Acadia National Park was the first national park established east of the Rocky Mountains in 1914. Prior to that the area was a getaway for the well to do crowd including John Rockefeller who was instrumental in the creation of carriage roads throughout the island. The carriage roads were intended for horse carriage/ sleigh travel and are used by bikers, hikers, and horses. The roads are wide and flat making them ideal for wheelchair or scooter travel.
Our first stop along the trail was Bubble Pond:
The scenery is so stunning that every step is a virtual photo-op:
We walked the entire carriage road to Jordan Pond a total of 4.2 miles. I was really hoofing it and Doreen had the scooter cranked up full speed.
Jordan Pond is a popular and crowded attraction. There is a restaurant and gift shop and easy hiking trails can be picked up here. The great feature of Acadia is all the hiking trails are mapped and categorized as easy, moderate, and difficult and their distances. We took the easy trail around Jordan Pond, about another 1.2 miles.
We went as far as the trail was even for the scooter then turned back to the shuttle stop. You can in the pic below to my left is the trail that turned into a rocky causeway to the other side of the pond.
At this point Doreen was becoming cantankerous due to her Hansel and Gretel syndrome. (she doesn't like the dark woods)
We hopped onto the shuttle back to the visitors center to transfer to a shuttle going to the campground. As Karanzas luck would have it the wheelchair lift was malfunctioning and took about 15 minutes for the driver to figure out how to crank it down.
For our last excursion on the island we decided to drive to the western side where the shuttle doesn't run. We took a drive on Sargent Drive, a scenic residential road that hugs the shoreline of Echo Lake:
Another area of the park is further down the road where we stopped for a restroom break:
We then took a truck road into the back country:
I think the lake was Long Lake or pond but it was secluded save for some wind surfers and kayakers:
Next it was off to see one of the many lighthouses in Maine and another amazing photo-op:
There are 57 operating lighthouses in Maine. Only a few are reachable by auto. Bass Harbor Head is perched on a cliff and this side is the main side and the other side seen above is accessible by a long string of steps going down to the rocks.
We drove around the southern tip of the island through Southwest Harbor and back up to the park
Our last day in Acadia we saved the best for last. Most people start their trip in Acadia with Cadillac Mountain but we waited to the end. No particular reason, just the way it worked out. Cadillac Mountain is the highest coastal point in the east north of Brazil at 1530 feet. The road snakes up the side of the mountain to an ample parking area and shop and restrooms. The views are stunning but unfortunately due to pollutants in the air from the industrialized cities south of Maine the air current brings them up the coast obscuring the amazing views. Here you can see a haze in the air about three quarters up the mountain:
We were pleasantly surprised to see a wheelchair ramp going to the summit of the mountain:
I walked further out to the edge of the rocks and the town of Bar Harbor can be seen (with the help of a powerful zoom):
A view back up to the summit from the rocks:
This shot gives you some perspective of the view with the tourists in the foreground:
I took so many pictures that I have to go through them in stages to first delete any bad ones or duplicates from the camera itself and then again when I look at them on the laptop. These are just a sampling and I wish I could put more up but it is time consuming doing the blog. I could be poolside today but here I sit so I will leave you here with a few more and then call it quits for this post.
America the beautiful!
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