Sunrise/Sunset

This week I’ve had some friends from Pennsylvania visiting the area for the first time.   It has been great fun sharing Acadia and Mount Desert Island with “newbies”.   In addition, they are both photography buffs (in fact it has become their second “career”), so we had cameras firing in all directions.

One of my friends wanted to shoot the sunrise in along Ocean Drive the first day after they arrived.   Fortunately the sun is rising later here this time of year (not 4:45 a.m. as it does in June), but it was still an early wake up call with the alarm clock.

Of course cruise ship “season” is in full swing now, and this approaching ship is typical of their schedule – in at sunrise, out by five p.m..

Of course another favorite activity for folks visiting Acadia is to catch either a sunrise or a sunset from the summit of Cadillac Mountain.   Since we had already done sunrise, it was going to have to be sunset for our trip to Cadillac.    So off, we went, all three of us with our warm jackets and camera gear.

ABOVE:  The crowd begins to vie for the best spots.   Luckily, no fights broke out.  🙂

BELOW:  The day ends

It dawned on me (no pun intended), as I was heading back to the car that I this was the first time I could remember consciously making an effort to see both the sunrise and the sunset on the same day.     A nice item to “check off” one’s bucket list.

The Ever Changing Sky

One of the things I enjoy most about living on Mount Desert Island (and being surrounded by water), is that the skies are always changing.   There have been days when I have seen the skies go from completely clear and blue to totally overcast and back again 3 times within 12 hours.

This “ever-changing sky” makes for interesting pictures.   The scene you shot just a few hours ago will look completely different when you come back to it a short time later.

ABOVE:  Clouds roll out and away over Sand Beach  and the Atlantic Ocean

As weather systems from the south collide with weather systems from the north, the struggle between clear skies and cloudy ones, dry air and humid air create a spectacular cloud show.    And there is no better vantage point for this show than from the top of Cadillac Mountain.

  BELOW:  The last remnants of a fog bank linger in Frenchman’s Bay

BELOW:  Just 10 minutes later, the fog finally leaves, except for one of the Porcupine Islands.

On this day within a few hours there was not a cloud in the sky.   Another hour later, the clouds had returned!    This “Ever Changing Sky” is teaching me to live in the moment!

Dorr Mountain Hike

As I mentioned last week-end in one of my posts, I hiked up Dorr mountain, which at 1270 feet (390 meters) is the third highest peak on  Mount Desert Island.   Now as mountains go, that isn’t very big, but keep in mind that you begin these hike at or near sea level so it provides sufficient challenge, especially to a relative novice like me.

There are numerous ways to reach the summit of Dorr.   Two of the approaches involve long staircases of stone carved into the mountainside; trails designed by the earliest trail designers and builders.   These designers included George Dorr, considered the “father of Acadia”.   He was one of the first wealthy “rusticators” (as they were referred to) whose family vacationed on the island.   He was a lifelong bachelor and in the end used most of his family’s fortune in the pursuit of securing Acadia’s future as a National Park.    So it seems only fitting that he have a mountain named after him!

The trail I decided to take is called the “North Ridge Trail”, and avoids those pesky ladders attached to boulders that send me straight into an anxiety attack.    The trail while steep was not as daunting in terms of technical difficulty as the ascent I made up Pemetic a few weeks ago.   The first section of the trail follows the fire road through old growth Hemlock forest.   I saw some fallen trees that had to be sawed in order to keep the fire road clear, and had to wonder just how old those trees were and what they had been witness to over the years.

Within 20 yards of leaving the fire road and heading up the North Ridge Trail, the trail becomes rock to rock stepping, climbing the whole way.   A “huffer and puffer” for sure as one of my friends describes these mountain hikes.   Along the way, I saw wild blueberries and a shrub that looked to be in the rhododendron family blooming.

The trees had really pushed their leaves during the past week, and my sping allergies weren’t helping my breathing any (that’s my excuse and I’m working it all the way).    As I paused to look behind me, I was amazed at how green the valley had become, seemingly overnight!

As you can see from the photo above, a cruise ship (and that’s one of the smaller ones) looms large in the harbor.    They will be a routine sight from now until the end of October.   The next photo gives you a different perspective of the harbor and valley from the summit of Dorr, and gives you some idea of how steep the ascent was.

Cadillac mountain sits just to the west of Dorr and a long, deep gorge seperate the two.   Cadillac, the tallest peak on the island rises an additional 250 feet (76 meters) above Dorr.   Here is a shot looking across the top of Dorr toward Cadillac.   I could see the  reflection of the sun bouncing off car rooftops as they drove (the nerve of them) up Cadillac.

This was one of the calmest days (breeze wise), that I’ve had on the island; and as the temperature rose to 75 degrees (24 c), I was longing for that wind.    I didn’t linger too long at the summit, as I was eager for the relative cool of the forest below.    Going down sure was alot easier than going up and I enjoyed spectacular views until I hit the tree line.

THANK YOU MR. DORR!!     Your dedication and generosity have allowed millions of people to enjoy this beautiful place.   Thank you for sharing your mountain with me.