Rock hopping

Denise promised that we would hike Gorham Mountain today so I was pretty surprised when we started our morning with two garden visits. Our first stop was at the Wild Gardens of Acadia. I wasn't surprised by that one since it is just off of Park Loop Road - it was on the way to our hike.

Uh oh. After our Wild Gardens visit the car turned towards Northeast Harbor instead of continuing along the loop road. I poked Denise to remind her of our plans. I should have known she had something sensible in mind - we were still going to bounce up the Gorham Mountain trail, just a little later. The temperature was still in the mid 40s, and the forecast called for better weather in the afternoon. Denise thought a second garden visit would be a good morning activity. It's still early for azaleas, but we visited the Asticou Azalea Garden anyway. Even though it was early for most of the blooms there was scattered color.

It was still morning when we parked at Sand Beach for our loop hike, following the ocean path to the start of the Gorham Mountain trail, heading up the mountain, over the top, and down, ending near Sand Beach. Denise almost decided to do it as an out-and-back hike because the trail up was so wet. The "down" part is almost always wet, and with so much water on the "up" side she figured it was going to be a very wet walk down. She talked to some people on top of the mountain who were doing the loop in the opposite direction. They told her that the trail was very wet in spots but there were rocks she could use to keep her feet dry. I usually bounce along the trail with Denise, but there were a few sections where I was quite happy to ride in her pack. Bouncing between rocks is hard when you're as little as I am!

Rock hopping was hard work for Denise too. She said that her feet were very happy to walk on a smooth surface again.

Blue finally started peeking out from the clouds in the middle of the afternoon and Denise started chasing reflections. We found the first set along Park Loop Road, and the second set near the Eagle Lake carriage road parking area. Nice...

Cadillac Mountain called early in the evening. The top of the mountain is a good place to see the late day light.

--- Rover