It’s been a bit of a week, so I’m reflecting on more carefree times. Let’s go back to Maine. It’s time to hike.
Cadillac Mountain, the highest point on the eastern seaboard of the U.S., was our big hike of the trip. Acadia has so many trails and things to do that we truthfully could have stayed there for the whole ten days and still not seen it all (and we met a few people that were there for just that long!). But, we had places to go and people to see, so we picked the highest spot and hiked from there.
My research for this hike led me to the idea that we should drive up Cadillac Summit road (note: you will need a car pass specifically for this road) and hike down, rather than up.
Was this a good idea?
After taking in the morning view with amongst limited crowds, it was go-time. I highly recommend getting here early (our pass time was for 7:30 AM) because by the time we finished our hike around noon, the summit was packed and IMO, less photogenic.
Again, was this a good idea?
The first thirty minutes or so of the Cadillac Summit North Ridge trail, the hike was slow and painstaking, inching our way down smooth slabs of granite as slow as snails, holding our breath that we wouldn’t fall.
So slow.
Just as we questioned whether it would be like this the whole 2.2 miles down, it started to get rockier, resembling a more comfortable walking trail, which meant we were able to pick up our pace a bit.
Don’t get me wrong, it was still steep, but at least I didn’t have to worry as much as slipping down a granite rock face!
A little over two hours later, we got to the bottom.
But remember that in our case, what went down, had to go back up!
Luckily, I much prefer going up any mountain than down, and the climb up took us half the time.
Deep breaths, we’re almost there!
That last mile though…those granite slabs. Thankfully there was not a drop of moisture to make it all the more treacherous.
All worth it for this view.
After swapping out our sweaty clothes for clean ones and a quick rinse off, we hopped in the car for a five hour drive down to Salem.
Not without, of course, a stop for ice cream.
