Sargent and Penobscot Mountains - Acadia National Park - 9/21/13

 

This was our final full day in Acadia before we had to end our vacation and head home.  We awoke to a sunrise, but this time it quickly gave way to a thick fog.  It was our first morning with fog.  Every other day had been a bluebird day.  This foggy day was more like what I was expecting to see here and it was actually nice to have a day like this, although we were wishing the fog would burn off a little as we were passing over summits.

 

Since we most of Friday kayaking, we started this day with a hike.  We've not used to kayaking in the ocean in the fog either, so we geared up for a hike.

 

Two days earlier, when we were on Pemetic Mountain, I was admiring the open ridge of Penobscot Mountain.  We decided to hike Penobscot from Jordan Pond and then continue on to Sargent Mountain before returning back along the ridge.  We were both hoping the fog would burn off as we got up on the ridge, but it wasn't to be.     

 

A glacial erratic on the lower part of Penobscot ridge.

Visibility was nil along the Penobscot ridge during the ascent.   In the scrub before we reached the summit, we met a trail volunteer who was checking on the condition of the Acadia Cairns.  We talked for awhile and he gave us lots of useful information on things to see.

 

We pressed on and were soon at the summit.  It was fairly warm, but there was a moderate breeze, and with no sun we didn't linger too long.  We chatted with a guy at the summit for a few minutes before moving on. 

 

  

The summit of Penobscot Mountain

 

 

We dropped down into the col between the two mountains where there is a small unnamed pond.  We could hardly see it in the fog.

 

 

We could hardly see the unnamed pond between Penobscot and Sargent Mountain

 Sargent Mountain was also in the fog as we reached the summit, so it hardly looked any different than Penobscot.  This was our turn around point.  We went back down to the col and passed the pond and began our way back up Penobscot.

 

The sun finally began to break through the clouds.  As we regained the summit, we stayed for 30 minutes or so since we could tell it was clearing.  The scenery looks a lot different when there is a view!  Suddenly we could we the ocean and Jordan Pond and Pemetic Mountain and the Bubbles.  Penobscot really was a nice open rock ridge.

   

The clouds were starting to lift as we were passing back over Penobscot Mountain!

 

Jordan Pond with the Bubbles and Pemetic Mountain in the background.

 

 

An Acadia Cairn

 

Looking back up Penobscot as we were heading down

 

 

Nice stone steps and walkways throughout the park

 

 

 

 

 

Folks getting a carriage ride on the Jordan Pond carriage road

 

Jordan Pond with the Bubbles in the background

Once back at the car we headed up to Somes Sound to do a paddle in Somes Harbor.  We stopped in at Mount Desert Campground to see if we could use their launch, but no one was in the office.  We went ahead and launched, and made our way toward Bar Island in Somes Harbor.  The island is part of Acadia National Park so I wanted to head that way and explore.  At low tide it is connected to shore by a sand bar.

 

As we approached the island, the sandbar was only covered in a few inches of water.   We went around the west side of the island, but the wind was picking up and the water was getting quite choppy.

 

Nice cantilever house facing Bar Island

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We returned to the east side of the island and now the sand bar was present.  We beached our kayaks there.  I went to explore the interior of the island, while Leesa looked for rocks on the shore.  The island is closed from February 15-August 31 due to eagles nesting.

  

The island was pretty thick with trees and not much to see so we returned to the boats.  We didn't venture into Somes Sound due to the wind.  We returned to the campground launch site completing our paddle.

 

We were impressed with Mt. Desert campground and plan to stay there in the future.  Nice sites on the sound and nice tent platforms and decks. 

 

The bar at Somes Harbor Bar Island

 The tide was definitely much lower upon take out.

Our last activity before dark was to go for a short hike at the Dorr Farm ruins located just south of the Town of Bar Harbor.  These ruins are located on a small piece of Acadia National Park property.  The history is quite fascinating, and I'm surprised that there is no interpretive signage at the site.  George Dorr was considered the father of the Acadia National Park.  The foundation of the mansion is now getting overgrown.

As we headed back to Seawall campground for the night we stopped at Sawyer's Lobster Pound for dinner.
 

A nice lobster pound just north of Seawall

 

Back at the campground, we enjoyed our last fire, knowing that in the morning we'd be packing it in and heading home.   It was a great, but tiring 10 days!  We packed in a lot of things into our days.

 

 

Hike Stats:

 

Penobscot & Sargent Mountains 

 

Hike Distance:  5.4 miles

Hike Time:  4 hours, including stops

Total Vertical Gain:  ~ 1500'

 

Paddle Stats:

 

Somes Harbor

 

Paddle Distance:  2.5 miles

Paddle Time:  1.75 hours (including stops)

 

 



 

 

Our route to Penobscot and Sargent Mountain

 

 

 

Our route to Bar Island (Somes Harbor)

 

 

 

The George Dorr Farm Ruins

 

Kayaking Bartlett Narrows & Seal Cove - Acadia National Park - 9/20/13

On Friday the 20th, we began the vacation day with a walk out to Bar Island.  Bar Island is the island immediately north of Bar Harbor that is reachable via a sand bar at low tide.  Low tide was at 5:46 AM, so the timing was perfect to take a walk out there and catch sunrise from the bar.  From the island we saw the first rays of light hitting Bar Harbor.  Once again it was a clear morning.  We chatted with a man from North Carolina who was out on the bar also enjoying the sunrise.



Sunrise, as seen from the bar leading to Bar Island 

 

Bar Harbor from Bar Island

 

 

Leesa on the bar

 

Once back in Bar Harbor, we paid our 2nd visit to Jeannie's Great Maine Breakfast.  The town was much less crowded on Friday than it was on Tuesday morning.  Perhaps there were less people from cruise ships milling about.  In any case, we had another great breakfast and then got out of town.

