Even before Leah was walking on her own, she was hiking fun places like Baxter and Acadia.
Now that she is three, she is a fantastic hiker! We get out and hike as often as possible and love to share good spots. At the suggestion of my friend Jen, I'm going to try to chronicle our hikes - thanks for the idea, Jen.
Beech Mountain, Acadia National Park
This is a great little mountain to hike. There are several access points, Echo Lake parking lot on Route 102, Beech Hill Road in Somesville, and the southern end of Long Pond outside of Southwest Harbor. We like the less traveled Long Pond access point (and this trail is longer, too, about two and half miles. I think the trail from Beach Hill Road trailhead is about a one mile round trip hike). Acadia NP Map can be found at: http://www.nps.gov/acad/
The pond is nestled between Beech Mountain and Mansell Mountain.The hike slides along the lakeshore for a ways, and then climbes steeply up the western cliffs of the mountain overlooking the lake and Mansell. There are some large open areas, scrambles through tumbled boulders, through wild cranberry bushes, and up to the small, but open summit at 839 ft above Somes Sound. There is a tower at the top so we can take advantage of views from an even higher perch!
The loop trail continues south, crossing the open slabs of the summit, with beautiful views of the Atlantic and Somes Sound. We were lucky enough to see an Eagle playing in the currents and follws the southern shoulder of the mountain through some very magical places!
We love this hike; it has varied terrain, some steep sections, fabulous views, and we always feel like we had a great hike! Then off to Thurstons for a late lunch!
THANK YOU Caryn! I am so excited to follow along on your amazing hikes through the Maine woods! I will always be one week behind you in adventures (as in I will look here to get ideas of where to go!). You are such an inspiration!
ReplyDeletewhat a fantastic essay from andrew on what changes in focus occur when a baby is brought on a hike. it would be interesting to revisit this topic with a toddler. leah is such an amazing girl, it would be fun to read about her commentary on and developing agility in the outside world. and yes, we too will be following your adventures as an inspiration to adventures for our own family.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the encouragement, Jen and Erika! I suggested to Andrew that he write something about hiking with Leah as a three year old who can go several miles, and gets excited when she can be a mountain goat.
ReplyDeleteHopefully we won't get rained out to hike this weekend!