After getting rained on at Baxter State Park we decided to head to Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park.  The weather was only slightly better, but we had a hotel instead of a tent!  We decided to drive the loop road and drove to the top of Cadillac Mountain first.  It was so foggy and misty that there were no views at all.  There was a camera man at the summit taking videos for the 100th anniversary of the park – watch HERE – you can’t miss me with my bright pink rain jacket – LOL!  I’m taking the photo you see below left.

summit of Cadillac Mtn

FOGGY

We decided to come back the next day because the weather was supposed to be slightly better.  There was really no point in driving the road when you could only see a bit in front of the car because the fog was so thick. We ended up heading to our hotel to shower and then went to grab something to eat.  We were pretty tired so we settled into the hotel and hoped for better weather the next day.

In the morning we got up and headed back to Bar Harbor – I wanted to see Bar Island where at low tide there is a land bridge that you can walk across.  We hiked all the way to the top of Bar Island and had a lovely view looking back to Bar Harbor.  Of course I slipped on some rocks on the way up and then heard a little girl say to her mom “I didn’t slip at all! Not even on the rocks.  I didn’t even have to use my hands!”  ok, I was being taunted by a 4 yr old!  I get it kid, I’m clumsy – we all know this! LOL!  🙂

low tide trail to Bar Island

Bar Island summit trail

the top!

view across to Bar Harbor

low tide!

We decided to come back at high tide so I could stand in the same spot and take a picture to see the difference.  It was one of the most awesome parts of the trip!

Between low tide and high tide we drove the loop road in Acadia National Park to see if we had better views.  There was a lot less fog, although it was still cloudy and a bit rainy, we had some great views along the way.  We did a little hiking and hit some of the main tourist attractions like Thunder Hole and Otter Cliffs.

Then back to Cadillac Mtn to see if we could get a better view from the top, but the summit was still in the clouds.  We drove a bit back down the road and took some pictures looking back at the cloud covered summit and some views looking out to the islands.

looking back at the foggy summit

standing on the USGS marker

view from just under the clouds

USGS marker for Cadillac Mtn

Off to check out Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse:

Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse

Then we hiked the Wonderland trail – which I highly recommend.  The trail was only 1.5 miles RT and very little elevation change, but had some AMAZING views along the way!

The only thing we didn’t have time for was kayaking and cycling on the carriage trails – I would have LOVED to do that, but I will save that for a time when the weather is a bit nicer!  OH – and I really want to see seals and a starfish or two!!  Despite the rain and fog it was a beautiful area and I can’t wait to go back to explore more!

Any suggestions for something I didn’t get to see that I should check out next time I go back to Bar Harbor/ Acadia National Park?  Let me know!!