Thursday, August 6, 2015

Acadia National Park - Part II of III

I knew that I had a lot of pictures…thought I could do this in 2 posts but…..figured what the heck…make it 3 posts!
Foggy morning hike

Smiling and hiking

Picking blueberries

Making sure we are on track
What a group!

Bill and Nancy

Great place to enjoy lunch

In the gorge

We had some chilly nights!

Hiking is better with chocolate chip cookies!

Lunch at Jordan Pond House 
Syl strumming her birthday ukulele

Sharon and I rock scrambling

Favorite hike - but oh so challenging!

Crossing the rockslide
No shortage of fog

The rocky coast of Acadia National Park

Painter capturing a coastal scene

Cairn in the fog - not a real trail marker - just one someone built! 

Syl and cairns....

which came tumbling down!

Look closely - Anemone Cave

Dan and Syl relaxing cliffside

Now here's my kind of cave!
Dan, David, and Bill coming up with a plan

What a view!

David, Dan, Bill and Sharon on top of Penobscot

David, Darlene, Syl, Nancy, Bill, Dan, Tricia, and Doug

Another group of happy hikers!
Doug, Darlene, David, Bill and Dan
Nancy coming down the boulders

Another view of a cairn and the Porcupine Islands

Nancy and Doug on a carriage road

Cobblestone Bridge

Mossy forest

Final blog about Acadia National Park coming soon!

Wednesday, August 5, 2015

Acadia National Park - Part I of III

Acadia National Park

We spent the month of July at Narrows Too in Trenton, ME.  This was a return visit for us (we were here 2 years prior) and were ready to “bag some peaks” (hike!) again.

This area is so beautiful and we really never tire of the views.  The rocks, the water, the trees….all of the scenery is just gorgeous.  I took waaaay too many pictures as I  really enjoy capturing the beauty here.   The hiking is world class….very challenging but also very rewarding. We repeated some hikes we did 2 years ago but also explored some new areas.  There is not too much wildlife here but we did manage to see a few deer and were delighted when we saw loons on Hadlock Pond.  There were 2 adults and 2 juveniles.  The adults were teaching the juveniles how to fish.  Of course, this is when I didn’t have my camera!  The only downside to the area this time of year are the black flies. Seems they like me!

It’s nice when we are able to share our experiences with friends and family.  July was quite busy from this standpoint and we were able to enjoy the company of Gin, Syl, Bill, Nancy, Doug, Darlene, Sharon, David, Peg, Michelle, Gail, Rick, Tim and Ann.  Not everyone was here at the same time and we got to see some people longer than others.

In addition to hiking, we enjoyed many campfires, rode bikes, chilled with friends, celebrated birthdays, and played games (I taught Molkkey to Nancy and Sharon!).  We also had several combined meals together and Dan smoked for the group a few times.  We had picnic lunches (when hiking and not!) and spent plenty of time escaping the mass crowds.  We picked blueberries (two pies made; bunches of blueberries in the freezer) and enjoyed lobster.  It’s a good thing that we are staying so active.

Here’s the month in pictures….broken up into three blog posts!  And, the pictures are in no particular order as this would have been too much to keep track of! :-)  We had a few photographers in the group and we shared pictures so I can not claim all of these as ones that I have taken.

David, Sharon, Syl, Bill, Nancy, Darlene, Doug, Me, and Dan

Dan on top of the world!

Enjoying a quiet moment

Sometimes you have to crawl like a turtle!

Beautiful lunch spot
Boulder hiking

Syl on Razorback

My fear of heights has gotten better...but Syl stays close by!

Crazy hikers

It's a long way down!

Darlene and I enjoying lunch on the rocks
Going up....and up!!!
Sharon enjoying the view

Nancy and Doug rock sliding

Walking the planks

Dan and I bagging another peak

Beautiful views

Smoked chicken and fixins - Happy 4th of July!

Bill is quite happy!

Sharon and David

Nancy on Razorback

Doug, Bill and Darlene coming off of Razorback

Bill and Nancy enjoying a quiet lunch!
Dan smokin'

Enjoying s'mores with Gin

Campfire fun

Dan and Bill

There is more than one way to hike!

Rooty trail
Baby "Bubble Rock"

Fear no more!  Bill and I pushing Bubble Rock

PUSH!!

Dan and I

Walking on the  rock face

Man - I missed Conner's Nubble!  The best blueberry pickin' place in ANP! 

Which way did Sharon and David go?

Our campfires are growing

Hiking up HUNDREDS of steps to Dorr Mountain

Group pic on summit of Dorr!
Dan, Bill, Syl, Nancy, Me, Peg, and Michelle 

Playing around

Cairns (stone trail markers) and Porcupine Islands

Yep - we just bagged that peak!
Yep - Maine is an awesome state!

Dan, Nancy, and David checking out another trail

Hiking is fun with friends!

Hey ya'll!

Girls rule!

Breathtaking
Part II and III coming soon!