The trip through Vermont was awful. I shouldn't have been in the state for more than a couple hours, but it seemed like the entire state was under construction. Three times the road I was on was closed and a sign said, "Find an alternate route" (no detour was presented). Three times my alternate route was also closed. But I eventually made it out and up to Acadia in Maine.
Acadia National Park
Just for the record, I am not misspelling this name. There is no R and there is no phantom R sound. Many of those I have discussed this park with have the tendency to call it Arcadia.I was expecting a lot out of this park. It was the first park east of the Mississippi River and is supposedly really beautiful. It was perhaps too hyped in my mind and I was ultimately disappointed with my experience.
I arrived on Day 55 and planned to stay three nights. It was already dinner time when I arrived, so that made two days of visiting.
About Acadia
Acadia was the first park east of the Mississippi, but it is nowhere near the best. However, it sure can sound quite nice on paper (or computer screen). Like this:
Acadia National Park, the first park east of the Mississippi River, lies mostly on Mount Desert Island on Maine's Central Atlantic Coast. Acadia is a picturesque combination of mountain, forest and ocean. Only in Brasil (Brazil) are the mountains on the Atlantic Coast taller.
Wow, that sounds nice, doesn't it? Ah, yes, but you see, it is because of my mad writing skills. It omits much of the most important information. Like this:
The land owned by the national park service for Acadia National Park has been 100% donated land. Instead of the park demonstrating an initiative and the importance of preserving land, it only emphasizes the lack of importance of natural parks early in our country's history. Was Theodore Roosevelt really forward-thinking and ahead of his time? Or was he, instead, fighting for ideas that should have been important 200 years before his time? The latter certainly seems true in Acadia.
To get to Mount Desert Island, you have to fight through US-1 traffic on Maine's coast. Anyone who has drive any stretch of this road in southern Maine knows how awful of an experience it is. Then, once you are on the island, you have to drive through development for 15+ miles before reaching the park. And if you then want to travel to another part of the park, you may have to drive another 70 miles outside the park.
Don't misunderstand me. The part of this island which was donated back to the government is beautiful. But, one, it's tainted. And two, it's overcrowded because of the local development. Now, I'm not suggesting this shouldn't be a national park. It's beauty can be powerful. I am suggesting, if the parks are this important, why not use a little bit of eminent domain? Make everyone on that island leave; wipe out Bar Harbor - make them all move to Bangor. Then maybe we'll have a peaceful park.
Day 56
The first full day of visiting I chose to drive the Scenic Loop in the park. Before I got going, I took the 10-minute walk from my campsite to this spot. The photo turned out really well. It sure looks peaceful and amazing! Really, I'm about 20 feet from the park road.
The park loop made the top 10 in one of my reference books. This drive, while overcrowded even in September, is beautiful. Finally, once you start the drive, it feels like you are in a park and not outside a town. But that feeling is lessened by the large number of vehicles. Along the route, I stopped to picnic here. I then drove up to Cadillac Mountain for the best overall view of the park. Unfortunately, it was cloudy - I was not fond of any of the photos I took that day. However, Day 57 was a clear day, so I returned to take some photos. Here's one.Even from that photo you can see the size of Bar Harbor. Here's a closer look. When I was sitting up here, all I could think about was how cool it would be if everything you could see was park.
Day 57
The next day I returned to Cadillac Mountain and then made the 70-mile drive to Schoodic Peninsula (yep, that's the real name). I read this part of the park was often secluded. I was pleasantly surprised this was correct. I was able to climb around some rocks and take some photos. They turned out pretty well. This one is one of my favorites.Day 58
The next morning I got up and left for a long day in the car.
Acadia Album
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