Abstract Acadia

I've been hanging in Acadia National Park the past two days.  I visited here for the first time in 2006 on my retirement trip, and loved it...so came back.  Loved it again!  I've had a wide range of weather this time...sun, rain, fog, clouds, wind, calm.  It's all made for marvelous photo ops.  This pic was taken on the Schoodic Peninsula, on the mainland east of the main park area on Mount Desert Island.  On a foggy, gray day, abstract scenes abound.

Granite, stunted trees, gray sky, iron sea.

This pic is taken at Eagle Lake, in the main section of the park.  From a distance, you could view this looking up through the trees to the sky.  Blow up the pic and it's apparent that I'm looking down on the lake.

The mists of Acadia at Eagle Lake.

The sky may be foggy, but the water is clear.

I'm staying at Southwest Harbor, on the west side of Mt Desert Island...the "quiet side".  It is indeed much quieter than at Bar Harbor, though this time of year there's still a good deal of activity.  After dinner yesterday evening I took a hike along the coast,  at Ship Harbor.  The scene in the gloaming was about as tranquil as it gets.

Acadia has unlimited hiking.  You can take flat trails along the lakes or the seaside, or you can slog up the granite to the tops of numerous mountains, with steep grades and elevation gains of a thousand feet or more.  A delightful way to hike or bike is to take the carriage roads that run through many areas of the park.  Acadia's main benefactor, John D Rockefeller Jr., donated much of the land that constitutes the park today.  He was a skilled horseman, and in the early 20th century, he wanted to be able to tour the park on roads that were closed to those newfangled automobiles.  So, between 1913 and 1940, he had many miles of roads constructed for horse drawn carriages.  They had to be well built, with gradual grades and curves that could be negotiated by horse and wagon.  Today, these roads are superb for bicycle touring, hiking, or...for horses and carriages!  Some go through pleasant forest, like this stretch to the west of Eagle Lake.

Other carriage roads get a bit more alpine, like this one on the west side of Jordan Pond, and about 100 feet above the water on a talus slope.  Immediately to the left, Penobscot Mountain rises another 750 feet almost straight up.

Following last nights rain...over an inch...the air was crystal clear.  This picture was taken looking down on Jordan Pond from the carriage road.  I later completed a nice three mile hike around the pond on a regular trail on the other side of the water.