We headed over to the quiet west side of the island on Route 102 to the hamlet of Pretty Marsh where we followed Bartlett’s Landing Road to the boat launch for Bartlett Narrows.  This would be our launch spot for the morning.  I had launched here perhaps 8 years ago with my son.  On that day we saw harbor seals during our paddle. 

After we launched today, we paddled north to the top of the narrows.  We should have paddled north to the Hub, or past Green Island to the Ledge, but I couldn’t recall at the time where we had the best chance of finding seals. 

Instead, we turned and paddled southward past our launch spot until we came to John Island.  We circled the island and found a nice spot to land on the north side.  I wasn’t sure if the island was private or public, but there were no signs visible from the water. 

 

Our landing spot on John Island

 As we scampered up onto the island, I found a sign indicating that the island was owned by the State and it is administered by the Maine Island Trail Association (MITA).  Camping is allowed.

 

 



Lots of good information here.  The sign was tucked away on the interior of the island

John Island is a small island and MITA suggests that it be used by 2 only people at a time, occupying 1 tent.  There is a nice grassy spot on the south center of the island, suitable for camping.  The island is mostly scrub with 3 trees at the northeast end.  There are no coves, but there are a couple rocky knolls to sit and enjoy the view and the water.  It was warming up nicely, and I took a moment to put on some sunscreen.

 

A nice spot to camp 

SE corner of John Island

 

John Island from the south

 

From John Island, we continued paddling south to Folly Island.  At Folly, we saw a sign indicating that the island was open, but for day use only.  We paddled around the island, but didn’t get out of the boats. 

 

Folly Island Sign

 

From the water, the only part of the island that looked inviting was the southwest corner, where there was a small meadow and some spruce trees.  

 

 

We headed north at this point to return to the launch.  On the way back we hugged the eastern side of Bartlett Island and we circled around the small Birch Island.  No signs were sign and we stayed in the boats.  It looked thick with trees.

Back at the launch, we loaded the boats and went back to Seawall Campground, where we were staying.  We cooked some dinner and then decided to go back in the boats rather than do an evening hike. 

This time we launched from Seal Cove, which is a few miles south of Bartlett’s Landing.  It was 5 PM when we were launching, so we really only had time for a sunset paddle.  We left the cove and turned northward, working our way around Reed Point.  It was now the evening low tide, so as we approached Moose Island it was connected to shore by a sandbar.  Moose Island appeared to be privately owned, although there weren’t any No Trespassing signs. 

 

Nice house on the mainland side of the bar to Moose Island

We paddled around the westerly side of the island admiring a couple of coves and sandy pocket beaches.  We reached the north end of the island, but then it was time to turn around and get back to Seal Cove by dark.  We had another fine sunset at our backs as we paddled back to the car.  We also had a full moon at night after the sun went down. 

 

Moose Island

  

Leesa racing the sunset

 

  

Perfect end to another day 

Another campfire at the campground and we were done for the day.

 

Paddle Stats:

Bartlett Narrows

Paddle Distance:  6.2 miles

Paddle Time:  2hours, 45 minutes, (including stops)

 

Moose Island

Paddle Distance:  4.4 miles

Paddle Time:  1 hour, 30 minutes

 

 

The Bartlett Narrows from Bartlett Landing

 

Moose Island from Seal Cove

 

Pemetic Mountain - Acadia National Park - 9/19/13

Thursday the 19th brought us another day of fine weather during our vacation.  We were getting used to the fantastic sunrises.  I always thought the coast was typically shrouded in fog in the morning, but a local told me that is not the case, especially in the fall. 



Is sunrise always like this?

 

The lobster fisherman are always out early

 

Here comes the sun

Following our viewing of the sunrise, we made our way over to Jordan Pond to do a loop hike of Pemetic Mountain.  The parking area for the trailhead was under reconstruction, so we had to park at the next parking lot to the south.  The climb of Pemetic Mountain from the northern end of Jordan Pond is relatively steep, but that approach put us up on the summit ridge pretty quickly.  On the ridge, it was just a couple minutes walk to the true summit. 

 

 

Pemetic Mountain summit with Eagle Lake in the background

There were views to be had in all directions.  Eagle Lake and Jordan Pond could be seen to the east, along the the long ridge of Penobscot Mountain and the Bubbles.  Cadillac Mountain was easily seen to the north.  To the south we could see Seal Harbor, Northeast Harbor and the ocean. 



 

Jordan Pond and Penobscot Mountain



 

Pemetic Mountain summit



 

Looking south to the ocean

 

Another look at Jordan Pond

 

The Bubbles, Jordan Pond and Penobscot Mountain

 

I believe that hiking the loop clockwise is the preferred alternative for several reasons.  First, I'd rather go up the steeper approach than down it, and second, if you are walking south on the ridge, you get a never ending view of the ocean in front of you.  Once down off the mountain we returned to the car via the trail along the east side of Jordan Pond.  Near the northern end of the pond, a beaver house was built right at the edge of the shore and we was the beaver swimming there in the area.  

 



 

Beaver in Jordan Pond

After lunch we left Mount Desert Island for the afternoon to scope out Stonington and the Archipelago for future kayaking exploration.  Isle Au Haut is in our future!  Advance planning is needed for that trip, since a reservation for a leanto on Isle Au Haut can only by done by mail and dates fill up fast.   

That night we stayed at a small motel in Trenton (the southernmost town before you enter Mount Desert Island.  It was time for a shower and a chance to freshen up.  Thursday we would be back in the park.


Hike Stats:
HIke Distance:  3.7 miles roundtrip
Hike Time:  2.5 hours (including all our stops)
Total Vertical Gain:  ~1000'



 

Our route (done clockwise)