It's a gray and wet day today, matching my last day in Acadia. Luckily a good rain jacket allowed me to go on a reasonable outside walk this afternoon.
It's going to take a lot of water to erase the extreme drought that remains in place here; the rain is welcome.
Photos from my recent wander in Acadia National Park are available for viewing in the gallery autumn, Acadia.
I love this splash of autumn color surrounded by the clear blue of the sky above and reflecting water below.
Evergreens share space with brightly colored ground cover and bushes. It was a beauty of a fall day on top of Cadillac Mountain.
It rained overnight, and our morning wanders were decorated by fog!
We headed into Acadia for a walk along Ocean Path, sometimes walking on the rocks, sometimes on the trail. It almost felt like we had the park to ourselves this morning. Sea gulls wandered and ocean waves crashed on the rocks, creating a kind of music.
After our walk we headed home.
Fog followed us between Ellsworth and Bangor, alternating between a reasonable sight line and very soupy. Denise said she wanted to stop to take a picture of a field where she spotted bright red ground plants as we drove by on Monday. She thought the red and the fog would make an interesting contrast, and I think she was right. The field was in the middle of the heavy fog - we were very lucky to see it as we drove past. We turned around and headed back, looking for (and finding) a good off-of-the-road spot for the car.
Now that we're home again I think I'll help Denise find some more places to wander.
--- Rover
It was a good day for walking today. The air was crisp with temperatures in the low 50s. I was warm enough, and Denise had the right layers so she was warm too.
We started out with a walk from our B&B to Sieur de Monts Spring, following quiet and mostly empty roads before jumping onto Jesup Path in the park. The trail turns into a boardwalk above what is usually a wet area; the drought must have followed us here because the water was mostly missing.
Park Loop Road was our focus for the rest of the day. We left the car at the Sand Beach parking lot and walked and walked. Whenever Denise saw something interesting we stopped. Sometimes it was a photo stop. Sometimes it was a sit and absorb the beauty around us stop. Both were good.
After we switched from using our feet to sitting in a car we continued our moving and stopping behavior.
Clouds rolled in during the afternoon. When Denise saw the cloud-painted sky she decided we should head back up Cadillac Mountain to see the late day light. It was pretty chilly up there, but oh! it was beautiful. I think I'm starting to understand why Denise likes the sky when it is decorated by clouds.
--- Rover
Instead of doing a long walk today we drove and walked, looking for interesting color and reflections, stopping whenever something interesting jumped into Denise's eyes. I thought our first stop would be Asticou Azalea Garden. It wasn't; we stopped two places before arriving there.
There were still clouds in the sky when we headed out this morning. They disappeared by the time we arrived at the azalea garden leaving a pure blue sky.
Our next stop was Jordan Pond. The drought we are having at home seems to have touched this area too; there was less water in the pond than I expected. We did an out-and-back walk, wandering into the woods whenever we saw something interesting.
Even though the sky was not wearing Denise's preferred cloud decorations, we drove to the top of Cadillac Mountain. It was a warm afternoon so it was very comfortable up there even though it was windy enough for me to stay in the camera bag for safety. Denise traded stories with strangers while we all enjoyed the sunshine at the top of the mountain.
--- Rover
It was a combination driving and wandering day today. We followed I-95 to Bangor, then headed toward the coast. When we got to Ellsworth we turned to the northeast. Our wandering destination for today was the Schoodic Peninsula.
I think Schoodic is one of Denise's favorite places in the park. We walked over the rocks. OK, really, I bounced and Denise walked. Happy...
--- Rover
There were several spots along the road where Denise really wanted to stop to take a picture. She behaved though; it's not good to stop to play when you're driving on a limited access highway.
The color was pretty amazing. Trees painted yellow, orange, and red popped out, with evergreens adding a touch of darker color. As we moved further to the north and east we started seeing some bare branches and a slightly quieter tone of color. It was beautiful!
--- Rover
Our habit is to visit Acadia National Park at least twice a year, once in the spring, once in the fall. Next week is our fall visit; I told Denise I would write our blog entries so she can focus on photos.
We'll start with a quick visit with a friend in Yarmouth, Maine before heading further to the north and east. I know I want to bounce on the rocks of the Schoodic Peninsula. I'd like to see the ocean from the shore and from the top of Cadillac Mountain, and I plan to help Denise choose some of our hikes. I'm always ready for an Acadia visit!
--- Rover
