Hiking on Schoodic Point…

“In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.” 
-- John Muir  

With children ranging from 5 months to nearly 7 years we now look for fairly easy hikes when all the family and friends have gathered.  Schoodic Point is the only part of Acadia National Park that isn’t on Mt Desert and is a favorite place of ours to visit.  There is plenty of opportunities for rock hopping, tide pool searching, stone balancing, seal watching, and picnicking before and after our hike up Schoodic Point Trail. I spend most of my time taking photos but this time I only brought the G9 and the iPhone because I just didn’t want to carry anything heavy.  Although the G9 lens is scratched I can live with the photos for the most part.

When we arrived we discovered that someone had painstakingly decorated the parking lot with beach stones and tiny pinecones…

We had plenty of time for tidepooling…

 

and rock hopping…

…and picnicking.

And then we hiked the Schoodic Head Trail to the top of Schoodic Head with it’s views of Mt Desert and Cadillac Mt.  It was a little hot and challenging for the kids, and the adults who carried them, but fun.

..

Climbing Mt Penobscot…

This year Mr O and I arrived in Maine a day earlier than our daughters and their families.  On our only day alone we choose to challenge ourselves with climbing Mt Penobscot in Acadia National Park as we knew it was too difficult to hike with the children.   We have hiked this trail every year since we started going to Maine each August.   It is difficult in places but if we take it slow and steady we don’t have any problems.  I think we are afraid that if we don’t hike it we will have to consider ourselves old or unfit…






The first reward of the hike are the views that surround you when you go above the treeline and the breeze that cools you off as you take the view in…




The second reward of the hike is jumping into the water of Sargent Mountain Pond, possibly the oldest lake in Maine,  at the summit.  We know enough to wear our bathing suits under our hiking clothes and because we are so hot and tired by the time we reach it, this is the best swim of the summer.  Fortunately, we have never seen the serpent that could live there according to lore.



The last reward of the hike is to stay at the Jordan Pond House for tea and popovers before going back to the car.  We have done this for so many years it doesn’t seem possible to break the tradition even if the restaurant is more crowded each year…and the popovers are worth it!



















Hopefully we will still be hiking this trail when our grandchildren are old enough to join us.