We arrived at
Schoodic Woods Campground in Acadia National Park on Monday, 9/19 just ahead of
the rain. Well, not just rain, but dense fog too.
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| Our drippy arrival day. |
Acadia
National Park is spread across several separate areas, we’re staying in the
northernmost section (Schoodic Woods), the main part of the park is located on
Mt. Desert Island (MDI) – about a 1 ½ hour drive from our campsite to the main entrance.
Both Schoodic and MDI have one-way scenic loop drives which can also make for
long hours in the car - once you’re on the loop you’re committed! Lol.
But there’s
lots to do and see in both parts of the park. So on Monday evening when we
caught a late afternoon break in the rain, we decided to do a bit of exploring.
The campground we’re in just opened in 2015 and it’s beautiful with lots of
trees and spacious sites. One of the highlights of Acadia are the restored carriage
roads (much of the park used to be private land owned by the Rockefellers, et
al.) as walk/bike paths. We decided to walk the carriage road to one of the
ocean overlooks. It was gray, very gray.
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| Misty walk on the carriage road. |
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| There is gorgeous blue ocean out there.... somewhere... honest! |
We met and
chatted with a researcher from the nearby Schoodic Education & Research Institute, who was setting up netting to catch bats. She would catalog the local ones
and radio collar the migrating bats. Very cool. However, we then had to beat
feet to make it back to our campsite before full dark. No worries about surprising
the wild life – the gravel road surface is so noisy (crunch, crunch, crunch)
they could hear us a mile away!
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You can't see it (neither can the bats!), but there is netting stretched across the roadway.
The researcher will log or collar the bats she catches. |
On Tuesday,
the rain let up but the dense fog alert stayed in effect all day. Loved the
sound of the fog horns in the distance. We decided to bike a 6-mile stretch
of the scenic drive along the coast and then take the carriage roads back
to the campground. Let me just note that unlike my beloved rail to trail paths –
the carriage roads are not relatively level. Oh no! Those poor carriage horses
had their work cut out for them! There are frequent signs posted warning bicyclists
of steep grades and sharp turns. The road surface is a fine sandy gravel so it’s
easy to lose traction if you’re going too fast – which I do not! Lol.
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| They aren't joking either. :) |
Even with the
fog, it was a pretty ride. Can’t wait until we can actually see something! Lol.
The weather report calls for clear skies and sunshine tomorrow. If that happens
we’ll drive over to Mt. Desert Island and see what’s there.
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| The Schoodic Institute - this used to be an old Naval barracks, pretty sweet digs. |
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| Coastal granite and a foggy background. |
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| Visibility..... gray. |
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| A spot of color on a gray day. |
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| Low tide in the local harbor. |
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| Schoodic Sushi. LOL! |
Looks like the coast out here....lots of grey. I hope you get sunshine for the rest of your stay. Say, "Hi" to Howard and Linda for me if you catch them bird counting.
ReplyDeleteI am down in Idaho at Three Island Crossing State Park. A pretty park but very odd pricing. First time I was charged an extra $5.00 for a tow car; discrimination against Class A owners I tell ya. Heading to Ogden Utah tonight and will arrive at Zion on Monday. Brody sends hugs....and drools kisses.
Hey Tim, We've stayed at Three Island Crossing SP - it's where Rowena nearly jumped into the Snake River after a duck. Lol. It's obviously been awhile. I think we've had the extra fee for the tow car come up once or twice, usually if you're connected they consider you one vehicle - but anything to make a buck. We're spoiled out west, if you're paying to camp in the SP you don't have to pay a daily use fee. All across the Midwest we got socked with a $5 to $11 (Ugh!) daily use fee in addition to the camping fee. It really made the state parks no bargain at all.
DeleteEnjoy Zion - I am anxiously awaiting awesome pics! We did get a few days of sun before the rain returned yesterday. Today was pretty nice, but the wind has kicked up. We had plans to kayak but not sure I want to try my first salt water kayak in blustery weather. Lol. We'll see. We have just two more days here - it's really gone by fast. Give Brody a hug and sloppy smooch from me.