A Weekend in Acadia National Park – January 2017
(Sunset at the Cooksey Drive Overlook – January 28,2017)
Intersting fact: I read that the first sunset of a new year in first seen on the summit of Cadillac Mountain, and it was a tradition for some to hike to the summit before the sunrise on New Years Day to bring in the new year with the sun (Bucket list worth – watch the first sunrise of a new year at the summit of Cadillac Mountain).
This is the year for National Parks – attempting to visit was many as possible throughout the year, why not visit the closet one to home first. On a Friday night we packed up the car and headed north, ready to take on our 5 hour drive ahead. Instead of diving straight through we decided to pull off on Bangor, ME to catch a good night’s sleep. By the time we reached Bangor it was just around 11:30 pm; not much to do in Maine period in the dead of winter so as you can imagine at 11:30 there is nothing to do. The following morning we checked out and headed to breakfast – we found this small breakfast place, but can I tell you AMAZING the food was. After breakfast we journeyed on until finally reaching Bar Harbor, ME aka home of Acadia National Park.
It was super cold & windy this evening but we still got out and ventured to see what Acadia had to offer in January. We watched the sunset at the Cooksey Drive Overlook, which was beautiful – we sat on the cliffs that overlooked the ocean. ⇓⇓⇓ See below ⇓⇓⇓
The water was serenely calm, making the sunset all that much better.
After enjoying the sunset we headed into town to find some dinner – an FYI not much open in the middle of winter in this small town. We found a small, family-friendly place on a little side street and gave it a shot. Side Street Cafe was packed with what seemed like only locals, we were seated pretty quickly and served our food not too long after ordering. After dinner we headed back to the inn we were staying at for the night (Quimby House Inn), deciding getting a good night sleep before our trek out to explore the next day was a good decision.
The next morning we woke up showered, packed up, & checked out, anxiously awaiting a hike in the park. Sunday, wasn’t as cold as Saturday making a hike much more appealing, the women at the inn had stated that they hadn’t seen as much snow this year as they thought they would be getting – making hiking even easier.
We pulled off into a small inlet on the side of the road and parked the car. Upon entering we walked under a old stone bridge that then lead us to the shore line where I was able to capture some goregous shots of the rolling mountains, water, trees, and beaming sun (second image down in the above photos). As we headed down the path we saw rocks with icicles frozen along side, fallen brush, melting snow, and quiet streams.
We then saw a small, not really a path, path that lead down to the water. My natural instinct, of course, was to head right down and see what shoots I could get. There was a large rock that stuck up out of the water and it was clear that someone had saw out to it and piled a few smaller rocks on top, a way to leave their mark without damaging the natural beauty.
Once wandering our way out we headed up to check out Bass Harbor Lighthouse. When you start walking down towards the lighthouse itself there was an info board with some facts about the lighthouse. The station was established in 1858 and the price of the land was $80 (yeah, $80 – today you can’t even buy a pair of good boots for that). That was my fun fact about the light station. The view of that ocean was super beautiful from here, it was late afternoon and the way the sun was reflecting off of the water was perfect.
All around Acadia was beautiful! We will definitely be returning when the weather is a bit nicer that way we can continue to explore and see all the other places. Due to the cold and ice many places I had hoped to see were closed or marked unsafe.
Until the next adventure!
And remember to always take the long way home.
kaylawanders 