Acadia National Park in April

Last week was National Park Week. I got a jump on this with my trip to Acadia National Park the week before. Even though all national parks were free for the weekend, Acadia is free until the start of May. It's still essentially winter up there. In fact, the park opened for the season the second day we were there, and we got there 40 minutes after they opened the gate. I think I was the first person to put a donation in the box, too!

We were in luck the first day they opened because the weather was decent enough that they were also able to open the Park Loop Road, about 27 miles of paved road that circles the largest portion of land, popular with cyclists in the summer. We had planned to ride it as well, but it rained... a lot. We still decided to hike through it, until we got to the top of Cadillac Mountain, 1528 ft, the highest point in the park.

boyfriend searching out cairns/bright colors are a good choice

 It was windy, and getting foggier as we ascended. Luckily, there were cairns to follow, otherwise we might have gone around in circles. We reached what we thought was the top. All we know is we launched ourselves up over large flat boulder, and immediately felt gale-force wind from the other direction that nearly knocked us over, and we both automatically went into a crouching position. We stayed up there maybe 10 seconds before deciding to head back down. (The only other time I felt wind that strong was when I was clinging to the side of an abandoned house while experiencing near-tornadic conditions while on a bike ride.)

Around the Park Loop Road, we came across a beautiful architectural example of a European hunting lodge. It must be mentioned that John D. Rockefeller was one of the key individuals responsible for the creation of Acadia National Park. He donated 11,000 acres of his property and this gatehouse (1932), as it actually is, was commissioned by him to serve as a barrier to automobiles entering the park. Encouraging non-motor traffic, he developed a vast system of carriage roads during the first part of the 20th century that are well-maintained even today. This foresight, and the preservation measures that have come since that time, are factors that make this park easily accessible without a car, across the whole island.

So, back to our adventure. The day after we toured the Loop, it snowed. We were thinking, "But, it was 60 degrees and sunny when we got here!"

Then, by mid-morning, it started clearing. I love to watch this over the ocean, because it's completely blue on one side, and just grey as the clouds on the other. Here is where we drove down to Northeast Harbor, a very quintessential coastal Maine town. After reading that Martha Stewart lived somewhere around here, I was joking that we should be able to find her house. Even though we weren't far from it, it turns out she lives on 63 acres, assuredly hidden away from any curious tourists.

Despite the weather, we enjoyed the seaside cliffs I had always seen in photos, the forests of evergreen, aspen, and birch, and the lack of tourists. It was almost as if we had the park to ourselves. The park staff even told us this is the best time of year to come. However, I would still love the chance to be there at peak season!