Monthly Archives: September 2011

Adventures, Troy's Blog

An Evening Adventure at Acadia

The Setting Sun in Acadia

After a full day of exploring Acadia National Park, the sun was beginning to wane so off to find a great spot to watch it set. Looking at the photo above I would say we were successful although I’m sure there are a number of great spots to watch both sunrises and sunsets. We pulled over on the side of the road, got the tripod and camera, and found the best spot to view the sun as is slowly merged into the horizon. There were a few other cars that stopped to quickly take a picture and then moved on but for most of the time we were able to enjoy a spectacular sunset on Mount Desert Island, Maine which is were Acadia resides. This was likely going to be our only opportunity for enjoying a sunset as Hurricane Irene was headed our way and the next night would be filled with clouds. Once we were satisfied with the viewing it was time to move on to our evening residence.

Off on Another Trail

Along the way I caught a glimpse of Bubble Rock sitting high above on a ledge of stone. Wanting a longer view of this large rock that appears as though it could tumble over the edge with just the smallest incentive we found a parking lot with a trail to a better viewing area. Earlier in the day this parking lot was full so we continued on planning on returning later. There was about 30 minutes of daylight left and the hiking trail was only 1/4 mile long. Doing the math assuming a walking rate of 2 miles per hour it should take us about 15 minutes to get there, 15 minutes of pictures and enjoying the surrounding and 15 minutes back to the parking lot. I knew it would be getting pretty dark by the time we got back to our vehicle but we should be fine so off on another adventure it was.

An Evening at Bubble Rock

About a third of the way Karen decided she was going to utilize a bench along the trail and would wait for us. I expected that the trail should terminate not to far ahead and we would get a nice look from a viewing point and then return to the car. As we continued on the trail it kept winding back and forth and then began to ascend more than expected. The longer we followed the trail, the darker it got and the more I began to realize this trail led right to the boulder we had seen from a distance below. Well, it shouldn’t be to far now so on we went. Finally we were at the top of the trail and near our objective. It was amazing to me that the National Park Service would allow people to get so close to this rock at the edge of a cliff. Once we finally saw this boulder I understood a little better. There was no way anyone was going to move this rock allowing it to go over the cliff. Once you realize that it has been in this location since the glaciers you can understand how unlikely it is to move.

To be Continued….

National Parks, Troy's Blog

The First Place to See the Sun

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Sunrise

Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park is the first place in the United States to see the sun rise during the winter months. This is because this location is far enough east in Maine and high enough to see the sun rise before areas that are further east. People like to be the first to do many things or experience something for the first time. Here is a place that anyone can do something before anyone else in the United States – watch the sun pierce the horizon. Unfortunately we did not make it to Cadillac Mountain to witness the sun rising but we still enjoyed setting foot in the beautiful Mountain. Even if we had it was during the summer so the first place to see the sun rise would have been Mars Hill, Maine.

Cadillac Mountain

My first impression of Cadillac Mountain was looking at it on a map while looking for the highlights of Acadia National Park. It was puzzling how this could be considered a mountain at only 1530 feet above sea level. I’m use to mountains being several thousand feet above sea level. After getting there and learning more about this place, I now understand why it’s considered a mountain. First of all the steep ascent from sea level to the top suggests a mountain. Also, according to geologists, what is currently the top of Cadillac Mountain was the center of the volcano which helped to shape this area. Apparently the mountain use to be considerably taller until the glaciers moved through and cut it down giving us the scenery available today.

The Big Dipper

After watching the sunset in other areas of the park we headed back to the top of Cadillac Mountain to witness a beautiful star filled sky. Most impressive was seeing the Milky Way. I have not seen it in a number of years so it was nice to be reminded of its’ spectacular display. Also, fewer and fewer people are able to see the Milky Way so it was nice to show our children what it looks like. Unfortunately I need to work on my photography skills capturing stars so I don’t have a picture that shows the milky way in all its glory. I was able to get a nice photo of the big dipper.

