The Sun Shines in Acadia

What a difference a day makes. Today was the opposite of yesterdays cold, rainy day. The sun shined bright and the temperature was much warmer when we woke up. Another late night for the kids meant they mostly slept in today despite the bright sunrise. A breakfast of pancakes hit the spot for the cousins.

The group split up this morning as our family along with Hana wanted to do the Beehive Loop in Acadia, Dan and Jane wanted to stay home, and Ari wanted to stay back to go kayaking. The Beehive Loop is a short but strenuous climb that involves rock scrambles, narrow passages, and sheer rock cliffs to the top of the mountain and then is much easier descent on the return to the trailhead. We left Ilah at home and took Hana for the morning and head up to Acadia.

We lucked into a great parking spot at Sand Beach and it was off to the trailhead. With all the rain yesterday, the trail was muddy and wet so it was a lot of rock hopping to avoid the puddles. Soon we got to the split and had to choose between the easier way up or the adventurous way. The kids were all in for the challenge so off we went.

The trail got much steeper and we hit our first few rock scrambles. Keely led the way (mostly to make sure an overconfident Odin didn’t get too far ahead) even though she was the most nervous and I brought up the tail to help Ainsley and Whitaker.

The kids were doing great and then we hit a traffic backup. Being such a nice day, everyone wanted to climb this hike. Since the trail is narrow, its single file with no room to pass. Unfortunately this meant a lot of waiting around - so much so that my watch tracking our hike repeatedly asked if I was still working out. We slowly made our way through the narrow passages, up the wraught iron stair rungs and rock scrambles. Everyone did an amazing job with a very difficult hike and slow hiking conditions. We were fortunate to be book ended by two very nice groups who made the waiting very pleasant.

Nearly 2 hours later we made it to the top of the half mile hike and the views were stunning. The kids were so brave and tough to be able to climb such a hazardous route. The weather was perfect and we could see for miles! We had some snacks and snapped a few photos but then it was time to head back down the mountain. Luckily the backside is much easier to navigate even though it’s about twice as long and we made it down quickly.

We were in a bit of a rush to get home so everyone could get food and play a bit before the groups split again to do different activities this afternoon. The girls and Whitaker headed into Bar Harbor for the first time to do some shopping and grab an ice cream treat. Ainsley once again picked blackberry and this time it came with chocolate chunks.

The boys headed to Bass Harbor for a fishing trip. We met our guide Hutch on the dock and boarded the fishing boat and headed out about 15-20 min. Cod and pollack were the targets for this trip. These fish tend to stay on the bottom of the ocean floor so our gear included a heavy 3-5oz weight and then, depending on the equipment, 2-3 hooks spaced 12” apart with either rubber worms or bright beaded flys. The protocol was to drop it until the weight hit the ocean floor and then reel in 2-3 times so it was slightly off the floor. A simple up and down jig attracted the fish to the bait.

Odin was the first to drop in and before the guide could get the next pole setup, he had multiple fish on. The kids just started slaying pollack left and right. It seemed every time they had a bite, it was a fish on every hook. It was rare to reel in just one fish on the line.

The kids had a great time. Ari counted over 50 fish caught and I wouldn’t be surprised if Liam and Odin caught just as many. As the trip moved along, we repositioned several times and transitioned from fishing for the easy pollack and started looking for bigger cod. It was a bit slower catching those until Liam hauled in a huge one. That got the kids all excited again and we finished up the 3 hour trip catching several more.

The kids had a blast fishing and even Cole, Dan and I got in on some of the action. We also saw several harbor porpoises, which are usually shy, but one came right up to the boat, along with several different kinds of gulls. Then it was time to head home. Apparently the kids didn’t get enough fishing because as soon as we were back at the house, they ignored the dinner and went straight to the kayaks and fishing poles and were in the lake trying to catch more fish.

We ended the evening with a fire and s’mores. It was a beautiful night on the lake and a great way to end our last day here. Tomorrow we travel to Camden and Rockport for two days before it’s time to head home. There’s so much more time we could spend in Acadia but we packed a lot in during our time here!