down these large / flat boulders to get closer to the water / bridge and the shot I really wanted. Carrying all my camera gear and wearing shoes that are not designed for scaling rocks, I began carefully climbing down the rocks toward the water. Side note, I've always done things like this to get the shot I wanted (climbed barefoot in rushing ice cold water, climbed out on a tree above a waterfall, etc.) and never had anything bad happened. I nearly made it to my shooting location and my foot hit a wet / moss covered rock... My legs went flying and quickly cradled my camera gear; didn't care what happened to my body but if my camera gear broke I was in trouble! Hard landing on my right side and a few bad words later, I got up and CAREFULLY worked my way to the waters edge. Here is the resulting shots which I love.
Next stop was Jordan Pond the loop trail... Jordan Pond is a fresh water lake in the middle of Mount Desert Island and the water serves much of the population in and around Acadia National Park. The trail around Jordan Pond was a little over 3 miles and took a few hours to hike all the way around the lake.
I call this nature's traffic light.
After hiking around Jordan Pond, I grabbed a quick snack and decided to head to one of Acadia's most famous destinations, the Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse. This is a still active lighthouse that an employee of the US Coast Guard lives in with his family and is on the these beautiful cliffs overlooking Bass Harbor. I made it just before sunset and was able to capture several shots I was happy with.
On the way to the Lighthouse:
Bass Harbor Lighthouse
After the sun went down, I headed back to Trenton towards my motel and made one last stop at a local Lobster Pound for dinner.
Mmm Fresh Lobster
After finishing dinner, I hit my bed hard it had been a long day and needed energy for one last push... The final day of my trip was tomorrow and I wanted to make it a good one. Thanks for reading my blog and as always any questions /comments please post below or email me at chris@pricelessperspectives.com
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