Acadia

Troy's Blog, World Events

Being Chased by Irene Continued…

Creeks Nearing Roads and Bridges

Further into New Hampshire we started encountering road closures due to flooding. It seemed as though every detour ended in another closed road requiring yet another detour. Crossing rivers became more nerve racking as the water was getting closer and closer to the roads that we could drive on causing me to wonder if the road was ready to give while driving over it. After about an hour and a half we made it out of this perpetual detour and found open roads again. Finally, the Vermont state line, not far now. At least this is what we thought. Daylight was once again leaving us making our task a little more difficult and discouraging.

Raging Rivers

Many of the creeks and streams were now raging rivers and nearing the roads that were open and covering the rest or washing them out. Once again there were constant detours as more and more roads where being closed. As the night wore on the only roads not closed in the areas we wanted to get to where interstates. Unfortunately there are only two interstates in Vermont and to get to Montpelier we need to drive south to almost the southern border on one interstate to get to the second one in order to get to this capital city. That was going to add 3-4 hours to our trip and we had been driving for 11 hours now. One last road and if this one is closed we’re going to find a place to stay and admit defeat. You guessed it – another road closure. Irene had won! It was time to quit driving for this day and re-evaluate our final destination another day.

More Flooded Waterways

At the worst point during the night there were 250 road closures in Vermont with video of cars and houses tumbling down the rivers. I felt frustrated and defeated because we were unable to get to Montpelier but also thankful that we were all safe. Our hearts went out to those who had lost so much and not sure of where to go and what to do. My desire to experience a hurricane is now gone. I enjoy storms but hurricanes are primarily wind and rain. The enjoyable parts of storms are the thunder and lightning so really the hurricane was disappointing. Also, being in the winds that hurricanes can produce for the length of time they can produce them is unappealing. Fortunately Hurricane Irene was less than expected but still provided plenty to remember.

New Experiences, Troy's Blog

Being Chased by Irene

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Path of Hurricane Irene 

The itinerary for the last part of our trip to New England was to drive from Bangor, Maine to Montpelier, Vermont. We just finished seeing the areas of Acadia National Park and Bar Harbor on Mount Desert Island in Maine and decided it was time to move away from the coast as Hurricane Irene was expected to move in within the next 24 hours. The day was growing long with any remaining light fleeting. It was about an hours’ drive to Bangor where we decided to find a place to sleep and weather Irene. Forecasts called for the Hurricane to diminish by morning giving us hope that we could still travel. Before falling asleep the girls were a little nervous and scared of being in a hurricane as this was a new experience for all of us. I assured them that they would be alright because this hurricane was losing strength and we have been in storms with a lot of rain and wind before.

rain falling

During the night we could hear the rain falling, heavily at times forcing the realization that this was it, Irene was here! I wondered on occasion if we would wake to find a lot of trees blown down or other storm related casualties. Once the morning light began entering our room we turned on the weather and began discussing what to do for the day. Hurricane Irene had been downgraded to a tropical storm with winds gusting to 65 miles per hour and periods of heavy rain. We have driven in these conditions before and what else was there to do if we stayed put? At the very least we wanted to get to a hotel that has a pool for the kids to swim in. Our decision was to head for Vermont. The drive time should be about 6 hours and then we could relax for the rest of the day in the hotel.

Tree Causes Street Closure

After breakfast we packed up and headed out. Driving was as expected with rainy conditions and the occasional compensation for wind gusts. There were occasional downpours which required traffic to slow down but all in all we made it to New Hampshire without any problems. After getting a ways into New Hampshire our first detour was encountered due to a tree which had fallen over power lines and onto the road. This was only a 10-15 minute delay in our overall trip and we were back on our way. This detour was actually quite a nice drive going onto gravel roads by a couple of small waterfalls and swerving for the occasional small tree in the road. It felt like we were going to a cabin on a lake -a very comfortable and serene feeling. Little did we know that this was going to be the easiest detour to take.

To Be Continued…