Bar Harbor and Acadia!

 Damn you Tim Horton’s. Damn you craft breweries. Damn you delicious lobster in drawn butter! When we left for this trip we saw ourselves hiking like crazy and losing at least 10lbs each but I don’t think that is happening. We have not weighed ourselves, but based on the hikes to donut ratio, it is a safe bet we have not. And our desire to hike diminishes a little more with every degree the temperature goes up. Zoey can only take about 15 minutes of hiking at any temp over 70 before she becomes overheated so we have been going for more walks than hikes.

So here we sit, eating our donuts, drinking beer and getting plump. We made it back into the U.S. on the 13^th without any problems. I was a little fearful of the amount of booze we were bringing back from the distilleries and breweries but the border agent only seemed to be concerned about fruits and vegetables. After a quick look through our fridge she handed us back our passports and sent us on our way. 

Before leaving Canada we had one day in the Yarmouth area and two days in Digby. Our Yarmouth day was a laundry day, after which we went and checked out the Cape Forchu Lighthouse.

Probably one of the most modern shaped lighthouses we have seen so far. The original lighthouse in this location was in service from 1840-1962. In 1961 they constructed this new "apple core" shaped lighthouse to replace the old one. It is said that this shape takes the wind better than the old style. 

We walked through the original Keepers quarters and walked the trails around the area where we found these interesting signs. 

After that was done we went to the town of Tusket where we spent a Harvest Host night at the Tusket Falls Brewing Co. Nice brewery but not suitable for anything over 35’.

When we got to Digby, we found an awesome boondocking spot on Sandy Cove Beach about 8 miles outside of town. Quiet, secluded and beautiful. We walked the dogs on the beach and even let Zoey loose a few times.

See that boat in the background of the picture above? Here, I zoomed into it. 

Our truck is in the upper right

There is some sea glass there but not a lot.

One thing that we found fascinating about The Bay of Fundy was the tide. The tide changes here are the most extreme we have ever seen rising and dropping over 20’ in a cycle. Totally crazy! These two shots were taken from the same spot hours apart.

Those people on the beach in the first picture would be 20' under water in the 2nd picture. We talked to a couple of locals who were fishing the pier at Sandy Cove and they said it is comical watching the tourists setup their picnics and BBQ’s at low tide only to see them scrambling to move everything when the tide starts coming in! The guy we talked to lives just down the road. He smokes fish for beer money and even gave us a package of squid that he had with him telling us how to prepare it. We stopped by his place the next morning to buy some smoked kippers and Pollock. He said he would not be there but to go in and take what we wanted out of the fridge and leave some money on the counter so that is exactly what we did.

On the afternoon of our second day we caught the ferry from Digby to St. John’s New Brunswick, a 2 ½ hour ride. The seas were a little rough so you felt like a drunken sailor walking around. I got a little queasy, Barb was just fine.

Once we got to St. John’s we spent the night in the Reversing Falls parking lot. Plenty of room here for any size rig. The reversing falls was interesting but not breathtaking. The falls flow normally when the tide is going out and goes “uphill” when the tide comes in.

When we got up the next morning we stopped by Tim Horton’s and stocked up on Timbits (Donut holes) before heading to the border. Our destination for the day was Eastport, Maine. Maine, we added another state to our “visited listed”!

Eastport is a quiet little tourist town, not crazy at all. We went directly to Sullivan Pier where we spent the day walking the town. We were able to spend the night right on the pier where you can see our truck in the upper left hand corner of this picture.

 We had a nice relaxing day watching the lobster fisherman load traps onto their boats, talked to the mackerel fisherman on the pier and visiting the shops in town. This town had not one, but two Roadside Attractions for us to photograph!

Dakota found some shade next to one of the trap trailers as we watched them load a boat. 

Did you know Eastport has the last remaining traditional stone ground mustard mill in North America? Neither did we but Raye's Mustards is advertised throughout town so we just had to pick up a couple of jars for ourselves!

Of course no stop is complete without stopping by the local brewery. In this case it was Horn Run Brewing. Oddly, we did not take any pictures. 

We needed a relaxing day before heading into our next adventure, as we were about to enter the fray of Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park! We had been warned by locals and other tourists alike that this area was crowded and congested. We had also heard that Acadia is one of the most beautiful National Parks you will see. By all accounts those people were telling the truth. When we stopped at the Visitor's Center to get hiking maps and information. As soon as I entered the visitors center my anxiety started going up. Did I mention we do not like crowds? We were in line for 30 minutes before it was finally our turn. I am glad we waited as we learned that we could not take our camper on the main loop though the park due to low clearance bridges. We could have taken one of the free busses around the park but the Precipice hike that we really wanted to go on was closed so we opted for a hike that Jim and Diana recommended. It was slated as a "strenuous" hike which is exactly what we wanted. We have some donuts to wear off! Plus it is in an area we could take our truck camper. 

The park employee said that it required a lot of scrambling and we should expect to stand in a "conga line" in some areas unless we get there early. We don't like crowds so early we shall be! 

None of our "go to" websites showed free camping spots in the area and there were no Harvest Hosts in the vicinity either so we opted for a campsite at Bar Harbor Campground. At $44/night (w/e) we thought it was a pretty good deal. We also took advantage of their free wifi, showers and laundry facilities. Better yet is the fact that those free busses stop right at the campground and can take you pretty much wherever you want to go!

Once we got settled we took the bus to downtown Bar Harbor. What a zoo! In addition to the normal tourist traffic there was a cruise ship in town too. We walked in a lot of the shops, waited in line for 20 minutes at a couple of places that we found treasures we wanted to buy, and walked the waterfront. I only took one picture the entire time we were in town. 

Not one of my favorite places I wanted to be. 

That night we set our alarm for 5am in an attempt to hit the Bubble Rock trail before most people were out of bed. The sun rises at 5:00 so we thought the timing would be perfect. When the alarm went off on Barb's iPad and we got up we were both puzzled that it was still pitch black out. Until we realized that the iPad was still on Atlantic time and it was actually 4am! Oh well, we are up now, may as well hit the trail! We thought we would be the only ones crazy enough to get up this early but we were wrong. Although not busy, there were dozens of cars parked at overlooks waiting for the sun to rise. 

When we got to our parking area we found we were the only ones there. So off we went!

You can go either way on this trail. We decided to climb up the steepest part rather than going the other way and climbing down the steepest parts. I think we made the right call. The trail started out pretty mellow as it descended towards Jordan's Pond. Not too bad we thought. 

Once we got to the pond however the trail went straight up for 0.4 of a mile. Lots of scrambling and rock crawling, I would not call it strenuous but it does get your heart pumping and the views are spectacular!

Taking a little breather

Another Breather

Of course Barb had to do one of her yoga poses along the way!

Once you get to the top, it levels out as you gradually get to the summit of 7,300. 

Then off to the side is Bubble Rock which was precariously deposited on a ledge by a glacier centuries earlier. Very cool!

The way back down the other side was very gradual with lots of steps. A lot of families will hike this side up and back, skipping the scrambling on the other side. 

That's it from Bar Harbor and Acadia. Now we start making our way south to Pennsylvania. A week from today we are meeting our daughter and family for a camping adventure with them!