Day 9 – Mountain Climbing and Edible Rewards

Date: Thursday 13th November 2008
Miles Driven : 25 miles
From: Bar Harbor (Maine)
To: Bar Harbor (Maine)
Via: Acadia National Park Loop Road
Mountains Conquered: 1

Today's Photos Link : http://www.flickr.com/photos/32017704@N03/sets/72157609052898534/

It all got serious today as we had planned to climb Mount Cadillac, the highest peak in Acadia National Park. Well, I say “planned” but what I really mean is that we had read somewhere that it was the biggest peak, that it took about 5 hours to climb and that the South Ridge ascent was the only one without precipice ledges requiring basic rock climbing skills and the use of ladders (Molly’s lack of opposable thumbs make ladders a no-no). So our sum total of planning involved wearing a huge number of layers of clothing (breakfast is a 2 minute outdoor walk from our room so we had previous knowledge of the sub-zero temperatures plaguing Maine at the moment) and…well, actually that was all we managed to plan. After leaving the hotel we drove in the opposite direction from the mountain for a few miles and once we were finally going in the right direction, we had no idea where we were supposed to start the hike from as the 712 information pamphlets we had collected the previous evening were cleverly stored back in the room. But this is the twentieth century and, being yuppies, we both have iPhones so luckily we have the world at our finger-tips…only there is no reception out here in the middle of nowhere. Holy crap, is this how they lived in the middle ages? As such, I had to accost a gentleman who was from that bygone era (and the only human within a 10 mile radius) in order to explain where the start of the walk was which he obligingly did with a look in his eyes that clearly said “you won’t last 10 minutes up there, you privileged scourge on society”. Maybe I am a little too sensitive sometimes…

The walk was absolutely stunning and, despite being officially classified as “strenuous”, it wasn’t too tough. A fairly constant up-hill all the way to the top with only the occasional big rock to climb up. Needless to say I was a perfect gentleman and, when the occasion arose, I helped both Molly and Kate up the aforementioned big rocks in the style of Benny Hill in The Italian Job. The terrain changed from dense forest at the bottom to bare rock resembling a Star Trek scene (hence the pose in the picture) at the top but views of the dessert island bay and the neighbouring islands were consistently incredible. It is also possible to drive up the mountain so the top is actually denoted by a huge car-park but, being off-season, there was only one car up there containing a couple of guys. I would imagine it is annoying to walk to the top in peak season only to be greeted by hoards of super-fatties but with only two non-hikers up there I quite enjoyed being the King of Smug for the 8 seconds we were brave enough to stand in the freezing breeze. At this point, the beautiful blue Maine sky decided to give way to dark, threatening clouds so a speedy descent was the order of the day. An hour later we were speeding back to Bar Harbor with the heaters on full blast.

Lunch was a huge affair of comfort food in the quirky Geddy’s (they take a photo of everyone that enters to put on their web-site…I would like to say that’s lame but the reality is that I am counting the minutes until it’s published). Post lunch entertainment was a lap of the National Park’s Loop Road but there was no need to stop at any of the attractions as we either saw them today or will see them on tomorrow’s walk. As such, the 20 mile drive more resembled a lap of the Nuremburg Ring than an idyllic drive in the country. I’m not sure what the lap record is but Bridget was definitely up there.

A dip in the hotel’s hot tub was cancelled because there was already a slimmer and more attractive couple in there so we retreated to the room to do what we do best – eat curry (a rather fine home-made beef curry) and watch telly. The Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame probably don’t need to reserve us any spaces anytime soon…

More walking, possibly a bike ride and then heading West to Bangor tomorrow…