Acadia National Park is beautiful in any season, but I have to admit that I feel incredibly lucky to have been there when the park was painted in autumn colors.
This morning I stopped by the spot that drew my eyes two weeks ago, awash in color. Today? Just a bit of some muted (and rusty) color remains amid bare branches.
The end of October is fast approaching with normal (cooler) temperatures predicted for tomorrow. The last few days have been a gift, warm, with temperatures edging into the 70s.
Early evening, walking, no layers needed...
It was a morning of walking in the park, an afternoon of driving (home).
Colors changed noticeably over three days. The glowing yellows I saw on Thursday and Friday morphed into more of a rusty shade by today, bare branches starting to emerge. Both are beautiful in different ways.
Three days isn't a lot of time to spend at Acadia. Any time I spend there leaves me feeling fresh, rejuvenated. Until next time...
Look! The wind calmed down enough for me to pose for Denise's camera as we were bouncing around Jordan Pond yesterday morning. It was a happy wandering day.
--- Rover
The wind stayed with me all day long, howling, constant...
I had been thinking about starting by hiking the Bubbles this morning, but the wind made me think again. After yesterday's mountain top winds I decided that today would be a good "low" day.
The wind was so strong that there were waves on Jordan Pond. The trail around the lake hugs the shoreline and is a little over 3 miles of walking. My unscientific measurement (using a piece of paper and a topo map) puts the lake at about 1.3 miles of constant choppy waves. The mountains rising above the lake wore a combination of colored trees and exposed rock. On the east side of the lake it was easy walking. The west side started as a wide trail, changed into a section of uneven rocks (making for interesting walking, pay attention!), and then into a series of what "A Walk in the Park" Guidebook calls bogwalks. That was interesting walking. It should have been easy, but it felt a bit odd. The bogwalk is made of split logs, two wide, above rooted and wet ground. That's wide enough for only one person, and while the logs were right next to each other, walking with a normal gait didn't quite work. The rocky and split logs part of the trail required paying close attention to where I placed my feet. In case you are wondering, yes, I still managed to look at my surroundings.
To go along with today's theme of staying low, I headed to the western side of the island for a little ocean walking near Seawall, a walk down the wooded Wonderland trail leading to a low rocky coastline. I stopped again to walk at Eagle Lake on my way back to my home for the night.
The forecast for tomorrow is continued chill with mostly sunny skies. While today's pure blue skies were beautiful, I'm hoping for a few clouds as decoration.
Ah, another taste delight to start the day...
Breakfast this morning was an egg perched on slices of avocado, french toast topped with bumbleberry jam, and gingered baked pear. Yum!
The sun is shining, the wind is blowing, it's time to wander on a clear but chilly day. The forecast calls for a high in the low 50s, an increase in the warmth index from the current 37 degrees. Clearly, layers are (again) the rule of the day.
