Our first day in Bar Harbor was foggy and chilly, and we spent a lot of time relaxing in the cockpit, watching the fog come and go. One of our goals this season is to break out all the stuff we’ve been lugging around and decide whether or not it’s worth keeping, so we finally got inspired to (mostly) set up the enclosure. It doesn’t quite fit right, but it does help keep the bugs and the chill at bay, which will be especially nice when the weather starts to get colder. We haven’t decided yet whether the screens are worth it, but for now they can stay.
Wednesday, we hopped the bus and spent the day hiking in Acadia. We first hiked Jessup Path, an easy, flat trail through some beautiful wetlands and meadows out to Kurt Diederich’s Climb, a .4 mile steep ascent with lots of granite steps. There were a couple of little spots where my fear of heights kicked in, but for the most part, it just served as a reminder that I don’t walk up nearly enough steps in a day to be in shape for something like that! It’s a beautiful trail, though, and there are some great views. We continued along Schiff Path which felt mostly easier, but the last .4 miles is another steep ascent, this time over exposed granite, to reach the summit of Dorr Mountain. It was hot and humid, and I was definitely feeling it, but I was hell bent on reaching the summit – it was absolutely worth it. The views of Frenchman Bay and out to sea are stunning (we could even see Windara!), and I felt a major sense of accomplishment reaching the top. Dorr is the third highest peak in the park (1270′), sitting about 300 feet below Cadillac. We could see all the people on top of Cadillac, but we had the Dorr summit to ourselves and passed only a handful of hikers all day. We returned via the Dorr North Ridge Trail, which descends 970 feet in .8 miles. The trail is a combination of exposed granite, lots of tree roots, and some rock scrambles, so it was slow going but really pretty, and we got to the Wild Gardens of Acadia with time to spare before catching the bus back to town.
Thursday was a recovery day. We started the day with donuts from Graffiti Donuts and the rest of the day was split between taking it easy and preparing for Dan and Chelsea’s visit since they’d be arriving that night. We took a break from chores to visit Sherman’s Books (nerd purchase alert: I was super excited to pick up “Weeds of the Northeast” – I’m always curious about the various plants we see on our hikes) and get an ice cream at Jordan Pond Ice Cream.
The plan was to fit in a little bit of everything – hiking, sailing and exploring town – and the Fourth turned out to be a perfect sailing day so we hauled anchor and headed out towards Sand Beach. We were excited to be able to introduce Chelsea to the full liveaboard experience (she’d been sailing before but only on smaller boats) and more than happy to give Dan the helm for the day. We couldn’t have ordered better conditions or more perfect views. I’d heard that the harbor fills up with boats for the fireworks and had visions of coming back and not being able to find a spot to anchor, but that wasn’t the case at all – no new boats had arrived in our absence.
After a late lunch, we took a quick trip into town. Since they launch the fireworks from the Harbormaster pier, we had to bring the dinghy to the beach at Bridge Street. I didn’t love leaving it on shore (tied to the fence) with all the tourists around, but fortunately when we got back, all was as and where we left it. We wandered around town a bit and stopped into Leary’s for a drink. It was mid-afternoon and people were already camped out in the park, claiming their space for the fireworks. Bar Harbor is always busy, but it was absolutely SWARMED, so we were happy to retreat back out to Windara. Our anchorage was the perfect spot to watch the fireworks – a couple boats came in, but most people anchored closer to town.
Saturday got off to a late-ish start, so we decided to keep the hike relatively short and easy. Chris and I did Gorham Mountain last year, and we thought it would be a good choice with its relatively easy terrain and beautiful views. We took the Cadillac Cliffs split, one of my favorite sections of trail I’ve discovered in the park so far. This time around, it was a little easier fear-of-heights wise. We stopped for lunch at the summit and on the way down hiked over to the Bowl. From there, we headed for Sand Beach to catch the bus, and our timing was perfect (even if we did have to run for it) – we somehow managed to board ahead of the crowd. Back in town, we said our goodbyes to Dan and Chelsea and headed back to prepare Windara for a morning departure.
We were supposed to get heavy winds today, so we got an early start before the breeze even filled in. We stopped in Northeast Harbor to fuel up, pump out, take on water and get rid of some garbage at Clifton Dock, before continuing to the Mill Dam anchorage just north of Southwest Harbor. They’ve added more moorings since last time we were in, but we found a nice, protected spot to settle in. We dinghied into Beal’s Lobster Pier for lunch (the lobster rolls were amazing, and I finally got to try blueberry soda, which I kind of loved). Other than that, we spent the day relaxing and enjoying the views. Tomorrow it’s back to work for me, but it’s on the quiet side still so I think we’ll be able to get in some additional exploring, and I’m happy to be able to work from the water.
